big girl

Iso began refusing to eat her "baby" this week. For those of you without young children, "baby" is what Iso calls YoBaby Yogurt. It's good stuff. Organic, un-homogenized whole milk yogurt with fruit. YUM! We eat at least one a day here. She used to try to get me to let her have two a day, and then all of a sudden she wouldn't let me feed her more than one or two bites at a time. Perplexed, I finally just gave her the cup. She went and got a spoon out (note to self, go install locks on remaining drawers), sat down on the kitchen floor (note to self, mop floor), and proceeded to feed herself the yogurt (note to self, she's no longer a baby).

So today I decided to make a photo shoot out of her first experience with a full cup. What you see on her chin is the only bit that didn't get in her mouth. I am totally impressed. You can check out the other pics from this afternoon here. At dinner she ate her whole slice of pizza. This child is amazing, as soon as I start doubting her eating abilities she turns around and shocks me into next week. Her vocabulary is growing every day, and her new words this week include cow and "nuss." Nuss is Iso speak for nurse, which is much more intelligible than "side." That always confused people, "Does she want to go outside?" No, she just wants to nurse on the other side. I used to ask her if she wanted to nurse on the other side, and she decided that that is what we are going to call nursing. Isn't it interesting how their minds work?

thoughts on dave

So this week is halfway. Really and truly. I sent Dave his halfway box today, so I hope he enjoys it :) When I first saw the pic here, I thought Dave was trying to give himself an afro (would you be shocked if he was, I wouldn't). But then I realized he was just scribbling stuff out so I could post this for you. He's doing well. Isobel and I got to Skype with him this week. So now every time she walks by the computer she reaches up, "'puter? Da? up? Da?" Oh my, it's heartbreaking. I think she's convinced Dave is IN the computer. He looked good though, and I must admit that the mustache wasn't as bad as I expected. And his hair is finally growing back, woohoo! On a Dave note, I took this
picture of Brady for him. Brady dog was extra thrilled with me this evening. I finally decided to start running again (I know, I know, it's been 2 years since I ran). All the walking we do has certainly helped though, because I was able to run a mile straight. This is no small feat for me, that's what I was doing before I had Isobel AND tonight I was pushing the jogger and corralling the dog. My goal is to be able to do a 5k with Dave when he gets back. Mind you he will be pushing the jogger, holding the leash and maybe I'll make him sing to me just so I can keep up ;) So it's up to you to keep me accountable for this goal. The plan is to run 3 times a week. We already walk 3-5 miles 5 days a week, so I hope it doesn't take too long to get to my goal.

Since my last post I got a call that Isobel's name came up on the wait list for the part day childcare program on base. We dropped in last week to check out the class and Isobel fell in love when they brought the bubbles out. The program is T/TH mornings and I am really excited about the prospect of having 6 hours a week to myself. Tuesdays I go to yoga and I am hoping to get my instructor to start a class on Thursdays too, but if not I guess I'll just hang solo at the house and work on my craftiness. Another benefit is that I can run errands without her. Did you know that the post office takes only a few minutes without a toddler in tow? My friend has started calling these types of errands 5/30 errands. They should take only 5 minutes, but end up taking 30 minutes when you have to drag your kids in and out of the car.

Isobel is trying to sleep in my lap, and it's 11:30 here, so I'll be going now...

lake girls

if you've been checking my flickr, you know that I'm alive. We were on the mainland for almost six weeks, and came home to Oahu and a dead hard drive. So my PSA for today is BACKUP you stuff. I lost lots of pictures of Brady and of me pregnant (you could read this as me pleading for you to send me any pictures you may have of Brady dog, Dave, Me, or anything else you may think we need). Thankfully I have most Isobel pictures online (so now comes the lovely task of downloading all my stuff, talk about time consuming).

Now to the picture. Isobel went on her first camping trip while we were in Michigan. She LOVED it. Seriously. She did great. I had to drag her out of Higgins Lake kicking and screaming. She loved it, and we haven't had a "bath" situation since. Thank goodness! Now that we are home, bath time has become a peaceful time for the two of us. She loves to play in the water (and seriously the only things in the tub with her are two measuring cups and a toy duck), and I love not chasing her around the house. I have MANY more pictures from our trip on my flickr. Go check it out.

I seriously just plugged my computer in 20 minutes before writing this, so look for more pictures to come as I finish uploading pictures from my camera and the CDs my dad burned for me before I left. I also have a treat for you :) Isobel's first picture. Some of you may have been sent a "picture mail" from Dave when Iso was first born, but those pictures have always been stuck on my camera phone. Now that I have my fancy new phone I had Sprint transfer the pictures to my new phone, and I am so excited to finally be able to get a real print of Isobel's first picture!

Dave is almost to the halfway point. I know he really appreciates all of your letters, emails and packages, so keep them coming! Speaking of pictures for you all, I have some great pictures of Dave, that I can't wait to post.

Well, I need to get some sleep. I hope this finds you all well. Sorry it has been so long since we checked in.