The Little Mermaid

With temperatures like this, we just had to test out the baby pool this week.  The first day, I think the water was a little too cold for her.  Mommy was excited and didn't let the water sit too long, but tried adding a few buckets of hot water.  She freaked when I put her feet into the water.  The next day I filled the pool up first thing in the morning and by the time she finished lunch it was nice and warm.  She was a little startled when I first set her in the water, even though it was warm it was still cooler than her bath water, but then Mommy sat in the pool with her and she thought that was pretty cool.  She absolutely loved it!  I had expected her to get bored, but I wound up having to drag her out of there.  I didn't want her to spend too much time in the sun.  Here are a few pictures of our little mermaid:

She may not have liked the water the first day, but she sure looked cute!

Toys!

This is fun, Mom!

Trying to eat grass...

Crawling after her dolphin

I'm really looking forward to taking her to a public pool now.  The WL pool opens today, but we have errands today and won't have time to go.  Thankfully, the pools all open this weekend so we should get to try it out soon!

2 Years Ago...

This is still my favorite wedding photo!


And just for fun, last year looked a little something like this:

*Both photos by Lindsay Wilson Photography

She's standing!

She officially pulled up to standing on Mother's Day!  She'd been using us to pull herself up for a couple months (grabbing our hands or grabbing onto our knees while we're sitting on the floor), but this was the first time she used a piece of furniture to pull herself up.  The best part was that we both got to see it!  What a great Mother's Day present!  

She now uses anything and everything to get herself to standing: the tv stand, the bookshelf, the baby gate, and even Audrey!  It seems like she wants to be on her feet all the time now.  Mid-crawl she'll stop and put herself onto her hands and feet.  It's like she's trying so hard to stand herself up.  

I was afraid that once she started pulling herself up she wouldn't be able to get back down and would either cry until we helped her down or fall and hurt herself, but she's done surprisingly well.  She's pretty good at lowering herself as far as she possibly can and then plopping down on her bottom.  She's mastered the art of the controlled fall. Oh, and don't worry her fluffy little cloth diapered bottom has plenty of cushion. :)

(Don't worry, there's nothing in her mouth.  That's just the glare of a spit bubble!)

9 Month Appointment

He had Isabella's 9-month check-up today.  Poor baby has her first ear infection :(  I knew something was up last night from the way she cried at bedtime because she normally goes down without a hitch.  This was a really hard, pathetic cry, the kind of cry that had her hiccuping even after she stopped crying and fell asleep.  Even the magic cure-all (nursing) didn't work.  She wouldn't even latch on and she has never just flat out refused to nurse.  I was glad her appointment was today.  The NP prescribed Omnicef since she was just on Amoxicillin a couple weeks ago for a suspected case of Strep (she tested negative).  Pricey stuff at a $60 co-pay, and I was told that we won't even need all of it and will wind up throwing half of it out.  Awesome, right?  She also had a Hep B shot.  Poor girl can't catch a break!

She's made a significant drop in weight (16lbs 8 oz- 10th-25th%).  We aren't worried though since she's not losing weight, developing normally, eating well, and her height and head circumference are still on track.  She's such an active girl so that's probably a big reason for the drop.  She's also been sick on and off.  She'll likely be petite like her mommy.  I think she's shot up a lot in height recently.  she just looks so tall to me all of a sudden. She measured at 28.5 inches (75th%), and her head was 44.5 cm (75th%).  Maybe she was just lucky enough to have inherited my metabolism!  Let's hope because she seems to have inherited my love of carbs.

Grandpa Harvey came over for dinner last night.  We had baked ziti and Isabella got to try it.  She gobble it right up, the little pig.  Grandpa couldn't believe what a good eater she is.  She loves food, she's not picky at all, and she eats her veggies like a champ.  I know this could all change as she get's older, but right now I'm thrilled with the variety of her diet.  I am such a picky eater and so much of what I do like is junk.  I hate having such a hard time finding things that I will eat when we're out or making special requests.  I often try things that I haven't liked in the past and sometimes I am surprised to find myself enjoying them, but often I find myself gagging on them.  I really don't want her to be so picky, and I certainly want her to be a healthy eater!

