Little angel?

The little rascal you see here, yeah, the one that looks like such a sweet angel, well, she's become an independent woman already. She has let me and John know that she can feed herself and she doesn't want baby food anymore. She will purse her little lips together, turn her head away, and, for good measure, wave her arms in front of her face if a spoon so much as comes close to her mouth. Let me tell you what a terrifying day this is for me. Now, I'm frantically searching the house for things that are soft enough for her little gums to "chew" up, as well as nutritious enough for her growing body. Don't get me wrong, as a parent, I realize that my job is to help her become more independent. I obviously don't want her to rely on me to feed her for the rest of her life. It's just very hard to find the perfect finger foods to meet her needs. When I think I've found just the thing, I go to the store, cook or heat it up, cut it into small pieces and proudly place it in front of her, all the time thinking this is just the perfect thing for her... only to find her pushing it across her tray with this cute little scrunched up face clearly letting me know that she doesn't want it. It's extremely frustrating. And daycare isn't making my job any easier. Nope, she's eating cinnamon toast (yes, with sugar added), hot dogs (choking hazard? not to mention the non-nutritious factor), and fish sticks (loving the fried foods.) I mean, who wants mashed green beans when you eat pizza for lunch?! So, I'm just venting a little, just letting you in on my current frustration. Who knew I'd get so excited when she'd willingly finish a jar of apple/apricot baby food? And yes, I did yell across the house to John that she ate a jar of fruit without crying. So, just be thankful all you parents (Sally and Matt) when your sweet little angel finishes all her food without a fuss. I can't help but be envious.

9 months

Isabella is officially 9 months old, but she's been a part of my life for twice as long. She weighs 17 lbs. 10 oz. and seems to be growing so fast. She's learned so much in the last month. She's taking steps with mine or John's help. She walks on her tip toes, and is so proud of herself when she gets to her destination. Her grin is so huge and she bounces with such joy at her accomplishment. Of course, we're really proud of her too! She's still working on crawling. She's almost mastered going backwards, but forward motion is still alluding her. She gets so frustrated when she's reaching for some object and ends up pushing herself further away, but it's so funny. John had a glass of water on the floor and I told him that Isabella was reaching for it. He looked at her and said, "she won't get there," because he knew she'd end up moving away from it instead. We've recently moved her mattress to a lower level so that she can't surprise us by standing in her bed (and possibly falling over the side.) It's just more difficult putting her down in her crib now. I have reach so low, but she doesn't seem to mind.

She's regularly and more purposefully calling me "mama" now, which is so sweet. My heart melts whenver she says it. John starts saying "dada" to her whenever she does it, in an attempt to get her to call him instead. She's also learned wave bye whenever someone says the word, and she can nod yes also. She nods so hard that I think it has to hurt her head, and her expression is so serious that it's funny!

It's been a very fun, exciting month, which might explain why I've neglected this blog so badly. Isabella's keeping me so busy that I've barely had time to even think about getting online.

Isabella after an exhausting day

Snow Day

I don't keep up with the weather, but John did mention that there was a possiblity of snow flurries last night. We both laughed, of course. It's safe to say that 99% of the time, predictions of snow are brief to non-existent in Birmingham. So, when we awoke to the beautiful white landscape outside, it was quite a surprise. It was truly the perfect snowy day too. The power stayed on (a huge plus) and it was on a weekend (no worries about heading to work!) We got up and made pancakes and bacon and enjoyed a relaxing morning watching the snow fall. Then we dressed Isabella in some warm clothes and headed out to let her get a good look at her first snowy day. She wasn't overly impressed. It was pretty windy and cold, and a snowflake hit her eyelashes and she wasn't happy. But we got some cute pictures and video! Here are a few:

John and Isabella

Me and Isabella

Mimi, Dad, and Isabella

8 months

Isabella (as my grandmother put it today) is "legally" 8 months old. Time has truly flown. I can't even believe another month of her life has passed.

