Isabella Walking

Isabella has started using her walker more efficiently. She used to pull herself up on it and just stand around. She would eventually lose her balance and fall backwards and lay helplessly with the walker on top of her. Now she's in full gear at top speed. She is even learning how to manoeuvre it when she reaches a wall. Too cute! (That annoying shrill voice in the video is yours truly. Do I really sound like that? No, don't answer that.)

Under construction

Isabella and I have been under construction since Monday. The job is coming along and the installers have been really nice. Here are some photos of the work in progress.

We've been spending more time in her room than usual on account of there being a lot of dust and power tools around. I was trying some hats on her while she was jailed up in her crib. Here she is hunting a "wascaly wabbit".

Christmas Photos

Last week Isabella went to the Eaton's Centre to get her photo taken with Santa. We went on Wednesday, but Santa's only in the T-dot on weekends so we went Friday morning. He was a great santa, very authentic. She did cry when I put her on his lap, but I don't think she was scared of him. It was because I was in a rush and I threw her in his lap and walked away. She settled down quickly and we got these cute photos.

The same weekend, our friend Jing did a family Christmas shoot for us. Isabella looked adorable. I can't share all the photos on the blog, but here's one we took. Hate to say this, but don't I look so beautiful? You'll have to wait for your Christmas card to see more.

Mommy's little helper

If you've spent time with Isabella, you know she's a busy girl, always curious about her surroundings. Her ability to crawl at warp speed helps her move from one task to another. Here are photos of some of the things Isabella gets into. She likes to help (or create more work, depending on how you look at it) with putting away groceries, folding laundry, unloading the dishwasher, putting away bakeware, feeding herself, washing the floors with her tongue, and I somehow managed to delete photos of her filing. She also likes to clean the toilet seat by taking a used kleenex from the trash can and polishing the seat, sometimes even cleaning the inside of the bowl with her bare hand. If anyone needs help cleaning, I have a baby for hire!

Another win!

The San Diego Chargers (football for those who don't follow sports) won another game last night. Isabella's daddy was happy. We attribute the win to Isabella wearing Tony's Charger's jersey last night.

Another then and now

Isabella use to be the size of a roll of paper towels. Now when people ask us what size she is we say, she's the size of an 8-pack of beer. So if you're looking to buy her some clothes, look for size: 8-pack.

Let's Go Raptors!

On Nov 19, Isabella attended her first Raptors game. Tony and I used to go quite regularly but things have changed. The game started right at Isabella's bedtime, 7pm. She was a bit fussy, but once all the light came on, she started looking all around and was amused. We only made it to half time though, by that point she had enough. We borrowed the earphones from Fred and Jing, so that the loudness didn't hurt her ears. She was quite disoriented. We're looking forward to taking her to more games as she gets older.

In between Thanksgivings

This past weekend we went to visit Babcia and Dziadzia in Oshawa. Chris was at work in Alberta when we had Thanksgiving, so we celebrated Thanksgiving while he was back. Isabella sat at the table with us and then played with her wojek and grandparents.

Another Lesson in table manners

Todays lesson is posture.

Isabella is always too busy and distracted to eat her food. From completely turning around in the high chair to slouching, she does everything to get out of being restricted to sitting still.

Then and Now

On Nov 7th James celebrated his 2nd birthday. We put all the kids on the couch again for a photo opportunity. These are the same children as the April 19th post.

Halloweekend: Monkeying around

Isabella finally got to wear her Halloween costume out in public. She wore it to every single outing we went on.

On Friday we went to my school for the Halloween parade in the afternoon. A friend of mine from work, Erin, brought her 12 week old banana (baby boy) named Matthew. I dressed up as the Man in the Yellow Hat and Isabella was Curious George.

Saturday we went to Cooper's Farm. There we went through a corn maze and saw some farm animals. Being the animal lover she is, Isabella giggled at the goats and cow. Anna and Brad came with us. Our friends Beth, Dave, Steve, Sandy, Lisa and Andrew came with their kids also.

