(And yes, that is a single ponytail on top of her head. As if you needed further proof that she has an overabundance of hair....)Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Wanna see something cute?
All I could get her to make was one of her funny faces and my camera batteries died soon after, so this is the only pic of her first time in her new real ballerina leotard, tights, and shoes (which you can't see). I'm bummed that we can't take photos or video in our Mommy & Me class because she is beyond precious. She ADORES it!
(And yes, that is a single ponytail on top of her head. As if you needed further proof that she has an overabundance of hair....)
(And yes, that is a single ponytail on top of her head. As if you needed further proof that she has an overabundance of hair....)
Monday, September 28, 2009
Potty training part 3/4
Sooooo........
Last Thursday was a total bust. In hindsight, I should have scrapped the idea of potty training altogether after the morning started off on a horrible note. Yep, hindsight and all that.
The morning started at 5:15 when Squiggy came into my bedroom and projectile vomited all over the floor. As I was cleaning that up, Isa woke up yelling "Mama! Mama!" I went in to her room, she stood up in her crib and promptly asked "Mama's room?" Ordinarily if she woke at that hour, I would throw her in bed with me but there was still kitty puke on the floor, so that wasn't an option. After some rocking I got her back down and continued to mop up the floor. Fun, fun.
By 6:30 Isa was up for good. It was a cranky morning (for both of us). Finally, sometime around 10, she was in a good enough mood to change into the big girl underpants. We had a good hour or so of sitting on the potty every 15 minutes and checking for dry pants in between. Then she had an accident in the kitchen. Cleaned Isa and the floor, changed her into clean underpants, and we practiced multiple times hurrying to the potty the next time she had to go pee. Less than half an hour later- huge flood on the living room floor.
And that was the end of potty training. Mama was just not ready to deal with any more bodily fluid clean-up. (Or so I thought- the cat puked all over the bathroom about an hour into naptime and I got to clean that up too!)
I thought I had two big aces up my sleeve for potty training- Isa LOVES her big girl underpants and she HATES to be messy. For example, I have to keep a washcloth at the table because she wants her hands cleaned numerous times during each meal. So I thought that she would really dislike having an accident and that would help motivate her to use the optty. Alas, while she has mentioned quite a bit that she got her big girl underpants wet, it doesn't seem to bother her.
Honestly, if she didn't try to scratch my arms off on every other diaper change, I wouldn't be so motivated to try potty training this early. But she does, so we'll give it some time and try again. (Hopefully the kitty will cooperate as well!)
Last Thursday was a total bust. In hindsight, I should have scrapped the idea of potty training altogether after the morning started off on a horrible note. Yep, hindsight and all that.
The morning started at 5:15 when Squiggy came into my bedroom and projectile vomited all over the floor. As I was cleaning that up, Isa woke up yelling "Mama! Mama!" I went in to her room, she stood up in her crib and promptly asked "Mama's room?" Ordinarily if she woke at that hour, I would throw her in bed with me but there was still kitty puke on the floor, so that wasn't an option. After some rocking I got her back down and continued to mop up the floor. Fun, fun.
By 6:30 Isa was up for good. It was a cranky morning (for both of us). Finally, sometime around 10, she was in a good enough mood to change into the big girl underpants. We had a good hour or so of sitting on the potty every 15 minutes and checking for dry pants in between. Then she had an accident in the kitchen. Cleaned Isa and the floor, changed her into clean underpants, and we practiced multiple times hurrying to the potty the next time she had to go pee. Less than half an hour later- huge flood on the living room floor.
And that was the end of potty training. Mama was just not ready to deal with any more bodily fluid clean-up. (Or so I thought- the cat puked all over the bathroom about an hour into naptime and I got to clean that up too!)
I thought I had two big aces up my sleeve for potty training- Isa LOVES her big girl underpants and she HATES to be messy. For example, I have to keep a washcloth at the table because she wants her hands cleaned numerous times during each meal. So I thought that she would really dislike having an accident and that would help motivate her to use the optty. Alas, while she has mentioned quite a bit that she got her big girl underpants wet, it doesn't seem to bother her.
