What the…

This is by far my favorite post yet. It just perfectly describes how crazy and unpredictable (and comical) life can be. We are installing wall heaters in the upstairs bedrooms because we have lots of fun visitors coming soon and its sub-zero up there. I’m not sure who used to occupy the upstairs bedrooms but they must’ve been from Canada or woodsman to tolerate it.

I digress…so after a day of workers in/out of the house and in the attic, we can’t find our sweet (but slightly brutish) male cat Coco. We assume he’s gotten outside and can hear him crying out but it’s dark and the back yard/garage are a hazard so we just figure he’s stalking some unexpecting mice and will be back when he’s done. This morning still no sign of Coco. As I stand in the bathroom, I hear him crying again so I open the window and call out. As my ear is very near the wall – I realize that it’s coming from WITHIN the wall, not outside.

Rohan is bleary eyed and desperately trying to feed Isabel without going unconscious from her 330am waking last night and lack of having his first cup of coffee. After some investigation, we discover that yes, the cat has gotten himself into the wall and Rohan has to help coax him out.

All before 7am….such is life!

Happy New Year – ??

We’ve had a little bit of a rough start to the year. Little Isabel has started daycare (which she really seems to enjoy). And while everyone agrees they are great for babies to learn from other kids, they are also Petri dishes for germs. So she’s had a non-stop sniffly nose which has turned into a never ending ear infection. So we’ve had our 2nd experience with the ER – this time on a joyous Sat night – which is by far the busiest and strangest time to go to the ER. Many tears later, we arrived home to put her to bed around 12:30 am with another dose of antibiotics. I was really hoping that she’d still get in 12 hours and sleep til 11am! But no, our early bird was still up at the crack of dawn. (Is it wrong to want to ‘rock paper scissors' for who has to get up with your baby?.

This is why you need family close by – please grandparents, if you’re reading this, move here! it’s a win/win for everyone!

Oh well, as if dieting and the new year’s resolution pressure weren’t enough … At least I can still beat my husband on Wii bowling.

new parents...

Isa took her first big tumble this weekend. Dad was on the Wii, Mom on the computer and baby having fun with Mom's cell phone standing at the ottoman. Isa went to turn and tripped over mom's feet, face planted on the hardwood floor with phone as her cushion. Poor girl. Unscathed but we felt awful!

Here's the scene 12 hrs later....Mom and dad on the sofa. Dad on the computer, Mom checking the TV listings. Baby in the same spot. We both look down and she's in the last stage of a the splits: She has one foot on a plastic bag that is slowly inching away, one hand on the remote, and is hanging from the ottoman with a few slippery fingers .... just looking back at us with pacifier in mouth with a big expressions of 'heeeelp'.

Sorry, but it was some funny stuff. and thankfully no one got hurt :-)

A whirlwind end to a whirlwind year

If only we could've made Christmas a few weeks later...but then there's always more to do! Still, we were able to get our Christmas tree up a week before the big day, get a few presents under the tree (unwrapped but luckily Isabel didn't know the difference), and went to some awesome friends for Christmas dinner.

Our little elf was very busy with all her new toys. Her favorites are the toys her cousins gave here - she loooves them. We're already wishing they had a choice of tunes but Isabel never gets tired of the same song (I say Hola, that means Hello...I say adios that means, goodbye....). Heaven help me. And her baby doll from her Australian cousins. She loves to give Molly the Dolly kisses. which are sloppy open mouth O's. So cute!

She is very busy cruising these days - her favorite thing to do is stand. She'll crawl if she has to but so far she's pretty happy to just stand and balance in her play area (aka, baby prison) or on the ottomon. We've tried walking a few aided steps but she's just not that interested yet.

And, she's very interested in dropping - well, everything, to see what happens. I love to see the little wheels turning behind the eyes...she holds her arm very deliberately out to the side, starts twisting her fingers unti it drops, and then works out how to get down to that thing she's just put on the floor without being distracted by seeing her toes again.

Getting in the spirit!

Babies are funny - who knew?!

I’m not sure if all babies are funny, if it’s just some genetic bonding, or if Isabel is just exceptionally amusing. But she is forever a source of amusement (good thing too if you read the previous post! ). Yesterday, while I was desperately trying to get the loads of laundry put away (read previous post for why we had so much laundry), so Isa was playing on the floor of her room when she discovered her dresser. Specifically, her dresser knobs. It’s my dresser from when I was a baby, and we put new knobs with painted little flowers. She crawled over, stopped right in front of the lowest knob. I had my hand out expecting for the drawer to come flying open. Instead, she turtle’d her little head out, and very deliberately tasted it. Who knows what goes through their minds….i had to laugh.

“God won’t give me more than I can handle….

…I just wish he didn’t trust me so much”. –Mother Teresa

Poor little Isa was taken to the hospital last week for a double ear infection. Who knows why babies cry…well, I can tell you that this girl really only cries when something is wrong. And it was. The good side – she’s feeling much better. The downside – antibiotics apparently wreak havoc on her little tummy. I was minutes away from bribing a willing grandma into coming to help so Rohan didn’t have to do all the unpacking by himself. But in the end, we got there. And we have a fully decorated Christmas tree, food in the fridge, a roof over our heads, and at least one room clear of boxes. Ahh…