Isabella-month four!

I know everyone is excited to see pictures of Isabella, but allow a mother some musings. I'm struck by how big my little girl is getting. It's not in her height or weight (the dr. is concerned because she's a little underweight-we go for a weigh-in in 3 more weeks). It's the little things that she's able to do now that strike me that my little girl is growing up. We've had a few "official" milestones this past month: she rolled from back to side a few times, she's consistently sleeping through the night, she began eating cereal and has moved on to fruit (the jury's still out on pears). But I look at different things: the fact that, four months ago, her whole body fit from my elbow to fingertips, and then it was her butt resting in my hand, and now when I hold her it's the back of her knees that's there. We had to remove the head support from her carseat because it kept getting in the way. I packed up her newborn clothes (hard to believe she was ever that small!) and she's now into some of her 6-month clothes (thanks again, Shari, for making my girl the best-dressed thing out there!). I am able to make her laugh and she responds to me a lot more; she's begun doing razzberries, which is especially fun during cereal time (see photo below). She's able to play by herself, to keep herself amused, witnessed by the fact that, as I type this, she's on the floor, sucking her fingers and smiling at me. When the fireplace is on, that's a whole other level of mesmerism. She moves her arms out of the way when I go to pick her up, and she's learning to grab at things, recently my sleeve when I went to get her clothes from the dresser, the changing pad while I tried to pick her up, my face constantly when I nurse her-she makes it almost impossible to sing to her because her little fingers are in my mouth and up my nose. It's just part of how she's learning to get around her world and it both excites and saddens me.

P.S. When I put this together, the pictures follow one after the other and the captions are right where I want them to be. For some reason, once I publish it, everything gets moved around, so that's why stuff doesn't always match up. You probably don't care, but the anal, Type-A in me goes up the wall every month. :o)






These are made more fun by the fact that she can grab the paper now! I'm not sure how it tastes...The little mark between her eyes is where she scratched herself, even though I cut her nails every single week!

Isabella's math: one bowl of cereal + two fingers sucked between every spoonful = a big mess! This is one of her better days!

I finally broke down and bought her some toys. She loves the Link-a-doos, the plastic rings as she can grab at them now. It struck me right after seeing this picture that it looks like she's going for a baby MRI. I've removed the canopy and made it a mat for her to lay on. She really likes this toy and at $10 at the resale shop, I thought it was a steal.

The ubiquitous bathtub shot. She actually looked so much cuter than this, but my camera isn't always good at capturing the moment as I see it. LOVE the Squiggy hairdo!

Colts mania strikes again! It's an understood "rule" here that everyone wears their Colts gear the Friday before a home game. I decided to buy myself a shirt so as to not be stoned while out and about, and thought Bells could use one too, just in case. I went to Wal-Mart, bought the onesie and fabric paints and made one for her. I think it turned out pretty well!

Halloween! While I would LOVE to have bought her a Tigger or lobster costume from Babies R Us, fact is, she didn't even go out! She slept through most of the afternoon, so we went Trick or Treating the next day-via webcam with my folks and stopping over at Bill & Volere's later that day. She was a cheerleader! Thanks to Mom for the outfit (it's actually a bib!) and her candy bag, a nod to her "ghosty eyes" (yes, she still does them).

See? What did I tell you. Cousin Shari gave my girl the clothes hookup! Here she sports her purple hoodie (with glittery stripes), a little pair of embroidered jeans, and her purple hi-tops. She's the best-dressed kid at the grocery store!

Some day she will hate these shots, but you gotta recognize the baby bald spot. Business up front, party in the back!

Here's her aquarium. At night it lights up, bubbles, and plays songs so she can fall asleep. One morning I awoke to a whirring sound. When I went in there, I found that she'd learned about the red lobster roller wheel and was spinning it for all it was worth. Another example of how she's learning and growing!

And this one I took just because she looked so cute in her Halloween jammies. And because she has successfully removed her own pacifier! This is a normal event now. She can pull it out and she'll either chuck it (always fun to search for where it went-this is why we've lost a paci) or, with some struggle, she pushes it all around her face until she finds her mouth. It's a real hoot to watch.

LOVE this picture! We go for walks almost every day because she loves being outside and it's usually a great calmer in the afternoon when she can be fussy. It was particularly cold one afternoon so I pulled out her carseat cover. It was so cute to see her little head poking through! Once we got on the road though, all I could see was one eye. It was very "Tell-Tale Heart" and a bit creepy!

It's hard to see in this picture, but one thumb will just no longer do. Now she's happiest when both little thumbs are jammed in her mouth. Makes a fabulous slurping sound too.

Couldn't resist getting ANOTHER ghosty eyes picture. I never tire of these, and sometimes pull up her carseat cover just to make her do them.











Bella's first trip to the Pumpkin Patch! We set out one glorious Saturday to a corn maze and pumpkin patch, and then headed over the state park. We couldn't have asked for better weather and she was a trooper all day. Since she loves being outside, she was in baby Bella heaven. She loved staring up at the trees as we walked the trails. Her cat hat was a wardrobe staple the whole month of October-simply adorable!

Mommy steals a kiss. Of course her tongue is out!

Have you ever seen a cuter smile?

I just love the look on her face in this one.

We asked to borrow this red wagon from the Pumpkin Patch people. I think it made the shot.

It was too bright for her to open her eyes, but I think it's a cute shot just the same.

This smile makes it all worth it.

Joshua snapped this when I wasn't expecting it. That should explain the look on my face.

The cardboard sign says $1.00 We thought it was a steal for a cutie like her...

Here she is with the pumpkin that Daddy picked out for her.

Barnaby's! Not her first trip, but a chance to hang out with Uncle Jeff and cousins Brian, April and Rachel. Here she is having her first taste of "pizza bones." (Yes, she wears those jeans a lot.)

Here she is sporting her new hi-tops. They're really too big for her and kinda heavy. She kept lifting her foot to look at them.

Here she is in Chicago in October, visiting with Uncle Jeff and cousins Brian, Rachel, and April.












And last but not least, sporting her cat hat. See you again next month!