Belle

It's been awhile since I've done a post about our girl Isabelle. I want to be sure not to neglect her as she is definitely Miss Personality and doing all kinds of growing/learning/changing right along with her sister Hannah.

Isabelle is a funny, quirky kid. One of her quirkier routines is this hording and stuffing/piling kind of thing that she does. She will put a doll in the toy shopping cart and then proceed to pile every piece of play food, all of the items from her toy dinnerware set, other stuffed animals, blankets and baby clothes in, around and on top of the doll. Along those same lines, one day after her nap I found that she'd emptied out all of the bins that hold her toys and stacked them at the end of her bed in 3 rows (see photos below). Another night when the girls were trying to go to sleep, I went up to check on them and Isabelle had piled 5 or 6 blankets on top of Hannah. It's the most curious thing. I don't know where she gets it from and what it means. It's like she's a holdover from the Depression-era mentality of stockpiling all of your goods and food items.

Isabelle seems to have hit a big growth spurt recently and is now a good deal taller than Hannah at least 3 or 4 inches, I'd say. I wonder if I might actually have birthed a child that will be of average height (I'm 5'0" on a good day).

She continues to be the consummate caretaker/nurturer which Hannah plays to the hilt, constantly asking Isabelle to do things for her. I have to remind both of them that it's important to try to do things on your own first and then ask for help after you've given it a good effort. I'm a little worried about the mothering that will go on once the new baby arrives-poor kid!

Isabelle is definitely a rules-oriented, conscientious kid, often making sure I put on my seat belt and pointing out when other kids are doing something that we've told her is not safe. She's big into drawing these days and can pretty well draw inside the lines as well as draw a few letters (B, D, E, I, H). She is a great storyteller and has a really vivid imagination as well as a scarily good memory-today she was recalling a picnic we went to last summer where some other kids were playing croquet. It was the first time she'd met these kids, she hasn't seen them since, and she remembered all of their names. Her memory is better than mine!

I'm so excited to see Isabelle does with preschool next year as she's definitely ready for it and excited about it, albeit a little bit nervous as well. It's been so fun watching Belle change and develop into this little person. Sometimes I get so focused on what Hannah is doing and her motor accomplishments that I don't stop to take the time to acknowledge all of Isabelle's progress as well. But she is rocking and rolling along with the best of them!
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