Honestly, if she didn't try to scratch my arms off on every other diaper change, I wouldn't be so motivated to try potty training this early. But she does, so we'll give it some time and try again. (Hopefully the kitty will cooperate as well!)
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Potty training part 1/2
Today after ballet class, we headed to Target. Initially the trip was to get a few things for me and try to find a leotard and tights for her. No dice on the leotard or tights, but I decided it was time to buy big girl underpants so we could start the potty training process on Thursday.
Isa was THRILLED with her new big girl underpants. She clutched them the entire way through the store, on the ride home and then carried them around the house. I had explained to her that she would get to wear them tomorrow and kept harping on the fact that you have to use the potty when you wear big girl underpants. I planned to re-read the potty training book I had tonight and be all ready for training in the morning.
Isa B had other plans. As soon as she woke up from her nap she demanded to wear her big girl underpants. So I decided to go ahead and try. She did great when we were at home- sat on the potty on regular intervals (although nothing happened) and in between we would check the underpants to make sure they were still dry. Unfortunately, we had plans to have dinner at a friend's house and (obviously) Isa wasn't taking those underpants off! I asked her every minute on the car ride over if the pants were still dry- happily, they were. They remained dry from 3:30 until 6:30, when an accident happened. By that point, we had both gotten distracted and I hadn't reminded her to try the potty in quite a while.
Tomorow we have nothing planned, so we can stay home and really focus on using the potty all day long. I already have pull-ups to use at nap time and she'll probably stay in diapers at night for quite a while as I have no plans to move her out of the crib anytime soon. But I'm hopeful that we'll be able to move to big girl underpants during the day from now on.
Isa B has been throwing major fits during diaper changes for a while now, so I'm looking forward to being done with them. At the same time, diapers are the last real "baby" thing we have and I'm kind of sad to be officially moving into little girl-dom.
Here she is- in all her big girl underpant glory!
Monday, September 21, 2009
I am a girl
Sorry for the long absence. I feel like I've finally started to pull myself out of the funk I was in for the last month. Isa's doing better behavior-wise (with the exception of meltdowns at nearly every meal), which helps immensely. The rest of my world is slowly falling into place again as well.
Happily for me, Isa has turned out to be a lot like me personality-wise. She's a thoroughly independent and outspoken gal who happens to also be a complete girly-girl. She likes watching baseball and football, but does so while holding a baby doll. I firmly believe there's no reason you can't have a closet full of heels and a basement full of power tools!
.
Here she is showing off her feminine side:
Tea parties with Grandma & Papaw
We started Mommy & Me ballet classes, which Isa adores. Whenever the music stops, she immediately says "More? More dancing?".
I need to get her a leotard and tights but for now the tutu will suffice.
One of her favorite costumes- the tutu and princess crown.
This girls LOVES the phone (both real and pretend).
And finally, here she is showing off several girly-girl skills in a single video. I have to admit that she does a stellar job walking in some fairly tall heels! Once she gets the hang of the heels, what does she head straight for? Her purse, of course.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Exhaustion
I'm currently in the throes of sheer, utter exhaustion of the mental/emotion variety, which inevitably turns into the physical variety.
Crappy things in my personal life in the last month or so. Continued weight gain means nothing in my closet fits. My cat was diagnosed with triaditis (inflamed small intestines, pancreas, and liver) as well as possible pancreatic cancer. Isa continues to "be 2" from time to time and I just don't have the reserves to be as patient about it as I would like. Which, in turn, makes me feel guilty.
So that's pretty much it from here. I'm really hoping that the end of summer will mean the schedule will return to normal, allowing me time to try and dig out from under all this muck.
In the meantime, here are a few, much belated, birthday shots- in slightly random order. I haven't had the time to load the shots another friend sent via email so you may see some more in the future.
We so rarely get good shots of both of us- I love this pic!
Mmmm... cupcake!!!
Can you tell that she enjoyed opening presents?
Blowing out her candle.
Yummy snacks for the birthday girl.
