David has learned to crawl! It seems like he learned really fast once he was able to get up on all fours. One week he was strong enough to do that and was rocking back and forth, the next he put together to move one hand forward, and one leg, but couldn't really figure out how to go very far. The next week he figured out how to crawl a little, but not that well. Then later that week he got pretty good at it, and pulled himself up to stand at the couch. Now he's just motoring everywhere. He never commando-crawled like Isabelle did. We're pretty proud of him:>)

Isabelle is talking and singing and adding new words to her vocabulary every day. Her newest words are "delicious" and "excellent"! I am amazed daily that she can put sentences and concepts together. And she has such a memory!! She picks up everything. Kids are so smart!

We've started to put the kids to sleep in the same room. We really have been waiting until the last possible moment to do this, because we're still so sleep deprived (since David is still getting up a couple times a night). We just couldn't bear to make the transition and lose even more sleep. We were putting David to nap on our bed and sometimes in the bassinet, even though he's really too big for it... David likes to wake up and sit up immediately, and one day did this and fell off the bed. Then a day or two later we went to get him from nap and he was standing up in his bassinet. So, that was the end of that.

The transition hasn't been too bad. Isabelle wakes up if he's too noisy and we have to make sure that Isabelle is sleeping before we put David down. Otherwise, Isabelle sings and plays until he wakes up and then yells, "David, Hiiiii!!! You awake??" David has begun to sing himself to sleep also. Tonght John walked around the neighborhood with David on his shoulder basically yelling to hear his own voice... "Ahhhhhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh..." That lasted about 10 minutes and then he was completely out with his mouth hanging open. Strangely, I will miss these kinds of things as he gets older and more independent. I do love having a baby in the house... No, we probably won't have another one...

Yesterday we met John's Mom, Joan and Matt at a great little Chinese place for lunch. We had quite a feast!! We ordered one of those group meals and the food just kept comin'!!
Anyway, the kids had a ball seeing everyone. Isabelle insisted on eating with her chopsticks and actually did a pretty good job of getting some food in her mouth! After she was done eating she wanted to get down to go see Grandma Jeanne and then played spin the penny with Aunt Joan. That was a big hit. David took a turn on Grandma Jeanne's lap and he and Isabelle had one of their giggle fits, which was really funny. Then somehow, spin the penny became a sort of "quarters" game using pennies and those little chinese tea cups. I think Uncle Matt had something to do with that.
Sorry there aren't any pictures for this one... getting out of the house isn't as easy as it used to be, and the camera didn't get into the bag. Next time...

Kevin came by on Saturday for dinner. The kids had fun visiting with him, although Isabelle was a little shy for the first half hour or so.


OOps! We wrote this post on Monday, but forgot to post it! Sorry for the delay.

This is my latest favorite picture of David in his camos!! C'mere beautiful!!

It fun for us to see these little milestones in the kids development. We just had to get a bigger car seat for David, as he outgrew the old carry along type. He likes it a little bit better anyway, as he can now look at Isabelle next to him, and apparently he makes faces at her. We can't really tell. We just hear Isabelle giggling.

Isabelle is also becoming a better artist. Where she was more of a interpretationist, letting things happen in a stream of consciousness sort of way, she's now really creating her own works. She's almost mastered flowers, faces, and spiders. Something I also enjoy, is watching her as we draw something. She'll hand us a crayon, and tell us to draw a flower, for instance. Then I start to draw one, and her eyes are fixed on my hand with such a powerful gaze. I can't tell if she's trying to learn by observation, or if she's just amazed at what we grown-ups can do.

Bath time is now a lot more messy, I mean, fun. We put David in with Isabelle into the tub. He's actually in his little tub, in a tub. They get along really well, and they LOVE TO SPLASH! It is actually quite funny, as one gets a mischievous look on their face, then the hands get going. After about three splashes, water invariably gets into their own eye, and the splashing stops, as they get a confused look on their face and try to shake out the water. "Where....What the?" Or at least that's the impression we get from David... Isabelle is much better at verbalizing... " Uch... David splashed me!!"



Isabelle has started to play imagination games. She sometimes shows me the "ladybug" in her hand or lets me smell an imaginary flower. The other day she was pretending to go to work. She made a "purse" out of this hangy thing from her door and needed her keys. She would kiss us good-bye and say "I'm going to work!" Then she would use her keys to fiddle with the door and say "I'm home now!" She did that about 20 times and each time we played along...

