Isla asked to go to bed tonight. Ok, so not quite as formally as the title suggests, but she asked nonetheless. She's been one tired little girl the past two days since she moved up to the big class at daycare. She sits at a table to eat, has one nap a day on a cot, and goes outside a lot more. They said she's been doing great with the new routine and her new friends. The only downside to this is that she's been too tired to eat supper the last two nights. But I digress.
Isla was tired and clingy this evening. Not terribly fussy, but still obviously tired. Bedtime is usually 7:00 so I didn't want her going to bed before 6:00 for fear of an early, early morning tomorrow. She was playing at 6:00 and I was sitting on the couch. About 6:15 she looked at me and said "nigh? nigh?" and pointed down the hallway.
"Night, night? Are you ready for bed?" And she took off down the hallway, to her room, to her crib, pulling on the bars. I picked her up and got a good night hug. I asked if she wanted to cuddle with momma in the rocking chair a little bit but when we sat down, she reached for her crib again so we said our prayers and I put her in her bed. Haven't heard a peak out of her since.
What a big girl!
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Sunday, May 22, 2011
A couple little stories...
Isla loves her ice cream. The other day we were sitting outside and she was eating ice cream just as fast as I could shovel it in. All the sudden she let out an "AAAACK" and grabbed her head. Guess Baby Girl has had her first brain freeze. After a few moments she opened up for another bite.
I've been asking Isla where Momma's baby girl is. I'll cradle her in my arms and do a sing-songy "aaaaaaggggghhhhh" and say "there's momma's baby girl." She was sitting on my lap tonight and I cradled her dollie with the same "aaaagggghhhhh." She looked at me and laid back in my other arm and said "aaaaaghhhhh." A few minutes later she pretty much curled up in my arms and closed her eyes to go to sleep. She's been pretty clingy and attached to me today, but it was still sweet.
We've been adamant that we won't bring Isla into bed with us at night. She'll play on our bed with us in the mornings and she's napped on our bed a time or two during the day, but we don't want her actually sleeping with us. This morning at 4, the resolve wasn't so strong. She was mad that she was even awake, neither of us could calm her in her rocking chair, and putting her back in her bed didn't work either. P thought to give her some Tylenol and I had him bring her to me. I sat up on our bed holding her while she fought me, waiting for the Tylenol to kick in. As her teething pain eased up, she started to relax, I sang her song, and she went to sleep. In fear of waking the sleeping monster, I just laid her in our bed. P left for work around 6:15. She just turned over, stuck her butt in the air, and continued sleeping. Around 7:30, she stirred and opened her eyes, but closed them again as I rubbed her back. Finally a few minutes before 8, she opened both eyes, sat up, and gave me a kiss. What a way to begin a day!
I've been asking Isla where Momma's baby girl is. I'll cradle her in my arms and do a sing-songy "aaaaaaggggghhhhh" and say "there's momma's baby girl." She was sitting on my lap tonight and I cradled her dollie with the same "aaaagggghhhhh." She looked at me and laid back in my other arm and said "aaaaaghhhhh." A few minutes later she pretty much curled up in my arms and closed her eyes to go to sleep. She's been pretty clingy and attached to me today, but it was still sweet.
We've been adamant that we won't bring Isla into bed with us at night. She'll play on our bed with us in the mornings and she's napped on our bed a time or two during the day, but we don't want her actually sleeping with us. This morning at 4, the resolve wasn't so strong. She was mad that she was even awake, neither of us could calm her in her rocking chair, and putting her back in her bed didn't work either. P thought to give her some Tylenol and I had him bring her to me. I sat up on our bed holding her while she fought me, waiting for the Tylenol to kick in. As her teething pain eased up, she started to relax, I sang her song, and she went to sleep. In fear of waking the sleeping monster, I just laid her in our bed. P left for work around 6:15. She just turned over, stuck her butt in the air, and continued sleeping. Around 7:30, she stirred and opened her eyes, but closed them again as I rubbed her back. Finally a few minutes before 8, she opened both eyes, sat up, and gave me a kiss. What a way to begin a day!
