A short letter to my munchkin

Dear Isabelle,
You are almost there pumpkin. Getting up on your hand and knees and rocking back and forth is the pre-cursor to crawling. Now, put one hand and foot in front of the other and start exploring the world around you! You can do it! Stop whining when Mommy puts you on your belly and get your little tush in action! By the way - I love it when you smile and laugh at all my silly antics. I think you have the most beautiful smile in the whole world. You crack me up with your noises and you have an unhealthy obsession with my feet (what is up with that?). I promise that there will never be a shortage of Cheerios in the house...or hugs and kisses. It really makes my day when you get excited as Daddy walks in the door (it makes his day too). You are the light of our lives and we love you to bits. Keep working hard at the crawling thing and before you know it you'll be cruising around the house and I'll be chasing after you wishing you were still immobile under your playmat. I love you for eternity...Mommy.

My daughter...the crocodile

Poor little peanut...her beautiful, smooth, creamy skin has become scaly and dry as of this past week. I don't know why she has all of a sudden turned into a crocodile, but I think it has something to do with the weather, the heat in the house and maybe the detergent I use (of course I am switching to Dreft Detergent immediately to remedy that part of the issue). Izzy's doctor has recommended that I start to use Aquafor on her skin in the morning when she gets up and at night right after her bath. I am basically slathering my baby in this Vaseline-y type of "lotion" morning and night and I don't see much of a difference. I don't want to use a steroid eczema cream if I can use something else, but this poor kid has skin like an iguana. I'm going to give the Aquafor a few more days...and hopefully it will start to work.

In other news, Isabelle will be crawling any day now (see video for reference). Even though she gets frustrated when she's on her belly because she hasn't quite mastered this feat just yet, she still seems to have the basics and I can't wait for her to reach this milestone. I'm sure I'll be kicking myself for saying that after the first week of having to chase after her as she crawls toward something potentially dangerous, but I am looking forward to seeing her enter into this new phase of her life. I'll be keeping everyone posted of her progress and will be child-proofing the house in the meantime.

The Veggie-Fruit Fake Out Maneuver

I am certain that this is something that all mothers are very familiar with...the Veggie-Fruit Fake Out Manuever. This move is used when your lovely, sweet child (who used to LOVE her green veggies) suddenly decides that:

a) she no longer like them at all and will throw a minor fit if you try to get her to eat them

b) there are far better uses for them, such as make-up for you and new paint for the walls and

c) she ONLY wants fruit and will demand it in the most annoying way possible (see video for reference)



Isn't that just...AWESOME! Ugh! It is literally a battle to the death to get Izzy to eat her green veggies (or really anything other than fruit). Therefore I have learned, practiced and perfected the Veggie-Fruit Fake Out Maneuver and I'm here to share my expertise with all mothers.



There are a couple of ways to attempt this oh-so-important and useful manuever. The first fake-out move is to scoop some veggies onto the spoon with a small dollop of fruit on the tip. When your baby smells and maybe tastes a bit of that fruit on the front of the spoon, he or she will (hopefully) be more likely to open his or her mouth for the entire spoonful. This may not work more than once or twice because your baby is a smartie and will catch on quickly. This is why it is necessary to have an abundance of fruit because the next spoonful should be all fruit...this makes your baby think that more fruit will be coming and you can repeat step one again. It's all about the trickery.



The next move in the fake-out routine is mix, mix, mix! Green beans and sweet potatoes? Delish! Greens and apples...why not? Peas and Pears...if it works, go for it! I recommend a one-to-two ratio of greens to mixing-component until your baby has given in to the fact that he or she will be getting green veggies one way or another.



This not-yet patented Fake-Out Manuever has been working fastastically for me for the past week or two...and will hopefully continue to work until Isabelle decides that she no longer likes fruit and only wants bread. She certainly keeps me on my toes. :-)

I'm BAAACK

The holidays wreaked a bit of havoc on my blogging time and then, let's face it, I just got lazy. But now I'm back and in full swing mode...ready to blog away about Isabelle and all her funny (and sometimes annoying) antics.

MY TRIP TO MONTREAL
by: Isabelle

Let's start with a little tirade about the car ride...it was 6 hours long! Mommy and Daddy know that I hate the car seat for even 20 minutes, much less 6 whole hours. I know that Mommy tried to trick me into sleeping, but she doesn't seem to realize that I'm too much of a smart cookie for that maneuver and boy, did I let her know it. I gave her a piece of my mind for at least half of the trip and after all that, I really needed a beer...so Daddy let me try his (just kidding...don't get your knickers in a bunch. It was empty!).



Once we were out of the car, Grand-Papa showed me around so that I could get used to my new surroundings.

We relaxed and I had a nice cold coca-cola to refresh myself (just kidding again...I'm still a boob-chic who loves nursing all the time). I really loved spending some time with my Great Grand-Maman. It was the first time I was meeting her and she gave me TONS of kisses and hugs. She even cried a little when she hugged Mommy and Daddy and I think I heard her saying "Merci" a lot, which means "Thank You" for all you non-french speaking folks.

My cousin Frederick held me and played with me. I'm still trying to figure out how to say "You Rock" in sign language, but I probably need to gain better control of my hand movements first.

When I met my aunt Monique (Grand-Papa's sister), I was a little unsure of how to react, but then she and Grand-Maman started to dance around and sing. They looked so funny, I couldn't help but smile and have a good time.

By the way - for 84 years old...Grand-Maman is pretty strong. Her hugs are like vice-grips!

Mommy and I got dressed up for Christmas. I may have cried a little, but in my defense there were lots of people there and I got nervous...so sue me!

Daddy made everything okay though. He always makes me laugh.

I decided that before I went to bed, I would check Santa's pockets for any leftover gifts he may have forgotten to give me. I doubted he was holding out on me (I mean, I did get just about every toy in existence), but it never hurts just to check.

Hee hee...I found one more small gift, but I'm not telling what it is. It's my secret with Santa and since he just stands there and dances from side to side, I'm pretty certain he won't tell anyone.

The next day, I helped Grand-Maman bake a pie. I did most of the work, but she took all the credit!

As a reward for all my effort with the cooking, Daddy played my favorite game with me..."Find the Baby". That baby is just everywhere!

Not only did I cook, but I also helped to set the table. I am such an awesome little house guest.

Grand-Maman bought me a comfy, warm hat to thank me for helping her with all the holiday preparations.

Grand-Maman told me some really funny jokes and we laughed together for a long time.

I laughed so much I thought I may have had a little accident, so I took a moment to check. Luckily, Mommy was nearby to take care of the incident.

After all that partying, cooking and socializing, it was nice to be able to just take a quiet family walk with Grand-Maman, Grand-Papa and Daddy. But boy-oh-boy was it cold out there!

My first trip to Montreal was fantastic. I met lots of new people and family members and I can't wait to go back when I'm a little older so that I can join in the conversations more and play with everyone. Maybe I'll even be nicer to Mommy and Daddy during the car ride...probably not though. :-)