Little Lermas!: Isabella 23 Months!

Oh My Word! How oh how is my baby almost 2 years old!?!? I am seriously in disbelief that it has been almost 2 years ago since she entered our lives! I know I say it often, but our lives have been forever changed with her in it. She is such a joy to be around and a complete blessing to us! She is literally growing up before our eyes and I feel like she is more than just a little bit older every single day! Aghh! TIME.SLOW.DOWN!!!!

Happy 23 Months Isabella Rae!

And this is the face she uses to get whatever she wants from Daddy : )

23 Month Highlights:

-This month we had awesome summer like weather and played outside a lot! Most days we were too busy playing to take pictures, but we still got a few! You love helping Mama with the garden, playing with "Shalkies" (chalk), and the bubble machine.

You LOVE helping in the garden. You especially loved putting in the pinwheels which you call "Moovies" probably b/c I said the wind makes them move : )

-While you love your Mama, you are a Daddy's girl! You guys share a special little bond that I love watching! He loves spending time with you in the morning, feeding you breakfast, and then playing in the play room until he has to go to work (around 9).

Enjoying a family dinner out!

-Mimi got shingles (eek!) and was out of commission for about 2 weeks. We spent some extra time with Dani which was fun (if not a bit crazy having 3 under 2 in the house!).

I love when you guys crack each other up!

-You really started embracing your little sister this month, and for the first time actually asked to hold her! Sweet moment on a Saturday morning! Then when I took her away to feed her you cried and said "More!?" Sweet girl! Since then you ask to hold her probably once a day.

-You are my little helper, and sometimes my little shadow! You LOVE helping me unload the dishwasher, you have to be sitting on the countertops when I am cooking, and when I work out, you want to be right beside me, imitating all my moves! You even love to stretch when I stretch after a run : )

Move over Mama, I'm trying to do this yoga pose! YUP, she essentially overtakes my entire mat!

Stretchin' it out after a 3 mile run : )

-We still go on runs with Tia and Dani at the Greenway every Tuesday and you love it! You love seeing Dani, you enjoy the ride in the stroller (probably b/c you eat cheerios the entire time), and you love getting out and pushing the stroller afterwards as well!

You LOVE giving hugs. Dani, not so much : )

Sleeping: You are still one great sleeper and we are SO grateful! You love your toddler bed, and have completely embraced sleeping in it with about 42 stuffed animals : ) OK, bit of an exaggeration, but for real you have 3 bears (all affectionately called by their color + Be = Pink Be, Brown Be, Teal Be), 2 "Ma's" (your bunny slippers!), and 2 moo's (one with your paci on it).

Bedtime is around 7 or 7:30 depending on what we are doing that evening (and I can forsee it getting pushed back with fun nights this summer!). You sleep great until about 6:30 or 7am, and then you stay in bed playing with your animals til we get you at 8am. *YES, we are aware at how lucky we are she just loves being in bed!* There are some mornings we go in before 8, and you just shake your head "No" like, please get out of here...it's early and I'm not ready to get up yet!

You have also been an amazing napper this last month, sleeping 3 hours in the afternoon most days! Naps usually are from 1-4pm, or sometimes start earlier (around noon) if you are really tired. I think all the running around and time spent outside just wears you out, but there have been at least a couple days a week where I have to wake you up at 4 so you'll go to bed that night!

Eating: You are pretty picky these days and you know what you like. You started to like milk in the last month (maybe 6 weeks) and think it's the best treat ever since you've only ever had water to drink otherwise! That being said, sometimes you LOVE it and say "ohh" and "yum" the entire time you drink it, and other times you take one sip and decide you don't like it. So opinionated : )

Favorite foods this month: CHEESE (you would eat this 12 times a day if I let you!), cereal, "wahkies with boo boos" (waffles with blueberries), literally any fruit in the world, apple sauce, chicken nuggets, squeezies, crackers, PB sandwiches, black olives, fig bars, and you even request "moly moly" (guacamole) now!

*Side story: I make guac in the same bowl pretty much every time and the other night Jon got it out to mix burgers/add-ins in, and she got so excited and said "Ohhhhh Dada....moly moly!? Yay!" Ha...nope, burgers! That being said you ate your fair share of Mama's burger and "pie pies" (our homemade potato fries)*

It's been really hard to get anything green (veggies) in you b/c you just won't eat them, unless they are in baby food pureed form. You will eat spinach in your eggs, but you aren't wanting those as often so there goes that.

Isabella Loves:

-Singing and listening to music which you could do ALL day long!

-Playing outside, going down our slide, and "helping" mama do yardwork

-Snuggling and cuddling...you are our little cuddle bug!

-Going on walks at the Greenway

-Shopping! One morning we were running errands and on the last one I said it was time to go home in which you said, "No mama, More!?"

-Baths

-Playing in the hose or sprinkler

-Coloring

-Reading

-Eating good food!

Isabella Hates:

-Not being able to do something independently when you want to

-Having kids enter into her personal space (eg: Dani or Aubrey!)

23 Month Stats:

-Height: 33.5 in (50th percentile)

-Weight: 26 lbs (almost 50th percentile)

Teeth: No new teeth this month so still 13 (4 center top, 4 center bottom, 1 canine bottom left, 1 molar on each side top and bottom)

*Wearing mostly 24 month clothes, although 18 month things still fit, but are finally getting small! We will be passing down all the 18 month jammies in the next week or so b/c they are finally getting too short.

Isabella's Firsts this Month:

-You have expanded your vocab this month to about a gazillion words it seems! Wish I could keep track of all of them! Every day you say at least one word that I didn't know you knew! Things like saying "pockees" (pockets) out of the blue, naming almost all your body parts now as opposed to just showing where they are when I ask, and knowing opposites (wet vs dry, up vs down, on vs off) just show me how much older and wiser you are becoming : )

-You finally learned how to jump with both feet and get off the ground! You absolutely love doing it, and clap afterwards when you don't fall down!

-You are SO much better at going up and down stairs and if there is a railing your can walk (like a normal person) both ways, although I still prefer you to scooch down.

This Month in Pictures: