Isabella is 23 Months!

So much has happened over the last six months, I’m so excited to share some of the recent happenings and #toddlermilestones with all of you! In My last post (prior to my hiatus) our sweet baby girl, Isabella, had just turned 18 months and I remember being amazed then with how much she had grown.

When I look at her now, at almost 2 years old, I’m astonished by the level of independence she’s showing. She talks A LOT! She seems to have gotten the hang of forming more complex sentences and her “parroting” skills ( her ability to hear words and/or phrases and repeat it perfectly) are awe-inspiring, to say the very least. The phrase I hear most often these days is “Mama, let me do it!” I hear it when we’re getting dressed for school, mealtimes and last, but certainly not least, when she’s using her potty. She wants to do everything on her own. The good thing is she does ask for help if she needs it by simply saying “help me”!

Speaking of independence, both my husband and I attribute some of her advancements to her new school environment. Late August we enrolled Isabella into a private Montessori school. The decision to change our childcare provider was a fairly easy one to make, as we both wanted a learning environment that could meet her where she is with developmental appropriate activities and expectations in the classroom. Let me tell you, best decision EVER! Isabella is truly thriving: learning, growing and of course playing. We’ve seen such a boost in her confidence, though there are still occasions when she’s a little unsure of herself or somewhat hesitant to do something. I find those occasions are becoming fewer and far between as she’s “using her words” to tell us what she might be feeling or what it is that she wants, she usually just asks for help.

Favorite Moments, Memories & Milestones:

In July we took the kids to Disney Springs. We were so excited because it was our first time going together as a family. We loved watching the kids’ eyes light up as they looked around at all the different sights and hearing Isabella squeal with excitement each time she saw a character she recognized! We had such an awesome time, we’ve gone back 2-3 more times.

Isabella’s first day at her new school. OMG…Looking back, I still can’t believe I cried that much! Baby girl did too, which I had expected. Fortunately, those tears only lasted for a few short minutes after drop off in the mornings and she’s all smiles for the rest of the day! She adjusted extremely well.

Isabella’s first day at school

She’s has also made some great strides in the potty-training department…YAY! She’s using the potty pretty regularly both at home and at school. She’s even gone commando a few times with minimal accidents.

Mid September Isabella’s grandparents surprised her with this red Radio Flyer tricycle! So sweet of them 🙂  She loves riding around their house.

her first Radio Flyer

riding around in Grandma’s kitchen

Last month I posted on Instagram this adorable pic of the kids at Lukas Nursery in Oviedo.They loved the hayride around the beautifully decorated property, live music and the super fun scavenger hunt.

Isabella’s school also celebrated the season by hosting their Annual Harvest Festival. The kids looked so adorable during their Hat Parade for all the parents. Here are a  few pictures of her and her classmates.

Meow

“hand-on everybody”

Follow the leader for the Hat Parade

 

Thanks so much to each and every one of you who have read my blog and supported me throughout this amazing journey of motherhood. I’m forever grateful! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Isabella Frances is 18 Months + SoFL’s Flamingo Gardens

Isabella officially turned a year and a half on Wednesday #toddlermilestone! The saying is really true, time flies when you’re having fun! There have been a few moments most recently, where I catch myself looking at her in sheer amazement at how much she’s grown in the last few months. I guess I’m still in disbelief that Isabella is a toddler! In another six months she’ll be 2.  I. CAN’T!

I’m also noticing as she gets older, it’s nearly impossible to get photos of her (especially if you ask, she usually laughs and runs away) so I’m sharing photos from our weekend trip to Flamingo Gardens in south Florida as part of her 18 month update.

We’re continuing to be blown away by the development of Isabella’s language skills. The girl can be a little chatterbox (wonder where she gets that from) at times. She’s already repeating little phrases and short sentences.

New Words & Phrases:

Please and Thank you

Let’s go bye-bye/outside!

Dame puño = fist bump

fix it!

milk (sounds more like mitz or miltz)

catch it!

ojos = eyes (she says them both)

feet

la casa = house

we’re here!

where are you?

