17 Months

Isabella was 17 months old Thursday!  She's almost year and a half old.  How did that happen?!  She's growing up so fast.  She looks like such a little girl!

Milestones this month include:
-New words include: Mama (she could say it before, but is finally saying it more frequently!), shoe, good girl, hello, night-night, go and snack.
-Can count to three!  Most of the time you have to start her off by saying "one" for her, but she can do it on her own.  I wasn't sure she caught onto the actual counting aspect of the words until today when I said "one" and she said "two, three"  while pointing to a letter on my hoodie each time.  So cute!
-Likes to pretend she's sleeping; she does this a lot when she knows we're looking, like during meals.  She'll close her eyes and often tilt her head to the side.  She doesn't even crack a smile; she's completely stone-faced until she opens her eyes.
-Loves spinning in circles.
-Learned how to climb onto the bench in our living room.  It didn't take long for her to fall and bust her mouth, but she hasn't done it since. ::knock on wood::
-I think she's working on several teeth, but it's hard to tell since she won't let me check her gums for long.
-Likes: "helping Mommy," pizza, tacos, pasta, dogs,  and playing peek-a-boo
-Loves: books, pushing her doll stroller, being outside, cheese, chili, mandarin oranges, and cats
-Hates: being shut out of the kitchen, having her nails trimmed, broccoli, and strangers

Most of our photos from the last month are from our Christmas extravaganza, so I'll leave you with just one for now.

New Year's Resolutions

*Note: No, I did not forget about Christmas.  We still have one family Christmas celebrations left, so I'm waiting to post about them all at once.

I've never been big on New Year's resolutions.  I don't think I've ever made one.  However, I've been trying to slowly transition to a more eco-friendly, cost-effective lifestyle.  I've had several ideas for ways to do this, so I think these could be sort of a New Year's resolution for me.  I've come up with 12 changes (one for each month) that I'd like to implement this year.  The sewing machine I received for Christmas will come in handy for many of these. :)

1. Install a programmable thermostat.  (Completed as of yesterday!)

2. Cut back on paper towels and napkins by converting to "un-paper" towels and cloth napkins.

3. Buy a steam mop.  Ok, so this one is sort of give and take in the eco-friendly department.  It will eliminate the use of chemicals, but it runs on electricity.  Ultimately, my floors are not getting clean enough so I'm biting the bullet on this one.

4. Make re-usable refills for my Swiiffer duster and sweeper.

5. Buy a new water heater.  Our current one sucks so I can only imagine that a newer model would save on our energy costs.

6. Install a water softener.  This is another I'm not entirely sure of, but I figure it will save on soaps/detergents.

7. Start using a rain barrel.

8. Plant a vegetable/herb garden.

9. Install an eco-flow showerhead.  I've been wanting a new one anyway, so this is a no-brainer.

10. Be more proactive about recycling.  We already recycle quite a bit and have really cut back on our trash each week, but I think there are still plenty of things winding up in the garbage that could easily be recycled.

11. Reusable sandwich bags.  Let's just hope Clint can remember to bring them home rather than throw them away. 

12. Repurposing unwanted items.  I always see these fabulous projects people create from stuff lying around the house.  I need to work on this.

What about you?  What are your New Year's resolutions?

2010: The Year in Photos

Today marks the end of our first full calendar year as parents.  Whew.  Here's a look back at the year 2010.


January, 5 months old

February, 6 months old

March, 7 months old

April, 8 months old

May, 9 months old

June, 10 months old

July, 11 months old

August, 1 year old!

September, 13 months old

October, 14 months old

November, 15 months old

December, 16 months old



Happy New Year everyone!  May your 2011 be filled with joy.

16 Months!

Isabella is 16 months old.  For some reason this feels big to me.  I think it's because it made me realize how close she is to 18 months and hat just seems like a HUGE deal.  Don't grow up too fast little girl!

She is really starting to look like a little girl, rather than a baby.  Even Clint commented on it the other day.  Her hair is getting so long!

what's going on this month:
-Can now point to all the parts of her face and her hair when asked.  She knows tummy as well
-Can make animal sounds for dog, cat, bird, cow, duck (I feel like I'm forgetting some)
-Loves playing ball
-Likes the snow
-Wearing mostly size 18-months clothing, and size 4 shoes
-Saying several new words; book, clock, bye bye, down, milk, and choo choo come to mind.  She also picked up "row, row row" from her friend Rose.
-Much better on the milk front.  She'll now drink a cup containing 3/4 milk, 1/4 water.
-Getting much better with a spoon, although she sometimes uses the wrong end!
-Figured out she could dip food.  She is currently eating pancakes and a bowl of yogurt and dipping her pancake in the yogurt. 
-Will eat most foods, but prefers ground meats over chicken breasts, roast, etc.  She doesn't seem to like bell peppers either.
_Mealtimes are challenging.  She will no longer say or sign more or all done.  She just whines and sometimes points at things.  It's hard to figure out what she wants sometimes.  As soon as I think she's done and start to get things cleaned up she'll take another bite. 
-Had her first trip to the Children's Museum this month.  She had a blast!
-Really likes fish all of a sudden.  She even seemed to prefer the fish over the cats the last time we were  at the "Petsmart Zoo."  We do have a goldfish, Delilah, but she's up to high for Isabella to see.  We'll have to fix that.  (Side note: We've had Delilah for about 3 years now! Crazy, right?)
-Working on a bottom tooth.  This will make 11.