Friday, May 20, 2011
Little Miss Attitude!
Isla Bee-
I'm sitting here trying to organize my thoughts on everything you're doing right now. I just can't. I'd have to blog an hour a day to even start to keep up with you right now. And since I'm trying to keep up with you right now, I don't have time to do that!
Your little personality is growing and expanding. We watch you and see you learn and try to figure things out. You are independent, loving, nurturing, stubborn (Daddy's fault), smart, and so, so amazing. You love being outside and have recently decided if momma doesn't take you out whenever you go to the door, it might be because you don't have your sweater on so you go get your sweater, then try going to the door again.
You understand so much of what we say to you. I asked if you were ready for a bath last night and you took off down the hallway, walked into the bathroom, and tried to pull back the curtain. You know that that little lever in the bathtub has something to do with the water leaving before you're ready to end your bath. And you also know that it comes out of that big spigot thing. Last night when momma needed you to get out of the tub before you were ready, I started draining out the water. When you realized what was happening, you leaned over and looked up the spigot to try to figure out how to get more water in your bathtub.
One of your (and MY!) favorite games right now is Hug Game. Momma and Daddy both sit in the floor and run (well, as much as you right yet) to one of us with your arms stretched out for a big hug. Then you turn around and run to the other one, arms out. Momma can get 20 or 30 hugs a session this way! Sometimes it turns into Kiss Game too. You're usually more willing to share hugs with Momma and kisses with Daddy. I found little books for you called Momma Hugs and Daddy Kisses. So cute and appropriate!
When we were in Nashville two weeks ago, you quickly picked up that Uncle Tommy's grandkids call him Poppa and you started saying that so Grandma and I are trying to get you to start calling Grandpa Poppa or PopPop. You light up whenever you see your Grandpa. You're pretty crazy about your Grandma but you're so funny. We went to their house the other day and Grandma met us at the door. You smiled when you saw her, but you quickly started looking around for PopPop too. Once you decided he wasn't there, you started playing with Grandma. Until he came inside. You seem to understand him whenever he comes in from working outside and says he has to go get cleaned up before he can take you.
One thing we're really working on learning now is helping out. You're really good at helping put up your bath tub toys (although I expect this to end as soon as you realize that when those get put away, Momma takes you out of the tub) and picking up blocks and toys to put in your toy chest. Another focus is trying to get you to not throw your cup whenever you're done with it. You do not like it on your tray if you do not want another drink RIGHT NOW so you tend to toss it in the floor. Poor Speckles has gotten hit in the head a time or two. Daddy and I have gotten bad about letting you carry your cup around in the evening also and you throw it down too. I don't know how many times I've repeated "we give Momma the cup whenever we're done with it" in the past 2 weeks. You're starting to remember though.
You are a pretty focused little girl. I'm really surprised at how long you can concentrate on some things. This is good, but it also means you're hard to distract when you fixate on something. There's that stubbornness.
Oh, you blow your nose already! Grandma and I are both surprised by this--I even read something the other day that said most kids are a few years old before they figure out how to do this, but 9 times out of 10, if I put a tissue to your nose and tell you to blow, you can do it.
Goodness baby girl, I know I'm missing so many other things that you're up to these days. I want to tell you everything so you know how much I treasure every moment and every ounce of you. I love my Isla Bee.
Momma
Here are a few more pictures....
The one is a picture of what's in my garden. Last Friday Isla and I went outside to tell Mother Nature good night and found a rabbit in my garden. She was sitting there nursing her babies.
I'm sitting here trying to organize my thoughts on everything you're doing right now. I just can't. I'd have to blog an hour a day to even start to keep up with you right now. And since I'm trying to keep up with you right now, I don't have time to do that!
Your little personality is growing and expanding. We watch you and see you learn and try to figure things out. You are independent, loving, nurturing, stubborn (Daddy's fault), smart, and so, so amazing. You love being outside and have recently decided if momma doesn't take you out whenever you go to the door, it might be because you don't have your sweater on so you go get your sweater, then try going to the door again.
