"Good bye Yellow Brick Road..."

Sorry for the delay in posting over the long weekend, but we are dealing with a serious lack of sleep around here. Seems I jumped the gun on Isabelle dealing SO well with the teething. The child does not sleep well at all anymore! Waking constantly and sometimes, fairly fussy when she wakes. Takes awhile to get her back down to sleep, and when she goes, she's sleeping really lightly. We have managed to find a transition crib that will fit in our room. Ordered from the States and should be here within a couple of weeks. Her Dad and I are quite looking forward to having our whole bed back, and think that perhaps being able to still see us in the same room will do the trick. Thus far, the whopping one hour mark is the longest that she has lasted in her very own room in her big crib. I know, I know, this is ridiculous, but I swear, when you're totally sleep deprived, the only thing you want is that they fall asleep and let you do the same. Plus, her Mom loves to be able to take a big whiff of baby before she drops off herself.

We had a very good long weekend - busy times. We started off early with Rhiannon's charity event at TJ Pagoda's on Thursday night. Isabelle didn't seem at all fazed by the loud music and DJ, and was suitably charmed by all the attention she received. She's started grabbing faces and I was afraid that Auntie Menna was going to end up with her red lipstick smeared from one end of her face to the other. She also may cost us in repairing glasses since she seems to love taking a whack at silmultaneously grabbing and throwing them from whichever face presents them to her. We may have to start off with Dad's since they have taken quite the beating lately. We bid on a couple of things at the silent auction, and wouldn't you know it, ended up winning the big basket of Cadbury's chocolate. My promise to slow down with the sweets may have to be on hold, all in the name of charity, of course :)

Friday Isabelle and I visited Justice for a catch up session with all my work colleagues. She was a bit overwhelmed by the sheer number of people staring at her to begin with, but then her own personality took over and she screamed and carried on in her usual fashion. Was great to see everyone - and they let me leave at the end of our visit, which makes me feel silly for being so "anxiety case" about the whole thing. One of my favourite people is retiring though, and I will miss her when I get back. Things have to change over the course of a year, I know, but in this instance it stinks.

The weekend was nice and sunny. We went shopping for Auntie Meg's birthday gift (which I have decided I would very much like myself) - because we have to get it off in time. I always procrastinate even when I have the gift and then end up spending much more than necessary on Priority Post. Seems a bit silly when one member of the household is AT Canada Post each and every day......We also got Isabelle her front carrier for my bike. Now we start the search for a helmet small enough for her little noggin'. I have no idea since the bike shops do not seem to carry them, and her little bean is still quite small, even if her tummy is not!

Logan came over for a play date on Monday and Isabelle was not at all concerned that he was crawling circles around her. She had her "come hither" look on and was quite happy to busy herself with toys instead. That kid is going to walk, and early. I'm betting on the 10th month mark; he's already using objects to lift himself up into a standing position, and all at 8 months. Eegads, he's going to be a handfull to watch after. They had a great time in the ball pit; after some disastrous efforts on my part to make her like it, she has decided herself that she does, a lot, and loves to sit and play around with them.

Isabelle is not one for the tv, and the box set of all the Baby Einstein's her Gran bought her are sitting and waiting for the day she does. She has, however, decided that she loves "Dancing with the Stars". Not sure is it's because the colours are so vibrant on HD, or that she loves the music, but she's game anytime it comes on. She does, however, want everyone to know that she was putting on costumes and dancing in the Jolly Jumper long before the season started!

So, I have started what I swore I'd never do (as if!), and that's the deception angle of parenting. Contrary to the picture I have posted, Isabelle has decided she DOES love peas, especially when her Mom melts cheese on top of them. That's all it took and the whole meal went down in record time. I'll have to remember that for when the cauliflower is introduced, and perhaps the broccoli too!

Note to all new Mom's, or Mom's to be. Oxi Clean and colour safe bleach are both your very best friends. I have discovered that a combination of the two make almost any stain go away. Praise be. I thought a few of my very favourite Isabelle sleepers were ruined for good last week.

Isabelle's new trick of the week is of the contortionist variety. She has always used both her hands and her feet to do the same things. She claps her hands, she claps her feet, she grabs things with hands and with the feet, and now that she has decided that handling faces is fun, she also uses her feet to do the same. Just NOT so gentle when she decides to really have at you and I am surprised that my nose has not been broken several times. Not that I am a bit dense and actually wait for this to happen, but she contorts around on the play area before you know it and if your eyes are closed waiting for the next hand onslaught, you get a bit of a surprise when it's a foot that crashes down on your face. Your only recourse it to keep your eyes open and chance that a finger might take one out. Ahh, the perils of parenting.