Happy Birthday Daddy!

After Auntie Gail's birthday party, we had a party for Daddy! It was a luau and Isabelle wore a grass skirt over her hula girl Dora bathing suit (which I found at Burlington about 3 months ago....SCORE!). Thank God her BFF, Clare, showed up with a grass skirt on too. The two beach bums wore their grass skirts most of the night without complaint. (I fully anticipated that Isabelle would rip hers off 5 minutes into the party).

We had babysitters lined up to take care of Isabelle during the party, Mommy & Daddy were going to be so busy so we needed to make sure someone was dedicated to watching her. Poor babysitters were running around the beach watching TWO little girl toddlers (we had several babysitters that day, so thank you to all of them!!). Isabelle and Clare didn't leave each other's side, they were glued to the hip. And so cute together. I would share a pic, but don't want to post a pic of someone else's child without permission so just email me and I can share a pic with you if you want to see it.

The party was great. It was hot that day but we survived. It didn't RAIN! Food was apparently good because it was mostly gone at the end. Isabelle was getting so used to parties, she wanted to know what was going on next weekend...

Happy 70th Auntie Gail

We hit the road to the Jersey Shore (no, not the TV Show, the ACTUAL Jersey Shore) for a suprise birthday party for my Aunt Gail on Saturday July 10th. Isabelle has a history of car sickness if we put her in the car right after breakfast so we decided to test out a new theory. We woke her up at 6am and put her in the car, thinking she would just go right back to sleep.

Theory? Wrong!

She was wide awake and quite pissed that she didn't get her breakfast, that she was still in her pajamas, and that she was strapped into a carseat. Ooops!

We fed her breakfast on the road (Ed climbed in the backseat to catch the puke we expected to come next.....he lucked out this time, no sickies). We got her dressed at one of the rest stops. And she was wide awake the entire 4-hour drive. Her mood did improve after breakfast at least.

So we got to NJ intending to go to the beach all day Saturday. The party didn't start until 4pm so we had time to kill. Plus we were staying in a hotel and check-in wasn't until 3pm. Unfortunately we hit rain and had no beach time at all. We drove around and popped into some shops in the area. Isabelle was not pleased. She was a perfect pain in the patoocha to be honest.

Uncle Sean and Jenny showed up finally to provide a change of scenery. When we got to the party, we figured Isabelle would play with the two OTHER two-year-olds but she wanted nothing to do with Kayla or Noah. She was enamored by Hannah, a lovely 4-year-old daughter to my Cousin Curran. The two of them got along like gangbusters and they had a fantastic time. They got to play all day on Sunday at the beach together too, they were fast friends like they've known each other all the time. It was fantastic to see, and I can't wait to take Isabelle back to the Jersey Shore for some more family fun.

We tried to get photos, but she was just NOT in the mood for anything of the sort. Maybe next time!

I've Been Remiss

Sorry everyone, I've been so busy with work (15+ hour days are the norm right now), that I haven't had time to update everyone about Isabelle's big accomplishments and mini moments of mirth.

As of today, July 28, 2010, I would say we are 90% potty trained!!! I see my last diapers.com order coming in the very near future. Isabelle started having 100% days of potty training at school just a few weeks ago and she is now doing very well at home too. We're very excited for her, she's OH so very proud of herself. Especially because she gets a half-handful of M&Ms each time she goes on her own, without help.

The bribes will end soon, because she knows what she needs to do. She'll be in a diaper at bedtime for a while, and on longish car rides. But for the most part, we have a BIG GIRL on our hands. So congratulate her with pizazz the next time you see or talk to her. She will tell you ALLLLL about it.

First "Real" Haircut

I took Isabelle to get her first "real" haircut on Friday night. Daddy had to help a neighbor put his new shed together, so us girls went to the salon. I've been trimming Isabelle's hair for the past 2.5 years and now that it's getting long, she really needed to have a professional trim to even up the lackluster job I've done over the years.

She was a perfect little angel, sat very still, put her chin down when asked, and never cried a peep. She had a very perplexed look on her face the entire haircut, but overall she did a fantastic job. I have heard horror stories about Toddlers getting a haircut.

