Izzie Smiles

I set out this morning to capture my girl's good morning smile. It's the best thing in the world. I crawl out of bed grumpy and groggy. I stumble to Munch's bedroom and peek into her crib. She smiles. Suddenly I'm not so grumpy or groggy. She doesn't even care that I have on a baggy t-shirt, mascara smeared under my eyes, and hair that looks like small animals nested in it over night. She still smiles (maybe she's laughing at me). Regardless, it's hard to not have a good day after that.

The first one is her in her crib. I couldn't get the picture to rotate, so you'll have to turn your head. After that, she was not impressed by the camera in my arms instead of her so that was the only shot. The next few are the phases of her smiles as we have a morning chat on her changer. She's the best.

Six Weeks Already!

Miss Isabel is 6 weeks old this week. She still "talks" up a storm when she's in the mood, and is still a great sleeper. In fact, this week she has done a couple of 8 hour stretches at night.

Izzie is starting to exert an opinion on some things, which cracks us up. She was hanging in her crib at my mom's house, staring at a mobile. My mom went to pick her up, and some VERY angry screams came out of that little chica. The second my mom laid her back down she stopped and happily stared at the mobile again.

Also, just in the last 24 hours she has started smiling at us intentionally. Bryan was singing a made up song about monkeys last night (I'm sure you're sorry you missed it) and she was smiling so big! Then, when I went to get her out of her crib this morning, she spotted me and started smiling a bunch. Sweet girl is growing up fast!


And in this corner, weighing in at 10 lbs 8 oz, the two-time bottle-chugging champion...THE IZ!


Her first time wearing a dress! We love this warm weather!


Auntie Leslie came to visit us from Texas. She's an auntie by heart, not blood, but we love her all the same! She nicknamed this little one Princess Peach due to her soft, fuzzy, round, pink and delicious appearance!


Most people aren't aware that these infant play gyms are actually made for two! Caden came over to see us, and curled up next to Izzie on the mat. He kissed her and hugged her and helped her get her binkie in her mouth. And he said over and over to her, "Me here, baby. Me here." :) We love that boy!


In case you thought we forgot about the other ladies in our lives, here's what Maya has been up to. She is also a BIG fan of spring and warm weather and mud. Pixie prefers to stay out of bathtub so she avoids the mud.

Warm Weather!

What do you do when it's 80 degrees and you're 5 weeks old? See below for Izzie-approved suggestions...

Hang in the shaded pack 'n play while Mom works in the yard

Meet some peeps at the park. No, my child is not being injected with growth hormones...that's a friend in the swing I'm pushing. Izzie is in the stroller in the back.

Chill on a blanket under a tree. DO NOT forget the shades.

Take a nap. Roll your shirt up if you get hot. You'll love it.

Pics

First walk in the stroller! Of course she was so covered up she could

barely see out. And she slept the whole time. But she loved it.

Just hanging out with Daddy.

All my loves taking a nap.

Going to Grammy's birthday dinner...

Tummy time! Check out how high thar chin is! The doctor said we need to do

tummy time, but Isabel is not a fan. At all. So this is the compromise.

Tummy time on my tummy makes her pretty happy.

Chilling in our play gym.

My Most Favorite Mini-Human

The amazing Munchie is ONE MONTH OLD today! So hard to believe! She is still the most darling and precious thing we've ever met. I guess if it's lasted for a month then maybe the feeling will stick, huh? At least until she's old enough to roll her eyes at us...

Izzie is really aware of what's going on around her now. And she's a noisy little bug! Not crying (unless you are a minute past feeding time or trying to bathe her), but cooing and talking and grunting. She's hilarious.

We had her one month check-up yesterday. Isabel is 10 lbs, 2oz (80th percentile for her age) and 22 1/4 inches long (90th percentile). The doctor said she is doing great--she has great head control and neck strength, is very vocal (like I said...), and has some of the best skin he's seen on a one month old. It really is delicious. Hard not to kiss it all the time!

Happy One Month, Isabel!

I had to take a picture of this because it was a first. Note the milk drool? This is the FIRST time this child has ever fallen asleep before finishing a bottle. The very first! Isabel takes her meals seriously. She passed out halfway through this bottle and slept like a log for an hour. She was screaming mad when she woke up! Guess she learned her lesson because it hasn't happened since.

Hairbow? Check. Diaper? Check. Shirt? Check. Socks? Check. Pants? Dangit! Knew we forgot something! Check out those yummy little legs, though! Who wouldn't go pants-less if you looked that good doing it?

A snapshot after our doctor's appointment (the little paper has all her stats on it). Iz did a great job until the shot--she was not happy about that. But she calmed down pretty quickly and then slept the rest of the afternoon. She was wiped out after our big morning!

One month old today! Precious face! I thought it was appropriate for her to wear this shirt that Auntie Em bought for her today--she really is super. We all agree. But we had to accessorize since it's a gender-neutral orange. We will not be mistaken for a boy. Ew.

Full body shot of my big grown girl!

New Peeps

Isabel met some new friends last week. My friend Kristin (who lives in Boston) came for a visit. We had lots of fun sitting on the couch, talking, snuggling baby, and drinking slushies. Izzie had her first Skype date with Kristin's kiddos back home, and had her first restaurant experience at Cheddar's. She was awesome of course!

A friend at church had a little guy just two days after Izzie was born. He was a few weeks early and weighed just under 7 lbs. It's amazing what a difference 2 pounds and 2 inches can make when you're a newborn--Isabel looked like she was three months old compared to him! Unfortunately, as you can tell from this picture, there wasn't a lot of enthusiasm about their meeting...he wouldn't even look at her and she clearly felt awkward about the whole situation... :)

Isabel's Favorite Things

Her swing. It's a source of much happiness for Munch. And does she look out and observe the room around her? No. She stares what at what I can only guess is the screw on one of the bars. Let's call this attention to detail.

Her favorite spot by far? The changing table. Not because of what happens there, but because of what hangs above it. My sister made her that bow board, and it has since been filled with all sorts of pretty things (including lots of pictures drawn by cousins and friends). Izzie will lay there and stare down that bow board for hours (in newborn time...so like 10 minutes).

Bath time. Not because of the bath, but because of what follows. We get the room nice and toasty, and have some good old naked baby time. Complete with a nice lotion massage from Mommy. She LOVES this. (In this picture, she was still upset about the fact that we had the nerve to bathe her. Screaming mad. I went to grab her jammies, and when I came back she was calm as can be talking to her daddy. I thought it was adorable so I snapped a picture.)

Her bouncer. So...I put this picture in as a hilarious display of our parenting skills. She was happy and comfy...and blind. Probably not the correct placement for a headband. Worse yet? After I snapped this picture I fixed it, but Bryan came in with his phone and was bummed he didn't get a picture. So what did we do? Put it back over her eyes, got him a picture, and then fixed it again. What's parenting if you can't have a little fun now and then, huh? :)