19.5 months

Dear Izzy,

Your do more imaginative play nowadays. Mommy thinks you have an imaginary friend! And we noticed that you really love to "help" out around the kitchen when Daddy is cooking or preparing something. I think you might have his culinary gene!

Your vocabulary is also exploding at an accelerating rate...you probably can say about 20-30 words but understand about 200 and Mommy and Daddy really have to be careful when speaking in front of you. You are stringing 2-3 words together but have full on conversations with your babbling.

You run everywhere and never seem to need to stop. Where do you get all this energy from? You are such a crazy little girl, but I LOVE it!

Love, Mom

Helping Daddy roll out mini croissants for breakfast

Daddy's little sous chef

Happy 19 months birthday!

Dear Izzy,

You are getting better and better at stringing words together and you've been using the word "please" quite often much to Mommy's delight! What a polite little girl. You are happy and fun loving that I can't imagine a much "funner" age. I hate to see this one pass us by, but I know it is only a matter of time before this month has come and gone. The days of limited vocabulary are far and few between and your reasoning is growing by the minute.

You will run to Mommy when you get hurt and say "owie" and point to where you got hurt. Most times, you feel better after Mommy kisses your owie. Very frequently now when you want attention, you'll just tell me that you have an owie, even if you don't have one or it was the same owie an hour ago, just to get my attention and a kiss from Mommy. It's hilarious!

You also LOVE playing outside. Whenever you are in the house, you will go to where the patio is and say "yide", your short form for "outside" as you cannot really pronounce "s" yet. And you are so happy just coloring on the ground with your sidewalk chalk and riding on your car.

I cant get enough of your determined little self in trying to communicate with us. You are perfect in every way, and we couldn't be more blessed if we wanted to. 19 months-the best so far!

Love, Mom

Mommy & Izzy at the Zimmer Children's Museum

18.5 months

Izzy,

It's funny what you pick up, the other day, you called Da Da "Honey" because you hear Mommy call him that all the time! You've also learned to scream out "MINE!" when someone tries to take something away that you want and your newest fascination are bellybuttons, yours, mine, everybody's.

Temper tantrums are common nowadays too as you try to assert and test your boundaries. It's hilarious sometimes when you lie down in the middle of the grocery store and throw one! Your imaginative play is also developing and you love "cooking" for Mommy!

You look so different from the crawling baby a few months ago. You are definitely a little person now, with attitude and everything!

Love, Mom

Izzy enjoys art, just like Mommy!

WHY?!?!?!

Dear Izzy,

Oh my GOSH...you have learned a new word today and it is the word...WHY???? So the whole day today when you were home, or in the car, or while outside, you kept on saying "WHY? WHY? WHY?"

Goodbye peace and quiet!

Love, Mom

16.5 months

Mommy needs to find a way to get Father Time to slow down! You are 16.5 months today and are a ball of energy. Seriously, the more I look at you, the more Mommy wonders where the little tiny dependent baby went to? You are this feisty, demanding and totally independent little girl. You no longer want to be carried, mostly wanting to go wherever you want to go.

You are starting to string 2 words together. Your first word string is "no more". Whenever you finish eating something, you sign and you say "no more". You are also a stuffed animal lover. When we go shopping, you often beeline to the stuffed animal corner and hug all the animals. You will also usually pick a stuffed bear and walk around the whole store. When we have to go, Mommy tells you to put the "bear bear" back because he lives in the store. Sometimes you throw a fit because you want to take him home with you! You enjoy riding on Mommy's back, whenever I am laying on my belly, you come and sit on my back and press a "button" (which is anywhere on my back) to tell me to start to giddy-up.

Mommy and you flew into Vancouver by ourselves today. Mommy felt like supermom carrying you in the ergo, one hand pulling our 50 lb luggage, the other hand wheeling the carseat and lugging a heavy carry-on luggage on my shoulder. I think I was carrying at least 50 lbs on my body, half of my own weight! People were clearing a path for us when we were walking through. You were so good on the plane, although I think you might have peek-a-booed to death the 3 passengers sitting behind us. An old couple sat beside us and the grandma was so in love with you! She even helped carry you a couple of times...you really charmed her. After playing, you fell asleep in Mommy's arms for about 1.5 hours, you didn't even wake up when the flight landed...we were the last ones off the plane because Mommy had to eventually wake you up! Thank you for being such a good girl!

Love, Mom

My happy little frequent flyer

Happy 16 month birthday!! NOOOO!

Busy Izzy,

Your new word this week is "No!"...it actually sounds more like "Naw". Why do you have a southern twang? Seems like everything Mommy asks you to eat or do is "Naw". I thought I wouldn't have to deal with this until later but I guess you are way ahead of the game!

