The Little Girl Who Could

She turned one. No more baby. (sniffle, sniffle). Our little girl is so capable, and independent all of a sudden, it's unbelievable! Aside from getting tooth #7, and eating (and loving!) cheese quesadillas, six days after her first birthday, Belles TOOK TWO STEPS!!!!!!! She's on the move, folks! This accomplishment has been accompanied by a plethora of emotions (for her mama, at least), but all in all, it's an amazing and wonderful milestone. "Watch out, World," is pretty much our new mantra.

Another blogworthy event of the week was Izzy's first birthday party last Sunday, which, incidentally, was held on Daddy's birthday (happy 32nd, Reg!). Somehow we crammed 12 beloved ones into our little 8'x12' living room to celebrate with us. Amidst the cupcakes and balloons and wrapping paper, the very best part of the day was all the love that was crammed into one tiny house (we even had "virtual love" coming from grandparents who weren't able to make it). Seriously, it was palpable. Our girl is so very blessed.

The birthday bash concluded a VERY busy and celebratory weekend, having celebrated G-Mama and Bob's matrimonial bliss the day before. (and, as a humorous sidenote: when we went to get her black MaryJanes to complete her flower girl ensemble, we tried on her normal size 2.... no WAY. Size 3- well, picture Drizella Tremaine trying on the infamous glass slipper... Size 4- nope, her poor little foot fat was still squeezing out the top of her MaryJane (which, by now, was about twice as long as her little foot!). SOOO, we went for black suede booties instead, complete with rhinestones on the sides- and plenty of elastic.) Anyway, I digress....

On this side of the weekend of (joyful) insanity, Isabelle is beyond thrilled to have a zoo of new friends in her room now, including Helga the Hippo, Georgia the Giraffe, Luellen the Ladybug, Pierre the Polar Bear, and Cleo the Kitty. Oh, and a barnyard of Playskool friends that reside in a shiny red barn. It's a party around here, let me tell you.

Although there are about 54 other topics I could go on and on about right now, I am reminded of the fact that late night is not my most eloquent -or succinct- time (right, Jen?). So until I am more rested,

xoxo

Christy

Birthday Ponderings

It is quiet. Isabelle has just had her early morning *sippy cup* and is now slumbering in bed for a couple more precious hours. Yes, that's right, no more bottle for our big girl. 365 days ago at this time I was hoisting my largeness into the Tracker and driving with Reg towards Sparrow Hospital, to begin the greatest adventure of our lives. How has a year passed? Unbelievable.

In the last year, which feels like a week and a decade all in one, this precious one has gone from a snuggly, sleepy little stranger to a precocious, talkative, independent, fiercely affectionate, capable little girl who loves to give smooches, put her socks "on" her feet, pat all of her animal friends, eat broccoli and chicken, and babble to anyone who will listen. A year ago I could hardly imagine the day when she would hold her own head up, and now she does "somersaults" over my legs. A year ago the only sounds she made were coos, cries, and burps. Now she says words like mama, dada, tooth, juice, done, and cheese. A year ago our idea of "playing" was mama holding a book or a toy in front of her to examine, if she was awake for a few minutes and doing some tummy time. Now she would rather "read" her own books and pretend to give her baby a bottle than (heaven forbid), have to take a nap. A year ago I had no idea how we would ever teach her all that she would need to know, the essentials like how to hold her head up, eat solid food, sit up on her own....

And yet somehow, through the too-short nights, and the spit up, and the panicky moments of "how do I know if I'm doing it right?," our girl has grown up just as she should, and she has taught me how to be her mom. And though the days of her sleeping for hours curled up on my chest are fleeting, they are being replaced by new precious moments of seeing her eyes light up as she learns a new word or concept, and moments of watching her sense of humor forms as she tries to tickle my toes, or "hide" from me behind her book, or make me laugh with funny noises only Isabelletheglorious can make. So although I'm not a big one for change (let's face it, that's the understatement of the century), I am learning, through Mommyhood, to embrace it. The change is SO worth it.

Well, it's a long -and wonderful- day ahead (not only is it Belle's birthday, but G-Mama is getting hitched today, too!), so it's probably time I up and arm myself with some waterproof mascara. But in the words of Paul Simon, "These are the days of miracle and wonder." How blessedly true.

Time flies...

    I've decided, this week, that it's time to get my act together and create some order in the chaos that has become life. This has included two trips to Goodwill, 12 new Sterilite storage containers, and now, posting regularly on this blog to keep you, our loved ones, up to date on our little corner of the world. I commit to at least one post a week. Please feel free to hold me accountable :) 

    That said, life has been crazy busy for us Loewens here in Okemos. Somehow, time has flown and Izzy is rapidly approaching her first birthday. Reg wins the award for Stay At Home Dad of the Year, as he has spent the year teaching Isabelle things like how to identify animals in her books, faithfully participating in library story time every Wednesday, playing round after round of Patty Cake, and changing more poopy diapers than he ever imagined. It's a tough job being full time parent and caretaker, but he has stepped up to the plate and knocked the proverbial ball out of the park!

    To bring the blog up to speed, Isabelle spends her time right now pretty much cracking us up. She loves singing "duets," by doing call-and-response songs on a syllable of her choice, usually "na," "da," or "ma." She also loves breaking into random fits of giggles and guffaws, frequently in her crib during naptime. When she's not singing or laughing, she can usually be found contentedly eating broccoli, giving her doll excessively wet "smooches," or feeding Cheerios to her best friend, Wolfie. 

    Oh, and I should mention that Isabelle, unlike either of her parents (wink, wink), is quite the verbose one! Exploring new syllables is a favorite activity, and we've pretty much mastered da, ma, ga, deh, wa, ka, noo, doo, and no. Works, I mean WORDS, in progress include juice (pronounced 'tseuss'), cheese ('tsesch'), and Cheerio ('cheh'). All in all, it's pretty much the most charming thing ever and we could probably spend the rest of our days listening to her babble away happily. 

    Before signing off for tonight, one more topic: food. Just like her parents, she LOVES it. Any type. Any flavor. Any texture. (well, except whole kernel corn). Her list of favorite foods is quickly expanding, and to date, includes cantelope, peas, pears, yogurt, peaches, avocado, cucumber, squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, green beans, cheese, lefse, chicken, hamburger, cheerios, Gerber puffs, applesauce, and her two favorites: bananas & broccoli. Speaking of which, it's about time to de-pea the little bean's high chair tray ... 

until later,

xoxo 

christy