Cat Wars

There is something to be said for forbidden territory. That tantalizing object you are not allowed to hold. The litter box with all of its hidden treasures just waiting to be explored. Since discovering her new found mobility, Isabel is lamenting the new philosophy her parents have adopted, boundaries.

Yes folks, Isabel is learning the word "no" and is not pleased. The cat is thankful though as she can always count on the privacy of her litter box when all else has fallen to the conquering sticky hands of Isabel Marie.


We often look to the blankets, laid on opposite ends of the living room to signify feline vs infant territory, to find Isabel sitting on Pele's mats and Pele sitting on Isabel's blanket! Whether one does it to annoy the other, I know not, but both are waged in a war of the border lines. Pele usually strikes first by laying a fine layer of kitty litter, like a minefield, across where Isabel plays. Isabel responds by stealthily sneaking up on the cat ready to squish her in the biggest gooiest hug ever. Luckily for Pele, Isabel is usually foiled with choruses of Mom and Dad yelling, "Isabel NO!" And running, panicked, to pull the infant to safety. Of course Pele's plans are foiled when Mom runs the vacuum, picking up the litter/mines, and freaking the cat out in the process.

So happy 8th month, Isabel, and here is to a harmonious one!

Sense of Humor

The weeks have simply flown by and her personality is becoming more distinct. We began a new tradition on our recent vacation to Birmingham, which is a new toy to commemorate the trip. We took her to Toys R Us for the very first time and she had a blast! One of the best parts was her reaction to a remote control Big Foot doll. Of course it was too expensive for us to consider, but we enjoyed watching her reaction to it.

She laughs more now and finds oddest things hilarious. We will sometimes just hear her break out into peals of laughter over the silliest things, like faces or sounds.

This week has also been a week of more firsts. I was on the phone with my mom when Isabel suddenly crawled across the room! She is crawling now!!! Then, a few days later, a pearly white tooth was spotted! Her lower right incisor came in. It is being closely followed by the left, which should be here soon...

I will try to get the crawling video posted soon!

Laughing!

Some more video of her beautiful laugh!

Isabel's First Swim

Isabel took a trip to the neighborhood pool today with me and Aunt Sara. She loved it! She was smiling when I first put her in the water and then kicked her legs to propel herself around the pool in her little raft. I think she is going to be a water baby like her mama!

6 months old today!!!

Today, Isabel is 6 months old! She had a fun evening and even got to choose what she ate for dinner...

6 months here we come!

I cannot believe it has been so long since our last posting! I can only apologize for the lapse in pictures... It is not that we haven't been taking them, but I just have not had the time to post them until now.

As Isabel is nearing her 6 month birthday, we are seeing more and more of her personality come out. She is very curious and loves new toys. I have been rotating her toys every couple of weeks, so when I bring an old toy back out, she acts like it is brand new and she has never seen it before.

She has also been keying in on our voices and will turn around with the biggest grin when we walk into her daycare room to pick her up at the end of the day!

She is eating "solid" foods now too. Her favorites are apples and bananas, but she seems to like everything she has tried so far.

Where's Isabel???

Isabel enjoys playing games and one of her favorites is "Where's Isabel?"

She is still very vocal and while this is cute now, I have to wonder how long it will remain so...