She's not going to let me type much longer, so here are some pictures from the past month.



Checking out the first big snow.

I think she was a little confused, but seemed to like it.

 Sitting on the big crocodile in the Egypt exhibit.  She was scared to touch it at first.

The tent in the Egypt exhibit.  She loved it!

Preparing a feast, with Daddy supervising.

Going down the Yule Slide with Mommy.

In the treehouse in the "Carousel Wishes & Dreams" exhibit.

The bottom of the treehouse.

Riding a lion on the carousel.  

She was kind of obsessed with these bears in the Playscape.

Our last stop before heading home.

She had a blast and I am so thankful we have a membership.  I can't wait to go again, and maybe without Daddy next time since he was a party pooper and wouldn't let her play with the water or sand tables.  There was also a Barbie exhibit there and you know I had to visit that first thing, but didn't take any photos since it was really more for older kids.  she did enjoy looking at all the dolls though.  We tried to visit the Jolly Days exhibit, but it was insane in there!  We tried to check out most of the exhibits, but I think the three pictured were her favorites.  She actually gasped when the Carousel music first started she was so excited.  She really liked the Chinese dragons in the Dinosphere as well.  She liked touching the dinosaur skulls, but absolutely refused to touch the polar bear's.  Silly girl.  :)

15-Month Appointment

Isabella had her 15-month checkup Friday.  Unfortunately, her ear infection still wasn't cleared up after a round of amoxicillin so she's now taking augmentin.  Cross your fingers that this one gets the job done!

Otherwise, things look great!  she'd meeting all her milestones.  She was 31 inches.  I don't remember what they told me the percentage was at the appointment (bad Mama!), but according to the WHO charts, that puts her in the 90th percentile for height.  She does seem tall to me all of a sudden, and her 12-month pants are starting to get short.  Her weight was 19 lbs 8 oz.  She's dropped a little there (10-25%), but I'm not concerned.  She hasn't been feeling well lately and isn't eating as well.  She also has went through a huge disruption to her routine now that she goes to a sitter for a few hours each day.  I'm sure she'll pick back up when things normalize, and even if she doesn't I see no reason to be concerned.  She's built like her mama. :)  

She still won't take cow's milk. I even tried mixing just a tiny bit with water and she can still taste it.  We'll work on that.  She'd still nursing twice a day and we give her yogurt everyday.  Between that and all the cheese she eats I'm positive she's getting all the dairy she needs. 

Unfortunately, I don't have any recent pictures of her that are more than just a blur.  I'll try to get some tomorrow. 

Happy Thanksgiving!

"Tis the Season

Holiday card season that is!  I'm starting to think about what style of holiday card I'd like to send out this year.  Last year, we used Shutterfly and I planned on using them again.  Lo and behold a promotion from Shutterfly offering 50 free holiday cards, and all I have to do is blog about how much I love them?  Done. 

Like I said, last year I ordered our holiday cards from Shutterfly and had a very good experience.  I've also ordered prints from them several times in the past.  I love their card designs because they have such a variety, traditional to contemporary, elegant to whimsical.  It's so hard to choose! 

Seriously, how cute is this?!

And it's not just holiday cards, they offer cards for a variety of occasions: birth announcements, party invitations, and thank you cards to name a few.  A lot of their products make great gifts, like their canvas prints. 

So check them out, and bloggers don't forget, Bloggers get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly… sign up: http://bit.ly/sfly2010.

 

15 Months

Isabella is 15 months old today!  She's at a really fun age.  Often time she will come p to me out of nowhere just to give me a hug or a kiss.  Melts my heart!  Of course, the tantrums are also beginning but the free hugs and kisses are worth it. 

Her communication skills and understanding are definitely improving.  She's learning new words and sounds and showing us that she really understands what we're saying.  Just today she heard Audrey bark and said "woof, woof."  Smart girl.

Right now her favorite game is what we like to call "Scary Monster Peek-a-boo."  We hide our face with our hands and then she pulls our hands away and we growl or roar at her.  She thinks it is hysterical.  She keeps putting our hand over our face so we'll do it again! 

Here are the new things for this month that come to mind:

-Now says "dat" as in "I want that!"

-Says "mow" when we ask her what a cat says.  She also says "mow" if we ask her what Bianca or Brenna says and "woof woof" if we ask her what Audrey says.

-Says "baa" for bath

-She goes to her bedroom door when we ask if she needs are diaper changed or tell her it's time for night-night.  She'll go to the bathroom door if we ask her to go potty or take a bath.  She runs to the front door if we tell her we're going bye-bye, or if she sees me with my purse. 

-Often gets a snack before bedtime. 

-Outgrowing 12-months clothing and is firmly in a size 4 shoe.

-Learning to blow her nose.

-Loves dropping items over the baby gate or pushing them through the cat door.

-Has both peed and pooped on the potty.

And of course, here are a few pictures of the past month.


Taking her baby for a stroll.

Reading books with Mickey.

I'm pretty sure she'll want to kill me for this one day.

Playing at Monkey Joe's.

Hanging out with Matea at Monkey Joe's.