Crappy things in my personal life in the last month or so. Continued weight gain means nothing in my closet fits. My cat was diagnosed with triaditis (inflamed small intestines, pancreas, and liver) as well as possible pancreatic cancer. Isa continues to "be 2" from time to time and I just don't have the reserves to be as patient about it as I would like. Which, in turn, makes me feel guilty.
So that's pretty much it from here. I'm really hoping that the end of summer will mean the schedule will return to normal, allowing me time to try and dig out from under all this muck.
In the meantime, here are a few, much belated, birthday shots- in slightly random order. I haven't had the time to load the shots another friend sent via email so you may see some more in the future.
We so rarely get good shots of both of us- I love this pic!
Mmmm... cupcake!!!
Can you tell that she enjoyed opening presents?
Blowing out her candle.
Yummy snacks for the birthday girl.Monday, August 17, 2009
The big 0-2
On Sunday, my baby turned 2. How in the world did she make it to 2 so darn quickly? Didn't she just turn 1? It's just not possible that it has been a full year since then.....
Saturday, I planned a little party for friends here in Seattle. Isa's had some trouble with her final set of molars and was a bit crankier than usual all week. Luckily ibuprofen was working well and I was hopeful that we'd be meltdown free. But, in true Isa B form, she decided Saturday morning was the perfect time for the sh*t to hit the fan. She started by waking up at 5:30. I physically CANNOT get out of bed that early. By 6 am she had raised the decible level considerably and I forced myself up. Ugh.
Her big gift from me was an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a big roll of drawing paper for the other side. I made the mistake of having it out for her that morning thinking she would play with it and leave me free to finish setting up for the party. She went straight to it and within a minute or two was throwing the crayons. The rule in our house remains "if you throw something, it means you don't want it". I take the thrown item and put it up on the mantel. Thus, the crayons went away. Mad about that, she then decided to attack the easel and start ripping up the paper. So, the easel went away to my room as well. At this point Isa started making hideous, non-human sounding tantrum screams. Sounds I'd never heard from her before. She spent the next several hours either flipping out or sitting on my lap with her paci. There was no in between. Medicine didn't make her feel any better. Suffice to say, no shower for me... no party set-up... Luckily Autumn and her fabu husband Ben came over early to help or I would have been greeting guests in my pajamas!
Apparently, having someone other than Mama around snapped Isa out of her crazed state and she returned to her normal cheerful self. The party was really just a big playdate with the addition of cupcakes and presents. Everything went swimmingly. Food was eaten, children ran around the yard, grown-ups chatted.
Isa got very excited when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her. She blew her candle out, without any help, in one good puff. Then came the presents. She would pull the paper off a present and run around shrieking with happiness just to see the box underneath. It was pretty adorable. After presents, I herded everyone back outside to eat the cupcakes. She enjoyed the cupcake much more this year than she had last year.
The only "incident" happened towards the end of the party, as Isa was playing in the sandbox with her friend Solly. I've worked really hard to get Isa to understand that "sand stays in the sandbox." She was carrying a half-full bucket of sand around the yard and I told her to please go put it back. She walked over to the sandbox and just as I was about to thank her for listening.... she leaned over and dumped the entire load right on her head! For most children, this wouldn't be a real problem. But you've all seen the amount of hair Isa has. Quantity of curls plus the fact that her hair is liberally coated with conditioner each morning means that sand doesn't just brush out. *sigh*
Sunday we had a party with family which was a little less eventful (thankfully) but also very fun. She shares a birthday with my sister's fiancee, so they had a joint birthday BBQ for Taylor and Isa.
And today, she had her 2 year checkup. She is now 32 inches tall and 25 pounds, which puts her around 16th percentile for height and 30th for weight. I was a bit surprised about the height. She's just soooo much taller than she was in the spring. I figured she was going to be at least the same percentile as she'd been at 18 months (30th percentile). But I guess the fact that 2T pants are still 3 inches too long should have clued me in.
And, finally, let me apologize for no pics. I was much too busy to take photos at the parties. I will be getting pics from the friends who did take the time to pull out their cameras and post them- hopefully soon.
