An Evening Out

Yesterday we went out to dinner with our neighbors, James and Karina. They have had a very busy travel schedule these last few months so it was great to finally get together with them! I'm not sure what is up with the hand gesture from James. I'm sure that it was meant for Jai! There was a tree lighting going on at the mall so we thought we would check it out. We figured we would put our name on the list at P.F. Changs, do some wandering around the mall and then come back for some dinner. At 5:50 there was a 2 hour wait. I figured we might as well eat there because if we walk around and then go somewhere else we will still have a long wait on a Saturday night. So we bundled Isha up and took in the sights. We headed back to P.F. Changs a little before 8:00 and still had a 45 minute wait. But after 2 hours and 45 minutes we finally got a table. Isha was great. No fussing at all and the food was great. She didn't go to bed until 10:15 last night and she is still asleep at 8:30 this morning. Here is a picture from the other day. I wanted to get a picture of her showing off her cruising skills. She loves to use the bottom stair to stand up. She had these adorable tights on under her dress and her new little shoes on. I wish you could see the shoes, they are these adorable mary janes from Robeez. I will have to have her model them for you in a future post.

Ten Months Old

It is hard to believe that she is already 10 months old. She is crawling around everywhere and getting much better at standing up and walking around the furniture. She is still toothless, but who needs teeth when you are this cute. Here is the little fish that she holds onto all the time. He goes everywhere with her. Isha loves to play with us. She thinks it is lots of fun to crawl around on the couch and try to have us catch her. Now that she gets around so well it is a ton of fun to play with her. At first I was all stressed about her getting dirty or hurt and then I realized that you just have to let them do what they are going to do. You never learn anything or have any fun if you can't get a little dirty. Isha is also talking up a storm. It is all just babble and baby talk, but it is great to hear hear making new sounds and expanding her vocabulary. Here we are letting an escaped convict hold Isha. Actually if you look close you can see that it is Aunt Laura in her rain gear she got for going to Hokie football games. Isha isn't buying it, she still thinks Laure looks like a convict in her orange jump suit. Today we got a phone call that our friends from Fredricksburg where in town so we ran down to Carytown and met up with them. Then we went to Bottoms up for some pizza and visiting. Here's Isha getting a little snuggle time with her Uncle Tony. After lunch we went to the Children's Museum of Richmond. It is really cool, but geared towards older kids and jam packed on the weekends. We will definitely go back when Isha is older.

Visiting Daddy At Work

Capital One had a Halloween party for all the little ones. We dressed Isha up in her monkey costume and Daddy showed her off to all of his co-workers. Here is a picture of Isha with Jai and the guys he works with. Isha loves the men and she is such a flirt. She kept giving lots of smiles and giggles to all these guys. Dad is going to have his work cut out for him when it comes to keeping the boys away from Isha. Last night we dressed Isha back up in her costume and I walked her around to see some of the neighbors while Jai stayed home and handed out candy. My little helper. Isha pulls the clothes out faster than I can fold them and put them away. Now that she is crawling she keeps me very busy. It is definitely more work, but I enjoy watching her try new things and figure things out for herself. She is always so proud of herself when she discovers something new. I have been begging Isha to say mama and she finally did it the other day. She had been saying baba and over the last few weeks it has finally become mama. I was putting her pajamas on her on Tuesday night when she said it. Even thought I don't think she realized what she did, it was great to hear that sweet little word come out of her mouth.

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween. Last night we carved Isha's first pumpkin. Isha picked her pumpkin out on Monday night at the church down the street. The guy running the stand even gave her a few little pumpkins for free. Isha was a good helper. In one hand she has the spoon and in the other hand she has her fish. She loves this little fish and she carries him all around the house. She even holds onto him when she is crawling. Over the weekend we went to Boo at the Barn at Maymont. They had a costume contest and lots of fun and games for the kids. They also had all the animals out so that the kids could feed them. It was a little warm on Saturday so I didn't make Isha dress up in her costume, but she did wear her witch outfit. On Monday we went to story time at the public library. Isha seems to enjoy listening to the stories and watching all the other little kids. We usually go to the library at least once a week. I want Isha to be a reader so I am starting early. I love this little outfit because it looks like a big girl outfit. We even did the pony tails again. I have found that if I put a little water on her hair and then smooth it out it makes perfect little curled pony tails. I know that I am being obnoxious, but I can't help it she is just so cute!

