disciplining a toddler

We have no idea what we are doing when it comes to this subject, but we are trying our best. I've basically taken the approach if it is dangerous or yucky (i.e playing in the garbage) it is non-negotiable and she cannot do it. But otherwise, I probably let her get away with quite a bit. We've put her in a few timeouts (30 secs - 1 minute) when she's been naughty. Her main offense is throwing her food on the floor. It is so hard for me NOT to laugh when she does something though. The other day I scolded her for throwing her food on the floor and she stuck her lower lip out so far I just about spit out my food!

The reason I mention this is because the other day we'd had enough of her taking out all the cookbooks from their shelf. So, we decided the cookbooks were going to be put away and we might as well store her books there. Within minutes she had her books out of there and crawled right in to the shelf.



Then, since her pile of books were close to the stairs, she got the idea to throw them down the stairs. I taped her doing it and then shut of the camera so we could get her to stop it.

Isabella does not travel well!

Sat. morning we got up and braved the not-so-wonderful (snowy) road conditions and made the trip into Chicago to visit Jeff's Grandpa. Grandma Linda, Grandpa Jack and Aunt Jillian also made the trip in from Ohio. Isabella was in a good mood Sat. morning and we drove for about an hour and 1/2 (Isabella slept for about 40 minutes) before we stopped for lunch at a Culvers. Isabella was happy and talking and waving at all the customers there. We drove the next part of the trip and made it to Pa's. I was hoping for a bit of a nap on the second part of the drive, but Isabella didn't. We hung out at Pa's and visited for a bit. Grandma had cleaned up lots of toys of Steven's for Isabella to play with.
Then it was time to check in at the hotel. Then we met everyone at Applebee's. Isabella had been sort of cranky on and off, but not too bad. It was a little hard to keep Isabella entertained at Applebee's, but she ate lots of food. She must have been starving. She ate a cheese stick and fruit cup we had brought with us, then she ate a whole mozzerella stick, a decent amount of my burger, some of Jeff's chicken sandwich and then a bunch of fries. Maybe that's one of the reasons she didn't sleep so well that night! It was a tough night. We took her back to the hotel and had her asleep in her pack and play at around 8pm. Then at 10:30 she woke up and then again about once an hour for the rest of the night. Screaming. I think she hates her pack and play. However, picking her up doesn't even calm her down and she doesn't know how to sleep in the bed with us. So she screamed. And then she'd sleep for about 45 minutes and scream again. Hopefully it didn't disrupt anyone, they would have thought we were horrible parents with a screaming baby like that.

(what's she doing with that pacifier in her mouth?.. more on that later)

The next morning we met everyone at Gabe's cafe and were SURPRISED by an impromptu visit from Aunt Loo and Uncle Bill from Madison. They'd never met Isabella, so it was really nice to see them. We all thoroughly stuffed ourselves at Gabe's (including Isabella again, yummy omelets) and then went back to Pa's.

(the whole crew at Gabe's)

Isabella just wasn't totally acting like herself all weekend at all. She seems to have developed a little anxiety around people she doesn't know very well. I don't think she let anyone but Jeff and I pick her up all weekend.

(trying to get Bella to hang out with Pa)

She just doesn't seem very easy to travel with, which is really unfortunate. We've already said we don't think we can stay the two nights in Dubuque for the annual alumni tournament in March, but that hasn't been totally decided yet. Much easier to stay home, but I don't want it to have to be like that.

Feeling a bit rejected...

This morning after breakfast Isabella walked right over to where we've been putting her coats and grabbed one coat and one hat and looked at me like 'time for daycare, Mom'. I was kind of surprised because it was Thurs, a day I work from home, so things aren't usually quite as rushed and I can maybe squeeze in a book or a little playtime before it is time to take her in. After I put her coat on she even tried to put her hat on herself! I took her into daycare and when we got into her room she wanted down and she went running away all happy (then she ran into a rocking chair and fell and started crying, so I went over and picked her up). After I chatted with her teachers, I handed her over to one of them and they said "Say goodbye to mommy" and I swear, Isabella gave me the evil eye! I left feeling a little rejected.

I don't even mention all the incident reports we receive from daycare lately. They are all basically the same, Isabella fell and bumped her head, Isabella fell and cut her lip. She's been quite the klutz lately and getting quite a few ice packs applied to her head.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Isabella would like to wish everyone a Happy Valentine's Day!



Jeff made a heart-shaped pizza for dinner, it was very very yummy!

Isabella had a Valentine's Party at daycare yesterday. I don't think they do much in the Infant Room, but she did get a couple of Valentines - so cute! Speaking of daycare, we got the word that she'll be moving to the other side (Young Toddler) room on March 2. I don't know if it will be much of a change, but all the kids over there do seem so much older. Plus, they nap on cots and eat at a little table and chairs, I don't quite see Isabella doing that yet. (They do have one crib over there). We are going to miss all her current teachers, but they will still be close by.

Isabella had fun playing in her diaper box this morning. She's able to get in and get out and even fool us into thinking she's NOT going to make a beeline for the hallway (and thus, the stairs) when she gets out of the box.

All done!

They told me last week at daycare that Isabella said "All done" after she finished eating. Of course it was after a teacher said it to her, she didn't just say it out of the blue. She's been doing some repeating of words lately, and although she doesn't always say the words, she'll just sort of imitate the tone. She also has really been doing a lot of sign language. She signs 'eat' and then point to her high chair and walks over to it and tries to pull it out. She also signs 'more' and 'finished'. We did get a video of her saying 'All done'. See if you can hear it.

This was not set up....

Isabella and Aiden were each told before they were even born they were not allowed to date. However at the Superbowl party at the Davis's this occurred....


It started off with Aiden walking over to Isabella to give her a hug. I think Isabella was a little shocked!

Then they each had weird looks on their faces....




And ended up, like this.... I have to show the picture again.... will these kids ever listen?



Aleah, the gymnast, climbed right up on the train table

Dustin got himself stuck in a folding chair... twice... (I believe that's Don's beer on the kiddie table, not Aleah's...)

Isabella really liked Aiden's 4-wheeler (just don't tell her Uncle Abdoul - 4-wheeler accident 2 summers ago)

And, oh yeah, was there a game on?

Isabella sported her red and white for the Cardinals (and CR native Kurt Warner!) , but oh well....