My Whirly Twirly Baby

Isabel, you love to dance and sing, but most of all you love to climb and tumble. You climb up both your dad and I.

Can they come over?

Today you were endlessly asking if Tino and Francis could come over. I set your analog wind-up clock with the alarm so you could see how long it was until we picked them up (and I could sneak in a lesson on telling time) and you carried the clock all over the house with you and still kept asking me.

I decided that if I don't lay down to take a nap with you, getting you to take a nap is impossible. This week and the last part of last week, I let you stay up if you give me an hour of peace and quiet. I thought it would be impossible for you to not keep after me constantly, so it was going to be more of an excuse for me to put your in your room than a viable solution, but you were very good. You needed to be reminded several times, but not that many. You mostly just played by yourself (something that never happens otherwise), giving your dolls instructions on how to slide down the slide.

New things

You started screaming when I call Isbre. It took me a while to realize that was your imitation of my whistling.

No nap, but yes to Elmo underwear

I could not get you to go down for a nap today. In fact, you ended up in one of your tantrums/fits where you want to kick and hit (and foam at the mouth because you try to spit) but you don't want to be put down. You'll ask to be put down, but then you'll scream to be picked back up again. It wore me out. After you came out of it you were happy as a lamb until after dinner. Then it was obvious that you NEEDED some sleep. Your dad took the bed shift tonight, which was nice for me.

Even on days like today, when you are a screaming, flailing mass, I am still astonished at how much you've added to my life. At how glad I am that you're here and how much I love you. You are smart and funny and dynamic and it's beyond fascinating to see parts of myself, my way of talking and being, reflected and changed in you. You may not have my DNA, but I can see parts of myself in you already and that's a lot of fun.

You are driven and always on the go. You can't wait to master the world and the things in it. You want to push against everything, try it all, have the world on your terms. I think it will make some things harder for you, but your life will not be boring. You won't let it be.

Potty Training Continues

Six months after we thought we were getting somewhere with potty training, we actually may be moving forward. As far as I can tell, the important thing is to make you believe it's something you may not be able to do, or to be very blase. Then you start to think it must be something cool and want to do it. We even got some Elmo underwear, with high hopes.

It's hillarious to hear you sing "Frer a Jacque a". It comes out something like "Where a sock is? Where a sock is? Door mate. Door mate. Song a lot Amia. Song a lot Amia. Din din don." You have the last verse right, but the rest is really funny. I hope I can capture it on tape.