So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

It has been so long since I was last here....the changes that have taken place amaze me. I can't believe how quickly my baby is girl is growing and changing. She no longer looks like a baby, she is taking on that toddler look. She is so smart, it amazes us everyday.

Isabelle is now 16 months old...in just a short time she will be a big sister to baby Nikolas. She loves to lift my shirt and wave at my stomach...although I don't think she fully understands what "There's a baby in mommy's belly" means, that doesn't stop her.

She now has 8 teeth, 4 on top and 4 on bottom, and every night before bed she runs to the bathroom to brush her teeth!

She signs more, all done, I don't know, and rain(for any type of water). We are working on adding more signs, and she seems to be interested and understanding them well.

She can make the noises of the following animals: duck, cow, dog...and in our house, cats say "woof" - nothing we say or do has changed this, and you get a "woof" everytime you ask what the cat says :)

Her understanding of vocabulary amazes us, and we're just waiting for her to take off talking...she was walking around the house today "selling" DirecTV to us...she had a brochure in her hand and was babbling and pointing like she knew just what she wanted to tell us. I often wonder what she is saying. She seems to mimic many words that we say, but does not continue to use them as part of her vocabulary...I know in time we won't be able to get her stop talking! She does consistently say: mama, dada, daddy, dog, cat, that, hi, GiGi.

Her concept of pretend play amazes me. If you say to her that her baby is thirsty, she will find one of her cups and give it a drink. She shares her sucky (pacifier), and her snacks with her dolls. She will cover them up with blankets, and takes them for walks in her little stroller. If you say to her "awww...go to sleep baby, baby is sleeping", she will lay down on the floor and close her eyes. She is so adorable to watch!

She is RUNNING! Not just walking...but running, there simply is not time for walking!

I have started doing crafts with her, and have discovered that she enjoys eating crayons, but more than that, she LOVES finger painting! It took her a few moments to get the hang of it, but once she did I could see that she was really enjoying herself!

She is able to feed herself using silverware (usually towards the end of the meal, once she isn't quite so hungry! lol). She is able to point to body parts as they are named (foot, hand, head, ear, nose, mouth, eye, ear). She claps and stomps her feet to "If your happy and you know it", and does the spider in "Itsy Bitsy Spider". We are working on "Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes".

I'm feeling that the following poem is so fitting for our life right now...especially the last verse...
Song for a Fifth Child
By Ruth Hulburt Hamilton
Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth
empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
hang out the washing and butter the bread,
sew on a button and make up a bed.
Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
(pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).
The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
and out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
but I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo.
Look! Aren't her eyes the most wonderful hue?
(lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
for children grow up, as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.