Wednesday, May 21, 2008

A Little Too Brave for Her Britches

Monday morning started off with a bang at our house. A certain little girl woke up on the wrong side of the bed and NOTHING would make her happy. I tried everything I knew to do to diffuse the oncoming tantrum -- holding her, singing (scary sound, I know), distracting her, ignoring the fit.... nothing was fixing what was ailing her. I finally decided to just put Iz in her crib to give her some time out and hoped she would chill with no audience to watch the drama. She continued to cry (throw down is more like it) and then I heard a THUMP! She never broke her rhythm crying, but I knew there was nothing in her crib but a blanket and blankets don't make thumping sounds when they're chunked out of cribs... Blankets might not, but little girls do! I walked into her room and she was toddling toward me still bawling (I'd have been bawling by then too!). She had climbed out of her bed and hit her head on a nearby chair. She grew a goose egg on her noggin quite quickly and managed to see how fast her momma's heart could race with worry. So... I'm thinking the crib is getting packed up and sent to the attic!!

Of course we had pictures scheduled for that afternoon!! Quickly rescheduled those, but definitely took pictures of my own so that when her little spitfire does the same thing one day I have proof that it's in the genes! I was sure we were going to see every color of the rainbow around her eye, but little ones heal so quickly! You can still tell she bumped it, but it's not nearly as bad as we thought it would be.

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Day 1

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Day 2 -- Notice the blue sand on her unbruised eye -- I think she was trying to make them match! We went straight to the bath after this, she had brought half of outside inside with her.

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Day 3

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It hasn't slowed her down one bit! She's as busy as ever and keeps us laughing most of the day!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Izzy B

Sometimes I write here because it's helps to write down my thoughts. Sometimes I write because it's a place to record things that are going on so I don't forget them before we grow old.

Izzy is growing so quickly. I know it seems like I write that all the time, but I continue to be amazed at this age. I had forgotten what little sponges they are. She is so on the move -- constant motion. She's getting so tall - I looked at her lying in her crib yesterday and couldn't believe how much of it she fills up. She continues to LOVE being outside. She loves the sandbox, the sprinkler, bugs, dirt, little pieces of pine straw or leaves or rocks. She likes flowers and is so cute when she smells them. She loves to play with Joey and he is so good with her.

Iz had become a nap fighter -- she can flat wear me out trying to get her down for nap, even if she is completely exhausted. She is very determined and knows what she wants. The fine line of taming the will without breaking the spirit is the line we're walking around here these days. She has such a strong spirit and I love that... it's just those tantrums when things don't go her way that I don't like so much. I feel like this age is so critical for later years... Kids learn about boundaries and if you stick to what you say... If you draw a line in the sand and they stick their big toe over it will the same thing happen every time? I pray that we have wisdom in our parenting and that God continues to mold us into just the parents that Izzy needs.

Izzy is quite the social butterfly. I meet very few strangers when we're out and about these days. She could so be the wal-mart greeter these days. She waves to everyone and thinks they're all supposed to say, "hello" and speak to her. It really is quite an adventure to run to the grocery store some days. I love that she is so outgoing and friendly... might have to do a bit of learning about stranger danger though! :)

One of my favorite nights this week was when Izzy discovered on of Catie's Christmas presents from her last Christmas. You need a little background here... Catie and her daddy used to have "wars" w/ the bumpers off of the fireplace (you know, the rubbery things that you put on so kids don't split their head wide open if they bump their head on it)... They would each get one and go at it, both of them laughing hysterically the whole time. This was one of those times that Catie's laugh just came from her belly and just bubbled up out of her... I can still hear her now and see her face... Well, for Christmas, Santa brought them 2 fake, foamy/rubber swords... This what Izzy discovered Thursday night. She didn't know what they were for, but never fear... Daddy taught her. She laughed -- from her belly too -- when Tre' would poke her in the ribs with it. Then she wanted him to do it more and more... so sweet... It wasn't long before she figured out she could get him with it. The swords are almost as tall as she is, and she hasn't developed much finesse with them yet, but it was so good to see she and Tre's duking it out... When she learns something new that Catie loved, it helps... it brings another layer back to our life. It doesn't make the loss or the hurt go away, but it sure fills us up some more. So thankful for a laughing girl (and a laughing daddy) and 2 rubber swords...

Quiet Dates

Had life gone as Tre' and I planned, we would have attended pre-k graduation Thursday night... for Catie. Instead we had a nice dinner at home, just the three of us -- Tre', Iz, and I. Had she still been here, I would have been nervous for her b/c I know how she HATED getting up in front of people... she did not like to be up front and center unless it was on her terms. If Catie were still here we would have oohed and awed about how fast she was growing up and how big she was getting and, "oh my goodness, I can't believe you're going to kindergarten next year..." Instead the day passed quietly... and that's ok. I admit to it making me miss her even more. I know that there are many more quietly significant dates for us to face without Catie... dates that would have been this or should have been that. Dates that we won't have a reason to acknowledge except as a reminder of what could have been. Definitely missed her this week.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

We're back!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. We had a great trip to Atlanta for Lauren's Run, made it home for Iz's 15 month checkup (she's doing great -- off the chart), and then had a bounce back appoint for her a couple of days later after she kept a high fever for 2 days and then started with tummy troubles. We don't like Iz being sick, but we'll sure take normal kid illnesses!! NORMAL is good. She was sick for a good 4-5 days, but was well in time for Mother's Day. We had a great day and it included Iz's first experience with the sprinkler. That was QUITE fun!! Apparently Iz shared her germs w/ me, so I've been down and out for the last couple of days. I think I'm on the mend and now we're hoping Tre's avoided it!

Not much more to write tonight, but I thought we'd share some pictures.

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This picture just cracks me up!!

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Actually, this one does too!

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Bubbles are serious business (at Lauren's Run/the CURE picnic)

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and they taste good too

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What's a girl to do while Momma's cooking dinner? Empty her cabinets and climb in of course!