Mmmmm

For several reasons I decided to start feeding Oliver a bit earlier than planned. About a month ago I started giving him rice cereal once or twice a week. He rejected me with many screams and pushing the spoon away. Then suddenly this week, he decided food was great. After the first bite he opens his mouth wide waiting for another bite. He also figured out how to swallow the food, so now he is eating a bowl of cereal every evening.

Gym Class

Isabel has been going to gym class for a month now. She really enjoys it, and every week she has a new favorite activity. This week she was so proud because she walked on the balance beam by herself after some help/coercion from her teacher. The pictures aren't great, but I still wanted to share.

Haircut

Isabel has been in much need of a haircut lately, but she has been very resistant to me cutting it lately (thus the bangs in her face). I broke down and took her to a kids salon the other day. She loved it! Her favorite part was getting her hair dried, she was cracking up, she thought it was hilarious. We decided to let her bangs grow and just trim the back, and she let the stylist even pull her bangs out of her face and wore them that was for a few hours. I forgot the camera, but when we got home she made sure I took a picture of her new haircut.

Kid Facts

Some facts about Isabel now that she is three:

Favorite Sayings: "But Momma", "Nooooo", "I DON'T know" and "Why?"

Favorite Food: Anything sweet, but particularly chocolate ice cream cones.

Favorite Activities:
Isabel loves getting out mommy and daddy's games and "playing". She organizes letters in scrabble, writes all over score pads, moves chess pieces all over the board.
She also loves to pretend that she is an animal, or that animal friends are visiting.
Anytime that Daddy is around, Isabel wants to be hanging out with him. She loves when Daddy takes her out to run errands.

Least Favorite Activities:
Taking naps...about once a week she falls asleep on the couch in the afternoon.
Going pee on the potty...she is perfectly capable, she just thinks it is great to wear Pull-ups.

Mommy's observations: Isabel is so sweet, and loves to give us hugs and kisses and snuggle up with us. My favorite time of day is when Oliver is napping and she and I cuddle on the couch together to read books. She has a great imagination and is always surprising me with what she is playing. She is very observant, and whenever she is around other kids she likes to hang out and watch what is going on first rather than jump right into the fun.


Some facts about Oliver now that he is five months old:

Hmmm. Honestly, we've all been pretty sick with some nasty colds for the last month, so I'm having a hard time remembering what he was doing at four months. Oliver is getting really good at reaching out and grabbing everything, and of course it immediately goes into his mouth. He gets really frustrated if he can't reach something or doesn't have anything to play with. He is also a lot closer to sitting. If he is enthralled with something and not moving, he can sit propped on his arms for twenty or thirty seconds.

Party Time

Isabel's birthday party was a lot of fun. She told me she wanted a chocolate cake with animal crackers on it, so I made her a carousel cake, and we did carousel horse crafts with her friends.

Grandma and Grandaddy

Grandma and Grandaddy came to visit for a long weekend. Isabel and Oliver had a wonderful time playing with them, and being spoiled by all the attention. Robert and I enjoyed having a little break. :o)

Isabel tricked Grandaddy into reading "The Sleep Book" by Dr. Seuss (the longest, most sleep-inducing book every).

Aunt Katie sent some beautiful nail polish to Isabel.

Oliver got to play with Grandma in her bed every morning.

Isabel got a new swing for her birthday. She spent the morning helping Daddy and Grandaddy setting it up.Isabel had fun testing everything out once the swing set was up. She approves of the slide and the swings, but isn't too sure about the glider.

Oliver had a great time checking it out too, and he approves.

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday Isabel! Isabel had a wonderful third birthday yesterday. She spent the day eating sweets, playing with her new toys, and running around naked. It was a very wonderful day indeed. Thank you to everyone who called and sent gifts.

The festivities will continue with my parents coming to visit her tomorrow, Grandpa Urso coming next week, and a birthday party this weekend. We can't wait!

Snow Day

Currently Isabel's favorite book is "Olivia and the Snow Day", so she was very excited when we woke up to a beautiful white snowfall Friday morning. Oliver and Daddy stayed inside where it was warm while she and I made snow angels, dug for sticks in the snow, and tried to make a snowman (didn't work). This beautiful snow came after a week of bitter cold and ice that is now coming to an end, yeah!

You can't make a snowman when the snowballs keep falling apart.

We improvised on the snow gear. You may be able to see some of the red ClingWrap peaking out of her shoes. We wrapped it around her feet and legs to keep her dry.

Four Months

We finally went for Oliver's four month check-up. He is growing so big and strong.

Oliver's current likes: He is really starting to want to be entertained. He is happiest if he is being carried around or if he has a toy to play with and chew on. If I leave him on the ground, he'll move himself around in circles trying to reach for things, and then delights in slobbering all over them once he gets them.

Current dislikes: Being left alone, having his nose wiped, and sleeping. Well he really likes to sleep, he just wakes up a lot still and wants mommy (daddy won't do) to put him back to sleep. We have the doctor's blessing to let me cry it out at night, so whenever I work up the nerve, we're going to see if we can teach him to go back to sleep on his own.

Here is a video of me trying to make him laugh...sorry it is so shaky...