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Thursday, March 16, 2006Well, not a whole lot has happened in the last month! Things were so hectic there for a while that now life seems quite normal and well, kind of boring. But that is a wonderful and much appreciated break from constant craziness. Isabelle continues to be busy, busy, busy. She has begun to enjoy playing with her siblings more lately and even big brother Dalton has managed to make her giggle. Her brothers are still nutty about her, I don't think there is any chance that this little princess will not be spoiled. Her routine has settled back into a predictable pattern again. She's up at 7:00 or so and is ready to EAT! Her faves are still scrambled eggs or cereal and any kind of cheese. Then it's play time or SpongeBob time. SpongeBob is her favorite show and every now and then, she'll just bust out laughing at something Patrick or SpongeBob did. It's really hysterical. We're all guilty of rewinding the part she laughed at just to hear her belly laugh again and again. Most days we stay home but several times a week we run errands and she is always ready to go. She seems to enjoy the change of scenery and rarely fusses unless we get close to her naptime. We went to a McDonald's with an outdoor playground the other day and she had a blast. She has learned how to negotiate the tunnels and is able to make her way to the plexiglass to look out for me. When she's ready to get out, she backs it all the way out. She was able to back out of the entire tunnel and never lost a grip on her chicken nugget. Naptime comes right after lunch and her bottle at 1:00, whether we are home or not. I was out a bit too long the other day and I really paid for it later. She was able to nap long enough in the car to be wide awake by the time we arrived home. I mistakenly assumed that would mean an early bedtime for her, but no such luck. She stayed up until normal bedtime and was up early the next morning. I think she is training ME instead of the other way around. She normally naps for 2 hours and wakes up shortly after her brothers get home from school. She loves to roll the ball with them or be read to. Whenever I sit on the floor she runs over to her book basket, grabs a board book and 'backs it up' until she plops down into my lap. She loves to turn the pages so quickly that I rarely have time to read all the words on the page. One of her favorite parts of the day is when daddy comes home. She gets so excited when she sees him walking up to the house from the kitchen window. She'll lean over to daddy from my arms for a 'group hug', her favorite way to hug these days. She'll hang out with daddy while I cook dinner. Sometimes he'll get down on the floor with her to wrestle. Usually the boys all jump in, but Isabelle hangs tough and gives the boys a run for their money. She's been doing great at dinner lately, usually eating what I serve or some derivative there of. I usually feed her myself, but lately she seems to eat much better if she gets to handle the utensils. She has become quite adept with both the spoon and fork and I don't think it will be long until she is able to completely feed herself. I still catch her tossing things she doesn't like off the side to the dog, who has recently become her shadow. One of Isabelle's favorites is string cheese, which I will let her walk around the house with. Velvet, the dog, didn't take long to decide that she really liked Isabelle and would be her faithful companion, as long as cheese was used as payment. After dinner comes bath time, a highlight of Isabelle's day. Now that we have the upstairs tub replaced (with jacuzzi jets to boot!) she will stay in there until she looks like a raisin if we let her. She shares the tub with Dalton and Asher who don't seem to mind being squished three to a tub, they just enjoy being in there with her, and she with them. Then it's chill out time, or at least Chris and I try to chill. Isabelle stays busy until her last bottle of the day, usually at 8:00 or so, then it's night night for her. She goes to be very easily, sometimes if I take her upstairs and don't get her in her crib quickly enough, she leans out of my arms toward her crib. And no sign yet of her trying to get out of her crib, thank goodness! That'll be a whole NEW can of worms to have to deal with :)

We are constantly amazed at her continued progress since her surgery, a little over 2 months ago. She has blessed this family with such joy and exuberance and we are so grateful that God lead us to adopt this most precious child from China. We are currently preparing to possibly move this summer, along with the upcoming adoption of Isabelle's jie jie (big sister), Sophie. So, much excitement will be forthcoming in the next few months ... stay tuned! Five weeks post surgery - looking good!

Day at the park - with chicken nugget

Isabelle modeling her new bathing suit

Being silly

Cheerios taste better without the spoon

Isabelle is a happy girl

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