Under Construction

I have made a few changes to the blog, but in the process I have managed to lose some of the page elements. So now I have to get them all back. I like the layout, but I don't like the way the pictures looks. I am not sure if I am going to keep this layout, pick a new one, or just go back to the regular blogger layouts. We have some really cute videos of Isha. We need to get them posted. Hopefully in the next few days we will get them on the blog. Isha is crawling like crazy and she has even started to pull herself up on the furniture. I am a nervous wreck because I don't want her to bump her head. I guess that is part of growing up and you just have to get tough.

Fall Festival

This last Sunday we had a fall festival in our neighborhood. Isha had a great time looking at all the animals. Of course the goats where our favorite. The white pony was also very sweet, but more interested in eating that playing with the kids. After playing with the animals ( and washing our hands) we had some lunch and visited with some neighbors. They had games to play, a hay ride and a costume contest. I'm sure Isha would have won if we had dressed her up, but she was still a little under the weather so I didn't feel like making her dress up.

The Poop Face

I know that this is a horrible title for a post and that it is totally tacky to share my kids bowel habits on the net, but these pictures say it all. Isha will get really quiet and stiff and then her face turns beet red. Her little nostrils flare and then comes the grunting. I feel bad for her because she looks so miserable. This is a picture to contrast the facial color and the look. I apologize if this post was to graphic, but this is life with a baby. Isha had her nine month check up on Friday. I think that we may be raising a dwarf. She is still 25 1/2 inches (that is what she was at 6 months) and she weighs 15 lb and 12 oz (that is a 2 lb and 3 oz gain since her 6 month check up). She is so short that she is no longer on the growth chart for height ( yep, she is definitely Jai's daughter ) and she is in the 5 percentile for weight. All kidding aside, the doctor said she is just fine. He said that she will probably be petite and that next time her height will probably jump way up back onto the growth chart. I am not worried that she is so little. She is happy and healthy and that is all that matters. Now that Isha has turned 9 months old she has become much more independent. She has also started throwing little mini tantrum. She screams when I put a clip in her hair, when I lay her down to take a nap, when I change her diaper, when I don't get her food fast enough, and any other time I don't do what she wants. She is still a very easy baby, but this is going to take some getting used to.

Nine Months Old

It is hard to believe that Isha is 9 months old. She goes for her 9 month check up on Friday so we will keep you posted regarding her growth. She has definitely gained some weight. My arms are starting to kill me when I hold her.

Isha in her light up shoes. Unfortunately they haven't been worn much because her feet are so little and when you don't walk, who really needs shoes anyways. She has started crawling, but is still pretty content to just sit on her blanket and play with her toys. The one thing that will motivate her to move is electronics (remote control, telephone, or cellphone). She also loves to crawl over to the fireplace and sit on the granite. I am afraid she is going to fall over and crack her head open. Here is Isha being a good girl playing with her toys. When Jai gets home we will have to post a video of Isha crawling. She has also started pulling herself up. She also stands up while holding on to this toy. I kept trying to take a picture of her doing it and of course she wouldn't. When she finally did stand up the camera turned off because the batteries were dead. So much for technology.

Isha's First Fair

Shawn and Sara came down and we went to the Virginia State Fair. I haven't been to the fair in years, so it was fun looking at all the animals and people watching.

Isha had a good time. Even without her afternoon nap she was in a great mood all day. She enjoyed looking at all the animals and all the attentions she got from everyone at the fair.

Click to play Make your own Smilebox

The Beach

We had a great time down in North Myrtle Beach. We went with our neighbors, Adam and Laura, Laura's parents (Louis and Linda, and Laura's friends (Edie and JJ). We spent lots of time hanging out on the beach and lots of time eating. Isha spent most of the time in the shade playing with her beach toys, but we did venture out into the ocean a few times and into the swimming pool. Isha loved the water and she didn't even cry when a wave splashed up in her face. With all the extra people around, Isha got lots of attention. Linda watched her a few nights so that we could go out and have a good time. Isha did great on vacation. She was great at all the restaurants that we went to and she slept like a log. I was worried that she would cry in the mornings and wake everyone up, but she was great. Isha and dad relaxing in the condo. Of course, the weekend before we left for the beach Isha got her second cold and had a stuffy nose the whole time we were at the beach. Even though she was sick it didn't stop her from having a good time. Isha ate a few handfuls of sand while at the beach. She didn't seem to mind the salty taste or the grit. I did try to keep the sand consumption to a minimum though.