You understand so much of what we say to you. I asked if you were ready for a bath last night and you took off down the hallway, walked into the bathroom, and tried to pull back the curtain. You know that that little lever in the bathtub has something to do with the water leaving before you're ready to end your bath. And you also know that it comes out of that big spigot thing. Last night when momma needed you to get out of the tub before you were ready, I started draining out the water. When you realized what was happening, you leaned over and looked up the spigot to try to figure out how to get more water in your bathtub.
One of your (and MY!) favorite games right now is Hug Game. Momma and Daddy both sit in the floor and run (well, as much as you right yet) to one of us with your arms stretched out for a big hug. Then you turn around and run to the other one, arms out. Momma can get 20 or 30 hugs a session this way! Sometimes it turns into Kiss Game too. You're usually more willing to share hugs with Momma and kisses with Daddy. I found little books for you called Momma Hugs and Daddy Kisses. So cute and appropriate!
When we were in Nashville two weeks ago, you quickly picked up that Uncle Tommy's grandkids call him Poppa and you started saying that so Grandma and I are trying to get you to start calling Grandpa Poppa or PopPop. You light up whenever you see your Grandpa. You're pretty crazy about your Grandma but you're so funny. We went to their house the other day and Grandma met us at the door. You smiled when you saw her, but you quickly started looking around for PopPop too. Once you decided he wasn't there, you started playing with Grandma. Until he came inside. You seem to understand him whenever he comes in from working outside and says he has to go get cleaned up before he can take you.
One thing we're really working on learning now is helping out. You're really good at helping put up your bath tub toys (although I expect this to end as soon as you realize that when those get put away, Momma takes you out of the tub) and picking up blocks and toys to put in your toy chest. Another focus is trying to get you to not throw your cup whenever you're done with it. You do not like it on your tray if you do not want another drink RIGHT NOW so you tend to toss it in the floor. Poor Speckles has gotten hit in the head a time or two. Daddy and I have gotten bad about letting you carry your cup around in the evening also and you throw it down too. I don't know how many times I've repeated "we give Momma the cup whenever we're done with it" in the past 2 weeks. You're starting to remember though.
You are a pretty focused little girl. I'm really surprised at how long you can concentrate on some things. This is good, but it also means you're hard to distract when you fixate on something. There's that stubbornness.
Oh, you blow your nose already! Grandma and I are both surprised by this--I even read something the other day that said most kids are a few years old before they figure out how to do this, but 9 times out of 10, if I put a tissue to your nose and tell you to blow, you can do it.
Goodness baby girl, I know I'm missing so many other things that you're up to these days. I want to tell you everything so you know how much I treasure every moment and every ounce of you. I love my Isla Bee.
Momma
Here are a few more pictures....
The one is a picture of what's in my garden. Last Friday Isla and I went outside to tell Mother Nature good night and found a rabbit in my garden. She was sitting there nursing her babies.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Wow---3 posts in 1 night!
These pics are from a dear friend's recent wedding. The photographer got several pictures of Isla and was kind enough to send me a disk with the pics she took. Check out her blog at http://www.hopecarrollphotography.blogspot.com/. I love these shots of Isla and have been very impressed with the other wedding pics I've seen also.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Take two!
We had a great weekend even though it started off a little rough. I left work early Friday to go to the doctor. Strep. There went my Friday afternoon plans. Saturday we drove to Nashville--a nice drive although the last 20 miles took 2 hours. We went to Bicentennial Park and to the Farmer's Market Friday night. It rained on us on the way there, but once we got there the weather was beautiful. Unfortunately the fountains in the park were damaged in last year's flooding so we didn't get to see those. Sunday we went to Centennial Park and I got to practice shooting with my new lens. We had lunch with my aunt and uncle and they watched Isla while we went to a Renaissance fair. We went to the zoo before coming home Monday. Baby Girl slept for over 2 hours on the way home, I got to stop for one of my favorite soups, and we made it home early evening.
