Laundry Day

...with a baby in a basket.

Hula Baby

Wow, is Isa learning to do the Hula at this young age? Uhm, well no. This is her attempt to dodge the camera. The mommy wanted a picture of Isabel in all her cuteness for the ole photo album and she was not willing to comply. But it was her first time in shorts, which should be considered a milestone for any baby born in Wyoming, and as such I wanted it to be a photo occassion. Apparently the child does not share in that enthusiam.

On her feet...

Standing is apparently alot of fun! Here are some pictures of Miss Isa on her own two feet. The coffee table makes for a perfect hand rail, although it makes the mommy incredibly nervous. There are simply not enough pillows to cushion every fall! And shortly after these photos were taken, Isa went headfirst (over the ill-placed fluff) onto the wood floor. Ouch! She actually cried more from the surprise of it than from the bump itself. Some lessons in life are painful, unfortunately.

Now that her balance has improved, in addition to her confidence, she is more willing to reach out and grab something while standing. She is also starting to move her feet in what looks like the beginning of "cruising" or moving around an object or from one object to the next. The mommy is simply not ready for this craziness yet. Maybe we will invest in more pillows.

Remember when...

Remember when she was this small? All six pounds of her! Check out those little sticks for legs! This is Isa at two days old. Just thought I'd post some "remember when" photos here and there.

San Rafael Swell (part three)

We've found that part of this whole parenthood thing is about redefining those things you once loved to do and figuring out the best way to do them with a kiddo. And for us, that means being in wild places. Luckily for us Isa loves being outside and for this we are really, really glad! But that doesn't mean that there aren't lessons to be learned on how to camp or hike or bike or just live with baby.

So for this trip, that meant learning how to set up camp with baby, cook dinner with baby, etc. For the babywearing audience, the onbu was awesome for camp chores, as the daddy so graciously modeled in the first photo. For baby entertainment we discovered the wonders of cheerios... she could be content for hours. But when that contentment runs out, there are always rocks! To pick up of course, not to eat. You can lick them, you can hold them, even bang them together! Ah, baby bliss.

The daddy will be adding videos soon so stay tuned for more. We will also add a photo link to this post so everyone can see the rest of the pictures from the trip.

San Rafael Swell (part two)

Ah yes, nothing like a little tent time to rejuvenate the body and soul! One of the lessons we learned from camping with a baby is that a tent can make a wonderfully childproof space (atleast at the moment). And since we were car camping and living large, fluffy pillows included, there was alot of soft space for Isa to roll around on, do nose dives, practice crawling, and what not. So we thought we should include some cute photos of Isa in her domain... the super cushy car camping tent.

San Rafael Swell (part one)

Phew. We did it. Isabel's first canyons trip! Here is the first part of the San Rafael Swell blogorama. I decided to kick this off with a little scenery... gotta love beautiful red rock slot canyons, eh? We sure do. These pictures were taken in Chute Canyon, in the southern Swell. This day was by far the longest day Isa has spent in the backpack. And as such, it was a learning experience for all of us. Roundtrip, the hike took about 4.5 hours and of that time the baby was mostly happy and enjoying the ride. But there is only so much sitting one baby can do and towards the end she was ready to moving on her own and not tagging along with the old folks.

That said, this was just about as nice as a first desert hike can be and we rolled into camp feeling tired but happy. Unfortunately that night afforded us very little sleep. Loud neighbors, a head cold, and a totally new sleeping environment made for a groggy morning on day three of the trip, which is a perfect segue into the next post... lazy tent time. Keep reading!

"Dada! Dada! Dada!"

The recent vacation was significant in the world of Isa for so many reasons. But one occurance was over-the-top exciting... Miss Isabel's first word. Dada! After much prompting and repitition (by a certain dada) Isa surprised both of us one lazy afternoon by uttering her very first real word. Granted, she doesn't really understand who or what this dada thing is, but she does know that there is some importance behind the sound. After she says it, she looks around for a little reassurance. She has an expression on her face that says, "Was that it? Did I do it right?" Yep, you did Isabel, nice work! Now if we can get her to work on the mama...

