I'm Not Isabella...

Oh my precious Isabella. In the wake of her first day of school as a big Blue Bird, it is my duty to share with the world the wonderful (and not-so-wonderful) ways Isabella has changed lately. I haven't written about only her in a while. She has turned in to quite the character. She's incredibly sweet and loving, but sometimes forgets she's only 3 and takes on the attitude of a 13 year old. She's become quite the negotiator as well. If you tell her she has 5 minutes left until nap time, she says, "How about 10 minutes." When you ask her how long she wants you to lay in bed with her at night, she says "All the minutes" and when asked how many minutes is "all the minutes" she replies "10 and 5." She's still pretending to be other people. Who she is depends on the day. Sometimes she's Justin Bieber and other times she's Melanie from So You Think You Can Dance. Most recently she's been Mama Mia (can you guess which soundtrack we've been listening to?!) For some odd reason though, she's always Isabella when she has to go to the bathroom. If she walks up to you and says "I'm Isabella now" you know to ask her if she has to go potty. It's so strange, but REALLY funny and surprisingly helpful! Within the last couple of days she's started "mapping out" her identities for the foreseeable future. For example, last night she told me "When I go to the bathroom, I'm going to be Isabella. I'm still going to be Isabella when I wash my hands, but when I'm done I'm going to be Melanie. Then, when I get in my bed, I'm going to be Mama Mia, ok Mommy?" You can't help but laugh when she lays it out for you. It's too cute.

When it comes to wonderful big sisters, Isabella has made a case for best in the world. She is the most loving, caring big sister. She helps me with Madeline all the time and loves to show her how to do things. She always wants to kiss her and hug her and I'll even hear her whisper to Maddie how much she loves her. It melts my heart. Her only downfall is she tends to take over Madeline's toys. She starts off innocently showing her how to play something and Madeline ends up losing interest, moving on and Isabella keeps playing. I have to remind her that she has the "Big Girl" versions of these toys. The grass is always greener...

She's recently taken over my phone and iPad. She learned my passcode and figured out how to operate the iPod on the devices. She also figured out how to turn on "repeat" thus torturing us with Justin Bieber OVER AND OVER AND OVER again. It got so out of hand that the use of the devices is limited to running errand (for my own sanity) and some longer car rides. That's it. Use at home has been prohibited for now. She's asked a couple of times, but seems to be ok without playing "DJ" all day. She also has grown quite fond of the 1985 USA for Africa music video as well as the remake last year. It cracks me up, but she liked them so much she'd leave them on while she was playing with other toys and reading books. One can only listen to We Are the World so many times. She's also discovered the wonders of photography and videography. Ever since she figured out how to flip the camera so she can see herself, she has inundated my phone with self-portraits and random photos of the floor or my arm, sometimes even half my face if she has any luck. (I've included one of her self-portraits in the photos at the end of this post). I'll also find short little videos of her looking into the camera breathing. I think she just likes pressing the record button - who knows! Of the 883 photos on my phone, 800 of them were taken by her...

Sometimes I look at her and can't believe how grown up she is. I love being able to have real conversations with her and I'm always amused at the number of things she can remember. She can remember where we were when we heard a song. If she hears a person's name on the radio or in listening to David and my conversations that she's met before, she'll chime in and let you know. For example, we were eating lunch and David and I were talking about Phil (Mickelson) and Isabella interjected with "You mean Phil like the Phil we ate lunch with in Kansas City (Phil Rogoff)?" You'd think after this happening over and over I'd stop being surprised, but each time she makes the connection I'm bursting with pride.

Isabella started a ballet class at a studio a couple of miles from our house and her preschool. She absolutely loves it (a girl after my own heart). I wasn't sure how she'd do since she's so shy and only likes to "perform" when she's very comfortable with her audience. She spent the first class kind of just "existing" and not really participating. Fortunately by the second class, she was joining right along (she's one of the youngest in the class). She's great about showing David and I all of her moves and telling us what she learned in class. It's so awesome how much she thinks about it. She insists on wearing her leotard and ballet shoes around the house. She'd wear her tutu if I'd let her, but tulle isn't the world's strongest fabric...

Recently, Isabella has started "fine-tuning" her fine motor skills. She's become very good at lacing things, she's mastered stringing beads, and has even learned to use scissors (child-friendly, of course). She's started writing letters. So far, she can write an "I," a "T," an "E," and an "A."

She has memorized all of her Shabbat blessings and even likes to say the Sh'ma before bed. It confirms my decision to send her to a Jewish Preschool. It's so nice to see her express an interest in all of the holidays. I'd love for her to grow up embracing her religion and hopefully she will not be the only Jew in her elementary school (I was until Meagan joined me) :).

I hope you've enjoyed this glimpse into the life of my beautiful 3 1/2 year old. Here are some funny Isabella quotes as well as some pictures (even some of her first day of school) and videos to top it off:

"No Cuddles, it's not Cyndi Lobster, it's Cyndi LAUPER - LAUPER!"

"Mom, stop turning off the iPad, it will shut off by itself!"

"I'm going to go to the hospital real fast so the doctor can take the baby out of my tummy and I'll be right back."

"WHAAAAAT UUUUUUUUUP!"

"Word to your mother!"

"I want to listen to the REAL version of Total Eclipse of the Heart."