Nowadays, when we tell you "night night" you pick up your Lulu and your soother and walk yourself to your bedroom. It's the cutest thing. I am glad that sleep is not something we have to fight about...you have learned to enjoy it!

You have caught a case of "stranger danger". It takes you a good 10 mins to warm up to a new person or a person you don't see around much...especially if the person is in your "territory". The other day when Godpa came to drop off the car to us, you were screaming your lungs out because you usually see Daddy in the driver's seat and then when the building manager came into our apartment to replace a battery in the thermostat, you got all nervous and ran to Daddy. Even though you've seen these people around, when they come into your "territory", you get anxious. It seems like it happens with more male than female.

Your gross motor skills have also improved tremendously. You LOVE to climb and your hands and feet are very well coordinated! We really live at the park these days because we are there after almost every nap. Mommy's so glad we live close to such a great park where you can expand all your energy. Mommy really has no time to do any other things than to find stuff to entertain you.

Because you are so active and always on the go, Mommy has considered putting you into school/daycare during the day so I can get my work done. But since talking to our Mommy friends, Mommy's going to wait until we get back from Vancouver to make any decisions. It is so true that you have the next 18 years of your life to go to school and I shouldn't be in a rush to put you in school. I should just enjoy the time I have with you right now. You will always be this age once and you are WAY too much fun! I am actually enjoying this stay-at-home Mommy business! Who knew?! We are so lucky that Daddy's hard work lets us do just that. We love you and thank you, Daddy! xoxo

Love, Mom

Yap Yap Yap

Dear Izzy,

We try and practice your speaking everyday. Here we record your practice session for Daddy and all to see. You do well when you are in front of the camera...must be the Hollywood in you.

Love, Mom

15.5 months

My dearest Izzy-belle,

It seems like Mommy has no time for anything these days! We are constantly going out after your nap(s) so as to keep you busy and entertain you. We are now a regular at the playgoups and also the park! You have also made friends with the other "regulars" there. It's funny to see you and the same kids get into trouble together.

You have started to engage other kids to play with you instead of only engaging in parallel play which is really cute. Most of the time, they are older kids and sometimes you like to go to babies and pat them. You "call" the kids for their attention and start waving at them. Sometimes you go right up to them and squeal at the top of your lungs and are quite "in-your-face". It's hilarious.

You've started calling me "Mama" and Daddy "Dada"! Hooray...you used to just babble these words without meaning. New words you've picked up are "nana" for banana, "bah" for bird, "Pain" for plane, "wuwu" for your Lulu. And oh, you would purposely throw stuff around and go "uh oh", thinking that would fool Mommy that it was an accident!

We are still working on your nap schedule...some days its 1 nap and other days 2. It really depends on what time you are waking up in the morning. Mommy can't wait till you totally transition over to 1 nap so our days are more predictable. On the bright side, you are waking up a little later than your usual 6am!

Love, Mom

Happy 15 month birthday!

Happy 15 months, Izzy! Another busy month has flown by...it seems like time is going by faster and faster these days.

So what have you been up to this month? You now recognize a whole array of fruits and veggies. It's because Daddy loves bringing you to the farmer's market every time he gets a chance. Now whenever we are grocery shopping, you point at all the fruits and vegetables you like, for example, strawberries, pear, grapes, oranges, broccoli, carrots, avocado etc. A lot of times, after you point at the fruits, you want to eat them! Mommy has to bring fruits to the supermarket now or you'll throw a tantrum.

After watching "My Baby Can Read", you've also learned the hand signals for Itsy Bitsy Spider and will sometimes simultaneously do it while watching it on TV. You pick things up really fast now! When Mommy or Daddy reads you your bedtimes stories, you also point to whatever we are reading about in the book. You especially love pointing to the red ballooon and the cow in "Goodnight Moon".

As for speechwise, some new words you've picked up are "woow woow" for dog, "yummm" when food is delicious, "uh oh" for accidents, bringing me to the kitchen pantry, pointing to the cupboard and saying "cookie", "mum mum" (sounds more like mem mem) for food, "be be" for your big fuzzy stuffed bear and "ba bu" for bubbles. Sometimes you even speak in really long "sentences" but the only thing is Mommy doesn't know what you mean?! You're vocabulary is growing every single day!

You LOVE the park. Your favorites are the swing and the slide. You always pull Mommy towards the swing so I can put you in it and push you. And you're so brave nowadays, you go down the slide yourself! Sometimes Mommy thinks you are going to give me a heart attack whenever you are all crazy at the park!

