First Candle

 

It's interesting to keep track of unconventional firsts. Everybody remembers first words, first steps, first days of school. But what about first time holding an earthworm, first time noticing the moon, first disparaging imitation of an adult? Isadora has experienced all of these in the last several months (the imitation she did was me). I believe this Thanksgiving was the first time she really played with a candle. 

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

  

It's Cookie Time

 

Savoring the product of a hard day's work. 

Sweet Yummy Eyeballs

 

Isadora learring the joy of black olives at the Thanksgiving table. I belive this is a tradition on Nancy's side of the family. 

Four Generations

 

I'm not a big fan of posed family photos (I prefer candids) but I like how everybody in this picture is looking in a different direction. A quick who's who: that's Arlo and Izza, their mom, their mom's Dad, and their mom's dad's mom. 

Isadora's Dance Lesson

Over Thanksgiving, Isadora got a dance lesson from Nancy's cousin Erick (who, by the way, is a monkey). The video begins with her tail being attached, and ends with her asking Eric to be a "ray," as in stingray. Right at the end, note how she shakes her head and tells him, like a Hollywood casting director, "That's not a ray."

Izza and the Turtle Puppet

For the past few months, Izza has been going through a multiple personality phase, switching between being Izza, Arlo, a penguin, a cat, a worm, a dog, a water strider, and even a booby bird. But this video captures the first time she's channeled one of these personalities through a puppet. Watching the video, it's actually difficult to tell when she's speaking as Izza and when she's speaking as the turtle.

One of the things that fascinates me is how she feels the need to play parent with her stuffed animals. Notice how she disciplines her turtle, first for eating leaves, and then for (I believe) poking the camera.

If she could hold back time

So we've been struggling lately to get Isadora to move from her crib to sleeping on an adult twin mattress for the past few weeks. The other day, Nancy decided to try dismantling the crib, piece by piece, and the first piece we took off was the gate on one side, so that she could now climb in and out without any trouble.

That afternoon, I took Isadora in for her nap, and when she saw the crib, without bars on one side, she burst into tears and began pleading with me. "Where's the side? I need the side! Put on the side!" And as I tried to reason with her, she began chanting in that-out-of-breath, panicky voice she uses when she's trying to explain something through her crying, "I need the side! I need it! I need it! It's broked. Daddy fix it! I need the side! Put on the side!"

I decided to appeal to her vanity. "Isadora," I said, "we took off the side because we want you to be able to get in bed by yourself. And you were getting too old for it." I thought she might be proud of this fact. But instead, she literally wailed, "I'M NOT GONNA GET OLD!"

I had no idea she was so anxious about the passing of time.

My last ploy was to use her fear of the sideless crib to coax her onto the mattress. But when I explained that she had to choose between either the sideless crib or the big mattress, she chose the crib. We'll see what she does when we dismantle it even further.

The other day was unseasonably warm, so we went to the lake to see the ducks. Doesn't Isadora look like she just did something wrong?  

When Sara, Naomi and Eliot showed up at the lake, Nancy asked Isadora, "Do you want to tell Eliot that you know where the ducks are?" The idea so excited her that she took off running, shouting, "Where the ducks are! Where the ducks are!" At some point, I believe she also said to Nancy, "I'm very running." Click on the picture if you want to fully appreciate the look of raw determination on her face. 

We were down by the shore for a while, but it wasn't until Isadora and Nancy left to have a snack that the ducks came right up to visit us. I think they may have been afraid of Isadora. It appears Eliot may have been afraid of them.  

Isadora and Eliot have been working hard on understanding the concept of "trading." This picture was taken right before their mutual desire for a particular yellow matchbox car led to mutual meltdown. In fact, I believe this picture captures Isadora eying the very car that would soon send her into a spiral of greedy madness.