Second Birthday Party

Isabella's second birthday party was July 30.  I decided to go with a Sesame Street theme, if you couldn't tell.  I'm not a big character person though, so I tried to keep the use of characters to a minimum and instead focused on primary colors and learning concepts.


Cookie Monster cupcakes.  I should have piped on the frosting, but I used a knife to save time.

The cake.

I went easy with the banner this year.

I wish I had a used a stencil; freehanding did not turn out well.

There are well over 200 balloons here.

The food.  

Present time!

Of course, it was once again way too hot to have the party outside.   I hope this doesn't happen every year because I have a lot of fun ideas for future birthday parties and some of them would work much better outdoors.

Two Years old!

Ok, so she's technically 25 months old now, but we've been busy. 

Age: 2 years old!
Weight: Not quite 24lbs at her last appt. 
Length: 34.25" She's growing more up than out.

Size: 2T.  We discovered that size 5 shoes are pretty tight with socks and 5.5s are hard to find so I'm now buying size 6.
Hair:Still long and still red. Very thin and wispy.  I'm still hoping it will thicken up.

Teeth: All four molars have popped through, but aren't in all the way.
Sleeping: Her nap is usually at least 2 hours, and she's always in bed by 8pm.  Most days she's waking up around 6am, but that's pretty common when she's teething.  I'm hoping she'll go back to her normal 7am soon.  She's also been occasionally waking up during the night to ask for water.  I'm going to go ahead and blame this on the molars too.

Eating: Eating fairly well.  She's kind of obsessed with fruit snack, popsicles, and of course her beloved cheese.

Movement: She is all over the place.  Pushed chair up to the counter so she can stand on them and "help" me cook, moves the step stool so she can turn lights on and off, climbing onto our bed all by herself.

Milestones: Second birthday! First day of preschool!

Favorite toys/activities: Vehicles of all kinds, slides, animals.

Dislikes: Riding in the stroller and wearing a bib.

Words/sounds: Can't even keep track anymore.



Riding her new bike.

Meeting Dora at the Children's Museum on her birthday.  She gave Dora the biggest hug!

She wasn't so sure about Diego.

She loved the Dora exhibit.

Of course, she made a beeline for the little tent in the Egypt exhibit.

She wanted to take him home.

Chatting on the Barbie phone.  I was kind of surprised that she knew it was a phone.

Checking out her birthday gift from Mommy and Daddy.

I think she likes it.

Posts coming soon:
Second birthday party
First day of preschool
Family photos

23 Months

Isabella is 23 months old!  It's hard to believe that we'll soon be celebrating her second birthday.  Speaking of which, it's down to crunch time for the part preparation: invitations will go out this week, I've purchases supplies for some projects I have planned, we're working on prepping the backyard, and I have all the details planned out.  I hope it all comes together the way I've pictured it.

Back to the girl,

Age: 23 months
Weight: We'll find out next month
Length: Again, we'll find out at her appointment next month

Size:24m-2T, starting to wear size 5 shoes
Hair:Still long and still red

Teeth: Those molars still haven't popped through
Sleeping: Usually 11-12 hours at night with her nap averaging 2 hours

Eating: She now eats chicken! And green beans!  It's a miracle.

Movement: She is a crazy little monkey.

Milestones: First pedicure, courtesy of Mama.

Favorite toys/activities: Still obsessed with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, enjoys art activities, loves playing outside and in her pool, loves playing with cars

Dislikes: Being told no, coming inside after playing, being carried instead of walking herself

Words/sounds:  Every morning when she gets us she says, "Daddy go bye-bye.  Daddy work.  Daddy go in car." She continues to amaze us with new words and phrases.


She apparently needed to accessorize before bed.

At Columbian Park on July 4th.

She wouldn't look at me.

Showing off her patriotic attire.

22 Months Old

 Isabella is 22 months old!  I can't believe her birthday is only two months away!  Mama needs to start her party projects.  Over the weekend I went to price some things out and get some DIY ideas.  I'll be ordering my first party purchases this week.

This post with be photo heavy, but I can't guarantee great quality.  I take what I can get with a 22-month old!

Age: 22 months
Weight: Just under 24lb.
Length: No clue, but she seems taller.

Size:  The 24m clothes that were a little big now fit perfectly; let's hope her feet catch up soon because her size 5 shoes are still too big. 
Hair: Past the shoulders.  She prefers a bow rather than pigtails.

Teeth: Still no molars. 
Sleeping: Sleep has been a little disrupted, but the pediatrician ruled out medical causes.  It could be teething, nightmares, or random toddler behavior. 

Eating:  Hit or miss.  Veggies are almost always refused, as is meat.  I let her have a popsicle last night and she stopped and said, "mmm, good"  at every taste.  She loves milk now and asks for it every morning.

Movement:  One of her favorite things is sitting on my bed while I get ready, and then trying to run, roll, and jump like a maniac.  

