Li'l Scooter

Isabel is newly mobile.  Her rolling has become very advanced, and she scoots backwards so fast.  She can use a combination of rolls, rotations and scoots to get herself anywhere she wants.  And Isabel is already sneaky...she works best and fastest when no one is watching.



 Izzie has a musical toy that we keep under the crib.  She wedged

herself under as far as she could get so she could reach the toy.

And she happily laid there playing her little piano as if this were

a perfectly normal place to be.

Munchie thinks it's really funny when she gets under

the coffee table.  She is completely unfazed when

she inevitably bangs her head on it.  Tough cookie!



A couple of other new things around here.   She has tried her sparkly tennis shoes, which are super cute but a little tight on her pudgy little feet.  And she has also tried her first real solid food...MumMums.  They are basically crackers made of air.  But she thinks it's pretty cool to feed herself.

 

This is how we roll

Mmmmm

 

We took her 6 month pictures with Nana.  We also got some cousin shots with Callie and Carter.  Carter is terrified of Izzie's drool, so we had to keep him as far away from her as possible, while still having them in the same picture.  Luckily Callie is really good with Iz, so we got some good shots.

 

 

 

 

And this picture is just because...well...why wouldn't you want to see this?  Caden likes to hop up on the changing table with Izzie.  And Izzie thinks everything her big cousins do is amazing, so she was game.  He then thought it would be fun to try hats on.  Headbands came next.  They each tried on every single one she owns.  We were on the changing table for awhile.  (And you can't see it, but I'm holding on to Izzie while Bryan takes the picture.  Don't call CPS.)

The Deliciousness of Izzie

Isabel is pure giggly deliciousness right now.  She has expanded her vocabulary to include "Dada" now, much to Bryan's delight.  She laughs hysterically when I growl at her.  She is too busy and grown up to eat her bottles.  She eats all foods except peas.  They literally make her gag (and though she powered through and kept eating them, by the third gag incident I quit trying).  She has tried a sippy cup for the first time.  She pushes herself up on her hands and knees and just kind of rocks back and forth, often very frustrated that it gets her nowhere.  Her favorite (or do I mean "My favorite"?) book is Little Blue Truck.  It is wonderful.  I could recite it in my sleep. 

Izzie's 6 month appointment was last week.  She weighs 19 lbs, 8 oz (95th percentile) and is 26 and 3/4 inches long (81st percentile).  I realize that most people assume she is pounding formula all day with stats like that, but we can barely get this girl to eat most of the time.  She is apparently genetically wired to turn oxygen into calories.  :) 

She cracks herself up

 Prettiest little bird...though her feathers

are easily ruffled when bathtime is over

Gorgeous, drooly mess

 She's embarrassed that I make her do this

every time.  "Not again..."

Big, grown girl

6 Months Old

I can't believe that Isabel is 6 months old.  It blows my mind that she's grown up so fast.  These past few months have been crazy in terms of how much she has changed.  Here's some facts about being 6 months old...

1.  Isabel can turn the lights and sounds aquarium in her crib on and off by herself, to her extreme pleasure. She kicks it so hard it sometimes sounds like she is working on a construction project with all the banging.  (I took this picture of her in the dark.  When she was supposed to be napping but had other ideas.)

2.  Izzie is sure that whatever is in my hands (like the camera) should be in hers so that she can play with it and chew on it.  I went to lunch with a friend recently, and Izzie was sitting my lap as I ate.  I looked down as I was chatting, and Izzie was mauling a handful of ham she had grabbed out of my sandwich.

3.  Munchie rolls effortlessly now, only in a clockwise motion.  But she is choosy about when it is actually worth it.  Sometimes she will roll onto her tummy and cry because she doesn't want to be there, but doesn't feel like rolling back.  However, in this picture, she rolled from the giraffe blankie to where she is in about 30 seconds.  She can do it if she cares enough!

4.  Isabel has some favorite sounds.  She still does the "Mamamamama" a lot, but has recently been rocking the "Buhbuhbuh" quite a bit. 

 

5.  Izzie is learning to love reading as much as Mommy...though perhaps for different reasons. She finds the taste of the book much more exciting than the text.

6.  Sitting up is now the only option.  Laying down is never okay anymore, unless she is sleeping.

7.  Munchie is very good at independent play.  Her current toy of choice is any kind of block.  We have plastic blocks, rubber blocks, and soft blocks.  All are wonderful.

8.  Her feet touch the floor in her jumperoo.  And she goes crazy in it!  Jumping up and down and rocking side to side.  It's hilarious.

9.  Isabel is going to be a big cousin!  Emily is having a baby girl, and we are so excited!  They will only be 10 months apart.  This picture of her is when Em told us it was a girl...I screamed so loud that it terrified her.