She also has started to improvise her songs. One of my favorites is when she sings patty-cake and instead of "put it in the oven for baby and me, " Isabelle sings "put it in the hotdog for baby and me!" I have no idea where she got hotdog from??!

David is growing and as happy as ever. I think he is the happiest baby I've ever seen. You can wake him out of a dead sleep and he'll roll over and smile. He's just a little cutie-pie. He's almost able to get himself into a sitting position by himself and on the verge of crawling too. He just hasn't quite figured it all out yet. But he's determined, and for most of his day he is rolling and pushing up and moving around on the floor. It makes me tired watching him sometimes.

John saw these in the window and couldn't resist!
(Does anyone remember that Carol Burnett Show parody of Gone With the Wind? Oh well, it was damn funny...)


My Mom made these for us to brighten up our kitchen and cover up our ugly, dark brown paneling pantry doors. Isn't she as handy as a pocket on a shirt??

Thanks Mom!!

When did you first learn how to eat an icecream cone? It's hard to remember... We decided to introduce Isabelle to icecream cones. She's had the soft seve yogurt kind before, but those aren't the ones that cause the problems. No no... it's the hand-dipped ones that seem to be such a good idea when it's a hundred and fifty degrees in the summer in Davis. You wait in line for 20 minutes at Baskin Robbins, make a selection and settle someplace in the shade in hopes that the cool tasty treat won't melt too fast. One lick... yummm Two licks... PLOP!!! Onto the pavement.

We decided to prepare. Isabelle LIKES icecream cones! And she did quite well at mastering the art of eating one!

David is starting to use his hands and arms with a little more coordination and strength. So we are having him feed himself. He's getting pretty good at it. And he's such a character. As you can see in this photo, he's clearly milk drunk.

Yesterday was David's developmental screening at Sutter. They offer it to all preemies just to follow up on how they are doing. We saw a social worker who was very nice, a physical therapist and a pediatric nurse practitioner. The physical therapist was the most helpful, as David is behind in his gross motor skills. We've known that for a while and it isn't that uncommon... Anyway, the good news is that he seems right on target for most things. He picks up things and had pretty good fine motor skills, displays object permanence and also has really good social skills.

The physical therapist gave us some exercises to do with him to try to strengthen the front part of his body. Apparently in preemies, it's common for there to be an inbalance between the anterior and posterior because they develop strength in the womb in the posterior body first. Then during the last several weeks they develop strength in the anterior. Because of all this, even though he can sit up, but has poor balance because of the way he's compensated. His lateral muscles are undeveloped, so his movements are jerky as he tries to keep his balance. The good news is that it's early and we can help him fix the imbalance before it gets to be a big problem.

I also found it really interesting to talk to the physical therapist about her opinion of the "Back to Sleep" program. (I thought that maybe David's imbablance was partially a result of us putting him to sleep on his belly.) In her opinion back sleeping it's not a natural way for babies to sleep and she told me that they see all kinds of term babies that develop problems because of this, and that there's no proof that it prevents SIDS. The more likely reason for SIDS is soft mattresses, (in her opinion).

He's 8 months old now with an adjusted age of 6 1/2 months. The nurse weighed and measured him and didn't use the adjusted age for this. He weighs 22lbs and is still in the 50-75th percentile for an 8 month old. I don't really know what all of that means except that he's continuing to gain weight and grow like he's supposed to. That makes us happy because he's still pretty spitty. The nurse said that as long as he continue to gain weight and doesn't appear to have any irritation from the reflux, they qualify him as a "happy spitter." Bummer for us and all of the laundry we do, but again, happy that it's not worse than it is.

Isabelle didn't get to go to this appointment. Initially, I was irritated that we had to get a sitter for her, but once we were there I totally understood and was glad we didn't have the option to bring her. She stayed home with my friend Diane and they had a lovely time. The went to the horsey park and we're banging on things "making music" when we got back. It's so nice to have someone to jump in when we need to do things like this. And I think as much as Isabelle loves us, she gets tired of our ugly mugs and likes having new people to play with.