Saturday evening we went to the Wychwood Barns for a family Halloween party. The Barns are old TTC barns that have been converted to a type of community/art centre. We then ordered dinner at Fred and Jing's place. Julie, Chris and Owen were there too. Owen was a shark (very apropos since he's got so many teeth). Amira was a cat burglar.

Sunday we mostly stayed home. I took Isabella to the grocery store in her monkey costume. They had trick or treating there, so I got to do groceries and get some candy. Of course I ate the candy, but it was healthy candy cause it was at an organic grocery store. In the evening I took Isabella for a walk around the block so she could see kids in costume. There were no kids. I think I had to have gone deep into the more residential areas. But by then I was all Halloweened out.

More swimming

Here are some more photos taken my Jing at swimming lessons.

The caption for the second photo should read "Hey, did you hear the one about the duckie, the boat and the swim cap?"

Table Manners

Isabella has some video advice for people who would like to know how to behave when you don't like your hosts' cooking.

(Spit it back at them and opt to chew their table instead).

Cupcakes

About a month ago I posted a hat I knit for Isabella. I said my next project was cupcakes. Well....they're finally done! I made 3. One for Isabella and 2 for her cottage friends Owen and Amira. They each got better as the pattern I used did not produce the results I wanted, so I tweaked what I didn't like about the previous one onto the new one. I know they're not the most appetizing looking cupcakes. Who would want to eat gray icing? But, I used what wool I had around. Inside I put a little bell so that the cupcake rattles. I'm sure the cats will love it. What cat doesn't love yarn and bells? If you are a knitter and interested in the pattern, here is the link: spudandchloe.com/blog

Next up, a caridgan for Isabella. Estimated completion date: summer 2012!

Swim, Swim Revolution

Isabella had her second swimming class today. She is the Starfish program. Amira and Jing take the class too. Today Isabella got dunked under the water. She came up and coughed a little, but didn't seem to mind it too much. She loves to kick her feet and splash the water all around.

So You Think You Can Dance Baby

Baby's got rythym!
She definately takes after me in the amazing dancer department!

Isabella's opinion of mittens

The face says it all. I do an outdoor exercise class with Isabella twice a week in a park. She doesn't like to be cooped up in her stroller too long so I usually let her crawl in the grass. The city hasn't cleared the leaves in a while so at the last class I spent a lot of my time picking leaves out of Isabella's mouth. She also pulls her hat off non stop. Today I thought I would be smart and put mittens on her so she couldn't pick things up. She let me put them on her, but they obviously had some impact on her mood. During the whole walk to the class, she sat in her stroller, motionless and sad. It was heart breaking. But, by the time we got to the park, she had figured out how to take them off..and then pulled her hat off too. Tony's aunt Bonnie made the cute pumpkin hat.

Isabella's first 5k run

No, Isabella didn't run 5k. She was merely a spectator with Tony as I crossed the finish line of the Goodlife Marathon 5k run. I ran with my friend Lisa. I'm thinking of doing another one soon. I couldn't believe that we both got bronze medals! That's 3rd place! It was a good experience, and nice to know that I can actually run 5k again.



(Note: everyone who ran the 5k got a bronze, that was the colour of the commemorative medal)

New Toy

I bought Isabella a walker toy. She's been climbing all over the furniture and pulling herself up on things I thought she would enjoy the freedom of walking around. Didn't think about the fact that we have wood floors, so the walker is more of a "slider". Isabella requires constant supervision when using it so she doesn't knock out her 2 little chiclets.

What a bunch of cuties!

No real reason for this post, other than Jing took some amazing photos at the cottage and I wanted to share them with everyone. Pictured are Amira, Fred and Jing's little girl. She is 15 months old. The little boy is Owen, Chris and Julie's son. He is 7 months.

The photo where all the babies are sitting on the couch together needs some kind of caption, like "We're gonna rough you up!" or "Baby Miami Vice. Coming to theatres near you", or something like that. I know there's a better caption out there, I just can't think of it right now. Email me if you have a good one.