my sweet belariniroo!

my sweet, sweet girl!

posing with her favorite teddy bear <3

look how grown up she looks!!!

after almost 18 months of watching my sweet baby girl grow up i'm still in complete awe of her! i know i say this all the time but it's so true! i don't think there will ever come a time when it will ever stop phasing me...every time the 8th of every month rolls around i'm like, "wow! i can't believe she's already __ months old!!!" i'll look at her and how much she's grown and how beautiful she is and i can't help but thank God for her. i try to remember how my life was without her and to be honest i can't quite grasp that time in my life anymore. anyway, i wanted to update y'all on how isabela is doing :)

we had her 18 month well baby visit yesterday, which first of all is surprising in and of itself because i never get to schedule her appointment for the exact day she turns whatever month she's supposed to be seen! i don't know if it's because it's the military (and they like to make everything so confusing and quite frankly, retarded) but we were able to go see her doctor on the 8th of september! here are her stats:

weight: 27 lbs. 3 oz.
height: 32 in.

she is in the 75th percentile for both and the doctor said she looks very healthy! she inquired about her walking and talking and i told her that she is like a professional walker now but that she still wasn't talking a whole bunch. to those of you who actually keep up with these blogs, you'll remember that her lack of speech has been a concern for me. i know you should never compare kids (which the doctor so nicely corrected me on) but i know a lot of kids who say a lot more words than bela and it makes me worry. fortunately for me, the doctor helped calm my nerves and reassured me that isabela is in fact right on track with her language development. i told her that isabela says dada, sometimes mama, miau, pop (in her way of course) and that she knows where her head is, her toes, ears, nose and belly button :) the doctor said that as long as she understood commands and turned around when she was called that she was o.k. needless to say, i feel very very relieved!

one thing that i find very amusing about isabela lately is that she definitely takes after her daddy! they are so alike and it's funny when she does something that reminds me of jaccob. sometimes they both get this very pensive look on their face and it amazes me how much they look like one another. another example is that she has an appetite just like him! they both love to eat!! jaccob says so all the time, although i think sometimes he wishes she had a "normal" appetite like mine :)

expanding a little bit on isabela's language development...although she still isn't really talking she is very vocal with her "dada"!! for a time there, she would actually try and repeat certain words from her favorite books. one of her favorites is "muu, beee, asi fue" by sandra boynton...when we would read to her we would get to this point where the cat says, "miau" and she would say it right back! her other favorite one is "bubbles, bubbles" from the sesame street beginnings book. we would read, "bubbles, bubbles, float on top. bubbles, bubbles, pop! pop! pop!" and she would say the "pop!, pop!, pop!" part :) it was so freaking cute! i can't wait to hear her talking :)

she definitely understands a whole bunch now though :) i will ask her if she's ready for nighty night and she'll start heading for the staircase, and when i tell her it's time to go, she'll grab one of her favorite toys and she'll head towards the garage. she's pretty good at knowing which toy is what...i'll ask her to go grab her baby doll and she goes straight to it :) and last but not least, when i ask her if she wants a bibi (her bottle) she starts walking to the kitchen!

i love how "grown up" she is and all the new things she discovers every day :) just a couple of days ago when we were at toys r us, looking for a high-back chair for her, we strolled by an aisle where they had a bunch of little purses and i couldn't help myself, i had to find one just perfect for isabela. i put it on her shoulder and it looked absolutely adorable on her! what's more is, when it started sliding down her arm she pulled it right back onto her shoulders!!! i had never taught her that! she just did it out of instinct i guess ;) she's such a girl!!!

well that's all i got right now :) i will be sure to update on any new developments! oh! well, i guess before i go i can let y'all know how baby #2 is doing :) i'm 18 1/2 weeks right now and i'm feeling pretty good, although i can't seem to sleep very well. he/she is moving around quite a bit and i'm happy to be able to feel more movements. i was beginning to get nervous since i hadn't been feeling much. when i was pregnant with isabela i felt her move by 16 weeks. anyway, we find out next week on the 17th whether it's a boy or girl and i can't wait! i just hope baby cooperates with us :) stop by next week to read the outcome!!!