Cheerios

inside

don’t cry (sounds like don’t kai)

wait!

meow

flowers

happy

car seat

seat belt

spoon

doggie foods

I’m sorry, mama

take/turn it off

soup

She started to copy us when we sing songs—she will sing the same notes as us and it’s absolutely adorable. Her favorite songs are “if you’re happy and you know it, wheels on the bus, twinkle, twinkle little star…she can do the actions for all of the songs too— it’s adorable— she rubs her eyes with her little fists for “the babies on the bus go wa wa wa”.

Favorite Moments, Memories & Milestones:

She’s still pretty shy in new situations but sometimes she surprises us—she hams it up if she’s in the right mood. In the grocery store she always waves and says “bye-bye” as we’re checking out and leaving.

Though she’s still a very good eater, she’s demanding when it comes to what she’ll eat and when. She’s ALWAYS in the mood for bananas, doesn’t matter what time of day (or night) it is. She’s even had full on meltdowns a few times when we didn’t have them. Needless to say,we try to make sure we always have a few in the house.

She answers questions with yes or no all the time now.

She knows her colors now and correctly identifies them most of the time.

She has also mastered the fake cry and dramatic meltdown when she doesn’t get what she wants.

She loves stickers! She likes to put them on herself, toys, books, etc.

one of my fave daddy daughter photos

I’m going to start giving more sporadic updates now that we are in full-on toddler mode, maybe every three months or so, but I’m so happy I kept up with her updates so I can look back on them. She has changed so much, it has truly been a gift to watch her grow and develop.

I hope you had a great weekend! We had so much fun at the Flamingo Gardens, definitely check it out if you’re ever in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale area. During summer months, I recommend going in the morning or evening hours when the humidity isn’t as bad. Thanks again for reading!

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Surviving Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease

Hello and happy Friday folks! Hope all of you are had a great week. Hubs and I had a recent brush with a toddler illness unlike any other: Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). Yup, it’s a real thing! A real scary thing. It’s a horrific and, unfortunately common,toddler illness.

What the heck is Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease, you ask?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Hand, foot, and mouth disease is a common viral illness that usually affects infants and children younger than 5 years old. However, it can sometimes occur in adults. Symptoms of hand, foot, and mouth disease include fever, mouth sores, and a skin rash.”

I wasn’t too familiar with HFMD prior to Isa getting it. Though I vaguely remember reading another mommy blogger I follow a while back, describing her little one’s experience with it. Describing our experience in 1 word: Brutal. This is one of the most gnarly, grossy-gross viruses out there! It broke our hearts seeing our baby girl so miserable and inspired this post.

We initially didn’t notice anything with Isabella that was out of the norm or cause for concern until the virus hit full force.

The Symptoms: 

The rash. This came almost immediately. It first appeared as a few little red bumps, two to be exact, right around Isabella’s belly button followed by what I thought were just flushed cheeks, but quickly realized after a closer look, was a rash much like what you see with an allergic reaction or even Asthma. A few more red bumps popped up on her chin and one on her lip.

Day 1: The Rashes

Day 5: The rashes turned into blisters

Oh, how we couldn’t have been more wrong. Once the fever came back it caused a flare up with the rash, which then turned into patches of blisters covering most of her arms, legs, both hands and feet. Worst of all, they were on her lips and inside of her mouth. That was enough for us to just bring her to the closest pediatric urgent care and from there she was diagnosed her as having HFMD.

Since HFMD is most contagious during the incubation period, sending her back to daycare wasn’t an option. When we followed up with her pediatrician, he strongly suggested we air on the side of caution by keeping her home for a week and wrote a script for “Magic Mouthwash”. I know…I actually chuckled a lil seeing it written on the bottle’s label. Here’s a recipe for this “magic” concoction.

Prevention & Treatment: 

There isn’t a vaccine to protect against the viruses that cause HFMD nor is there a specific treatment for it. However, there are a few things you can do to combat the symptoms and contain the spread.

• Consult your child’s doctor.
• DO keep your little one hydrated. Cool fluids and foods help sooth mouth sores. Ice pops and ice cream also may help. Check out kid-friendly ice pop recipes here and here.
• DON’T give your child spicy or acidic foods and drinks, such as tomato sauce or orange juice. These foods can irritate mouth sores.
• DO give your child acetaminophen like Tylenol or ibuprofen (such as Advil) to reduce fever and pain relief.
• DON’T give your child aspirin! It’s been linked to Reye Syndrome, a pretty serious disease. No Bueno!
• DO wash your hands! And do it often, especially after touching a blister or changing diapers (which should be standard practice).
• DON’T let your child share toys or eating utensils and try (being the operative word) not to give kisses while he or she is infected.
• DO apply hydro-cortisone cream or calamine lotion to blisters to help relieve itchy skin.

