Learning Everyday

It's very hard to believe that Izzy's 1st birthday is just around the corner. It seems like we just brought her home from the hospital. She took her first steps a little over a month ago, but since then has seemed to have lost interest in walking. She'll still stand up occasionally, but she won't move those little feet. She seems to be much more interested in "talking" instead. Art and I have taken advantage of this by teaching her to use baby sign language. She most definitely knows the sign for "milk." She's also very good at doing "eat" and she's getting better at "more." This morning she was eating cheese for a snack and I showed her the sign for "cheese" again. And well, have a look at the results...

(Oh and she's got this new little face that she does where she makes her mouth into an O. This is the first time we've actually caught it on video.)

Bazinga

It warmed up really nicely here for a few days and we had lots of fun playing with Izzy in the back yard and at the numerous parks around our neighborhood. Lo and behold, it was 70 degrees two days ago and now we have almost a foot of snow on the ground.
After I've been going to a play group with Izzy once a week, I decided that Izzy has hardly any toys compared to other kids. Although she'd play with a paper plate or a deck of cards all day and be just fine! One of the toys that she loved over at a play group member's house was a little piano. Seeing as how it's promoting music, we had to get it for her. It's an early birthday present.
Our little one isn't so little anymore when it comes to eating. She won't eat baby food anymore. She pretty much has to have what mama and dada are eating. This particular morning I happened to feel ambitious and made pancakes. She liked the bigger pieces better.
And last, but not least, Izzy's fancy hair do. She has lots of hair now and it's very blond like mine was when I was a baby (Art too). I don't know what happened at lunch that day, but she rubbed her gross hands in her hair and her hair felt like it had gel in it. So naturally, I had to make her a little mohawk. It's slightly hard to see, but it's definitely there. Izzy looks like such a big girl in all these pictures, our little one is growing so fast!

New Tricks

Our little Izzy turned 10 months old the day before Valentine's Day and a few days later...she took her first step. She has now perfected going from a squatting position to standing. She started doing that on Monday. Then on Tuesday she took a step. She's so proud of herself after she stands up that she claps for herself most of the time. She hasn't taken more than one step, but you can tell she's thinking about trying it. It just amazes me how fast she picks things up. One day she couldn't stand up and all and the next day she could. Several times today Art and I just sat there and watched her try all her new skills. This evening when we were watching some tv, she even stood up on our bed and jumped. It would be hard for me to stand up on a squishy bed and she did it over and over with no problem. Here is a video of her standing up on the bed. She got pretty close to the edge at one point (as you'll see, I almost drop the camera to catch her)!

Valentine's Day

In Loveland there are lots of traditions around Valentine's Day and one of them is all the hearts that get put up around town. This year I was lucky enough to have my sweetheart get a heart for me. Thanks babe, I love you too!

9 Month Appointment

We had Izzy's 9 month doctor appointment yesterday. She's doing so great! She weighed in at 18 pounds 5 ounces which was in the 45th percentile. She was 29 1/2 inches tall which was in the 95th percentile. She's our tall, skinny girl I guess. The doctor is always impressed with how much she can do for her age. She's going through a bit of separation anxiety right now, so she cried a few times when the doctor was doing his exam, but other than that she was a trooper. It's just incredible to me how big she is already. She's trying to say all different sounds now. She has said "mama" for a month or so and just started saying what sounds like "dada" the other day. Art was really excited about that. It's so much fun watching her grow and change a little bit every day.

Christmas

Christmas at our house this year was so much fun. It was definitely one to remember. It's so much fun having a little one around to enjoy the holidays with. Izzy didn't really understand the whole idea of opening presents, but we all sure got a kick out of watching her look at the Christmas trees and the gift bags and the wrapping paper. We started out of Christmas extravaganza celebrating on Christmas Eve with my side of the family. Izzy had a lot of fun playing with her uncles and the toys they got for her. She was infatuated with the buttons on her Grandpa's shirt too! Christmas morning we spent at our house as a family. Art and I filled up Izzy's stocking with some of the toys she's already played with and that she's familiar with. She didn't mind on bit that there wasn't anything new in her stocking. I think she liked seeing our reaction to things better than anything else!

Santa brought Izzy a great new wagon. We can't wait for the weather to warm up so that we can take if for a spin outside. We kept it in the house for a few days after Christmas so that Izzy could play with it. Thank goodness the little seats inside have seat belts because I think we'll be needing them for our little wiggle worm. In the afternoon on Christmas Day we celebrated with Art's side of the family. We had a wonderfully huge meal and got to spend some great time chatting with everyone. By early evening Izzy was tuckered out (so were Art and I). It was all so much fun and so many wonderful memories were made. Thanks to our family and friends for your generosity and hospitality toward our family during this holiday season! We're so excited to see what 2010 has in store for us.

Jump Izzy Jump

Poor little Izzy has been fighting a bad cold now for about a week. Her nose is runny constantly and she's having trouble sleeping because of it. Consequently, Art and I aren't getting much sleep either. Regardless of how she's feeling, she's still finding all sorts of new things to try and get into. Back in July we got her a little bouncer that hangs in the doorway. We haven't put her in it very much since then because she would just sit there. Lately though, I've been putting her in that in the morning when I'm getting ready so that she doesn't get into too much. Lo and behold, she has figured it out. Here is a video of her jumping.