More O Canada

Thanks, B,K and S, for such a great shirt!!

Shoes

At the beginning of January, Isabelle and I went in the stroller to Breton Village, the little mall close to our house. We went mostly to see the fish and the Christmas train display (which was being taken down), but we ended up at the shoe store. I was curious for her to have a shoe fitting, and then I ended up buying her some. She had been reluctant to walk in shoes, but she seemed to really like these little white and pink running shoes. She wore them home from the store and as she was running ahead of me in the mall I was almost emotional, watching her wear real shoes for the first time. She seemed so big.

She loves to say the word "shoes". Sigh. She gets that from Ben.

Spoon

This is something Ben taught her to do to keep her from spitting out her food. Notice that she is once again using the "camera face".

Sister Dominique

Back in the fall I got an e-mail from Sister Dominique, a dear soul and classmate from Queen's, saying that her choir would be in Grand Rapids in January. It was such a joy to see her again. We last saw each other at graduation 8 years ago. In fact, because of the way our names fell, we walked as a pair to receive our hoods.

Sister Dominique is part of a faith community called The Community of Jesus. Music is a large part of their life, and her choir, Gloriae Des Cantores, was unbelievable. It was a packed out concert, and a privilege to attend. I hope someday to visit her and see her community.

Overheard

Tuesday Night

Ben: You know, now that Isabelle is sleeping during my lunch hour, and I was out so much last week, I hardly got to spend anytime with her. I miss her. Maybe I need to change my lunch hour to fit this new nap schedule.

Wednesday Morning

(Isabelle singing in the background)
Ben: What time is it?
Melody: 6:00am.
(pause)
Melody: You wanted to spend more time with her.

(Ben gets up and plays with Isabelle while Melody stays in bed.)

Green Card

Today Ben and I had our interview in Detroit with U.S. Homeland Security and I was approved for a Green Card, which I will receive in the mail in the next two weeks. This was a very exciting finish to a process that was a lot of worry and paperwork. We actually had a very jolly interviewer who sometimes left me wondering if he was trying to trick me, but he really just was trying to be funny.

Our friends Colin and Kathy and their wonderful kids watched Isabelle today and I'm sure she thought she was at a party that she wished would never end. She was already asleep when we picked her up and then she dozed in the car on the way home. What a sweet girl - we missed her very much today, but I was glad for her sake that she did not have to come.

It's official - I'm a Lawful Permanent Resident of the United States.

Book Worm

Isabelle loves books. She sits surrounded by her mountain of books and reads them intently. Although she sometimes likes me to read to her, she prefers to read on her own. She reads at mealtime, in the car and during diaper changes. Can you say "related to Auntie Ali"?

This is her new camera face which she sports whenever I try to take a picture, showing her disdain for the flashing red light. :) (Outfit from Matt and Melody - love the ruffle cuff pants!)

You!

It's getting harder and harder to get a good picture. Starting to think about getting a new camera. :) Pointing is common now. Very cute.

Oh Canada

Taken November 28. Ensemble courtesy of J. and T. The coat is a bit big but we were so excited that it almost fits!
Lotion bottles are also a recent favorite "toting" item.

List

Clean up basement. Check.
Build shelves for cold food storage in garage. Check.
Write thank you notes. Check.
Vacuum rooms that haven't been done in two months. Check.
Entertain neighbor toddler boy while his mommy and newborn sister get some rest. Check.
Make meal for said family. Check.
Finalize service preparations for the weekend. Check.

Take Isabelle to Breton Village and enjoy her delight in the Christmas train display, play table at Pooh's Corner and fish pool. Check.
Decorate tree with Ben. Check.
Feel thankful for family. Check.

Feel excited about Christmas. Check. Check. Check.

It's Christmas, Don't Be Sad

With all the sickness and scramble to complete holiday service arrangements, we have not decorated our tree, put up any decorations or bought any presents. I have found this mildly depressing over the last few days. Ben had to work a lot this week (funeral yesterday) and so our household wheel has screeched and ground to a halt. The house is a mess. The fridge needs to be cleaned out. And we have two sets of company coming back to back next week. Things are looking grim.

Christmas is a time where I have often struggled with the blues. There's always a lot to be done, and I find that I get irritated that the extra tasks and costs eat into my energy reserves and budget. I like being with family and going to church. I just don't like doing the work!! Historically my mom always "hated" Christmas too....maybe this is where this comes from. 2 years ago when we went to Culebra for the holidays, I loved the fact that we didn't buy any presents or put up any decorations. Well, we decided we were not going to, but then Ben did it when I was out one night that year! That was also the year I read Skipping Christmas by John Grisham and was delighted by the premise that one could go away and just come back when it was all over. (I would highly recommend this book. I laughed out loud a lot.)