Oh jeez... speaking of imbalances though!!! Poor Isabelle did a face plant right into the concrete the other day! We were going out to get burritos and she tripped and fell and bounced her mouth off the pavement. You parents know that sickening feeling... You see it happening in slow motion and there's no way you can get there to catch them in time, then you're hands fly up to your mouth and you hope they don't see your reaction. She split her lip inside pretty good and had a nice big fat lip. She still has a fat lip in fact, but seems ok other wise. I got great advice from another mom for lip injuries, which was to put them in the bath with a popsicle. Pain relief, distraction and no mess!

The other great thing to report is that John's work has agreed to continue with an arrangement that makes it possible for me to be home with the kids during the day and work in the evenings. It's still not the ideal situation for them, but they've been generous in their compromise. With the exercies we need to do with David and the fact that I adore being home with the kids every day, we are so grateful. John gets one on one time with them the three evenings a week that I work and then on Saturday mornings. He's just the best Dad ever! And the kids light up for him like no one else. We're pretty happy with our little family.

David has learned how to clap his hands. It's the sweetest thing... he can sit up now, although he loses his balance pretty easily, and sometimes just sits and claps. He also likes to practice his new skill when he wakes up in the morning. Somehow, it isn't as cute then. He rolls onto his back and , clap, clap, clap squeal, squeal. Flip flop, grab Mommie's hair, smile as she untangles little fingers without waking up Daddy... So CUTE!!!

This morning at 5:30, I finally gave up and decided to get up with him. I get up and get dressed which is apparently enough time for him to roll onto his tummy and go back to sleep. So then, I go lay on the couch. I get all the pillows off, lay down get all snuggled up, nice and warm in the blanket... Ahhhhh... and, Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!! He's up again. Being a parent is the BEST!

David is getting pretty good at sitting up now. I know that's a small step, but when you're a parent, you really enjoy these little milestones. He can't get himself up yet (I'll write about that when it happens too), but when we put him in a sitting position, he'll hold it for a while. He also loves to roll around, and look about while on his belly, as you can see from the photo in the last post. I'm sure he's gonna start crawling soon. He sure likes to kick when he's sitting in his high chair or stroller, but I can't remember how the transition goes from kicking legs to crawling legs.

Isabelle is enjoying her brother now a bit more as well. She asks to sit with him on the couch, and they laugh and giggle at each other. Of course, for David, Isabelle is just the most fun thing to watch in the world. He loves us, but he perform many more functions for him. We're more of a necessity. Isabelle is just the bonus, generally more interesting.


Isabelle has a very good eye for caricatures, I guess I would have to say. Every now and then when she's eating oatmeal or crackers, or whatever, she'll stop and say, "Doggie" or "bird." Then we look to see what she's talking about, and if she's looking at her spoon, we'll look there and see the shape of a dog, cat, face, etc.. Of course, when the media is oatmeal, I can't show you her transitory artistic interpretation. Yesterday, she was playing out on the side walk with her chalk. She was drawing faces, circles, and general scribbling, as two year olds like to do. Then she stopped and said, "Horsey." I looked, and yeah, she drew a horse. I think that's pretty cool, since she's never actually seen one, only on the TV.

Well here we are 10 days after the last posting. And that was a very minimal one at that. Let's see what I have to tell you. David continues to be cuter every day as a little more personality develops. He really likes to sing in the morning when he wakes up. It is a really sweet and cute little thing to hear, now that I can write about it, but when he wakes up at 4:30 and starts, it's not the preferred time. Sometimes he's also in bed, in between us, and he starts to roll from side to side. That's all fine until he gets the hands and feet into it. In fact, this morning he smacked me right in the ribs of my back, Whump! At 5 a.m., a whump on the chest is actually quite loud, and a little bit scary.


Isabelle is getting into the copy cat stage. Which is great, 'cause we can see her learning and thinking and practicing words. And now we really need to be careful about what we say to each other or other people when we're out or on the phone, for instance. Now, we are not a couple of foul mouthed sailors, so we don't have a lot to worry about, but the other day she said a couple of things which she must have heard us say, but neither of us remember saying it.