It seems like so little time has gone by, but so much has changed for her. She has two bottom teeth now, and she's eating more finger foods (cheerios, peas, crackers, etc.) She is looking more like she might crawl soon. She is pushing way up on her arms now, and kicking/pushing with her feet. She's not going far yet, but she's not right where you left her anymore either. She continues to babble constantly, which is really fun to hear. No words yet, but we're listening for them! Her personality is becoming more evident; she's generally a very happy little girl. She's always watching what's going on around her and learning new things constantly.

I fall more in love with her everyday, and it's clear that her daddy adores her as well. I've been told before, but it seems everytime I blink she's grown up a little more and I'm always surprised.

Isabella intently studying the peas she should be eating

Isabella's taken an interest in studying the law with her daddy

We made it

Isabella and I made it through the weekend without John and through Isabella's first ear infection. She's feeling much better now, but we saw the doctor on Friday and she wasn't feeling very good then. I've discovered that she loves (thankfully) the taste of amoxicillin and she can eat Cheerios. She couldn't get the cheerio to her mouth because it got stuck in her palm but she can eat them now. (My dad says that's the step before chocolate. I think he can't wait to let her try it, and I'm trying to hold him off for a little longer.) I was worried that her sleep pattern would be off again, since she'd been sick, but she did pretty well last night (9 hours and only up once.) So, we made it through the weekend with a few new discoveries and a now-smiling little girl.

Happy Birthday, baby!

It's John's birthday today! We celebrated John's birthday a little early because again, the army has decided that he should be away (this time in Mississippi) on his birthday and Valentine's day. You can probably hear the note of bitterness in my voice, but I do realize that the army can't take things like birthdays into consideration for every person before making these decisions. I just hate anytime that he has to be away from us, but especially for special occasions. Anyway, we still celebrated together last weekend. John and I had lunch on Friday and birthday cupcakes at Edgar's. Then I sent him for a surprise massage, which he followed by 9 holes of golf. (It was a beautiful afternoon, about 75 degrees and sunny.) Then we went to dinner at Ocean that evening. And for the big birthday finale, we went to see Ruben Studdard in Ain't Misbehavin' on Saturday. It was an awesome show, by the way. To top it all off, we had birthday cake with his mom and Martin following the show. It was a wonderful weekend.

So, happy birthday, baby! I miss you as always, and I hope it's a wonderful day!

Miss Independent holding her own bottle

I love this expression!

Sleeping patterns and Extreme measures

Isabella hasn't really gotten the hang of sleeping through the night. This isn't a secret to those who are around me and John because we're always tired. I think I've finally hit the bottom though, and have decided that it's time for drastic measures. So, we're trying the "cry it out" method. I've interviewed parents of all ages and most have tried this with at least one or more children. Most tell me that it works wonders, so we're trying it. On Thursday night we attempted it once and Isabella cried for a full hour before falling asleep. On Friday, it was better; she cried for 15 minutes and woke several times that night, but the crying didn't last any more than 15 minutes at a time. It's gradually decreased until last night, and she slept from 8:30 pm-4:30 am without waking! She only cried for 3-4 minutes when I put her down in her bed. Now I will say that I've "broken the rules" and picked her up from her crib when she's really upset and I've gotten her out of her bed to change her diaper, but I think we've all handled this adjustment very well. Now, if this trend will continue, I can begin my am workouts again and feel rested at the same time. I will be meeting my resolution, decreasing the frequency at which I seem to be sick, and improving my general mood, all at one time.

For those of you blessed parents that haven't had any sleep issues, be thankful. But be prepared for the next child because everyone I spoke with had some sleep issues with at least one! I'm praying that John and I are blessed with more children, but I'm hoping that the next one is a better sleeper!

Isabella is trying out her new umbrella stroller that grandma gave her for Christmas

Here she is demonstrating the rain protection