Let the holiday traditions begin. I took Isabella to see Santa a few weeks ago, and it was fun. We did it at Market Mall. There they take your name and put you on a list then you get to go with your child to a play area and wait for them to call your name, like they do at restaurants when it's busy. We watched a movie, played with some fake snow, worked on crawling. And then it was our turn. I didn't want Belle and Santa to clash so I chose white instead of pink and everyont thought Belle was a little boy. Oh well. The Santa was very awkward and Belle was his last picture of the day, all he wanted to do was get out of there. So there wasn't any effort to make her smile, he didn't even talk to her. Hence the face. I thought of getting it done again, but this is a good memory, we can't erase what's less than picture perfect! So Merry 1st Christmas!
The wonderful world of finger foods continues to evolve at our house. This week we added some cheese and crackers. Belle has mastered the all important pincer grasp, but is still working on getting the food into her belly. For example, she can pick up every piece of cheese on her tray but none of it makes it into her mouth without my help. She held a piece in that perfect grasp and proceeded to stick each and every one of her fingers in her mouth, but the cheese didn't go in! How does that happen! I also thought she ate the two crackers I put on the tray for her to work on. Apparently her lap was hungry. While Nick was making three cheese manicotti for dinner last night I was holding Belle and we were all talking away. I decided to give Belle a taste of the mixture we stuff in the manicotti shells. She absolutely loved it. Right after that I heard an old crotchety lady say "Can't get your kids to leave home- stop serving cheese!".
I have been trying for quite some time now to get Belle to crawl. She gets on all fours and rocks back and forth happy as a clam. Now, I've moved her arms and legs to show her how it's done, I've crawled to her and away from her so she can see it in action, I've put toys just out of her reach so she has to crawl to get them. She just wont do it. She watches me with great amusement. In order to get things she does a push up, hurls her body forward and then reaches out her arm to touch what she wants. Resourceful she is, crawling she is not.
let it snow, let it snow. Winter has hit Calgary this week. We had to bundle Isabella up before we took her over to the Olsen's for their Monday night date. Luckily she likes this suit, cuz I know she wouldn't like being cold. It's for an 18 month old baby, so she's swimming in it, but at least it keeps her nice and warm.
Special Saturday Moments.
This is the first toy we've bought Belle. It's part of a fisher price line of toys called Peek a Blocks. There are little clear plastic balls with various things inside them like tiny animal figurines and stuff like that. With this one the balls go in the top, then Belle presses a handle and the balls come down a chute and out the front while it plays music. Belle is great at pressing the handle and loves when the music starts to play. She can grasp the balls in her hand, she even palms them, and we can roll them back and forth to each other. She is still learning to put the balls in the top though. Most times she just grabs the blue rim across the top and starts chewing on it! The little balls go everywhere and it's great practice for Belle as she almost has the hang of crawling. She follows the little balls all over the living room, and usually we have to rescue her from the piece of furniture she has gotten stuck under. There are several other units in this line of toys that look very cool. There is one that she can push like a lawn mower or vaccum cleaner and it picks up the blocks and shoots them out, it will be great when she's learning to walk. I used to think that baby toys were just loud and annoying, but now I'm learning how they help her learn things.
Belle has a tonne of fun in front of a mirror. I put the mirror on the floor when I have things to do and need to know Belle will be occupied. She laughs at herself, plays pat-a-cake with her reflection. She even bursts into peels of laughter when she first notices herself in the mirror. It's a lot of fun. Sometimes I can angle the mirror in such a way that she can also see me while she's playing and I'm working away. I like that it's another way we can be can be in the same room but each do our own thing. I wonder what it's going to be like when Belle realizes that that is here in the mirror. Will she react differently than when she thinks it's a friend? I also hope that she always has a smile on her face when she looks in the mirror, that it never makes her feel less beautiful than she really is.
My baby girl is now a starfish. She finished her first round of swimming lessons on Saturday and brought home her first report card and completion sticker. She got a raving review from the teacher and she passed all the elements she was capable of doing. How fun! So now she's Isabella "Starfish" Franks.
was walk around the room murming "You're beautiful, so beautiful". I paused for a moment, checking my current status. Feet in stir ups, legs so tired people were holding them up, my nether regions exposed to the whole world, blood and new baby gunk all over my chest, sweaty hair stuck to my forhead, my all too sexy bent glasses. Sigh, I realized I was no longer the most beautiful thing to Nick anymore. And that's when I knew her name. Isabella Sophia. 
Isabella is a great teaser. This picture was taken on September 11, 2005. She was rocking back and forth, getting up on her side, doing a great job. I was convinced she was going to roll over at any moment. Nope. She didn't roll over for another 4 days. I didn't want to miss any milestones so I took this picture, and many more just like it to make sure I got her first rolling over. When she did roll over, it was Nick who snapped the pics. We moved all the furniture to give her plenty of space and we sat there, waiting on the edge of the couch. And she did it. I nearly cried. We were so excited, I don't think we would have been more excited if she had hit the winning homer in the World Series. 
ay morning for the months of September and October, Nick gets up early to go swimming with Belle. The majority of her class is about 12-18 months old, although they said it was for children as young as 6 months. She's the only one who doesn't stand yet. There are numerous things that Belle simply cannot do in this class: jump off the edge, blow bubbles in the water, even wear a lifejacket. But she loves it. When we put her in her massive swimming diaper and pull on her swimsuit she starts to smile. When we load her in the car, she's simply beaming, and when she and Nick walk into the change room you can hear a little giggle. She smiles p
retty much the whole time. She kicks her little feet like she's racing, she swats the water with her arms, she babbles and soaks in all the sites. Last week, the class was being dunked. The teacher encouraged each parent to do it only when comfortable and only as many times as the child wanted, there was no prize for the most dunks. All the other kids dunked once and had had enough. It took Nick until class was officially over to get the courage to dunk Belle, but once he did she went under many times. She didn't even seem to mind. Most people want their children to be doctors or lawyers, famous actors or authors, to play in the NHL or NBA. Everyone says they just want their child to be happy, but we know the truth. In 20 years I'll look back on this and see if I got the Olympic Champion Diver I'm daydreaming about. 
The Calgary Stampede was a lot of fun for us. We went for the grandstand show, fireworks and chuckwagon races. We also saw an extreme BMX group do their routine, but that was a bonus. We spent some time in a petting zoo type area. Belle was too little to weasle her way up to the animals, but even if she doesn't remember I know that that was the first time she saw pigs, chickens, cows and horses. She really enjoyed it, not even baulking at the smell of the barns. She enjoyed the fireworks, although she slept through most of them, they didn't scare her. I had a great day with my little family at the Calgary Stampede and at the end of the day it's hard to tell if Nick or Isabella had a greater time. We did the Stampede like traditional Calgarians. We rode the C-train down to the Stampede grounds, used our coupons for gate admission 
and only spent the money on the rush seat tickets for the Grand Stand show. It was a great time. There are so many memories, but it's late at night and I can't r
emember them all. Here are some good pics, including the one we think sh
ould be next years poster. I think she makes a good poster child.
