My baby's a big 2 year old now!

I really can't believe that Isabel just turned 2 years old! It's such a cliche, but so true, time really does go by too fast! We had a very nice day on her birthday, Wednesday the 12th. Jason had most of the day off so we took Isabel out to lunch and to Target to pick out a new doll stroller and a new doll. As you've probably picked up from previous posts, she is very into her dollies lately. Her doll stroller that was a gift for her birthday last year was pretty much destroyed from such heavy use. She loves her new doll, a Groovy Girls doll. I love those dolls, they're like soft normal-looking, non-trashy Barbies for little girls, very cool. Isabel now insists on bringing her new dolly everywhere with her.

We had a very nice party for Isabel yesterday, Sunday, at my Mom and Dad's house. Isabel had a great time playing with her cousins, Rowan and Austin, and of course eating cupcakes and ice cream and opening presents. It was a gorgeous day, rather Fall-like, warm in the sun and a bit brisk in the shade. We kept it pretty simple, just grilled hot dogs and hamburgers and ate lots of yummy corn on the cob and plenty of other yummy food. Some highlights of the day include watching Rowan and Isabel running around with a jump-rope saying "jump, jump" and trying to actually jump with it; Isabel trying to play football with her Daddy and trying to tackle him; and getting to meet the newest little cousin Hannah; among many highlights of the day. I've posted a few pics here to give a feel of the day. Here's the birthday girl trying to blow out her candles.
Here's her proud little face after she blew them out.
And here's Isabel and Rowan really enjoying their cupcakes and ice cream. Looking at this pic I think of what a big difference this is from last year when she was covered head to toe with her cake, it was even in her ears! Thankfully she has pretty much mastered feeding herself now!
This goat puppet from my Aunt Marge and Uncle John was a big hit, it sings a silly song when you squeeze it. Isabel must have made it sing about a hundred times yesterday.
Isabel insisted on showing off her adorable jumper from Great-Gramma to her cousin Austin. Not so sure he was quite as excited about it as she was! Don't you just love his shirt? It says "I make dirt look good." And he does too, so adorable!
Here's Isabel decorating herself in some of her presents from Tasha, Ray, Austin and Hannah. Tasha picked out some great stuff! Isabel especially loves this feather boa and purse and an adorable purple bear. Perfect for my little girl who loves to dress up and look fancy. Just add a pair of my shoes and she's all set to parade around the house with her stroller. Picture her doing this every evening, so much fun to watch.
Doesn't she look so grown up in this picture?! She was pushing her new stroller around in the flower bed and up and down the driveway, over and over again. :)
Here it is, the shiny new stroller and the favorite new doll. These two toys provide hours of entertainment, wonderful!

Labor Day Weekend

We had a great Labor Day. We met up with my parents and Sarah, Mark, Rowan, and Sophia at a lake for the day. The kids played on the beach and in the water while Jason and Mark did some fishing and we all took turns in the kayaks. It was a gorgeous day, in the 80's and perfectly sunny. Isabel spent hours digging in the sand and making and destroying towers of sand. Jason and I were able to take Isabel out in the kayaks for her first time on a boat. She was a little timid at first and she got very sleepy, but she seemed to really enjoy it. She made it a bit harder when she tried to help paddle. :)

The happy family in the kayaks.
See her little hands on the paddle, trying to help! Rowan and Isabel making mud pies and towers.
A couple of very dirty and very happy kids.

These next shots are of a scene I discovered one morning. I had gone upstairs to get dressed and then got a couple of quick phone calls. I was up there for about 10 minutes and came back down to find this mess. Isabel had decided that her baby doll was stinky and was using tons of wipes to clean her up. I thought it was so funny that I had to take a couple of pics. She has been really into her baby dolls lately, rocking them and singing to them and wrapping them in blankets. One night while I was making dinner she lined them up on the floor and put diapers under each of them while repeating "Ugh, stinky babies!".

She would very carefully lift the baby's shirt and wipe her off.
Then she would add the wipe to the HUGE pile and get another one! At least she put them in a nice pile and not all over the living room and they were salvageable! It's just so fun to watch her role-play and use her imagination.