What a weekend!
Oh my! I just spend 30 minutes writing a post about our great weekend and was almost done when my fingers hit something that erased it all. And it autosaved over the draft copy. And someone is going to wake up from her nap hungry any minute now. I'll try to take it again later tonight while P's at a movie.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Words
Thursday night we were trying to name off all Isla's words for PAT, then again at her 15 month well baby Friday. She's adding new ones all the time, but here are the words we can come up with that she says now:
momma (rarely, and not relative to me)
daddy (sometimes meaning him, sometimes not)
hi
bye
dog (leaves off the g)
book
read
bucket
bowl
eyes
no
yeah
milk (no -lk)
duck
In addition, she signs milk, more, and eat.
Pretty good for a kid that's supposed to have 3-5 words!
momma (rarely, and not relative to me)
daddy (sometimes meaning him, sometimes not)
hi
bye
dog (leaves off the g)
book
read
bucket
bowl
eyes
no
yeah
milk (no -lk)
duck
In addition, she signs milk, more, and eat.
Pretty good for a kid that's supposed to have 3-5 words!
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Pictures for class....and Winston
These look pretty grainy on here when they are compressed to the smaller size. Not sure why--they look more clear when opened.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Daddy and Baby
Isla and P have been hanging out on Monday nights while I take a photography class. Last night I get a TM about the time class starts that says "your daughter found my belly button and won't let me be." She thought it was hilarious to lift his shirt and tickle his belly. Wish I'd seen it--she wouldn't do it tonight.
We forgot to take the Winston picture today so for the first time since the "fresh out of the womb" picture, the monthly anniversary picture wasn't taken on the 12th. We'll do that tomorrow.
I took Isla to see my parents and my mom's aunt L today. On the way there, Isla was able to reach a box of wet wipes. When we got there, I opened the car door and the. whole. box. of wipes. had been pulled out, one by one, and discarded in the seat. She was SO proud of herself when momma saw what she did!
We forgot to take the Winston picture today so for the first time since the "fresh out of the womb" picture, the monthly anniversary picture wasn't taken on the 12th. We'll do that tomorrow.
I took Isla to see my parents and my mom's aunt L today. On the way there, Isla was able to reach a box of wet wipes. When we got there, I opened the car door and the. whole. box. of wipes. had been pulled out, one by one, and discarded in the seat. She was SO proud of herself when momma saw what she did!
Thursday, April 7, 2011
THERE it is!
We couldn't find the cordless phone last night. We checked the couch cushions, under the couch, in the magazine boxes--no phone. I looked in the toybox and didn't see it in there either. The cleaning lady was here today...still no phone. Then tonight Isla is in the floor playing with her picnic basket and pulls out the phone. So glad "we" found it!
Tonight I went to a dinner at church for the teen mommies at our local high school. A couple of the other ladies who work with this ministry have little ones just younger than Isla. Both those little boys were there and it was so funny to see them running around. They are both more steady and confident on their feet than Isla is. Isla is getting more steady and last night she bent over and picked something up, then righted herself. I don't think she's stood up with pulling or at least touching something else, but she's been pretty close to it. She'll be running around soon enough.
Tuesday night we had a really sweet cuddle time at bedtime. She doesn't usually want to be held and rocked at bedtime anymore, but she let me that night. She even let me cradle her. She looked up into my face, smiling, patting me....really humoring momma. sigh. So sweet. When I laid her down, she didn't fuss, just went on to sleep.
Wednesday night, she screamed. And screamed. Oh well.
Tonight I went to a dinner at church for the teen mommies at our local high school. A couple of the other ladies who work with this ministry have little ones just younger than Isla. Both those little boys were there and it was so funny to see them running around. They are both more steady and confident on their feet than Isla is. Isla is getting more steady and last night she bent over and picked something up, then righted herself. I don't think she's stood up with pulling or at least touching something else, but she's been pretty close to it. She'll be running around soon enough.