Here's my story, since I can't remember Julie's right now. I had just taken Isabelle out of the bath, and put her in her pajamas. She was drinking her warm milk, and reading a book, so I went back into the bathroom to wash the soap off her bath toys and rinse out the tub. The tub still had water in it, so of course, I started to let the water out as I picked up the toys. All of a sudden, in the corner of my eye, I see Isabelle, and she wants to help. Which is fine. There really wasn't much left to do anyway. But Isabelle still wanted to play, er....help. So she reached in the tub to splash a little bit. Next thing I know, her sleeve is all wet, and I said, "Oh, Isabelle, you got you sleeve all wet."
She looked down, and noticed the wet sleeve, as if it magically appeared. Then she said, "Oh, Darn it!"

Now, I really don't think I say that phrase a lot, or ever. But Isabelle sure learned it, and its context. Which is wonderful. But when did she learn it?

David likes green beans!!

Isabelle's favorite song to sing right now is Twinkle Twinkle Litttle Star. She sings it probably 52 times a day... at random times, in random intonations, at random speeds. The other songs in her line-up are Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns n' Roses), Blackbird (Beatles), Hush Little baby, and You Are My Sunshine. I used to just sing these to her at bedtime, but John downloaded these songs and now we have a little playlist that is requested a couple times a day.

Today at lunch Sweet Child of Mine was the request. Isabelle used to be a little confused by all the guitar work because obviously that's not the way I was singing it... she'd look at us like, is this part of the song?? But now she really gets into it... does air guitar and some drum beats.

Today she surprised me by getting stuck on the part "Where do we go now, ayayayayayayay" It was pretty funny. Then she said "rock on Daddy..." and I said "Daddy's at work, but yeah... keep on keepin' on.... rock on Daddy!" I've tried to teach her to put her goat-head up, but she's not quite coordinated enough to do that.

Then she ends the song with a big smile and says.... "Yayyyy...!" Fun having a little rocker in the house. David on the other hand might be a little raver.... he sure gets happy when John dances around to house music.

David has two teeth on the bottom! I know because he bites me all the time!!! I don't think he will get to wean himself at 10 months the way Isabelle did. Funny how different two kids from the same family can be. For instance with teething, (we HOPE it's just from teething!) David slobbers waaayyy more than Isabelle did. He's a mess! If we don't put a bib on his we have to change his clothes a couple times a day. And he chews on everything... his fingers, our fingers, my hair, shirts-- whatever is within reach. On the other hand, he doesn't run a fever, get a runny nose or wake up at night the way that Isabelle did, so that's good.


Have I mentioned how cute David is? Here's a nice shot with him and his handsome Daddy... Speaking of shots, David had to get one the other day, and got weighed at his visit. He weighs an even 20lbs! We were happy about that because we've slowed down on the introduction of food. Our pediatrition said to go ahead and start at 6 months, but after some time we decided his little system doesn't seem quite ready. He's on cereal and seems to like fruits, but peas are no good and carrots make him hurl. ( Amy, you can appreciate that.)

Isabelle on the other hand, eats anything except for mushrooms. I think it's a texture thing. Tonight she ate asparagus! What 2 year old likes asparagus?! She likes raw green peppers too. She likes most fruits as well, and has a healthy sweet tooth. We know she's ours because she loves chocolate.

She also loves visitors and is looking forward to Jen and Kevin coming to dinner on Tuesday. Today she told us, "no pudding for Jen!" which is something she remembers from Jen's last visit, like 3 weeks ago. Funny, the things they remember...

When I was a little girl and would have bad dreams, I would carefully make my way over the sea of alligators that covered my floor and ask my Mom if I could get in bed with her. She always let me snuggle in... sleepily murmering "it's ok honey, go back to sleep and dream about angels and sweet things..." These are the things you carry over to parenthood.

So now when Isabelle wakes from nap or in the morning I always ask her "How was your nap? Did you dream about angels and sweet things?" Usually she doesn't really say anything about what she dreamt about; she's usually more interested in snack.

Lately she's been having bad dreams and waking up at night, and last night she had a particularly restless night. I think John went to check her a couple more times than ususal. This morning when I got up with her, I said " Good morning Isabelle. Did you have bad dreams last night? What did you dream about?" She looked at me sweetly as we snuggled up with her cup of warm milk and said "Angels..."

Almost nothin' sweeter than that...

Oh yeah, here are some pictures of our day flying the kite. We all went out a day or two after the post I made about the flowers.