10.  Izzie sleeps on her side now (which sometimes turns into her tummy in the middle of the night).  This, combined with her longer hair, means we get some sweet action bed head.  I love it.

A Mini Vacation for a Mini Human

We decided to get away as a family for the weekend.  Just needed to spend some time together relaxing, eating, and shopping.  And little miss darling had a lovely time.  She was a wonderful traveler.  She struggled a bit with naptime, but other than that she did really well. 

We had not realized how vocal she was...until we were in a place where other people could hear us.  We started calling her the Howler Monkey.  She didn't cry much--but she yelled and talked and squeaked a lot more than we had realized!  You don't notice when you're at home and don't care if other people hear you!  Here are some pics...

Her "room" was a closet.  This perhaps explains the troubles napping--

it was a bit echo-y and not quite the environment she is used to sleeping in. 

"Umm..excuse me?  I believe there's been a mistake.

I requested a much larger room..."

How do you entertain a baby in a hotel room...

towels, a mirror, and Daddy's face.

Her first big girl bath!  We did not pack her baby tubby, of course

(though Bryan would argue we had packed everything else we own)

so she had a first try in just the bath tub.  She was a fan of splashing.

Ready for dinner

It's so hard to decide what to order...

Apples.  Just what I wanted.  Who knew that

was on the menu at Cheesecake Factory?

We typically avoid television with this little Munch.  However,

at 8 in the morning when you're trying to keep a Howler

Monkey from waking the neighbors, a binkie and tv go a long

ways.  She was not interested in any shows...until we

found the neon colored, Spanish speaking dog puppets.
Her posture says it all.  She was hooked.

You Gotta Have Friends...

Isabel has enjoyed hanging with "old" friends and meeting some new ones this summer...

Isabel and the Abbott kiddos (Brayden, Gabby, and

Grace) on their visit from Boston

Caden's an oldie but a goodie...

those two are buds

Holy kid explosion!  The Abbotts plus our

other good friends, Harper and Rowan

Callie takes such good care of her little cousin

Iz finally got to meet Uncle Dan

(who was in Afghanistan when she was born)

She Rolls and Eats!

Two very new things have happened around the Rahn household in the past few days.  Miss Isabel is rolling over from front to back and back to front on a regular basis (not like last time when it happened twice and then she decided to quit...).  And just tonight she tried a real food for the first time...bananas!  Here are some pics so you can see how these things are going for her...

A progression of rolling...no easy task!

So proud of herself!

The trial with the bananas was in two phases.  The first phase was quite unsuccessful (and hilarious), but after a nap it went much better.  That's my girl.  Sleep is much more important than food.



Waiting in anticipation...

A little unsure...

Such a sad face!  She just let the bananas sit on her tongue

and she sobbed.  Real tears, red faced...not such a hit...

We chalked it up to tiredness and tried again after a

nap.  She was much more open to the idea, though I

can't call us professionals yet...

She liked it for a little bit, but was very clear

about when it was time to be done...

5 Months Old

Some things about being 5 months old...

1.  Isabel sits unsupported for long periods of time (she doesn't even use her hands to prop herself up...she does it all on her own!).  She gets mad if she is put in the "baby" toys like the bouncer or rocker where she leans back.  She wants to sit up all the time now.

2.  Munchie lunges at the Maya and Pixie every opportunity she gets.  She has gotten fistfuls of hair, so the dogs are getting very good at staying close to me and at the same time as far away from her as possible.

3.  Izzie holds her own bottle for the whole feeding now.  And she is very violent with it.  Formula ends up all over her clothes, face and hair.  We try to control it and help her, but she is very sure she does not need help anymore.

4.  She still has the oldie but goodie loves in her life:  binkie and Jerry. 

5.  Iz loves playing peek-a-boo.  I put Jerry over her head, and she pulls him off and smiles so big.

6.  Isabel has tried rice cereal several times for dinner.  She is starting to get uninterested in her bottles, so we thought we'd throw in some big girl food.  She has done really well with it so far.

7.  She's a tough cookie.  Not afraid of fireworks, doesn't cry when kids splash her in the face at the pool, smiles and giggles when we make scary faces and noises. 

8.   Izzie has rolled over.  I do not discuss this however, because she has done it twice for Daddy (tummy to back) and zero times for me.  She does say "mama", however, so I will forgive her.  She has no idea what she is saying and it is a complete accident, but I'm taking it as a victory.  :)

9.  Munch loves to give kisses.  She grabs your face, opens her mouth, and just goes to town slobbering all over you.  It's wonderful.

10.  She is the BEST birthday present ever.  Every night when I put her to bed, I thank God for her and pray he helps me become the kind of mommy she deserves.  She is precious and beautiful and wonderful in every way.