This year we have been listening to a lot of Christmas music and it has really helped me along. Our favorites this year have been The Raffi Christmas Album, Wintersong by Sarah McLachlan, Peanut's Christmas and best yet, Christmas Songs by Sufjan Stevens. It has surpassed Charlie Brown as my alltime favorite Christmas album. Sufjan has a song called "It's Christmas, Let's Be Glad" and it's a song that I hear myself singing to my mom, and hear my younger sister singing to me. It's Christmas; don't be sad. Cheer up! People are coming. There's food to be eaten. There'll be presents . We'll play music. We'll get the work done together. Every time I have felt sad this season, I sing this song aloud. Even Isabelle has learned the "la la la" part and she sings it often in the bath.

Since it's Christmas, let's be glad
Even if your life's been bad
There are presents to be had

La la la la la la la la la la la la la

It's Christmas, let's be glad!!!

Sign of the Times

She's signing. More, diaper and eat. She is still very crabby with me when I do "all done", as if to say "Lady, get me out of this chair. I KNOW you know what I mean."

When she hears "Where's Isabelle?", she put her hands, palms out, in front of her eyes. She does it a lot during mealtime. In fact, she needs games and songs during mealtime. She's bored. I think she gets that from me. I can't eat without reading or doing something.

Her favorite song right now is "Wheels on the Bus". She claps whenever she hears clapping on a CD or on the television.

The triumph of the day is this: she got some soft blocks from Auntie Christy and Uncle Dane for her birthday that have a cylinder that goes through one of them. She has been trying for weeks to get the cylinder into the hole by herself. She gets frustrated and throws each piece down with a separate hand. Today she was able to do it herself - fed the cylinder through the hole. She looked at me and said "aaaahh" - which translates as "yay!!!!" and clapped her hands.

Snuggle Puppy

I've been absent so long that it's made me not want to post. I have so much to catch up on. But instead of feeling like I have to recap, I'm just going to go forward. Otherwise I may never post again.

We've been sick. Isabelle and I have both had a nasty cold and we've barely survived. She didn't want to eat, sleep or do anything. Amidst this, she's been learning so many new things. This week she figured out how to go upside down and look through her legs. She did do a face plant once while practicing this. :( But today the news is Snuggle Puppy. We've been working on introducing him as her nighttime friend (lovey). During the day I always ask her where he is, and we drag him from room to room as we play. She knows that he is often in the crib so she looks there for him. She knows exactly what he is as when I say, "Where's Snuggle Puppy?", she looks for and grabs him from among many toys.

After she was asleep for her afternoon nap, I peeked in to tuck the blanket over her, and there was Isabelle, fast asleep with her arm around Snuggle Puppy, nestled close and keeping her company. A first. I'm hoping this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Almost One

Shameless. It's been almost a month since I posted and so much has happened I can't possibly reproduce it all. We went away on our own (without Isabelle) for 48 hours to a retreat while my mom babysat. Everything went so well. Isabelle was fine; in fact, she didn't seem to miss us. And my mom loved having her (and the house) all to herself. I did miss her so much, but it didn't hurt like I thought it might. And I weaned Isabelle around this whole trip. No more nursing.

Well, we're a few days away from the big birthday. Here's Isabelle's current top 10:

1. She is walking. Yes, I should have done a post just on this, but don't be mad. It's been a lot like crawling and smiling. Tiny bits at first, but in the last week she has really become more confident and wanting to take bigger risks. Today she walked from the stairs to the downstairs couch. She has also walked from the kitchen into my bedroom. She staggers and has to correct herself, and it's so cute. She's very proud of herself.

2. She is really understanding what we say. She can point to my nose when asked, and now gives me objects when I ask for them. So cute.

3. She is learning how her toys work - she has shapes that go through holes on her play fridge door, and she's learned how to put the circle in the circle, and that she has to press the button to release the circle.

4. She loves opening and shutting doors on her toys.

5. She loves putting things inside containers now - this is very new. I was waiting and waiting for her to discover this and it just came yesterday. In the bath tonight, she put her little fish inside her cup, but she was finding it really hard to do underwater!!

6. She has continued her trend of being a big eater. Today she ate an entire WW wrap (folded over with melted cheese inside) and half a pear for lunch (plus 5 oz. of milk to drink). After chowing on a whole banana at 4pm, she still had room to put away a generous portion of soup and an entire piece of toast, plus applesauce and a cereal bar for dinner. I think she eats more than me.

7. She is no longer afraid of the vacuum cleaner, but now tries to compete with it in volume. When it's on, she yells "ya, ya, ya" at the top of her lungs as if to say "I can be louder than you!". She also does this when I'm using the hair dryer.

8. She imitates a lot of sounds/words now. Her favorite is "lather, lather, lather". She will repeat that on cue. And also as a song. She has been doing "whoa" for a while now to signal that she's excited or happy about something.