Saturday, I planned a little party for friends here in Seattle. Isa's had some trouble with her final set of molars and was a bit crankier than usual all week. Luckily ibuprofen was working well and I was hopeful that we'd be meltdown free. But, in true Isa B form, she decided Saturday morning was the perfect time for the sh*t to hit the fan. She started by waking up at 5:30. I physically CANNOT get out of bed that early. By 6 am she had raised the decible level considerably and I forced myself up. Ugh.
Her big gift from me was an easel with a chalkboard on one side and a big roll of drawing paper for the other side. I made the mistake of having it out for her that morning thinking she would play with it and leave me free to finish setting up for the party. She went straight to it and within a minute or two was throwing the crayons. The rule in our house remains "if you throw something, it means you don't want it". I take the thrown item and put it up on the mantel. Thus, the crayons went away. Mad about that, she then decided to attack the easel and start ripping up the paper. So, the easel went away to my room as well. At this point Isa started making hideous, non-human sounding tantrum screams. Sounds I'd never heard from her before. She spent the next several hours either flipping out or sitting on my lap with her paci. There was no in between. Medicine didn't make her feel any better. Suffice to say, no shower for me... no party set-up... Luckily Autumn and her fabu husband Ben came over early to help or I would have been greeting guests in my pajamas!
Apparently, having someone other than Mama around snapped Isa out of her crazed state and she returned to her normal cheerful self. The party was really just a big playdate with the addition of cupcakes and presents. Everything went swimmingly. Food was eaten, children ran around the yard, grown-ups chatted.
Isa got very excited when everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her. She blew her candle out, without any help, in one good puff. Then came the presents. She would pull the paper off a present and run around shrieking with happiness just to see the box underneath. It was pretty adorable. After presents, I herded everyone back outside to eat the cupcakes. She enjoyed the cupcake much more this year than she had last year.
The only "incident" happened towards the end of the party, as Isa was playing in the sandbox with her friend Solly. I've worked really hard to get Isa to understand that "sand stays in the sandbox." She was carrying a half-full bucket of sand around the yard and I told her to please go put it back. She walked over to the sandbox and just as I was about to thank her for listening.... she leaned over and dumped the entire load right on her head! For most children, this wouldn't be a real problem. But you've all seen the amount of hair Isa has. Quantity of curls plus the fact that her hair is liberally coated with conditioner each morning means that sand doesn't just brush out. *sigh*
Sunday we had a party with family which was a little less eventful (thankfully) but also very fun. She shares a birthday with my sister's fiancee, so they had a joint birthday BBQ for Taylor and Isa.
And today, she had her 2 year checkup. She is now 32 inches tall and 25 pounds, which puts her around 16th percentile for height and 30th for weight. I was a bit surprised about the height. She's just soooo much taller than she was in the spring. I figured she was going to be at least the same percentile as she'd been at 18 months (30th percentile). But I guess the fact that 2T pants are still 3 inches too long should have clued me in.
And, finally, let me apologize for no pics. I was much too busy to take photos at the parties. I will be getting pics from the friends who did take the time to pull out their cameras and post them- hopefully soon.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
A week in pictures
More to come when I have the time but here are some pictures from our (very, very) busy last week or so:
Playing in the sandbox with cousin Caroline
Being pulled behind Uncle Tim's boat
Dinner with new friends Martha & Eyerus
Playdate with Solly & DeDe
It was HOT! Time to cool off in the pool.
Ethiopian Heritage Camp
Three adorable girls- Amara, Elsa & Isa
Ethiopian nursery rhymes
Best buddies :)
Best buddies in their lovely Ethiopian dresses
New friends
Crazy wrestling time!!
Family Picnic
Playing in the sandbox with cousin Caroline
Being pulled behind Uncle Tim's boatDinner with new friends Martha & Eyerus
Playdate with Solly & DeDe
It was HOT! Time to cool off in the pool.Ethiopian Heritage Camp
Three adorable girls- Amara, Elsa & Isa
Ethiopian nursery rhymes
Best buddies :)
Best buddies in their lovely Ethiopian dresses
New friends
Crazy wrestling time!!
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