It’s been almost three weeks and Isabella seems to have made a full recovery. Thank the Lord! The sores in her mouth are gone and the scabs from the blisters have all fallen off. I hope this information was super helpful. Thanks for reading and have a FABULOUS weekends, lovelies!

Isabella Frances: 17 Months Old!

I recently looked back at some of Isabella’s newborn photos of Isabella and we’re just astonished at how much our baby girl has grown. I still can’t believe how quickly the time has gone by!

 

This month, Isabella was far more talkative. She’s learned a few new words and phrases, even made up some of her own! The biggest surprise to us, how fast she’s starting to form sentences.

New Words & Phrases:

I’m sorry

Where are you?

Not nice!

I/You do it!

says thank you, gracias and signs it too!

shoes

shirt

socks

books

school

says “boo-boo” when she sees a band-aid

kitty cat

one, two, three and will sometimes say uno and dos.

cereal

nanas for banana

She’s been testing her boundaries and has thrown a few tantrums here and there, as expected from a toddler. She can be pretty dramatic when she doesn’t get what she wants, but we continue to practice positive reinforcement and redirecting. We’ve also noticed how protective of her personal space, mostly during meal time.

Favorite Moments, Memories & Milestones:

 

Isa still loves “Wheels on the Bus”, she’s repeating more of the song’s lyrics and doing the hand movements to match. Another song we’ve been singing a lot lately is the “Itsy Bitsy Spider”. Watching her little fingers as her eyes light up…she’s so awesome!
She loves to give high 5s and she always says “Yeah!” as she does it.

Still enjoys reading together. One of her faves is “Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do you see?” It truly amazes me, just watching her holding her book, turning each page like she’s reading and saying “teacher, teacher” and “children, children” as she points at the different pictures.

She still loves being tickled. Within the last week or so she’s started to tickle us.

Does lots of pretend play these days— says “hello” whenever she hears our phones ring, reads to me or her teddy bear when I ask for story time.

OUR FUN WEEKEND

Hello and happy Sunday! This was a pretty fun-filled family weekend for us, which is much appreciated after spending 2 days in bed sick with a stomach bug. Silver lining: I’m able to fit back into a pair of my pre-baby skinny jeans :.)

Saturday we attended a birthday party for one of Isabella’s daycare classmates. The party was held at a cute little park just a few short miles from our house. It was already pretty humid by late morning, so we only stayed for a couple of hours. Isa and the rest of the kids enjoyed themselves nonetheless.

Now that she’s conquered her fear of going down the slide, it’s become her fave thing. Well, that and the swing.

I absolutely LoVE everything about these quit snaps I took with my iPhone! And I love even more is hearing that beautiful giggle and following laughter!! She’s such a happy girl…our crazy funny, happy girl. I’m super blessed to be her mama. 


Sunday my mom and I took the kids to Melbourne, which is little over an hour away from us. We met up with some family friends for a picnic in the park. Knowing we’re spending a pretty good amount of time in the car going and coming back, I did my usual prepping the night before. It just makes our morning routine run so much smoother.

We arrived into Sebastian’s Inlet around 11am. Thankfully parking was fairly easy to navigate for a first time visitor.

The kids had a blast! There were quite a few activities to keep them busy from swimming to flying kites and a good sized pavilion for all of us to fit underneath comfortably. 

Hope you all had as much fun this weekend as we did. Thanks for reading and have a wonderful week! 

Isabella Frances: 16 Months!

Our Weekend…

What a week it was!

Last week was ridiculously busy at work. Lots of changes within my department, but all for the good. I officially transitioned into my new position, which I’m super excited for what the future will hold for me and my new work teammates.

I decided to take Saturday and Sunday off to spend some much needed family time with my two favorite people.

Saturday morning Frank and I took lil Miss Isabella to My Gym. We’re wrapping up our last couple of weeks there and Isa is still loving it so much. The slide and the swing are her faves!