9. She's learned how to turn the keyboard on and off. She loves to turn the light switches on and off.

10. She loves to give kisses. When she's going to sleep, she presses her nose on my forehead until I kiss her and then she'll stop. But she does it about 5 times before going to sleep. She doesn't kiss Ben for some reason. :) She will kiss her stuffed animals when I say "Give the puppy kisses."

I'm just amazed at what she can do and what she understands. It's so much fun being with her everyday - a real privilege.

Purple Dress

Not much time to post...Isabelle's cold is gone, but now we are dealing with the oh so fun effects of daylight savings time. Can you say 5AM?????????????????

However, she wore a dress to church today (one of Jackie's) and she was so cute in it. Her Oma and Opa are visiting this weekend, and she has had so much fun playing with them and showing them all her toys and games. Ben and I are about to leave for our first night without her while Mom babysits. I'm oh so nervous, and yet looking forward to a break at the same time. I know we will miss her SO much!!! She is changing so much right now and understanding more and more every day.

Thanks for a fun visit, Oma and Opa! We can't wait until you come back. 

Piano

Enough said. Watch and see.

Thanksgiving 2006

I'm trying out a new option for posting photos. I enjoy Picasa so much (thanks Bear) and today read a post by someone who's trying Picasa web albums. Have a look at the album and tell me if you like this better than looking at the Flickr site. At present, it seems easier to upload than to Flickr.

These photos are from Thanksgiving weekend, where Mom, Dad, Jo and Rika visited. We did end up having a turkey dinner, after much searching for the turkey! (Next year I will preorder....). Here's also a few videos of us.

Isabelle is with Rika on the floor for the first time. The last time they were together was before Isabelle could sit up. Rika lost a ball down that vent last Christmas (before the cover was put back on) and she immediately remembered and was looking for it. Watch how Isabelle imitates Rika by putting her head down to dig. Very cute.

It was a beautiful weekend so we spent a good chunk of time outside. This is in our backyard.

Last of all, here's where Rika shines. A ball. A good sized lawn. Need we say more?

Thanksgiving 2006

Playing

This is a good example of how Isabelle plays. She goes from thing to thing, and usually makes the loudest noise she can with the item by shaking it or dropping it on the floor. She has recently perfected the art of pulling all the books/diapers off the shelf.

BTW, Isabelle has had a bad cold the past few days and so we have been just doing everything we can to make the little patient comfortable. I haven't even bothered to mark all the wakeups on Trixie, but for the most part she has been putting herself back to sleep. She just makes noise when she realizes that she can't breathe through her nose. Wednesday was a beautiful day so we went for three walks, and then after Isabelle went to bed, I listened to Ben and other members of The New Midwest playing live on WYCE. They also played a track from the new CD. You can check out all the information here or hear some of the tracks. I'm playing on "Holiday" and "Hearfelt Journey". It's kind of a thrill to hear your husband's band on the radio.

Coughing

Isabelle has always made a lot of strange, loud noises. We call her our little monster. This is one she picked up at the end of September, and still enjoys happily making while riding in the stroller, much to the raised eyebrows of passersby. It hurts my throat to just listen!

Video Week - Take One

This is video week! I hope to post a new clip each day and catch you all up on the last month. Here's Isabelle's current "Top 10" (thanks, Bear).

1. She has been cruising for 3 months now and is still not that interested in walking on her own. She did do some standing (letting go to stand), but with much encouragement only.

2. She loves her push cars, and has lately been helping Daddy close the gates by "walking" them shut. Today I was playing the piano and looked over and she was standing on top of one of the push toys and holding on to the handle. Eek.

3. She eats A LOT of food and her favorites are cheese, breakfast of cereal/fruit/yogurt and most veggies. She loves to eat and still screams loudly from her highchair when the next course is not coming fast enough. She also returns to the highchair footrest and floor surrounding between meals to look for leftovers (yuck!).

4. She definitely looks at me for approval when investigating a new item or spot in the room. "Is this okay?" "This looks too fun to be allowed."

5. She has to sit completely upright in the stroller, and so we have blankets stuffed behind her to help. Otherwise she is very mad. She hates leaning back.

6. She still loves loud noises like leaf blowers, mufflers, etc. She also loves pets and babies.

7. She has become fascinated with opening and closing doors - her gate, her little tikes garden door and mailbox hatch, our doors. All the cupboards are latched, so thankfully that's not a problem anymore.

8. She loves necklaces and earrings. I can't put her to sleep if I am wearing either because she can't NOT play with them. It's kind of an obsession!

9. She has been sleeping through the night (6:30-6:00) for two weeks now. Awesome.

10. Isabelle is Daddy's girl. She cries when he leaves to go to work, or shuts the door for privacy in the bathroom.

So, the clip of the day comes from September 30 and Isabelle is watching Ben sweep in the dining room. This one is not super exciting, but shows her many expressions.