Milestones: First trip to the Indy Zoo, first time baking cookies with Mama, first parade

Favorite toys/activities: Eating at her little table, playing ball, being outside, playing in the pool, still obsessed with Mickey Mouse, helping cook, clean and fold laundry (at least she thinks she's helping).  She's getting into more pretend play.

Dislikes: Rain because it means she can't go outside.  She also doesn't like anything "yucky," such as messy hands, bits of paper on the floor, finding yesterday's water cup, etc.

Words/sounds: Speaking in more sentences.  She's also been saying "my mama" and "my daddy."  "Hi my mama!"


Baking peanut butter cookies with Mama.

I love it when she makes this makes this face!  She giggles and covers her mouth.

First ponytail!  Notice the necklaces.  This little fashionista loves her accessories.

 The sharks at the Indy Zoo.  She really wanted to pet, but couldn't reach.  Quite frankly Mama was a little scared she'd be a little over-zealous and lose a finger. 

She loved the penguins.  

At the Columbian Park Zoo; not the same day, but coincidentally the same outfit.  Her "cheese" face does not allow for open eyes, apparently. 

Checking out the goats, that is when she wasn't chasing the chickens are around saying, "bok, bok!"

We always stop to check out the tortoise statue.

My baby bird.

Two pictures with Mama in them?  How can this be?!

Excuse the crazy hair and lack of clothing; this Kodak moment could not be missed.  She was holding one of Audrey's ears and saying, "yee haw!"  Thank goodness Audrey was cooperative.

She saw Daddy vacuuming and had to help.

21 Months

It's hard to believe that my baby will be TWO in three short months.

Helping Mama organize some paperwork.

The community egg hunt didn't go over so well...

 So we came home and had our own in the front yard.

Look at all those eggs!

Checking out the eggs.

The Easter bunny left a surprise.

Silly bunny!

Age: 21 months
Weight: around 24lbs

Length: unsure
Size: 24m/2T.  4 or 4.5 shoes.  The size 5 shoes I bought her for the summer are still to big to wear.  She was tiny feet like Mama.
Hair: Long.  We're letting her bangs grow so if you don't pull them back somehow she looks like a sheepdog.  She's learned to ask for a bow in the morning and if it falls out she brings it back to me so I can fix it.

Teeth: Still working on those molars. I can fell a couple beneath the surface.
Sleeping: She's been a little restless during the night this week, but doesn't require any help falling back to sleep.  She's also waking a bit earlier than usual.  These are pretty common occurrences when she's teething.  She's still napping 2-3 hours most days.

Eating: She's really loving fruit right now.  Won't go near anything chocolate and wouldn't even taste ice cream when it was offered.  More chocolate for Mama and more ice cream for Daddy.  

Movement:  Likes dancing, spinning, and running in circles around furniture.

Milestones: Can count to ten!  She sometimes skips or jumbles numbers, but when she gets it right Mama is so proud.  Sometimes speaking in full sentences! First Easter egg hunt.

Favorite toys/activities:  Stickers, bubbles, playing outdoors, wearing Mama's shoes, her flashcards, letters and numbers, sidewalk chalk, and playing in the sand.  She's also really into kicking right now.  Future soccer player?

Dislikes: Having her hair washed, getting out of bed before she's ready, coming in from playing outside, having messy hands, and (sometimes) having her diaper changed.

Words/sounds: She's saying please more often.  "Peas, Mama!"  She started saying "I Love You."  Mama's heart melts.  She's saying new words all the time, so we've lost count.  I would say there are at least 100 at this point. 

March for Babies 2011

Isabella and I participated in the March for Babies last Saturday.  We arrived shortly after 8 am to turn in our donations since we were supposed to meet our team at 8:30 and the walk was to begin at 9.  Well, we had trouble locating our team because many were busy volunteering at the event and others were late.  Although the walk was advertised to start at 9 am they soon announced that it was starting at 9:30.  Isabella got a bit antsy sitting in the stroller, and I didn't want to leave the area since we were waiting for out teammates.  I also didn't want to put her down because there were so many people. 

Eventually, we found our teammates and the walk began.  Isabella did so well on the walk and at one point near the end she started singing.  People started to turn back and wave at her and she got a little shy and stopped for a while.

She only let me get one photo before the walk.  We're still waiting on the team photo to be posted.

A BIG thanks to everyone who sponsored us!  We more than doubled our goal!

Weekly Menus

I never got around to posting last week's, so I'll post what we ate and what is planned for this week.

Last week:
Sun- burgers
Mon- taco salad
Tue- meatloaf
Wed- leftovers
Thu- garlic and herb chicken
Fri- mac and cheese*
Sat- dinner out

This week:
Sun- baked ziti
Mon- lefotvers
Tue- chicken quesadillas
Wed- leftovers
Thu- french dip sandwiches*
Fri- pizza
Sat- spaghetti