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Thursday, December 1, 2005 It's update time again :) Isabelle has been a member of our family for six months now! It sort of came as a shock when I saw on my calendar that the 30th of November marked our six month 'gotcha' day anniversary. I have found myself thinking less and less about how long Isabelle has been a part of our family and more about how she IS a member of our family, an essential and integral one at that. Sooo, what has Isabelle been up to lately? Trouble, still, but of a different kind these days. Gone are the afternoons spent chasing her out of the bathroom with wet toilet paper trailing. Now she's into the trash can. She LOVES the trash can and sneaks over to it every chance she gets. I insist that it is a 'no no', but I guess she sees me use it so often that she can't resist copying me. I have found sippy cups, blocks, and parts of her expensive Baby Einstein toys all scattered at the bottom of a coffee ground laden, greasy mess. And not once have I caught her in the act of actually throwing something in the trash. Yeah, she's sneaky. But really cute. Just the other day I found her trying to put on her own sock. It was really precious to see her struggling to get this tiny sock on her unsteady foot as she sat in an uncomfortable looking position. I am definitely looking forward to the day she can put her socks on since I spend a good part of my day looking for the one sock and shoe she has decided doesn't match her outfit. She has recently mastered the stairs, a not-too-long-ago 'no no'. She now has full access to the upstairs because, well, there's just no stopping her. And she's really quite good on them. She especially enjoys the freedom of being able to venture upstairs and then, after a few minutes, she descends, rear end first, with exceptional form. Another new skill she has mastered is getting up onto a chair. Which means getting up onto the dining room table isn't far behind. She is starting to enjoy her toys more, especailly the stuffed variety. She actually gave Zach's bear a hug the other day without prompting. I did not witness it, unfortunately, but the boys came running to share the good news. Now she will give hugs regularly, but only on her terms, as usual ;) This evening while the boys were playing, Dalton got hurt and was laying on the couch crying. Isabelle went over to him and since she couldn't reach him on the couch, she kissed the couch cushion. I picked her up and put her near Dalton and she began patting his back. Priceless. While kisses came more easily for her, hugs are a whole new experience and it is a reminder that what she was most likely lacking while living in the orphanage, she now has in excess. Isabelle's speech has stagnated somewhat. She still signs and uses her small repetoire of words, but she has not been interested in learning any new words lately. I think she is so busy mastering her stair climbing and trash can dumping that she doesn't have time for such trivial things as learning to say "mama". She is also becoming quite the little comedienne. I think she is her biggest fan and often wonders why everyone isn't cracking up at her newest trick. An example is her latest silly walk. She walks normally on one foot, but her left foot she carries high in the air, like a kick and she smiles slyly waiting for some applause. In fact, if necessary she'll clap for herself. Of course we're all mesmerized by her sweet personality and she adores the fact that she is more often than not the center of attention. She has begun to run lately, too. It's really cute to see her tiny tooshie hustling it's way across the room. Especially when you're the one she' s running to. She is still on the small side, but is growing at a good rate. She is 31" tall and weighs 22 pounds, clothed. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday thanks to some awesome friends who came to visit. It was a full house, 6 adults and 9 kids, and it was fantastic, truly good for the soul. We had all the traditional Thanksgiving fare and then some. Isabelle wasn't crazy about most of it, but did enjoy the sweet potatoes. And she enjoyed trying to feed herself even more. I watched with a sinking heart as she shoveled spoon after spoon of orange, sticky goo onto her spoon and onto her new Thanksgiving dress. Of couse I would have stopped her, but she was under the watchful care of Tom, one of our close friends and well, she could do anything she wanted as far as he was concerned. In fact, she had both Tom and John under her spell by the time the weekend was out. John was exclaiming one evening that she had come over and given him an unsolicited kiss. My girlfriends, Lisa and Chenoa were wondering when they were going to get their kiss... We had a cardiology appointment on November 15. An echocardiogram was performed and the hole in Isabelle's heart is still frighteningly large. In fact it is as large, if not larger, than it was when we had her first echocardiogram done in June. Of course this is not the news we wanted to hear, but it was a reminder of how blessed we have been by Isabelle's excellent health. In fact, if I didn't have to give her medicine twice daily I think I might forget most days that she has a heart defect. The cardiologist commented that she is gaining weight very well, considering her heart condition. She then mentioned that after her heart is repaired that Isabelle will gain weight much more easily and will become more active. More what? You gotta be kidding me! It was very saddening to see her heart on the screen and to see it pumping so hard to move the blood where it was supposed to go. The tech pointed out the blood and how it was mixed - oxygenated with unoxygenated - where it wasn't supposed to be. She also pointed out the hole, which is so large that I couldn't even tell where the heart wall was supposed to be. Seeing this took much of the fear out of the probability of open heart surgery. We just want Isabelle's heart fixed. Permanently. And we praise God that He has provided the means to do just that. Get outta my way!

Visiting the zoo

First Thanksgiving

I love my chair

Sweet Isabelle

Isabelle and baby

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