Swinging

Isabel found her baby swing and even though she is much too big for it had a great time playing in it. This is the same swing that she refused to sit in when she was little.

Botanical Gardens

The temperatures are starting to cool down a little bit, so we feel like we are able to go out and enjoy the great outdoors again. We took Isabel to the Botanical Gardens this morning. She loved smelling the flowers, running up and down the stairs, and trying to find fish in the ponds.

Afternoon Delights

Here our some pictures of our afternoon, typical of how we spend our days (when it is below 95° out).

Isabel and Lamb woke up from their nap and threw everything in her bed onto the floor. Mommy picked it all up and they did it all over again and again and again, giggling and hugging the whole time.


Isabel looks out the window and notices some new flowers blooming, so we head outside where she makes sure she finds all of them and picks and sniff each one. This is very ticklish business as the dandelion fluff goes up her nose quite often.


Afternoon snack time means Cheerios or crackers (preferably eaten outdoors), with plenty thrown on the ground for the birds to eat later. If we're lucky we'll be watching out the window when they come.


Isabel notices that our friends the Bryan's have come out to play and has to go over and check out the action. Usually there are bubbles, water, and chalk involved with playing at their house, so we get nice and messy just in time for dinner.

Isle of Palms

We just got back from a wonderful vacation at the Isle of Palms. The three of us joined the rest of my family, spending a week together in a big house just off of the ocean. Isabel enjoyed the beach most of the time...she was a little skittish around the water. She had a great time digging in the sand, watching the birds flying around, and looking out for dogs walking on the beach. We also took her to the Aquarium in Charleston and she was able to look at fish for as long as she wanted, she was in heaven.

Day One, seeing the "big pool".
Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, and I want to pop every one of them.

Digging in the sand.
Hanging out on the beach with Amy, Walt, and Katie.

Fish, fish, big fish.

We saw one small sand shark while we were at the beach.

I don't like hot sand on my feet, so I got carried down to the beach every day.

Stomp, stomp, get mommy wet and then run away.

Goggle Glasses

Isabel loves to watch other kids swimming when we go to the pool and she is especially fascinated if they are wearing goggles, or "goggle glasses" as she calls them. Then this morning on Sesame Street Elmo was wearing goggles to swim under water and look at fish. So when we were in the garage today looking for something to do and she spotted some goggles in one of our crates, she was so excited! She has been playing with them nonstop. Of course she needed some fish as well so she could be like Elmo, so I made a couple out of construction paper for her to color and play around with, and she had such a great morning.

Chalk

Isabel loves to color with chalk. What an artist! If you select the second picture and open in a bigger screen, you'll see that she has even colored her nose. When she's done coloring she then loves to take out all 52 pieces of chalk and throw them all over the driveway. Since we're on a bit of a hill, they all roll down toward the street and it is hilarious to watch mommy running after them!

Eighteen Months Old

Wow, Isabel is eighteen months old today. Time really has flown lately, she is growing up right before our very eyes. Here's a little about what she is up to these days:

Favorite foods: Blueberries and Goldfish
Newest words: "Your Welcome" and "Apple Pie"
Most repeated words: "Eat", "Uh-oh", "boo-boo", and "Aggy" (what she calls her friend Ella)
Favorite book: "The Sneetches" by Dr. Seuss
Favorite activities: Watching Elmo, Carrying around her crayons and dumping them all over the floor, and Snuggling up on the couch with her big blanket
Must have item: Scrappy, a little piece of fabric she carries around with her everywhere