So many changes!

!

This little munchkin is so much fun! These past few weeks she has changed so much--every day she is doing something new and exciting.  Everything goes in her mouth (including the baby pumpkin in the picture above), so we are taking advantage of that by trying some new foods with her. 

The crawling has only continued to improve.  Like all babies, Isabel has turned into a master of places she shouldn't be.  But she is so darn cute it is hard to be annoyed!

Last weekend Izzie started clapping.  It is so precious to see those chubby little hands working so hard.  She now claps for everything.  When you get her up from her nap, when you're playing with her, when you sing... She is very non-discriminating about her clapping.  She even goes so far as to clap while crying sometimes, which is quite amusing.

 

On Friday, Bryan went to get her out of her crib and found her standing there waiting for him. She's so adorable the way she stands there with her little armpits hooked over the side to prop her up.  She's getting really good at pulling herself up, and is trying it all over the place. Delicious Munchie. We'll keep her.

Iz has discovered a new face, and it is hilarious. She scrunches her eyebrows down really far, and opens her mouth really wide into a kind of uncomfortable looking face and gives little irritated grunts.  This is sometimes a silly face that turns into a giggle, sometimes a sad face that turns into a cry, and sometimes an annoyed face that turns into a whine.   It is her all purpose face.  It makes us laugh every time.  (I will keep trying to catch a picture of it, but this is the best I could do so far.)

 

Crawling Continued...

As mentioned in the previous post, Isabel is now a crawler.  I tried to catch a video of some of her moves.  She is looking pretty cute and confident these days.  And as a result, the baby-proofing has begun (see picture below).  Sharp-edged coffee table is banished to the basement.  Stereo is on lockdown.  Outlets are covered.  House decor is hibernating in closets.  This Munchie is caged.  (I should mention that the first attempt at caging her resulted in her pulling the gate to the side and crawling right through.  Seriously?  How was I to know that she has already developed some problem solving skills?  This set up works a little better.  So far...)

8 Months Old and Crawling

This little sweet pea is officially 8 months old and officially crawling. She has been attempting to crawl for about a month, just rocking back and forth on all fours trying to figure it out. She had perfected rolling over and scooting backwards as a means of transportation, and for awhile we were thinking that she might just stick to that. But she figured it out finally. She is still timid about it and only does it when it seems absolutely necessary. We thought once she started crawling she would be all over the place, but she is a very cautious crawler and I'm not sure she's convinced it's worth the effort.  Either that or she wants to avoid looking silly and is making sure she does it perfectly before she tries to show it off. 

 

Nap?  I don't need no stinking nap!

What?  Is there something on my face?



Trying to find the book she wants...

Very proud of herself for getting the remote

off of the table and turning the stereo on.

Her first bruise (right knee).  I was a little heartbroken

when I saw it.  Only big girls get bruises.  

The Cutest Li'l Red

The real reason the Huskers won last Saturday? 

This little one was all aglow with Husker spirit. 

Cutest little fan there every was.

 

 

Moving Up!

There are a couple of new things this week:

1.  Munchie has discovered her ability to use the highest, shrillest pitched scream possible.  It's not because she's mad or sad or needs attention.  It's just because she can.

2.  Iz also discovered the fun "ppppp" noise she can make when holds her lips together and blows air (and baby saliva) through them.  It has been the noise of choice for the last 36 hours.

3. She pulls herself up on her knees wherever she can! At the coffee table to steal the remote, on the arm of the couch to get a better view, at the side of her crib so she can plan her escape (yes, we're lowering the crib now).  Big, grown up girl!

Still on the move!  Her teachers at school remarked

this week on how she moves really fast considering

she only rolls and scoots.  But she makes it work!

What are you guys doing up here?

Always such a happy girl!

Wait, there's more than just ceiling in my room?!?

A new game.

Peek-a-boo!

 

  

Girls' Trip

Grammy, Auntie Em, Izzie and I went on a girls' trip last weekend.  We drove down to KC on Friday, spent all day shopping at Legends Outlet Mall on Saturday, and then drove home Sunday (after a final, quick hurrah at the mall).  We had a blast, and Miss Isabel was quite the happy traveler.  (These pictures are off my old camera, and I can't for the life of me figure out how to rotate the vertical ones.  I will work on it--sorry!)

Grammy bought Isabel her first purse.  She loved

carrying it around (and she had $3 in it from Grampa)

Izzie played with my Kindle in the car.  She never has

before, but I thought a 3 hour car ride might call

for some bending of the rules.  The fish made noise

when she hit the screen, which entertained her for a bit.

Grammy and I ran down to the car and found this when we

came back up to our room.  We did a double take before

we realized Auntie was playing a trick on us.

\

She now gets up on her hands and knees, folks.

Crawling is just around the corner...

Needless to say, she thought we spent

a little too much time in Gap...

A long day of shopping and that girl still

has her purse.  Mommy was proud.

Dinner in a hotel is so fun!

"Auntie said I could..."

 

Turns out the slushie lid was entertaining for

far longer than the Kindle.  Especially when she

found the hole she could stick her lips through.

We Have a TOOTH!

I was sure that as soon as the first tooth popped out, I would want to shove it back inside Isabel's gums and then shove her inside some newborn clothes and pretend she would never grow up.  HOWEVER, this little tooth that showed up last week is so darn cute I can't bring myself to do it.  (And the physical impossibility of her fitting into her newborn clothes is an issue, though when I imagine her crawling I can see how I would reach the point of trying...)  I did cry a little when I found the tooth, but it was a strange mommy mixture of joy and pride and sadness.  Anyway, that little tooth just snuck in without us even realizing until it was all the way out!  No fussy baby or sore mouth.  Izzie just produced that tooth like it was no big deal.  Like she does it every day.  

Bryan says you can't see the tooth in the pictures.  It's on the bottom, right side.  You're going to need to zoom in, folks.  It's a BABY tooth.  Otherwise just pretend you see it so you can share in my joy.  (PS, if you have ever tried to look in a baby's mouth, let alone take a picture inside of it, you understand why this is the best I can do.  She has yet to master the command of "Open up".)  And the facial expressions in the pictures are interesting.  Bryan and I were working really hard to make her do something to open her mouth...and I think we were creeping her out.  You can see the fear/embarassment/confusion on her face in the last picture.  (Or perhaps it's resignation that these weridos in front of her are, in fact, her parents.)