After working up an appetite at My Gym, the three of us headed over to KeKe’s Breakfast Café for an early brunch. KeKe’s is one of our go-to breakfast/brunch spots because the food and service are always great.

I know what you’re probably thinking…omg, that hair though!? Lemme tell you, the girl has hair for days.

Today was pretty relaxing. Isabella and I spent the day with my parents while Frank worked, which is  our Sunday tradition. We come ove,

 

Isabella Frances: 15 Months!

  
 
I love documenting Isabella’s progress each month and sharing all of the new things she’s up to.She’s doing so much these days that I’ve started to keep a list on my iPhone so I can remember everything for these monthly posts.   

The days of Isabella crying when I leave her at daycare are becoming fewer and far between. Though she’s still clings to me when we initially walk into her classroom, she’s all smiles and giggles once she’s greeted by her teachers and friends. She almost always gives me a great big hug and blows me a kiss before saying “bye bye”. She just loves her little class, her teachers and her friends. 

   
     

She’s learning so much every day and I’m always surprised by the new things she’s doing and saying. It was just yesterday when I picked her up from daycare, as I walk into her classroom I hear her telling her teacher “se acabó” as she claps her hands. Sure enough, she heard one of her teachers say it and she was repeating it back. It was just too cute and so unexpected when she said it. Love moments like these. 

Here are Isabella’s 15 month updates:

Height/Weight: Isabella is about 32.5 inches tall and about 32lbs. She’s just about done wearing size 4 diapers and transitioning into size 5.   Diet: Isabella has always been a good eater from day one and now that she’s an active toddler, her appetite has increased. She tries to eat your food when she’s done hers and doesn’t want anyone else to eat if she’s not eating. Bottom line: my girl likes to eat.

Favorite Moments, Memories & Milestones:
   

   
Likes playing with my necklaces…likes even more, wearing them herself 

Imitates everything, gives high fives

Can point/touch every area of her face and body when we ask “where are Isabella’s hands? where are your eyes? show mommy your belly button? touch your feet! etc

Loves to dance — I play music and pick her up then we dance in the mirror like 2 silly girls

Can sign “more,” “please,” “milk,” and “all done.” Go-figure, she learns the food related signs first

Can correctly identify/point to items when asked (show mama the duck. where is the ball? where is the frog?)

Loves Elmo! She enjoys watching and dancing with him when we watch Sesame Street. 

Still HATES having her diaper changed most of the time. Not too long ago Isabella told me “no pamper mama,”which prompted hubs and I to buy a potty to “let her practice” as suggested by my mom. In Jamaica, where she grew up, babies start potty-training young as children there start school at two years old, unlike here in the States where they start at four. I figured it’s better to start now, especially since she’s expressed an interest.  

Says mama, dada and daddy (so adorbable), quack quack, woof, socks and shoes, apple, be quiet (or quiet when the dog barks), grandma and grandpa (or papa, it varies), bubbles, Up!, NO, uh-oh!…and a few other things I can’t understand. She also said purple recently. She says “agua” for water, and“jugo” for juice too.

Does actions for “itsy bitsy spider,” “if you’re happy and you know it,” and “twinkle, twinkle.” 

Tried tangerines, honey and ravioli  for the first time this month

Loves Facetiming with grandma! When she hears the ringing sound and my moms face appears on screen, Isabella’s eyes light up. Too. Cute. She’ll hand me my phone and say “hello, grandma?” As a way to tell me to call her.   

   
Isabella meeting her Uncle Stephen for the first time. 

 Thanks for reading!

Isabella Frances: 13+ 14 Month Updates

Our sweet baby Isabella is growing into a big girl right before our eyes. Some of the things she’s doing and saying lately are just mind blowing. Yup, my baby is growing up!

