So, John's face has finally healed and I have a day without too much to do and a little sleep! It's been quite a while since I wrote. Hi Everyone!! A few weeks ago my Mom and sister came out as a giant surprise birthday present for me! What FUN we had! They stayed at our house for 4 days, camped out in the livingroom and we just visited and enjoyed each other's company. It was so fun to have a full house to cook for and share the kids with! They also stayed with the kids for a few hours the day before my birthday so John and I could have a nice dinner out together... we went to Mikuni, our favorite sushi place, and then to Rick's Dessert Diner afterwards. It's been ages since we've done that! It felt like a first date! The next day on my birthday we were planning to have Chinese food from my (and I think my Mom's now) favorite restaurant, Noodle Express. That was the day that John crashed and ended up in the ER. It was great that they were still here, as I was able to run off to be with John at the hospital without worrying about the kiddos.

David was in heaven with 4 extra arms to hold him and I think Mom and Dee were too. He's already woo-ing the ladies with his cuddly ways! He could be held and talked to all day and be happy... snuggle-bug.
Isabelle had a great time too. I think she remembered Grandma Judy from her last visit in September. They didn't do the hokey-pokey this time, but Belle enjoyed bathtime with Grandma and crawling into bed to cuddle with her in the mornings. Isabelle isn't so good at laying still though. She's more of a kicker and a flipper. Grandma Judy didn't seem to mind.
Aunt DeDee probably has Good NIght Moon memorized by now! She had the honor and pleasure of reading to Isabelle before bedtime. She was also instrumental with bathtime, playing fishy, and made a little game with Isabelle which included running into eachother's open arms and then covering their mouths and squeeking at each other. Sounds silly, and it was, but it was hilarious and Isabelle loved it.

With the two of them here, I barely knew what to do with myself! I could take a shower as long as I wanted and cook dinner in a reasonable amount of time! And I don't think I chaned a diaper the whole 5 days! What I wouldn't do to have you two close!
Isabelle is still reminding me to "buckle up for safety" when we get in the car (because Grandma Judy says) and to eat, eat, eat eepples and baneenees!! ( A new funny song we learned on a video Aunt Dee brought.)

I almost forgot about the kite! One day at the park, this family was flying a super cool kite and Isabelle went nuts! It came in this little bag and the guy just flipped it out and it was up in the air! It's all nylon with no sticks or anything; and bright with long streamers on the end. Isabelle watched it yelling "Kite! High in the sky!! OOOOh Woow!" and jumping up and down. A few days after Mom and Sissy left, a kite just like the one at the park arrived addressed to Isabelle. We're waiting for a breezy day to go out and fly it!

As Isabelle would say... "Thank you so MUCH!"

Hello again! Let's see what I have to share with you. We had a review with David and some nice people with the county to see if he has any developmental delays. I think I mentioned it last time, or some time, that he didn't pull his head up very well for a 5 month old, but as I said, he was OK for a 3 1/2 month old. But just to be sure, we got an appointment with the county nurses and physical therapists just in case. And of course, David is doing just fine. He's just in that in-between state.

David, by the way, is now 6 moths old! In hind sight, it has gone by quick. He's also got two new friends he hasn't met yet, as Amy and Paul, and Mike and Heather, both just had little babies. Congrats to all!

Isabelle is so smart, and learning new stuff everyday. And remembering things too! The other day she was in the bathroom to take a bath, and she saw her cow ball, which is just a little kids ball, but painted in the traditional black and white Bessie motif. She grabbed her ball, and asked Julie if she could have Grandma Judy give her a bath. Just like that, out of nowhere. And I don't even think she got to take that ball to the bathtub when Grandma Judy was here, but apparently, Grandma Judy created some kind of memory with that ball in little Isabelle's head. Some of you might remember the giant cow balloon incident a few months back.


Isabelle loves to dance. Every after bath time, she does a little ditty in the middle of the living room. night Isabelle also likes to kiss everyone goodnight now, even the cats. We'll start off to the bedroom, and she says, "kiss Loopy?" So we hold her near the kitties, and she puckers and makes a kissing sound. The cats are not sure what to do with that yet.


