This week in numbers

(Warning- this is a post where I brag rather relentlessly about my child. Read at your own risk!)

2 - more photo shoots for Chasing Fireflies (this time for the holiday catalog)

18 - approximate hours spent driving to/from those photo shoots

7 - hours slept by Isa in the car on the first day

2 - hours slept by Isa in the car on the second day (guess which day was an easier drive)

3:30 - a.m., time we left the house on Wednesday to get to the shoot

3 - adorable outfits modeled by Isa for the upcoming holiday catalog

2 - dinners from McDonalds eaten this week

630 - dollars earned by those two photo shoots (woo-ha!)

20 - number of fabulously healthy and now super clean teeth that Isa has

This week Isa was called for another shoot with Chasing Fireflies. The shoot was down on Mount Hood in Oregon, a 4+ hour drive from Seattle. Wednesday's call was at 8:15 a.m. and I decided the easiest thing to do was simply drive down in the wee hours that morning. Otherwise it would mean driving down late Tuesday, paying for a hotel, and hoping Isa fell back asleep after getting her from the car to the hotel. It was just easier for me to get up at 2:30 and pack her into the car where she, as anticipated, went right back to sleep for the majority of the drive. When we were released Wednesday afternoon I assumed that meant we were entirely done. But Thursday morning the agent called and said they wanted her back. By that point it was too late to make it down on Thursday, so on Friday we made the trek one more time but with a more reasonable call time of 1:00 p.m..

The room adjacent to the work area was open for families and in between Isa's shots, she got to play with lots of other children. Everyone had toys and food, which kind of became communal property for keeping all the children happy. That's actually where most of our time was spent and not on set. On Wednesday, we were there for a total of 4 hours but less than an hour of that was actual "work." Same thing on Friday- 3 hours there and less than 1/2 an hour working. A pretty easy way to earn money!

All the shots were outside in the snow, which should be gorgeous, but conditions were pretty miserable with blowing icy snow. The crew did an amazing job holding up umbrellas and scrims to keep the snow away from the kids. I'm not sure that Isa even noticed she was outside in the cold as she was hamming it up, singing songs for the crew and saying silly things to get laughs. On Friday, her shot was with an older girl (in little sister/big sister holiday dresses) and Isa totally upstaged her! After shooting them together, we had the girls wrapped in blankets waiting to do individual shots. The photographer asked who wanted to go first. I was all prepared to do the Mama thing and suggest Madeleine go first so Isa could warm up a bit more. But, no- Isa threw the blanket off her shoulders and declared it was her turn. And then all through Madeleine's solo shots, Isa continued to sing and dance.

I cannot wait to see the final shots in the catalog! I'm trying very hard not to turn into a Stage Mom, but it's hard not to be excited and proud. At the photo shoots she did such an amazing job. I hadn't expected her to be quite so easy to work with and get a good picture from- she certainly isn't that way when I take out my camera. She stood where she was supposed to, smiled nicely, and was incredibly entertaining. When the photographer tells you that your child should have her own TV show, it's hard not to glow with Mama-pride. Who knows if/when she'll have another casting, but she did a really good job this time and also had lots of fun. (And, let's be honest, money is tight around here and $770 this month for her simply looking cute is pretty fabulous!)

In other news, on Thursday morning, Isa had her first dental appointment. Again, she was a total rock star- sat there in the chair, opened her mouth when asked, closed it when asked, let the hygienist do everything (cleaning, flossing, fluoride treatment) without any fuss. I was very impressed. The dentist said that we needed to lose the paci in the near future. I almost hugged him when he added "which I know is easy for me to say." I'm contemplating strategies and timing now but am very apprehensive about actually discontinuing it!

No photos from the modeling gigs, obviously, but here are some shots from the dentist:

ETA- Okay, I have tried about 12 times to fix the messed up paragraph formatting/spacing. For some reason what I see in the draft is not what Blogger publishes. *sigh*

Isa B, Isa B, where for art thou Isa B?

Caught in the swirl of busy-busy that always seems to surround us, there's where!

Preschool continues to be wonderful for both of us. Isa loves, loves, loves going to school with her new friends and I really enjoy having the free hours every week. They've worked on recognizing their own name, made beautiful art projects, learned about body parts, and are now studying birds. The neighbors just got new baby chicks and Isa has told me about meeting them many times. Yesterday she also told me "Mama, birds fly because they have wings. People no have wings so we don't fly." As an added bonus, she almost always uses the potty at school (more on that later).

Several weeks ago we heard from the modeling agency about a casting call. Once we got there, the first few outfits went well. Isa smiled nicely for the photographers, looked adorable in the clothes. And then it all fell apart. Major meltdown due to hunger (the snacks I brought weren't enough it seems). The photographers were amazingly cool about the whole thing- simply said to go have lunch and then come back. I was shocked that they wanted to see more of her after hearing the screams but we did as told. Apparently they liked what they saw (before and then after the drama) because they booked her! It's for the fall catalog for Chasing Fireflies. She did an amazing job at the shoot. I don't think she was in front of the photographer for more than 15 minutes and they said she was done. There isn't much modeling work for toddlers here in Seattle, so it may be another year before we're called again but this first time was fun for everyone.

There are potentially big happenings on the potty training front as well. Sunday post-nap Isa told me she wanted to use the potty and then actually did! Usually potty-time is initiated by me and resisted by her. After the potty, she put on a Pull-up and promised to keep it dry. And then she did! After the second successful trip to the potty that afternoon, Isa wanted her big girl underpants. I thought "what the heck" and got a pair out for her. It was only an hour before bedtime and those big girl underpants stayed totally dry. Yesterday I put her in the Pull-up from Sunday afternoon. By the end of the day, it was clearly past its prime but still dry. Wooha! Of course today, while she was at Christina's house, there were many fun distractions and regular potty time didn't happen. But I'm hopeful that she's finally decided she WANTS to be potty trained. At this point that's really the only thing holding her back because I know she's fully capable of doing it.

But here's what you really care about, right? I can hear you all screaming "shut up woman and give us the photos!" :)

Check out the ponytail- a full 5 inches off the top of her head! Looks like a beehive doesn't it?!?!?

Snuggling with Auntie Mollie and Soona-puppy

Looking so very stylish in her big girl underpants, rainboots and Fancy Nancy purse!

And finally, last week we watched some videos from when she was really little. Right now Isa LOVES playing "little baby" and so she, of course, wanted me to put the blanket on the ground so she could recreate the video.

The original (it's long but OH MY GOD, wasn't she cute?!?!)

The remake (okay, she's still pretty cute!)