Tuesday night we had a really sweet cuddle time at bedtime. She doesn't usually want to be held and rocked at bedtime anymore, but she let me that night. She even let me cradle her. She looked up into my face, smiling, patting me....really humoring momma. sigh. So sweet. When I laid her down, she didn't fuss, just went on to sleep.
Wednesday night, she screamed. And screamed. Oh well.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Pictures, pictures...
I promise, when she started getting mad, I put down the camera and helped her.
Friday, April 1, 2011
Updates....
Baby kissy face isn't kissy face so much lately. Momma can barely get a kiss at all but I do get hugs. Daddy gets some kisses but no hugs. One of her teachers said it's the same way at daycare--Ms. B gets hugs, Ms. N gets kisses.
It's no longer an assumption that Isla will cry when I leave her at daycare in the mornings. I think we had 4 out of 5 days with no tears this week. One day I even got a smile and wave as I left. And yesterday when I went to pick her up, she looked at me and kept on playing. When I asked if she wanted to go with me, she shook her head no. I'm so glad she seems to like her daycare! The teachers are all wonderful with her. In the next month or two she'll be able to move up to the 1-2 year old class since....
She's a walker now! A couple weeks ago she realized what this walking thing is all about. She still likes hanging on to fingers sometimes, but she can walk across the room on her own. She's wobbly, but is pretty good about squatting down when she feels herself loosing her balance.
Wednesday night I had her stripped down for her bath. She moved her potty chair into the middle of the floor and was trying to back up to it, looking over her shoulder, squatting, totally going to miss it when she went down. I lined it up for her and let her sit herself on it. Then she stood up and waddled out of the bathroom. Patrick said she made it to the living room before he brought her back. I let her loose again tonight naked and she LOVED it. Once I got her diaper back on her, she kept pulling at it, trying to get it off, voicing her displeasure. Cute little naked baby butt.
Isla has an ear infection. I didn't think she needed to go to the doctor but P thought she did so I took her Tuesday. Glad I did. She doesn't seem to be hurting with her ear so hopefully we'll get it cleared up before it really bothers her. I'm not sure if it's her first infection or not. We went to urgent care several weeks ago and the doctor said her ear was red. Not sure if it was just a little red or if it was infected. She's been coughing some, but her humidifier keeps it under control most nights.
There's so much I want to get done this weekend and I have zero energy to do any of it. Someone came and mowed tonight so hopefully I can finish cleaning up the backyard tomorrow and we can build the raised garden box I want to use this year. I didn't plant anything last year but year before last I had a bunch of tomato plants and a few other things. The ground and dirt here isn't horrible for growing stuff, but it's not great. I thought it might be easier and work a bit better to try the raised garden box and fill it with top soil mixed with compost. We'll see how that goes. Sunday we're going to St. Louis with some friends for a Cardinals game. Will be fun, but when am I going to do laundry and put up LAST week's laundry?
Last weekend was supposed to be a romantic weekend away with spa day and a nice stay at an Inn in Hermann. Well, my mom can't babysit right now so Isla ended up going with us. We cancelled the spa day and stopped at the Magic House in St. Louis instead. It was a lot of fun, but I think every kid in the county was on spring break and there since the weather wasn't appropriate for spring type activities. Then Saturday it started snowing! Isla hadn't had an easy nice Friday so we'd debating leaving Saturday instead of staying until Sunday. Once the snow started, we thought we'd leave town before it got bad. TOO LATE! Horrible trip leaving Hermann--at one point the car in front of us slid off the road and we almost hit them. Then we were stuck on the highway while a pick-up truck kept trying to make it up a hill, only to keep sliding EVERYWHERE. After an hour or so, we finally made it to Washington (25 miles away from her starting point) and checked into a Super 8. Isla's giggle box got turned on and she had a blast at the motel! With the stress of driving gone, we had a lot of fun being snowed in at a hotel....at the end of MARCH! We got up Sunday morning to clear roads and came on home.
