Tell me, Mama!

A lot gets written on this blog about a certain adorable, well-behaved, genius little child named Isota. Hell, even I've received a couple mentions. However, the person who deserves the most recognition for handling the bulk of the work raising this beautiful child is this person pictured right here:



I'm certain that without Alicia's hard work setting up a sleeping and feeding schedule, researching and reading a million baby books, and simply giving so much love to our little girl, there is no way Sody would be as mellow, happy, and developed as she is. This is a 24 hours a day, 7 day a week job and she does it superbly and without complaint. She deserves more credit than a little blog post, but I thought she'd enjoy the praise anyway.

Alicia is the most amazing mother a little girl could ask for and an incredible wife. Marrying her is easily the best decision I ever made.

To Alicia: Sody and I love and appreciate you more than you know!

- Joe

Memorial Day

Headed out for a long walk and some time at the park. Dad shot hoops, Mom enjoyed the fresh air, and Babycakes debuted her Iggy Pop onesie. Rock and roll, baby! Also, that last picture is Isota showing off her newest trick: blowing raspberries. She is getting a little too good at it.

Sody Goes A-Swimmin'

It hit 102 degrees here last weekend so it was prime time to stick the kid in the pool. First time! She rocked her bikini for the event and seemed to dig the pool. Once she got used to the water she was super mellow and chilled out in her little floaty.

Showing Dad Who's Boss

You Big Baby

Another doc visit yesterday, went great. Isota is in the 81st percentile for weight, 76th percentile for height, and 82nd percentile for head size. All of which means she is doing wonderfully and we have ourselves a big baby. I should have known that from all the comments I get from strangers when they find out how old she is: "Wow, she's BIG for four months!" I somehow find it in me to refrain from responding, "Yes, we spike her protein shakes with steroids..."

Weather is getting warmer here so I got Sody her first swimsuit. Actually, I got three. A little overboard, yes, but teeny swimsuits have to be the cutest of all the teeny baby clothes out there. (Plus, I ended up returning one.) Here she is, doing her first and hopefully only swimsuit modeling. There is a bikini too but we haven't tried it on yet. But I know her chubster belly is gonna look awesome in it. She should live it up - the only time in one's life when a potbelly is so adorable!

Best Time of Day

One of my favorite moments of my day, each day, is when I go to get Isota out of her crib (well, technically it's not a crib, it's a portable play yard thingy in our bedroom...we have a crib but we haven't put it together yet. And also I am still not sure *I* am ready to move her into her own room yet! It's too easy to just lean over in the middle of the night to the Pack N Play, make sure she is breathing, then go right back to sleep) first thing in the morning, when I hear her little baby cooing that seems to say, "Ok, guys, I'm up, let's get this party started!" When I lean in to say good morning, she gets this insane smile like she has never been happier to see anyone in her whole life. The little legs start pumping and the fists go waving and she is just SO excited. Even if it's waaaaay too early to be awake and all I want to do is fall right back into my nice warm bed, it's never a nuisance. It's pure sunshine. You hear people say stuff like that before you have a kid and you're like, "Yeah, right...I'll take my sleep instead, thanks..." but here I am, succumbing to all of it. I'll take her happiness over my own sleep any day.

And while we are on the subject of awesome things: can we just focus on my daughter's cheeks for a sec? How great are these?? Look at 'em - I am sure she could fit at least a couple of ping pong balls in there. I dare you to find something else on this planet that is so soft and squishy and kissable. I need to figure out a way to bottle them up and save them for when she grows out of babyhood but I still need a cheek fix.

Because Thumb Sucking is Sooooo Two Weeks Ago...

Well, folks, Sody seems to have temporarily moved on from thumb sucking as her favorite pastime and moved on to the glamorous world of feet grabbing. The girl can't get enough of her own feet lately. If she is laying down or sitting on my lap or chilling on the couch - she is just always trying to grab her toes (and wants to get them in her mouth too, it seems). Don't get me wrong, she still views her hands as a gourmet meal...shoving that fist in there, sucking away on those fingers...it's just that lately she hasn't been ordering the thumb appetizer.
Have I taken this metaphor too far?
Methinks so.