Now that winter is waning, we are getting a lot of flower and tree blossoms. She loves to get her nose right in there and smell 'em. The other day, she came in with a big patch of yellow under her nose after smelling a daffodil, ......about 20 times. Yesterday, she picked some rosemary for me to smell when I got back from work. Isabelle calls it 'Nosemary.' She is also very dramatic when she finds something new. Today she picked up a pine cone, and let loose a big "ooOOOOoooo, show Daddy."

Speaking of Daddy, I had an eye exam today. Just wanted to see how I was doing (no pun intended) since I haven't been seeing as well in the last couple of years. Turns out I'm 20/20. Go figure.

Let's see, two weeks worth of stories to catch up on. I really need to get better at this. I know, I know, I keep saying that. One of these days it might stick, so please bear with me.

Two wekends ago we met my family in Concord for a Sunday brunch and belated birthday gift exchange. We had lots of good food at Todai. Isabelle had a great time, as she remembered everyone after about minutes, and then she really liked the place, and all the different types of food we had. We are so happy she likes a variety of food. I'm always worried she's gonna want nothing except macaroni and cheese or applesauce. She does love applesauce, by the way. And then there were the balloons. Fun fun fun.

Isabelle always has a great time with my family, since they are all so happy to see her, and want to play with her, she's thinks that is a good deal. And it's great how she remembers things afterward. On Tuesday, she says to us, "Ice cream, cookies, Grandma?" We're going to try to get to see Grandma Jeanne in a week or so.



David has a new little thing he does. When he's happy, and we are nearby, possibly playing with him, or maybe just talking to him, he starts singing. It's kind of a louder coo actually. You could do it yourself if you wanted to really hear what it's like. Say, "yeeeee" with a big smile on your face, and a little bit of drool/slobber in the back of your throat. Add inflections as you like to spice it up a bit. He also does that with his hands in his mouth, gives it that wah-wah sound.

A week or so ago, I had given David a bath, and was headed to the couch were I had placed his clothes. Well, Isabelle ran over and grabbed his sleeper, and ran to the other side of the room. I told her I needed that to get David dressed, and I would really like it if she brought that back to me. She threw it into a chair, and looked at me. OK, "Isabelle, please bring David's sleeper back over here." And this was about the time she suddenly couldn't hear. She ignored me, and played with the sleeper and the chair on the other side of the room.

So I get David dry and diapered, and then go over to Isabelle, I take her hand, place it onto the sleeper, which she grabs, and as I walk her back to the couch, I tell her that this means bringing it back to Daddy. Well, she wasn't very happy about that lesson. As I'm getting David dressed, she looks at me down her nose, as best she can, and waves her arm at me as if to scold me. I told her not to be sassy with me, and she has plenty of toys to play with, not David's sleeper. Well, she does it again, so I say, "Isabelle, do you want a time out?" She stops and is quiet.

About 30 minutes later, she's over at the couch with all her stuffed animals. She picks up each one, and asks it, "Do you want a time out?" Then she sits them on the couch, one at a time, next to each other. Not the desired effect, but it cracked me up.

Now for a good birthday story. Saturday evening, I told Julie that I was headed out to do a computer job, and should only be gone about an hour. Which I was, but my job was just to check the Arrival display at the airport. And pick up Julie's mom and sister. This was all a secret from Julie. So I got back to the house, and went inside. The plan was for me to go to the bedroom, or bathroom, and 30 seconds later the doorbell would ring, and since I was in the back of the house, Julie would have to get the door. But as fate would have it, Julie was on the floor with Isabelle and David in her room reading books. So when the doorbell rang, 10 seconds later, it really wasn't fair to ask her to get up and answer it, especially since I was still walking around. But I told her she needed to answer the door anyway, but I said she had to see who I 'bumped into.' Julie was a little confused, wondering who I could have bumped into, yet not let into the house without Julie's help. When she opened the door, it was a wonderful surprise, and birthday present. We'll try to put a few stories about that visit up here in a few days.