I am such a parent now. I have this game with Isabelle, which I started to call 'Japanese Smack Down.' Here's the gist of it, one day I was carrying Isabelle, and I came over to the couch, leaned over, grunted, and dropped her down. Well, she enjoyed that immensely, and ran right back with her arms up. So I plopped her down on the couch again. But this time I didn't grunt, as I held her a little more carefully. After she landed, she looked at me and grunted. So I grunted back, and next time I picked her up for a drop onto the couch, I gave an exaggerated grunt. As this went on, I eventually started to perform a few Sumo moves, i.e. clapping my hands, bowing, and slapping each hand on the corresponding knee.

So after another 10 drops to the couch, I added some Japanese words. I really don't know many, but that didn't matter to Isabelle, as long as I said them with the appropriate Sumo wrestler accented voice. Most of the words I know are for sushi, and konnichiwa, domo arigato, and itashimashite. So as I was exclaiming these fish in Japanese, Isabelle would just giggle, and ask me to "do again! do again!"

The next day, she comes up to me with her arms up, and asks, "Hamachi?" So that is what the game is now called. Yellow Tail Tuna in Japanese, "Hamachi"

The other day Isabelle was climbing up on the arm of the couch, and falling onto the cushions, and exclaiming to herself, "Hamachi!" And here is where the parent part comes back into it. She was having a great time, since she can do this just about any time. But what was I thinking? She's gonna miss the couch and crack her head open on the floor.

David went to the doctor for his 6 month wellness check. He's doing great. Still growing, up to 18.5 lbs (8.4 kilo), and 27.5 inches (70 cm). He had to get 4 more shot though, so he was a little grumpy for a day afterwards. We also started him on his fisrt solid food. Strained Sweet Peas, that old baby standby. He doesn't really like peas too much. Squash and pears are winners though.

David also has his first tooth! He's been very grumpy the last few days, and needs to be held a lot, which we remembered with Isabelle ment teeth or cold. Gladly, David has a little tooth coming up, front center, lower jaw.

It's funny how focused kids get. This afternoon I took the kids to the park, and I brought along the new parafoil kite Aunt DeDee gave us. When they were here, everyone was at the park, and Isabelle loved looking at the kite she saw there. So DeDee bought us a very similar, if not the same, kite. But we haven't had any breezey days yet. Rainy and windy, but not really kite flying days, unless your name is Benjamin.

All was going well as we walked down the pathway to the park, and we are just getting into the first stages of Spring. Along the pathway we saw a few flowers starting to bloom, and a lot of Dandelions, which Isabelle then proceeded to pick, every one she saw! Then she wasn't happy with only having yellow blooms, and she saw the periwinkle and needed the nice contrast to her bouquet. Of course, once she had those, she needed the 'nosemary'. Suddenly, going to the park to fly a kite wasn't the goal anymore.


I eventually got her to the park, and had the kite flying in a few minutes. Isabelle smiled when she saw it, and said' "Kite, kite!" But then she wanted to get some of the pink flowers off of the wild cherry trees. She couldn't reach them, but they were more important than this wonderful kite 40 ft up in the air. I even attached the 8 ft. streamer tail! She couldn't care less about the kite anymore.

I let her play around the park for a while, and she must have collected 50 dandelions, many just a raisin of their former self. But she wanted to bring them all home to Mommy. So I figure she had enough flowers, and I needed to get David home to sleep warm and cozy, instead of cool and breezy, and off we went. Very slowly.
" Come on Isabelle. Let's bring those flowers home"

shuffle, shuffle, shuffle

" Come on Isabelle."

scuff, scuff, scuff

"Isabelle, please don't drag your shoes on the cement. We need to get David home, and start your dinner."

She start walking normally. And then,

"Flower!" she says as she runs over to yet another dandelion which must have sprung up in the last 15 minutes, 'cause I'm sure she scoured this field on the way to the park. Of course, by this time, she can't actually pick up any more flowers, as her hands are full of the afternoon collection already. With both hands clasping dozens of flowers, (most of the periwinkle has shriveled up and fallen to the wayside by now) she bends over, and extends one, then two, pinky fingers to grab the precious golden weed. A few of the other flowers are lost off the top, and I hear,
"Oh No!"

She spends a few minutes getting all the flowers back into her hands, and looked over the green lawn for more.
" Come on Isabelle. Let's go home. We need to leave some flowers for other people to enjoy."

shuffle, shuffle, shuffle, scuff, scuff, scuff

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.