Still Not Crawling, But Almost

Isha is still not crawling (which actually is not a bad thing), but she is getting closer. The other day she crawled/rolled/wiggled her way over to see Stitch. Once she made it there she gave him a few pets. She has become more interested in Stitch lately. He is very patient with her and he doesn't seem to mind the extra attention from her. I thought maybe she would start crawling at the beach, but she didn't spend anytime on the ground. With six other people around she was always being held by someone.

Stitch is at the groomers right now so we will have some more pictures of him and Isha after he gets home. I would love to have some professional pictures taken of the two of them, but I haven't been found a place that lets you bring pets.

Finger Foods

Isha has started eating finger foods. It is amazing how fast they learn new things. The first time I gave her Cherrios she just pushed them around the tray and threw them on the floor. I tried the next day and she ate every single one. She has now moved on to cut up fruit, lunch meat and cheese.

I made blueberry buckwheat pancakes. Isha liked them the first day, but when I tried to give them to her this morning they were so heavy and dry she couldn't eat them. Yesterday I gave her kiwi to eat and she was covered in little black seeds. The kiwi was a little harder to eat because it was slimy and she had a hard time picking it up.

Meal time has became a very messy deal, but Stitch is loving all the dropped food.

Next week we leave for the beach. I can't wait for Isha to play in the sand. We will take lots of pictures to share with everyone.

Isha's Room

Here is Isha's room. We have pillows, stuffed animals and a duvet cover that sits in the closet because babies aren't supposed to sleep with all that stuff. It is funny how we spend all this time and money on stuff, just to put it up in the closet. It's hard to be practical when it comes to your kids I guess. The truth is it is hard to be practical when you are pregnant and full of hormones and the stores are full of adorable baby stuff.

A little play time in her room while mom stages the crib for pictures. I made the pink blanket for Isha while I was pregnant. She has lots of cuddly blankets and hopefully she will get to use them this winter. It was so warm last year that we really didn't need any of them. Isha is so close to crawling. She can get up on her hands and knees and rock back and forth, but no forward motion yet. Here is my little monkey playing in her room.

We started using the cloth diapers full time last week and it really hasn't been to bad. We have been battling a case of diaper rash for the last few weeks, so occasionally I will put a disposable on so that I can slather her buns up with A&D ointment. Jai is a bit wimpy when it comes to the messy ones and the smell on wash day. He reacts like there is some sort of radio active material in our washing machine. I don't mind doing the extra work if it helps the environment. Every little bit helps. (That is my little environmental pitch. All of you who know me as the recycling addict are probably laughing right now.)

Here is a video of Isha's room. We still need to hang up a few pictures and we also bought a bookcase last weekend to put in her room. It is going to sit on the wall next to the chair. Now she will have a place to put all her dolls and books.

Check this out. Look at the great work Jen did on Isha's room.

Jai put up the chair rail and painted the walls and I painted the border and the letters for her name. It was a joint effort.

Elephant

We found this adorable stuffed elephant at Sam's Club and we couldn't help but buy it for Isha. It goes great in her room. We took a video of her room and it should be up on the blog in the next few days. The elephant has a wooden frame so that Isha can sit on it. She still needs a little help with the balance, but she loves her new elephant. We are going to have to find a name for him. Maybe that will be our next blog poll.

Daddy Time

Here is Isha getting a little Daddy time. Isn't that the sweetest thing you have ever seen. ( You do know that I am talking about Isha and not Jai. He looks like a trouble maker.) Isha's hair has grown a lot lately. It is in her eyes most of the time. I have started to put clips in it to keep it out of her eyes. In these pictures her hair looks black, but when she is out in the sun it has really pretty auburn highlights. We had to retire the bouncy seat because Isha is no longer content to just sit in it and relax. She is always trying to see what is underneath the seat. I am afraid that she is going to tip the thing over. I couldn't have made it through those first few months without the bouncy seat. It is like losing an old friend. But now we are on to bigger and better things. Here are the three amigos from the breastfeeding support group. Isha loves playing with Tyler and Hunter. We try to get the kids together at least once a week so they can play and we can hang out with other adults. This week we hung out at the pool which was lots of fun.