Isabelle is officially 8 months, well actually by
the time I finish writing this she’ll probably be closer to 9 months. She is now 30.5 inches long and weighs 15 lbs 12 oz.
In this month I’ve seen her grow and change each and every day. I feel
like part of that is because in my mind, we’ve
moved into a whole new stage of baby. Our baby MOVES, like physically
moves from place to place. Not just hand motions or feet kicking
anymore, we are in a whole new world. One moment I look and she’s in
one place and the next moment I look and she’s all
the way across the floor off of the carpet and onto the tile (which
leads me to another blog topic: Our house has way too much tile for a
baby but I’ll save that rant for later).
It’s crazy how fast she can move. A few weeks ago,
when she first turned 8 months, we commented that she had truly
mastered the army crawl, you know, the GI Jane crawl. Full on arm scoot,
chest rub and body drag crawl, the one Demi Moore
showed off in that classic “woman power” movie. Belle had it down, it
didn’t matter what was in her way, she’d get around it or over it
somehow. We tested her one night with pillows laid across the floor and
it wasn’t more than a few minutes before she had
surveyed the room, determined there was no easy route and full force
went up, (pulling herself) and over the pillow to her target “Jack” on
the other side.
See Jack is a great motivator and where ever he is,
she wants to be. It crazy, the love (Isabelle)-love-to-taunt (Jack)
relationship those two share. For the last 7 months Jack has been able
to maintain a close but safe distance from her,
where he was close enough to watch over and protect, but still far enough
away to escape the claws of love that she likes to expose him to.
Jack’s world has been turned upside down because now there is no safe
distance. His only saving grace is that he can
still move faster than her, at least for now. It is funny though
because in some ways, I think Jack likes it. It means, our poor doggie
actually gets some attention. In watching him, I’ve noticed that he
likes to be the center of her attention. As she’s
seated on the floor playing with her toys, Jack often decides to wake
from his slumber and casually jaunt down near her, walking right in
front of her, to get her attention. As if to say, “I’m here, come and
get me!!!!” he flirts with her and guaranteed,
Miss Isabelle always take the bait.
In the last week and a half we’ve seen Isabelle’s
army crawl transform into a one leg hurdle move, the other leg drag
crawl, to a full on, rocking back and forth to gain confidence crawl. And finally we've now witnessed the real deal. She actually crawls, usually started with a few rocking motions back and forth and then followed by one leg move, one arm move, opposite leg move, opposite arm move. The boys are thrilled with excitement that she's crawling often announcing the moment she starts to move from a sitting motion, "MOM, SHE'S CRAWLING, COME FAST!" as I race to see her, I many times see her still sitting. She smiles, screams as if to say "psych" and goes back to playing. It has truly been fun watching her learn this new skill.
The other thing Isabelle continues to impress us with, is her strong desire to stand and walk. No more can we trust that she'll sit and play. Constant eyes have to be on her because we've seen her crawl to the couch and with all her strength pull herself up from a sitting position to standing. Truly amazing that our little baby can already be doing these things. The other thing she has grown to love is her walker. Although I know putting babies in a walker these days comes with mixed reviews, but our Belle LOVES it. And why wouldn't she? In her "means of transportation" she can move 5 times faster than normal and charge at Jack with all her might. It is so funny to see her spot Jack across the house, curled up in a corner of the tile sleeping quietly. The moment her eyes see him, she becomes a rocket shooting toward a target. With the first sound of the walker moving, Jack's ears pop up, and one eye opens to access just how much time he has. Seconds later we hear Isabelle shriek with excitement and pure joy as Jack's tags clang together in his race to a safe place. It's the classic game of cat and mouse chase. Isabelle loves it; Jack not-so-much.
Isabelle continues to be the perfect addition and completion to our family. When I think about how fast she has grown the past 8 months I can't believe how quickly it has gone by. Then I think about all the days of praying that we'd get to keep her forever and counting down each milestone crossed in our journey to adopt her and make her forever a member of our lives. When I think about that, the past 8 months feel like several years. With 16 days until our finalization, I can't help but start to breath a sigh of relief. Our dream is coming true again. I count down the days with so much to look forward to. I can't wait to hear her name Isabelle Grace Haskovec being announced in the court room, to the judge stating that Jarrett and I are her parents and to seeing the look on Gabriel and Michaels' faces when it all becomes official. I'm sure I'll be overcome with so many emotions, of course the main one happiness, but also relief. I can honestly say in the last 8 months I don't think I've ever let my guard down, always wondering and unfortunately worrying (I guess that's just my nature). I'm ready to let that guard down and with that what ever emotions come along.
I am so thankful for each one of our children, Gabriel, Michael and Isabelle. I've truly been blessed.
Oh and one more thing I'm excited about. Finally, finally, finally getting to share her picture with our blog family. I've got so many saved up and ready to share. There have been so many stories, so many updates, and so many cute pictures. Watch out, Isabelle overload is just days away.
Until next time,
angie
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