The little problem solver

Mommy, please put the camera down and go catch your daughter

before she climbs up those concrete steps. Ouch.

Duck! Duck!

It is so fun to watch Isabella's brain tick. She is so curious and persistent. One of her favorite things to do right now is open and close doors. She does not shut the door, she just likes to open and close, open and close. Sometimes her feet, legs, head, or something else is impeding the door's movement. I love to watch her process of trial and error to figure out how to accomplish her task. She also does trial and error when trying to pull a book out of her basket that may be stuck. She will get frustrated sometimes (especially if it is close to bedtime) but she is a determined little one.

She is also in the stage right now where she enjoys sharing a laugh. If we are laughing at something she does she will stop and look up at us and laugh with us. She will also often try to repeat whatever it was so that we will laugh again. Tonight she was playing with a ball and she moves it against her mouth so that she says "babababa". Then she put the ball on the floor and crawled towards it so that she could put her mouth on it (did that make sense? It is Friday night after a long week at work and I am needing to go to bed). I started cracking up so then she started laughing and she kept doing it.

She still loves books but lately she would rather just turn the pages (herself) than have them read to her. Her favorite book to turn pages is One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish. She is not a huge Dr. Seuss fan right now...his books are too long and maybe not quite repetitive enough for her, but the pictures must be really interesting in that book. She is generally very gentle and does not rip or bend the pages.

Sleep: Well, it varies. She'll have a couple of nights straight through. She'll have a couple of nights with a wake or two and a fast back to sleep. And then she'll have a night here and there where she'll wake up and take about an hour to go back to sleep. Frustrating! She is doing well with her naps. Nick still holds her for her morning nap but she is napping for an hour, hour and a half in the pack and play when she's at Heather's in the afternoon.

Work: Work is crazy crazy crazy! It has been non-stop and probably will continue that way for awhile. School starts on Wednesday. I am teaching a fifth grade math class this year with 5 students. I know all of them but 1 and they are sweethearts. It should be a fun class. Nick is glad to be home tonight away from all of the farting middle school boys. Boys boys boys. He is adjusting to shifting his schedule back to 1-9 so that he can be home with Isabella in the morning. We miss him at dinner and bedtime but Isabella loves her time with him in the morning.

Sports: We have been glued to the Olympics. I recorded the gold medal match in beach volleyball so that I can watch Misty and Kerri win their 2nd straight gold. Those girls are amazing. Nick is on the edge of his seat waiting for football season to start. In the meantime he has started a wiffle ball league in the neighborhood. It hasn't caught on yet but the handful of people who play have a lot of fun!