Faces of Isabelle

Life has been really full lately but just wanted to get some pictures up... I'll be writing Isabelle updates every month from now on...

Isabelle Rolled Over on One Side!

This goes down in the baby book... she rolled over on one side today (4 weeks and 2 days old) when she was in her baby gym.

Isabelle's One Month Check-Up

Isabelle continues to do well and is growing and gaining nicely... She is now 22 inches and 10 pounds, which are both in the 75th percentile. The doctor said she was a strong girl and very healthy, which is great news. She does have a bit of a stuffy nose and she gave us a nasal spray for that and some medicine for her eye. Her eye gets so gooby while she sleeps that she can barely open it... apparently a blocked tear duct is the cause.

Isabelle is One Month Old!

Isabelle is 1 Month Old

Little Smile

So Excited!

Close-Up

I Love Babies and Kids in Overalls

Isabelle's First Snow

February 13, 2011

This is Outside Our House

Big Sister Love!

First Time Playing in her Tiny Gym

Sisters...

First Time at GymNees

Tummy Time

So Comfy

Wow, its been a month... and you know what? It feels like a month. I know people say it flies by and in hindsight I'll feel the same way, but these first first months with a new baby feel long to me. I'm getting okay sleep but the hours from 7-10 pm have been the hardest this week... which is when we're trying to get Isabelle to bed. I'll nurse her, then lay her down, she cries, Travis consoles her, puts her down, and this seems to go on and on. She's rest for 15 minutes and when you pick her up, she's happy again. It may be because her nose seems stuffy. We finally laid her in her chair (upright) and that seemed to do the trick... Today, she has been sleeping like a champ, of course the day where I don't feel as tired...

New developments this week... As I mentioned in the previous blog, she's smiling! She's also cooing more and staying awake a bit longer (up to 2 1/2 hours). I can feel that she's getting heavier and she's looking like her big sister, but different... she's looking like Isabelle. She's also focusing more on my face which has been fun and can track objects with her eyes. 


We think she might be a water baby... she seems to be liking the bath and doesn't mind water over her head.

Isabelle's First Smile!

BIG Smile

The Smirk

Little Smile

She's Done...

Okay, so these aren't her VERY first smiles but these are pretty darn close to them... Isabelle had her first smile today while I was changing her diaper this morning. SO sweet! Travis took a day off so he was there too. Now my cheeks hurt from making her smile... I look forward to getting some more pictures of this!

Gabby Wrote her Name for the First Time!

Gabby has been learning some cool stuff at school and I'm so happy that she loves being a sister and enjoys learning. She has said several times to Isabelle... "I'm so glad I have a sister. I wanted you and I got you." Even thought she has her moments of sweetness, she has been really tough too... I'd go into more details but when I read this blog 20 years from now, I don't really want to remember. Her teacher and my friends have insisted that this is just her age and she'll get better... let's just say my new bible is the book, "Setting Limits with Your Strong-Willed Child."

Valentine's Day 2011

It was a pretty uneventful Valentine's Day but I worked hard to teach Gabby what this silly holiday is about... we made cards and she gave one to her teacher. As a surprise, I baked a gluten free chocolate cake with homemade buttercream frosting and put red M&Ms on it and pink sprinkles. I also made a gluten free enchilada casserole, which turned out pretty good. Gabby liked it even though it was a bit spicy. That took forever to make! I also got Travis lunch and dropped it off to school. I'm so rad.

Isabelle's Third Week

Isabelle Mae at 3 Weeks Old

Just Hangin' Out

The "Not Happy" Face

My cutie pie...

Chen Ayi

I love this woman!

Just in time for her to spit-up!

Isabelle is getting bigger, right?

This little angel is growing and getting bigger... she literally got plumper overnight. New developments this week... she's making the cutest coo'ing sounds, lifting her head up more and more, and having even longer periods of alertness. When she sleeps, I see her smile a little bit. Bursting with love for this baby!!!

The sleep schedule seems pretty do-able, her last feed is at 9 pm (give or take 30 minutes) and she feeds at midnight, 3 or 4 am and then at 6 or 7 am. Although on Tuesday night she was up from 12-2 am just hanging out and looking cute. I fed her off and on for an hour and tried for the other hour to put her back to bed but she wasn't having it... I was exhausted the next day and I'm crap at taking naps. I don't know why, but it's really hard for me to go to sleep in the middle of the day. 

Travis and I think she has club foot. I know it's common for babies to have their feet be turned-in but her left foot is REALLY turned in. Travis and I both had casts on our feet when we were babies because we had it... we'll see but I'm calling it now.

We also got Isabelle's passport (temporary one) and now we're waiting on the Chinese visa. I'll be going back to Washington for about a month from March 5th-April 5th and Travis and Gabby would come up a week later and be back for three weeks so we can all travel back together. So excited! Nothing is completely confirmed yet but we should be there for Beth and Josh's birthday! Holla!

Naughty and Nice

Gabby wrote all over her Barbie Dresses 

in permanent marker!

Anyone know where to get new ones?

SO ANNOYED!

Gabby came home with this picture of me...

A "thank you" for buying her a nice snow jacket.

SO SWEET!

Isabelle's Second Week

No more umbilical cord!

Isabelle Mae at 2 Weeks

Happy Birthday Papa! 

(Grammy and Papa on the computer screen)

Gabby and Bella's face cracks me up

Eskimo Kisses

Lifting her head up!

Isabelle survived her first doctor's appointment and had a good week with lots of sleeping and eating. New developments include; the loss of her umbilical cord, holding her head up more, and longer stretches of alertness. She's been sleeping well at night (knock on wood) and last night night I had to actually wake her up twice to feed her because my boobs were so full. Our biggest challenge is that she likes to suck on things... In order to deal with this, we introduced a pacifier. It's not my first choice but using our pinky isn't working. She's not a big fan but she'd be on my boob 24/7 if I let her and I really don't want to be a human pacifier. The best part is that she totally knows who mama is... we're bonding well and since Travis had this whole week off she knows who her daddy is as well... so far, so good.

Gabby has been a bit more needy lately and wanting more attention but it hasn't been a huge issue and we expected her to be wanting more attention. Needless to say,  I'm pretty good at feeding Isabelle and reading books to Gabby at the same time. I want to make sure she gets her mommy time too. :)

Gabby is Writing!

Gabby is learning to write! She busted out with these letters on her easel the other day and wrote this without any help from us... Travis and I were super impressed... It's so awesome watching your kid learn. She is also into finding words that rhyme. We overheard her in bed sayign words that rhyme and getting all excited. She called us down to her room to tell us that bike and light rhyme, so Trav had to tell her that it doesn't quite rhyme but it's very close.

She's really interested in dinosaurs right now and has picked up a couple of books about sharks from the library... I think she's inheriting Trav's naturalistic intelligence.

Isabelle's First Doctor's Appointment

Dr. Tu Checking out her Feet

Isabelle Smiling?

Mama's Girls

Gabby is trying to keep her eyes open :)

Isabelle did really well- no crying

The Tebo family took baby Bella to her first doctor's appointment at 10 days old. It's supposed to be at 2 weeks but the nurse who made the appointment for us said everything was full at that time. Baby sister did really well and didn't fuss at all, except for when she got the PKU test. In 10 days, she gained 5 ounces, which the doctor said is very good, so Isabelle is now 7 pounds 11 ounces- almost 8 pounds. Still so tiny... She's also 20.9 inches now (up from 20 inches). All in all, things are going smoothly and it's reassurance for me that the breastfeeding is going well and she's getting what she needs. Yay!