Almost Crawling!

Dear Isabella,

You are almost crawling my dear! You're a pro at rolling over, spinning in circles on your tummy like a helicopter, and now you can push yourself backwards with your strong little arms. Though I don't think that last one is quite on purpose yet!

You have mastered retrieving and aiming your pacifier. At night we swaddle you with one arm out - we're starting to ween you out of your "magic blanket".

At your bedtime bottle you do the cutest thing - you cover your eyes with your chubby little hands, or sometimes you have one palm on your forehead above your brow as if to say, "Whew! What a day!"

Your favorite toys are your apple, crinkly elephant, piano, and rattle ball.

It's almost time to start solid foods. We're excited and nervous! Well my Bean, you're getting to be quite the big little girl. I'm so proud of you.

Love you,
Mommy

Isabella's First Cold

Dear Isabella,

You had your first cold earlier this week. Poor little Bean. Your nose was runny and your eyes were watery and you felt warm (thermometer said no fever though - just like me and Grandma when we're sick too). You couldn't sleep and you wanted your pacifier but you kept dropping it because you had to breathe through your mouth.

And poor Daddy - he slept in the living room to be closer to your room because you kept waking up.

Luckily you got better really quick, and now you're back to your old self. When you weren't feeling well you still weren't very fussy anyway! Just a little less smiley and a little more tired and needing cuddles.

You're such a trooper! I'm glad you're better my dear.

Love you!
Mommy

Hello, Orange!

Dear Isabella,

You had another great weekend, sweet Bean! You spent the night at Grandma and Grandpa Nick's house on Saturday and when you came home to me and Daddy you spent the whole day playing with us. You practiced your rolling over of course, and practiced sitting up with me and Daddy. You're getting stronger every day!

You also pet Orange all by yourself for the first time! He jumped up on the couch while you were up there with me and Daddy and instead of running away when he saw you he sat and looked at you. You reached out with both your hands and he let you touch him - you even sort of hit him once or twice before we stopped you. But he didn't mind at all. Then you sort of grabbed a fistful of fur and started pulling so we put an end to that! But it was nice to see him so tolerant and you were so curious! Just try not to pull his fur or tail ok? And stay away from his paws - he doesn't like to hold hands like we do.

Well my Bean, you're in bed now and hopefully you sleep all night. You were pretty tired before your bath. I love you!

Love,
Mommy

Dear Isabella - trying to catch up!

Dear Isabella, Oh my dear. I keep falling further and further behind in my posts. Guess what, sweetie! You're turning over (and over and over and over) like a pro now! And you can swim yourself in circles on your blanket on the floor too. Daddy and I got a new entertainment center (actually a dresser) so you can't get into the DVDs and electronics when you start to crawl. You still haven't sprouted your first tooth but you're sure working on it. I can tell some days your gums are just so, so itchy. You want to put everything in your mouth all the time! You're much more aware and interested in things lately - if that was even possible. You've always been an alert little Curious George. Your personality shows more and more each day, and once you've made up your mind about something you're pretty hard to convince otherwise - if you're hungry, you're HUNGRY and if you want a particular toy a substitute will only distract for a few seconds. You keep going through different sleep stages. This week you've been a great sleeper, waking up only once or not at all, and even then only for your pacifier. But I know that won't last long - you keep tricking us into thinking you've learned to sleep through the night only to start waking up several times a night for a week or two! I have to bathe you in the big person tub now (even though we put your baby tub inside the big person tub and use that), because you're such a daredevil. You can't quite sit up by yourself yet but you can get yourself into the sitting position from semi-reclined (like you are in the baby tub) and then all bets are off as to what direction you'll launch yourself. Bathing you up high in the kitchen sink was getting too risky. And now you love your bath so much! You could kick kick kick in the water all night if I let you. In fact your feet and legs are always on the go! You are going to be a soccer player or kick boxer or just a really good hopscotch-er or something, I think. And you twirl your feet in the air in circles. When you're excited or upset you kick kick kick! I bet you're going to have pretty dramatic tantrums! When I hold you before I put you in bed at night I look down and think how amazing you are. It is just mind-blowing that you are growing so fast! You're very tall. Your cute little hands with the dimples where your knuckles should be, resting on my hand or arm, I want to capture that forever. Your contented sigh as you fall into dreamland makes me feel so good. That and your cute little laugh. You're 5 months old, my girl. You are still such a happy baby. I love you so much. I don't know if you'll ever really know how much I love you - maybe if you have a little girl of your own one day, you'll understand what I really mean. Love always, Mommy