Another visit from Michigan relatives!

Last Sunday we had a quick visit from my Uncle Ron and Aunt Judy. They were on their way back to Michigan from a vacation in Colorado. It is nice that we are so close to I-80 so that we can be a quick stop for anyone traveling by. It is fun to have visitors! We visited a bit and Jeff made pizza for dinner. Isabella was on her best behavior and showed off all of her tricks. Uncle Ron even made her giggle alot. It was great to see them!

With her hands in her pockets and her pockets in her... dress?

I noticed the dress Isabella was wearing the other day had pockets in it. I thought that was odd, the dress is a size 12-18 month, why does a 12-18 month little girl need pockets, in a dress?

A reason this is noteworthy is that Isabella's Grandma Groves will not buy an article of clothing unless it has pockets. I remember many shopping trips with her in the dressing room, trying on something. She'd come out, we'd like the outfit, and then she'd say "wait, no pockets!" and back on the rack it would go.

So, I got out the camera to show the pockets to Grandma Groves as I knew she would approve. You couldn't really see the pockets, so I pointed them out to Isabella, trying to get a good picture of them. She became very intrigued by the pockets, never having ever known they were even there!

A blog post about snot

Isabella has been fighting a summer cold. It has been a bummer because her nose has been runny constantly. First it was her left nostril, then her right, and now it is kind of both and I think it has affected her throat because she is coughing quite a bit.

The first morning after we could tell she was starting to get stuffed up I went to her crib to get her. She pointed at her nose and said "nose" with sort of a disgusted look on her face, also like she was saying "what's up with all this snot? this is not fun". I said, "Do you need a kleenex?" and she said "yeah". I can't really describe how she says "yeah", but it is the answer to many questions I ask her and the tone just cracks me up. Along with this cold, Isabella has also started using kleenex on her own, even though she basically just rubs the snot all around her face. She also sort of blows into the kleenex. When she's done she'll either give the kleenex to me and say "dirty" or go throw it out in the garbage herself. I've noticed that kleenex are the only thing she's throw out with asking me if it is okay first (at least as far as I know). Normally, she'll find something on the floor that she thinks is garbage and show it to me and go "uh?" in a questioning tone (that is how she asks all her questions) and I'll tell her it is ok to go throw it out. With kleenex it is a different story, when she's done she throws it right out and then she'll often turn right around to me and go "nose? nose?" pointing to her nose, letting me know that she'd like another kleenex.

After a couple of rough nights of Isabella being miserable and coughing, I decided I'd better take her in to the doctor today. It turns out she has an ear infection in both ears again. The tube in her right ear is completely gone and the one in the left ear is not doing its job (although it could in the next couple of days). Our doctor recommended waiting until the fall to see if we think we'd better get her tubes replaced. This is because if she needs them, she wants her to have a good set of tubes through the winter months. Poor Isabella. Our doctor seemed really bummed that the tubes weren't doing their job. So, she's back on amoxicillin and we are on diaper rash watch again.

Our 4th of July

We had a really nice 4th of July. Jeff worked on the 3rd, but I had it off so Isabella and I hung out. She actually slept in until 9:30. Then we went for a jog, came back and changed into our swimsuits and headed to the pool. She was still pretty tentative at the pool, but had a fun time. She basically just likes to hang out at the edge of the pool and was still pretty scared of the splash pad.

Sat. morning we woke up to rain and were pretty upset because we wanted to go to the Coralville parade. We had plans to meet the Davis family there, but because of the rain they just came over for a playdate instead and we grilled out for lunch.
Here's a video of Isabella I took on the 4th but unfortunately I forgot you can only hold the camera one way when taking the video.



Later in the day we headed to the Quad Cities for a party at Jesse's house. Isabella had lots of fun playing outside there. It was kind of crazy because it was chilly that day, weird for the 4th of July! We left a little after before 9pm to head home and Isabella slept. When we got back to Coralville their fireworks were starting, so we watched from our car. Isabella woke up slightly at one point and I think she got a glimpse of her first fireworks, but she quickly fell back asleep again.


On Sunday we went to the pool again. This time Jeff came with us. Isabella went down the slide there about a million times. She just kept going down the slide and getting right back up to climb up again. Luckily there were not many people there so Isabella had the slide basically all to herself. Then, amazingly she decided to venture out on the splash pad a little bit. She was still very hesitant, but definitely getting more comfortable!

Happy 4th of July!

Isabella hopes everyone had a fun and safe 4th of July. We had lots of fun. More details later.

....

and she's going to hate me later for taking pictures of her in this ridiculous swimsuit.

Dinner with Elton John

Isabella looked really funny tonight at dinner as we ate outside. She had he sunglasses on and for some reason really looked like Elton John to me. I took a video of her at dinner so you can see for yourself. She is growing and learning new things everyday.