Guess I'm about done writing--I'm going to fall asleep if I keep it up. I'll read over this and edit it later. I'll try to post some pics tonight. M and I are taking a photography class so I had photography "homework" to do tonight. Hopefully I can learn a lot in this class, then try to do some online tutorials like Pioneer Woman and have all kinds of wonderful pics of my beautiful little girl!
Later--
It's no longer an assumption that Isla will cry when I leave her at daycare in the mornings. I think we had 4 out of 5 days with no tears this week. One day I even got a smile and wave as I left. And yesterday when I went to pick her up, she looked at me and kept on playing. When I asked if she wanted to go with me, she shook her head no. I'm so glad she seems to like her daycare! The teachers are all wonderful with her. In the next month or two she'll be able to move up to the 1-2 year old class since....
She's a walker now! A couple weeks ago she realized what this walking thing is all about. She still likes hanging on to fingers sometimes, but she can walk across the room on her own. She's wobbly, but is pretty good about squatting down when she feels herself loosing her balance.
Wednesday night I had her stripped down for her bath. She moved her potty chair into the middle of the floor and was trying to back up to it, looking over her shoulder, squatting, totally going to miss it when she went down. I lined it up for her and let her sit herself on it. Then she stood up and waddled out of the bathroom. Patrick said she made it to the living room before he brought her back. I let her loose again tonight naked and she LOVED it. Once I got her diaper back on her, she kept pulling at it, trying to get it off, voicing her displeasure. Cute little naked baby butt.
Isla has an ear infection. I didn't think she needed to go to the doctor but P thought she did so I took her Tuesday. Glad I did. She doesn't seem to be hurting with her ear so hopefully we'll get it cleared up before it really bothers her. I'm not sure if it's her first infection or not. We went to urgent care several weeks ago and the doctor said her ear was red. Not sure if it was just a little red or if it was infected. She's been coughing some, but her humidifier keeps it under control most nights.
There's so much I want to get done this weekend and I have zero energy to do any of it. Someone came and mowed tonight so hopefully I can finish cleaning up the backyard tomorrow and we can build the raised garden box I want to use this year. I didn't plant anything last year but year before last I had a bunch of tomato plants and a few other things. The ground and dirt here isn't horrible for growing stuff, but it's not great. I thought it might be easier and work a bit better to try the raised garden box and fill it with top soil mixed with compost. We'll see how that goes. Sunday we're going to St. Louis with some friends for a Cardinals game. Will be fun, but when am I going to do laundry and put up LAST week's laundry?
Last weekend was supposed to be a romantic weekend away with spa day and a nice stay at an Inn in Hermann. Well, my mom can't babysit right now so Isla ended up going with us. We cancelled the spa day and stopped at the Magic House in St. Louis instead. It was a lot of fun, but I think every kid in the county was on spring break and there since the weather wasn't appropriate for spring type activities. Then Saturday it started snowing! Isla hadn't had an easy nice Friday so we'd debating leaving Saturday instead of staying until Sunday. Once the snow started, we thought we'd leave town before it got bad. TOO LATE! Horrible trip leaving Hermann--at one point the car in front of us slid off the road and we almost hit them. Then we were stuck on the highway while a pick-up truck kept trying to make it up a hill, only to keep sliding EVERYWHERE. After an hour or so, we finally made it to Washington (25 miles away from her starting point) and checked into a Super 8. Isla's giggle box got turned on and she had a blast at the motel! With the stress of driving gone, we had a lot of fun being snowed in at a hotel....at the end of MARCH! We got up Sunday morning to clear roads and came on home.
Guess I'm about done writing--I'm going to fall asleep if I keep it up. I'll read over this and edit it later. I'll try to post some pics tonight. M and I are taking a photography class so I had photography "homework" to do tonight. Hopefully I can learn a lot in this class, then try to do some online tutorials like Pioneer Woman and have all kinds of wonderful pics of my beautiful little girl!
Later--
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