Eight Months!

HAPPY EIGHT MONTHS ISABEL!

Southbound...

The Schneiderpants Family is officially on the road. We are headed down to Utah's San Rafael Swell as of Wednesday morning. It's Isa's first big trip to the desert! Woohoo! Hope it goes well, despite her nasty cold, as this will be the first of many camping and backpacking trips (note: the daddy already has the whole summer planned out.)

We will be back on Sunday night, so stay tuned for a full report with lots of adorable photos upon our return. And yes, (grandparents) she will be plenty warm. We promise.

Mango Fandango

It has been said that necessity is the mother of invention. And so this morning, as I sit with my hot cup of coffee and my beautifully content child, I ponder the greatness of one such invention: the fresh food feeder.

Parenthood brings with it enough gear, accessories, and general plastic crap to make just about any mother or father a bonafide baby product expert. The useful and the useless are quickly sorted into their like piles, and those things found to be most essential are passed along to the next kiddo. And so it was that we were given the gift of the fresh food feeder. Our friend Becky dropped one by a few months ago after hearing that Isa had entered the realm of endless teething. (We're now at almost 5 month of teething and still no teeth, by the way.) Supposidely these things were great for sore gums... stick an ice cube in there and you're good to go. We found this to be true and have loved it for ice ever since.

But this morning, after the first rough night of sleep (or lack there of) in over a week, Isa and I discovered the next best thing... mangos! Yes, chunks of frozen organic mangos and one fresh food feeder equal one very happy baby. Ahhhh. I wasn't sure how a new fruit would go over this morning but I think we're in love. The frozen factor is perfect for the gums, the fruit is good for everything else. Before we knew it, she was covered in golden slime and giggling with satisfaction. Success.

The Woes of Progress...

So, Isa is semi-mobile these days. Meaning she can almost crawl forward, almost stand totally on her own, and almost be content playing on the floor for more than 15 seconds at a time. If you didn't pick up on the wee sarcasm in the last line, I will be more clear... all this change and progress has made for one very frustrated, very fussy babe! Sigh.

In addition to all these new skills, she has also learned the art of the whine. I think it's a fitting accompaniment to all the frustation of semi-mobility. With regard to crawling, she is really moving and shaking, literally. She likes to get up on hands and knees and rock/shake back and forth, like a wind-up car about to take off. Except in reality, she actually moves backwards... away from the thing she is trying so hard to reach. As for the standing, she really enjoys the new perspective of being up on her feet and holding on, but the problem lies in being able to hold on and reach for objects at the same time. And that usually ends with her plopping down and falling backwards. While she doesn't mind the ride itself, she has to start all over again to get back to her feet.

On a wonderfully positive note, Isabel has been sleeping like a dream this week. We're talking 6-8 hour stretches of uninterupted, restful sleep. And since I am sure I just jinxed us, I'll say, well it was fun while it lasted. Smirk.

Happy Easter!

HAPPY EASTER!
love, Isabel

the rest of Isa's Easter pics can be seen by cutting and pasting this address:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AbuWjJw4YsmLEUA

Baby on the move!

Yesterday the mommy walked into Isa's room to find a very excited little kiddo, clinging the front railing of her crib. It was the first time Isabel has pulled herself from sitting to standing! Now she's upwardly mobile!

So for Isa, crib time is now play time as well. And being in a well-padded space means she can roll and tumble and nose-dive until her little heart is content. Which she does. She actually seems to be do laps in there... from one corner to the other and around in circles.

Which, as you can see, is a good workout. One would think that exerting all of that energy would mean she would fall fast asleep and snooze soundly for hours on end. Well, that doesn't seem to be the case just yet but we remain hopeful that one day it just might happen!

Little Baby Blue...

A kitty's last straw.

Alright folks, this baby thing has gone too far. Not only does she get her own room, but she gets her own blog? Are you serious? I decided it was time for me to hack this site to make my feline voice heard. Down with baby blogs!
On another note, why did we move to this new house without a cat door anyway? Don't these people know I have some serious cattin' around to do? I've gone from vicious killer to window decor. Please.
-- oscar (the boogie)