I also think you are ready to transition to 1 nap a day. Your waketimes have lengthened and it's hard to put you down for your 9am and 1:30pm naps. So Mommy is going to slowly push back your 9am nap to around noon and then eliminate your 1:30pm nap altogether. It's going to be a cranky couple of weeks till the new schedule is established. But on the bright side, once you are down to 1 nap, it will be soooo much easier to schedule playdates!

Love, Mom

Cooking breakfast for Mommy...

Cookie Monster

Izzy LOVES the swing!

14.5 months

Dear Izzy,

You are a whirlwind of activity and curiosity! I am not sure where you get all your energy from but you sure wear Mommy out every day. And you touch EVERYTHING in sight...you really have a pair of busy hands!

You have also started to throw real temper tantrums...and are they ever dramatic! You do it when Mommy or Daddy say "No" to you. You throw your body on the floor and start kicking your legs and screaming. Mommy usually has to ignore you because trying to reason with you is like talking to a brick wall. After a few minutes, you will calm yourself down and go back to whatever you were doing before.

Your language and cognitive development are definitely starting to be very obvious. You always imitate what we say to you when we point out objects. The other day, you took me to the fridge and kept on saying "Pe! Pe!" Mommy didn't get it at first and when I carried you up, you pointed to the pear! Oh, now I know what you wanted...a pear! Silly mommy, what's wrong with me, right? You also know that objects are used for certain purposes. Like when the phone rings, you quickly pick up an object that looks like a phone, i.e. the remote control or my computer mouse and put it to your ear and say "hi!" It's really adorable. And when Mommy or Daddy asks you to talk on the phone to someone, you run to the phone and say "hi" and then run away smiling.

Yes, you are starting to run now. Mommy has to keep one eye on you at all times because 1 second you are here, the other second you are gone! And since you have very busy hands and have learned to open and close cupboards, we cannot let you run around the apartment without supervision.

What a busy, busy girl you are but so much fun.

Love, Mom

Happy 14 month birthday!

My dearest Izzy,

So you've turned vegetarian?! You haven't really been eating any meat these few days. Mommy tried to make you chicken, beef and even meatballs in tomato sauce but you wouldn't eat them. You only eat your broccoli, carrots, peas and pasta! Those are your favorite vegetables. You do like your seafood though...you enjoy shrimp and fish. But still, Daddy's going to be very sad if you really turn vegetarian on him because he is looking forward to cooking you many of his recipes from his repertoire.

On another note, you have totally weaned yourself from nursing. A couple of weeks ago, we were down to your bedtime feed and the early morning feed. You phased out your bedtime feed first. You would rather roll around in the bed while Mommy reads your bedtime stories than nurse and then a few days later, decided to phase out the early morning feed too. You used to wake up around 5am and Mommy would nurse you and you would go back to sleep for an hour or so. For a few days, you would wake up at 5am, but push Mommy away when I try to nurse you. So I would just put you back down in your crib. Nowadays you don't wake up at 5am anymore! YAY...you would sleep till around 6-6:30am. Mommy is very glad that the weaning went well and there were no struggles but also at the same time quite sad that our nursing sessions are over for good. My baby is truly growing up.

What Dr. Scott said was true. Once the nursing session stops, your milk intake will increase. You've been drinking more and more milk after you weaned yourself. I think we are up to about 8-10 oz of milk a day now, which is a great improvement! But you still like your milk a little bit sweet (I don't blame you after being exclusively breastfed) so we have to mix it with a bit of yogurt drink.

Trying to run is the new skill you are practicing these days. You can walk quite well now and always want to be put down when we are out. You have extremely "itchy" fingers and try to touch everything within reach. When you try to run, it's funny because you would walk really fast and throw yourself into open arms. You understand so much more words that you can say and can follow simple instructions. The new words that you've been saying this week are "hi", "wow" and "weeeeee".

Since we are in Vancouver, in the mornings when you wake up, you would go into everyone else's room and wake them up. You go to the side of the bed where they are sleeping and scream/laugh and point at them until they wake up and pay some attention to you. You are such a menace! No one is allowed to sleep in when you are around. Also, when Ah Kong takes care of you, you climb up and down the stairs, take dirty clothes from the laundry room and throw them all over the house and sometimes you walk him to the front door and point to it. You do that because you are asking him to take you to the park across from the house! You tire both Ah Ma and Ah Kong out. They are going to have a vacation when we go to Toronto for a week!

You are so much fun now...I knew you were a cheeky one but didn't expect the cheekiness to emerge so soon. Mommy really doesn't know what is going to be in store for her when you enter your terrible twos! Actually, I think it already started!