9 Months

Isabella is 9 months old today!  It is hard to believe than in just 3 short months we will be celebrating our baby's first birthday!  Please excuse me while I sob uncontrollably. 

We've been going through a very odd time in our household recently.  Isabella has had a congested/runny nose and an irritated throat, but she is happy as can be!  We had a few rough days with both naps and nighttime, but as long as we weren't trying to put her to bed she was a happy, smiling, active girl.  We actually took her to Urgent Care on Sunday because I was worried that maybe she had an ear infection, but her ears were clear.  They ran a Strep test and that came back negative as well.  I'm convinced that it's teething-related and that the sore throat is from the poor girl crying so hard for those two nights. Most of the time she seems happier than she has ever been.  I think this is due to her ever-increasing mobility, that and the fact that I am such an awesome mommy.  :)

Here's an idea of what 9 months looks like in our house:
-Hand and and knees crawling.  She is super-fast, going everywhere and getting into everything.  This has resulted in a second baby gate.
-She's a pro when it comes to pulling up to her knees.  She's still working on pulling up all the way, but we don't really have anything that is both tall enough and sturdy enough for her to pull up to.
-Wearing some 9 month, some 12 month clothes
-Has her two bottom teeth
-Eating like a horse.  She'll eat anything we give her and gobbles it up in seconds.  Most days she is now getting a mid-afternoon snack in addition to breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
-Drinking water from a sippy all by herself!
-She doesn't like being confined in the exersaucer or jumperoo (unless she has a snack or we take her outside) so it's making it very difficult for mommy to get the spare bedroom organized for the playroom project.
-First trip to the zoo (Columbian Park)
-She has discovered the electronics.  I cannot tell you how many times I have to drag her away from the Wii, DVR, etc. everyday.  The bookshelf is a big draw too.
-Trying to steal my food.  It's becoming hard to eat in front of her.
-Speaking fluent gibberish.  Seriously, the child is such a chatterbox.
-Using Mommy and Daddy as jungle gyms, and climbing onto/over anything else she possibly can.  The little monkey.

Can't forget the required monthly photos:

Right after installing the baby gate.  She went right for it!

 Playing outside

 
At the zoo

First time swinging at the park; she was not a fan

 Using the cup all by herself!

 Happy girl!

Standing at her learning table

Peeking at Mommy through the door of her learning home

Sleepy baby

Playroom Ideas

I put together a couple of "idea boards" for my two playroom ideas.  These aren't necessarily the exact items I would use, but they give a pretty good feel for what I'm imagining.



Jungle
 

Dr. Suess

I Need Help Y'all

Clint and I have decided to turn our third bedroom into a playroom.  Right now it is an "office," but really it is just a catchall for junk.  Our desktop isn't even working.  The room is basically a waste of space as it is.  It doesn't make sense to turn it into a guest room because someday it will be baby #2's room (no, there is not a baby #2 yet, just thinking ahead!).  It doesn't make sense to purchase furniture that we will just have to take down and store, so playroom it is!  I am desperately trying to reign myself in and not go completely overboard, but I am ridiculously excited about planning this room!  I just need to keep it under control, because again it doesn't make sense to go crazy decorating a room that will be turned into a nursery in a relatively short time. 

I definitely want to paint the room a bright, cheerful color and add some type of fun wall decor so it's not boring.  My ideas are orange walls with a modern jungle animal theme (here's my inspiration) or aqua walls with red accents and a Dr. Suess theme.  Either way, I could probably create any artwork/murals myself so both would be pretty affordable.  Clint has already voted for orange walls, but OMG how adorable would Dr. Suess be?!  Although, I might be much more likely to go overboard if we do Dr. Suess because I already have so many ideas.  So what do you think?  Orange Jungle Animals or Aqua/Red Dr. Suess?  Leave your vote in the comments section.