There are no pictures of the event, that's not really 'my thing'. But pictures of her new haircut will be sent soon. It really doesn't look that different, it's just "even" now. We're trying to grow those bangs out, hopefully by the end of summer we can ditch the barrette to hold them back.

Just a Minute...

I wanted to share a snippet of a conversation that took place over a short 3-mile drive to daycare this week.

Mommy?

Yes, Isabelle?

Why are you drinking that coffee?

Because Mommy needs coffee to wake up.

Ohhhhh……………Mommy?

Yes, Isabelle?

Why are you driving this car?

Because Mommy is driving you to school.

Ohhhhh………Mommy?

Yes, Isabelle?

Why are I going to school?

You mean, why AM I going to school?

……………Uhhhhhhh…………………Mommy?

YES, ISABELLE?

Why are you mad?

I’m not mad, baby. Just a minute, Mommy is trying to concentrate on driving. I need to focus on the road so we can be safe.

Ohhhhh………Mommy?

ISABELLE? What on GOD'S GREEN EARTH could you possibly want?

Mommy? I LOVE YOU!

(Mommy slumps into the car seat, wondering how this precious thing could annoy her for even one minute)

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Lady and the Tramp

Our neighbor, Mark, came over to our house on Saturday during a cookout. Isabelle had the opportunity to jump on "Uncle Mark's trampoline" a few weeks ago at their house and she continued to talk about it for several weeks, almost every day asking when she can jump on it again.

So when Mark was here, I asked him if we could bring Isabelle over to his house anytime to play on it. He was so excited he almost busted a gasket. He was getting ready to disassemble the thing and drive it to the dump because he had "asked everyone" if they wanted it and nobody took him up on the offer. (Well, he never asked US!)

He begged for us to take it off his hands, and he refused to accept any money for it (I really did try, honestly!). So we accepted the generosity and then he just showed up on Tuesday with the disassembled trampoline in his truck and proceeded to assemble it right in our yard. His 20-something stepson had purchased it 2 years ago when he lived with them and the kid has since moved back to California. The assembly instructions were dutifully thrown in the trash as soon as the thing was put together the first time (gee, go figure!). So Mark knew he could throw the thing together much faster than Ed would be able to figure out how all the parts matched up.

So just a few minutes later, we had a "brand new" (to us) trampoline in the yard and we haven't been able to get Isabelle off of it. She's been a jumper since those first few muscles were strong enough to allow it (anyone remember the Fisher Price Jumparoo we used to have???).

I think I'm going to need a much nicer camera to actually get a picture of her on this thing, because all the pics I've taken so far look like this (and this is with the "sport" setting on for those fast-action pics, hahaha):

Is it really JUNE?

I can't believe June starts tomorrow, where did May go? To be honest, the month of May was usurped by the 48-Hour Film Project shenanigans. We filmed the movie the first weekend of May, then we had our first screening the following week and after a nail-biting 10 days, found out that this year's film "High as a Kite" made it to the "Best of DC" round of competition.

The 48hfp committee doesn't post official rankings so we don't know exactly where we placed, but we were in the bottom half of the "Best of DC" group, which is compiled of the top 24 films out of 105 team entries. We weren't sure we'd make it this year, so we're just happy to say that we did!

Next year, we've all agreed to remove all naked men from our film. We're going to attempt a mature film concept, and bust into the top half of that "Best of DC" contention.

But enough about the film. Isabelle has been busy this month. Potty training is going pretty well. We're not pushing it, but she is taking control and doing really well.

She has learned the entire "Our Father" prayer now and recites it every night at bedtime. We'll tackle the "Hail Mary" next. She should be more than ready for Catholic School in a few years!

Summer has arrived in full force. The baby pool debuted this week and we're getting ready to purchase a "big" pool this month. We went to the neighbors pool yesterday and she was swimming away, glad to see she hasn't lost her swim school lessons.

We're considering some gymnastic classes this summer, there is a good program through our local rec center that has classes on Wednesday nights, just like swim class was. It was a great way to break up the week with something constructive. The jury is still out.

Other than that, our summer is already getting booked up with parties and playdates and other fun activities. Daddy turns 40 this summer! So we've started to plan his Luau party for July 24th at our community beach. Anyone know a hula dancer we can invite?

Happy Summer, everyone, even if it doesn't technically start for another 3 weeks.