We see more of her personality emerging with each week that passes. There are so many adorable and a few insanely funny things she does, it’s impossible to keep track of them all. We’ve also noticed how quickly she picks up on things and most recently, she’s become our little parrot because she repeats almost EVERYTHING we say and mimics our mannerisms too. The other night hubby comes home from work and as I hear the front door open I tell Isa “on the count of 3 when daddy opens the bedroom door we’re going to yell da-da”. We hear the footsteps, I start counting 1…2…the door opens as I say 3 and she adorably yells “Da-Da”. It was the cutest thing ever, just thinking about it brings a huge smile to my face. She’s a curious little girl, loves to explore new things and she does get frustrated when she can’t figure something out- but she’s all smiles and giggles once she does. Speaking of giggles, I love the sound of her laughter! Thankfully, she’s been laughing quite a bit and she’s far more affectionate these days, blowing us kisses and lots of hugs.

Isabella’s updates:

Height/Weight: Isabella is about 32 inches tall and about 31 lbs. She’s thinned out a little now that she’s walking everywhere, but she still has her precious baby rolls!

Health: We’ve gone through a few little sniffles here and there when, but nothing major. She also sprouted three new teeth a week after she turned 13 months and thankfully, she wasn’t in too much discomfort.

Sleep: Isabella consistently sleeps from about 9-9:30pm through 7:30-8 am. It kind of varies. We’re also working on transitioning her back to her nursery at nights. For the past few months she’s been sleeping in her pack-n-play next to our bed and we’ve had a few nights recently where she’ll hop into bed with us. She still wakes once or twice during the night, but she usually falls right back to sleep after she gets her “bo-bo”.

Social: She’s fully transitioned into the 1-2 year old classroom at daycare and she’s doing great! She’s adjusted very well to the new schedule which includes breakfast at 8:15am and outside play (weather permitting) followed by a day for about 30 minutes each.

 

Diet: Isa loves to eat! So far, we haven’t seen a food she didn’t like. With her being so enthusiastic about food comes some hysterics when hunger hits, it’s like you can’t get the food in her mouth fast enough. I’m actually very grateful she’s so “serious about her meals”. I’ve heard from other moms a lot of babies start to become more picky and eat less as they age.

Last month we began introducing milk into her diet. We initially started her on 2% cow’s milk right around 12 months, but quickly realized she was showing signs of allergies and we went back to basics, bland foods and formula. At 13 months we started using the Lactaid brand of lactose-free whole milk and she hasn’t had any tummy issues since. Isa gets roughly 15 ounces per day. We still do a warm 4-5 ounce bottle of Enfagrow Stage 2 Toddler Transitions (gentlease) formula in the morning as she wakes up and another warm 6-8 ounce bottle at bedtime. The rest of the milk she has during the day is cold from a sippy cup.

Likes: Walking is her biggest like right now…she hardly ever crawls anymore! She’s also loves to pull bows out of her hair, points at everything, saying “gooo” or “sit” she loves telling the dog to sit down. She likes pushing things to slide along the floor, playing peek-a-boo with anything she can use to cover her face or hide behind and pop up like a little gofer.

Dislikes: Hair bows and hair ties! Combing her hair these days isn’t as bad as it was in months past, but she’s by no means a fan of having it done especially when I put her hair in a ponytail with a hair tie or add a bow to her curly little fro. Aside from having her hair combed, she’s also dislikes waiting for her food. It’s like you can’t move fast enough, she wants it like yesterday!

Clothes: Isabella still wears size 4 diapers and mostly 24 months, even some 2T clothes. There are a few 18-24 month onsies she can still fit into comfortably, but she mostly wears those as a bottom layer during cold weather or to bed under her pajamas.

 

Crying: The tantrums have become a little more frequent usually when she’s either hungry or fighting her sleep. As long as we continue to stay firm with her and redirect, the tears eventually end. She still tests our boundaries (touch things on purpose she knows she’s not supposed to, watching to see our reaction when she does, etc), but I noticed once I start give her a directive and I start counting 1…2…by the time I get to 2, she’s already making tracks coming towards me.

 

Milestones: Mostly we are seeing a huge increase in her receptive language— pointing to the right animal when we ask. When I ask “what does the duck say?” she says “quack quack.” She’s also following commands correctly, recognizing words and phrases we say and acting upon them (ie: when we say “lets go outside” she will follow us or go get her hat or shoes). When we sing “if you’re happy and you know it” she claps and stomps her feet at the right part of the song. She’s also very talkative lately with more and more recognizable words. She is truly a little person now who can understand so much, it’s awesome!

Thank you for reading and have a great Monday!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from my family to yours!