The Child Grows

Each and every day I see the child grows more and more and it absolutely fascinates me seeing it all happen.

Now for those of you who don't know, I'm a first-time parents and so if any of you already have children of your own or don't have children at all, then you may not know what I'm talking about. For everybody else out there reading this, as my dear Isabelle gets ever closer to being two years old, she's learning so much so quickly it's absolutely amazing to see.

Just yesterday I very clearly heard her saying the words "brush teeth" together even though she wouldn't say it upon request in front of Carley, BUT I KNOW SHE DID! Currently she is able to repeat almost anything said as the last word in a sentence and I think she's JUST starting reeeeeally put two words together as she says more and more words on her own without any prompting. She's got a few opposites such as up and down confused sometimes, but other than that her language seems to be right on the edge of starting to say whole phrases at one time. Just a few days ago I got her saying "Oh man". (She's really good at that one.)

I imagine life is a bit difficult for her at this time with trying to learn so many things all at one time. She's been constantly learning new language skills as well as learning to climb and colour and trying to learn to use the potty. We've also started using a consistent timeout method with her which seems to have her all rattled now that mom and dad are both on the same page with not letting her get away with things... even if mom doesn't like it so much.

At this point, with her birthday being only a little over a week away, I'm looking forward to seeing all the possible new changes that are coming over the next year to see where things go from here... hopefully with more cuddles in the future as well.


~ Kyle Welykholowa

=== Happy Birthday! (A Month Ago) ===

     Alright, I know this is late, but happy birthday to my sweet Isabelle! I still find it difficult to believe that she's already been around for over a year; she still seems so itty bitty small.

     Now that I've been spending more time with her and getting to know her better, I find myself beginning to understand more of what she wants in certain situations and how to handle her in different moods. She laughs at some of the weirdest things and she turns on the waterworks at the drop of a hat for reasons I won't even pretend to understand. Soon enough she'll be talking and communicating more in a language that I'll have an easier time understanding... I hope.

     With her so close to walking, it's only a matter of time before she's getting into even more things than she's already getting into. She's cruising around the furniture like no tomorrow and every once in a while she gets brave and lets go of things and just stands there sucking on a toy or her hands. Not a single tooth has popped out of her gums yet, but she's almost walking.

     Time seems to be flying by with this tiny little girl. In no time at all she'll be past all this baby stuff and moving out of the house and I'll be wondering what I've been doing for the past 20 years. Ah well, I'll just have to try to keep up with her and we can all learn and enjoy the experience together.

~ Kyle Welykholowa