Isabella does the thing where she watches her hand - like Mercer did.
- it moves.
- it can wave (a little bit).
- it can pick things up.
- it can put things in her mouth.
- it can bang things together.
She also giggles when you rub her belly. She claps when you sing "if you're happy and you know it clap your hands." (And if she's in a seat, she'll wiggle her legs when you get to the next part about "stomp your feet.") She actually claps and smiles a huge grin on cue when you say the word "yay" or "good job."
She likes to put one hand up in the air and say "eh" as if she's making a statement.
She loves seeing herself in the mirror.
She also play peek-a-boo on her own.
When riding in a stroller, she'll tuck her head behind the canopy and peek out. If we're holding her, she will put he hand over her eyes when you say "where's Isabella?" And she'll take her hand off of her eyes when you say "peek-a-boo!" It's pretty darn cute!
Sort of similarly, she is a big flirt. She will smile then duck her head when she sees certain people (mostly men ~~ yikes!)Todd claims that she said the word "da-da" first. True. She says it all the time (She says it when she's talking to Mercer. She says it when she's mad. She says it for EVERYTHING - not just for him.) Or... maybe her real first word could be "uh oh?" She's just started to say that when she drops something.
Isabella is really messy -- much more than Mercer was. She goes through a lot more bibs and clothes than he did. Oh the laundry~~
One other thing that she does... when she crawls, she likes to carry things in one hand. Thud, clang, thud, clang, thud, clang. She's can move fast though even while carrying something.
Most importantly - she's a really very happy baby. And she makes us all really happy (including big brother).
It is really cool to see bigger kids grow, observe, and learn too.
Mercer has really picked up reading. When we're out running errands, he especially likes to sound out signs that he sees on the facade of stores. It's pretty cool!
Also impressive is watching Mercer's level of independence and confidence that he's gaining.
He has to make decisions at school. Some days he buys his lunch at school. He has to decide from 3-4 options what he wants to eat and he has to "pay" for it with a school account number. I've had lunch with him so far a couple of times. He shows me the ropes very authoritatively.
He goes to the library almost every day and comes home with a new book that he's picked out on his own. He's pretty eager to read it at night. (More-so than doing his homework that he comes home with every day~)
He even gets the opportunity to pick out what he wears on Fridays - when he doesn't have to wear school colors and khakis.
He gets to use a computer at school and sometimes even uses an I-pad. He can do some class work on the computer at home. He says - as if he knows everything - you type "WWW" to get to the homework (uh - yeah got that - but what else?!) Thankfully there are papers that come home with websites and passwords that we are to use. He has a great memory regarding where he's supposed to be on certain days: PE, Art, or Music class during school.... And he's able to keep track of where he's supposed to go at the end of his day: go to after school or ride the bus home...
It's a lot of responsibility - but he's really getting it. It's quite impressive!
I've gone into his classroom a couple of times now - once to read a book to the class and once to do a painting project with all of the kids. It's amazing all of the things that go on at once. The teacher has to completely multi-task while teaching a lesson and keeping some of the kids in line. I have a pretty big appreciation for the job that she's doing this formative year.
I also picked up some valuable information from another kindergartner: "the girls like to chase Mercer." (I did notice when I went in one day that a little girl had her head on his shoulder while everyone was watching a video. WHAT?!)
We entered Mercer into an art contest at his school for some photographs that he had taken near the square of an art exhibit / art museum. He won 2nd place for his age group, received recognition at a reception at school, and a red 2nd place ribbon. The real prize for having entered the contest was an extra recess because he was not thrilled with his ribbon. He said he wanted a toy instead!
It will be interesting to see the person that Mercer becomes by the end of the year!Most importantly - he is a great kid (I try to tell him this often) and he really loves his little sister which melts our hearts!!
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Love these two!
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