Little Lermas!: Isabella 24 Months!

Wowza...my baby is 2!!! How does that even happen so quickly!?!? I try to keep up with the monthly posts once a week so that when the time comes to post I'm not trying to think of the entire last month. And yet here we are, Isabella is 2 (two!), and I wrote nothing about the last month, mostly because it just flew by! We are in full on summer fun mode, and Isabella is just a true joy to be around (most days, teething excluded!).

Isabella, you have grown into quite the affectionate, fun-loving, sensitive, feisty, funny little jokester, and amaze us pretty much daily with how much you are growing and changing! We love singing with you, dancing with you, rocking you, and being goofy with you, & probably Daddy's favorite- eating good food with you bc you just get as excited as he does.

On some of the days that you ask for the 20th time to "rock rock and saa" (rock and song/sing) I can't help but oblige because I know the day will come far too soon when you are either too big to do this, or just plain don't want to (*tear!*).

We love you with all of our heart, Bella Boo. Happy, happy 2 year birthday little lady!

-Love,

Mama & Dada

Happy 24 Months Isabella Rae!

24 Month Highlights:

-This month teething hit you hard. Really hard. Like, low grade fevers, irritability, whining, and my personal favorite, throwing up (two saturdays in a row)! Poor baby! Lots of cuddles, rock rocks, and fishy ice toy time!

-We play outside a lot. You love "side" and enjoy doing "chalkies" on the sidewalk, bubbles, being in the small pool on our deck, or taking rides in your "caa." You also love to push the caa just as much as you like riding in it : )

-You found out that you LOVE stickers this month. You love to take them out of the sticker book, put them all over yourself and Daddy and then come show Mama. You then like to point out each one, making up names for some of the things you don't know what they are : )

-We had a couple pool days at Mimi's house which was fun b/c we put Aubrey down for a nap and Pops listened for her, so it was just you, Mama and Mimi. You are really loving the pool this year, and even put your face right in the water the first time we went to blow bubbles. Probably your favorite thing to do though is go up and down the three stairs...over and over and over.

-We also went to the Splash Pad for the first time and while I can't say you absolutely loved it, you had a good time. There were so many other big kids there, and I think you were overwhelmed, and there's also the component of you being a total people watcher just like Mama! You did like to get in the smaller fountains and try to stomp them out like Mimi showed you. You only lasted about 15 minutes and then wanted to eat (surprise), but I think as the summer goes on you'll love it!

-In a lot of ways, you are Daddy's girl. He loves to get you out of bed in the morning, get you ready for the day, feed you breakfast, and then play in the playroom til about 9 am with you. That's his time with you (and Mama's time just for Aubrey), and you love it! You love coloring with him, stickers, having him "teekle" you, and of course, singing (mostly that ~~dreaded~~ Nursery Rhymes book).

You are two peas in a pod...and of course I found these gems on Daddy's phone : ) And I will also note: the fact that there were 5, and you obliged him on all of them was impressive...you give me a blank stare pretty much every time I put the camera in front of you!

-Speaking of what you do when you get in front of a camera for Mama...lately when I'm asking your pretty pretty please to give me a smile, this is what comes out! Even funnier, one day we were looking through about 12 pictures I took in a row of you hoping to get one good one where you were smiling normally, and you stopped on the one on the right and said super excitedly, "OHHH Mama...petty!!!" Cracked me up!

-Your love of music, singing, and dancing is a pure form of entertainment for Daddy and I. I'm pretty sure if we could literally sing for 22 hours of the day, you'd be in Heaven! You even have started to want to sit and listen to our church worship band rehearsals rather than running around with the girls that watch you on Sunday mornings. And a few times, you wanted to be right up there with Daddy, taking over his mic : )

-You are such a great big sister! You love "AuBee" more and more. You love saying "Mama, she tie tie" when she gets fussy and is tired, and then you go over and either "Shh shh shh" her, or try to give her head kisses. You also love taking every single toy she tries playing with, but that's another story!

Sleeping: You are still a rockstar sleeper and really give us no problems for naps or night time! Bedtime these days is anywhere between 7 and 8 pm b/c it's summer and we're just having fun! You then sleep til about 7 or 8 am, and regardless of what time you wake up, we come to get you at 8 am. You have never gotten out of your bed (except that one time you fell out in a dead sleep!), and I'm just waiting for the night that you figure out how easy it is to climb out of the toddler bed (although you are my little rule follower, so we will see how long that lasts!). Naps are still around 1pm and last 2 to 3 hours in the afternoon. You still sleep with all 3 "B's" (bears), 2 Moos, and 2 "Ma's" (bunny slippers). I catch you all the time with Ma on your hands and you pretend they talk to each other. So cute! You also started asking for "keesies" at bedtime, and you love to point to pretty much every body part (including every single finger!) so we can give it a kiss. You also ask Daddy to "pound it" to all the Be's. Either a genius stalling technique, or just so sweet. Either way, we love it!

Eating: You know what you want, and you know what you don't. Not much has changed over the last month in terms of food preferences. Still loving cheese, nuggets, sweet potatoes, PB sandwiches, greek yogurt, & any and all fruit (your favorite this month though has by far been "strawbees"). If you had your way, you'd eat fruit all day every day and nothing else. You drink milk only occasionally, and I can't figure you out with that one b/c some days you LOVE it like it's a huge treat, and other days you look like I'm forcing you to drink it (which I do not, I love that you love water so much!). Oh, and you eat like an Italian...every meal is an ordeal. It takes about an hour for you to eat dinner, and breakfast is a minimum of 35-45 minutes, if not longer. You just sit and relish each and every bite.

Isabella Loves:
-Singing, dancing, & music

-Rocking and cuddling

-Swimming, playing in the sprinkler or hose

-"Helping" Mama unload the dishwasher, water the flowers, clean up

-Eating good food

-Playing outside, taking "ryes" in your "caa" (rides in your pushcar), swinging

-"Chalkies" and bubbles outside

-"Cuh cuh" (coloring) and stickers

Isabella Hates:

-Not being able to do something independently that you are trying to do

24 Month Stats:

Height:34 in (55th percentile)

Weight: 26 lb 7 oz (47th percentile)
HC: 18.75 in (54th percentile)

*Wearing size 4 diapers

*Wearing 24 month and 2T clothes, with a few 18 month things still lingering around (especially jammies)

Teeth: No new teeth this month, the bottom right canine is almost pushing its way through, but not quite there yet (come on, that one has been a PAIN!)

Isabella's Firsts this Month:

-You say a new word every single day, I just can't keep track of them!

*Side note- you are for sure ready to be potty trained...Mama just needs to get on board! You say "Mama, poo poo, and then go sit on your potty to poop in your diaper!" Yeah...gotta get on board!

This Month in Pictures: