This Christmas brought Isabelle a lot of new toys and games to play with but she always seems to return to her singing, magnetic phonic/letters from Leapfrog. She had originally gotten a set for her 1st birthday however we returned them since they wouldn't stick on our stainless steel fridge. Then one day after our neighbor's 6 year old daughter Sophia gave us her set, I had a brainstorm...we have a metal fire door going out to our garage! So not only is Isabelle out of our way in our already not so roomy kitchen, she is always in plain view from the kitchen, dining room and living room! We have had "her letters" up for a few months now and she also has the "Letter Factory" DVD by Leapfrog (thanks for the suggestion, Caryn) that incorporates the same songs/phonetic sounds that the magnetic letters make along with teaching a few words that start with that letter.
Look at "my letters" 
Within the past month, Isabelle recognizes and says the sounds for the letters A, F, I, K, M, O, P, S (but sometimes gets it confused with Z), U, V, X and Z. Now she may not get them all the time but when asked, 9 out of 10 times these are the ones she usually knows. Then there are the letters B, E, H, J, R, T and W which she knows the sounds for but not the name of the letter itself. Besides the magnetic letters, Isabelle also has foam letters that she plays with in the bath (thank you Jackie and Randy)...GO L-E-T-T-E-R-S!
Isabell, like any other child, LOVES playing at the park and with Michael at home with her in the mornings, she gets to go 3-4 days a week. They take Bear for a walk up in the hills behind our place and head back home going past the park where he will stop and let her play. Michael is still trying to talk me into letting her go down the big, twisty, covered slide by herself...maybe for her 2nd birthday, while I am not looking :)
Being outside now a day in California also has its downfalls....our wonderful Santa Ana winds that you all read/hear about. I am sure you can imagine what all gets kicked up while we are outside playing? YUCK! Luckily, I am the only one in the family with allergies however Isabelle does get affected every now and then which had forced her to learn how to blow her nose. Yes, I had to note this in her blog since it is pretty dang exciting for us. You say "blow" and Isabelle blows those "boogies" of hers right into the tissue! Hopefully teaching her this so early will incline her to reach for a tissue and not resort to her finger...ewwww!
Isabelle also has a new favorite ritual that started with her Papa around the beginning of December. She loves having all of her stuffed animals (OK not all, but a good number of them) in her crib with her when it is nap time or time for bed and when she lays down for nap or bedtime, she has to give "good night kisses" to each one. But the funniest part of this ritual has to be when she is not tired when 8:30pm rolls around and you listen at the door or go grab the monitor, you will see/hear her playing with her Elmo and Cookie Monster puppets, having them kiss all of the other stuffed animals "good night"! That is our little love bug!
And on that note...Good Night!