Love, Mom

Happy 13 month birthday!

Happy 13 months, Izzy!

What have you been up to this month? LOTS! You are like a sponge and learn things so fast. You are really good at imitating sounds and have picked up the sound of the sirens that go by our apartment. When a fire truck or police car passes by with sirens blaring, you stop whatever you are doing and go "whooooooooooo" in a very high-pitched voice. It's hilarious! Your pronunciation of words is getting better too. You've learned to articulate the words "baby" and "cookie". It's so funny when you point to a baby and go "baby" because it seems like you think you are such a big girl now!

You are Zoë are becoming REALLY good friends. You've learned the word "pat" and pat her whenever she is close by. The other day after Zoë gave you kisses, you wanted to give her a kiss back so you stuck out your tongue and proceeded to try and lick her back! And then came up to Mommy and tried to lick me too! That's how a doggy kisses—not humans, silly! You've also learned how to high-five and when you want too, you do it with lots of enthusiasm!

You have self-weaned from your nursing sessions before naps and I think are also ready to stop nursing before bedtime...much to Mommy's disheartenment. I am going to miss you cuddling up to me and those starfish fingers roaming my face. I am especially going to miss the contented sigh and the all-out-stretch you always give me when you are nice and full. Another reminder that my baby is no longer a baby... And yet another reminder that you are no longer a baby is that you have started to self-feed with a fork! You are growing up too fast!

You are also very aware of your appearance. Every time when Ah Ma or Mommy puts a bow or hair clip in your hair, you take it off and check it out. And when it meets your approval, you "throw" it back onto your head expecting it to stay on. You also kiss yourself when you see your reflection in the mirror. You are so vain!

Love, Mom

So sweet and demure...

...and back to crazy Isabelle!

12.5 months

Dear Izzy,

You are still not liking cow's milk. Daddy thinks it's because the organic one we buy is a little on the bitter side. We are trying out another brand and hopefully you'll learn to like it because you really need the fats in milk to grow and develop your brain.

You understand us more and more now and these days, Mommy and Daddy have to be careful when we speak around you. The other day, Mommy was talking to Daddy and asked him where Lulu was and you immediately crawled to the bathroom and pointed to the newly washed Lulu hung up to dry. What a smart cookie! Every time when Mommy asks Zoë if she wants to go for a walk, you immediately crawl to me and pull up on my legs asking me to carry you because you want to go for a walk too. When Daddy asks you where the plane is, you point to the sky. And a lot of times, when you see something new, you point to it and say "wha'zis?"...it sounds VERY close to "what's this?" I think I even heard you say "Zoë" the other day too!

Mommy thinks you are going to like singing because you are always humming to yourself. When you play by yourself, we hear you hum. When you "read" your books, you hum. And sometimes when we go for walks in your stroller, you take in the scenery and sing. You were singing so loudly the other day, a pedestrian in front of us stopped, waited for Mommy and you to pass by him and came up beside Mommy and said, "She's going to be singer one day." It was hilarious!

For the last 4 days, you've been super cranky and grumpy. You haven't really been sleeping well either. Mommy and Daddy are not sure why. Maybe another tooth coming out? We think so. Mommy hopes this will blow over soon because we miss the cheeky and cheerful Izzy. Mommy gets so mentally drained when all you do all day is whine but I guess you can't really help it if you are feeling uncomfortable.

Get well soon, Izzy.

Love, Mom

Happy 51 week birthday!

Izzy,

Mommy has decided to let you self-wean from nursing...since we are still going to be home for the next little while, Mommy thought, why not let you stop on your terms. We both enjoy these wonderful bonding moments anyways. And yay, we've made it to almost a year of exclusive breastfeeding! Kudos to both of us...

Your vocabulary is growing fast too...you now recognize quite a few nouns. We know this because you point at these objects/people when we ask you where they are. Such a smart cookie, you are! The words you know are Zoë, Mommy, Daddy, Ah Ma, Godma, Ah Kong, cat, Hello Kitty (of course!), balloon, outside. These are the few Mommy can remember. We need to start making a running list of the words you know!

Your main form of communication is pointing because you point at what you want. At mealtime, when you are done with your main course, you point to your fruit. When you are thirsty, you point to your sippy cup. When you want to go outside, you point too. You also can gesture "come" when you want something/someone to come to you. It's awesome that you are starting to express yourself with other ways other than crying and whining!

We will be going in to see Dr. Scott next week for your 1 year checkup. Mommy can't wait to find out how much you've grown!

Love, Mom

Enjoying your frist lollipop