Happy Golden Birthday to me!

Today I turned 30... on the 30th... so it was my Golden Birthday! woohoo! My parents came down this weekend and Sean and I took full advantage by zipping out to a nice solo dinner on Saturday night. We didn't stray far, just down the street to Allegro, but it was perfect. We really don't get any nights out, let alone just the two of us, so it was a nice change. 

Isla's present to me today was the perfect mid-day nap from 12:15-2:15. On Saturday, I took my parents to Orangeville to Philadelphia's Kitchen (great Philly Cheesesteak sandwiches) and some shopping, so I gave her a morning nap in hopes that she would last through the full day and snooze on the way home. We left Orangeville just after 3, so I thought for sure she would be out. Well, I look in my mirror to see her in the backseat doing everything that she possibly could to get my mom to look and smile at her. Such a little comedian. Needless to say, she didn't sleep! When we got home, my mom took her for a wee walk and she ended up with a pretty late afternoon snooze causing havoc on bedtime. 

Two naps just won't fly for this little kid anymore. So today we went shopping for a bird feeder (Birds are Isla's FAVOURITE so I though we should get one to attract them to our backyard instead of snooping around other people's), went to McDonalds (since I never get to go with Sean... it was my birthday!), a little shopping, and then home for nap. Perfect. Let's hope this is starting a trend and Isla is realizing that one nap is where it's at. 

Lately, Isla has figured out her walker... it is one of the cutest things ever. She used to attempt to stand up with it, but the wheels go so quickly on the hardwood that it would always escape. I guess she is really starting to master balance because now she cruises all over the house. She will get going at a good clip, and then look back at you and smile. 

Isla has also started standing on her own for a few seconds at a time. Today, she was sharing Sean's piece of birthday cake, and was loving it. She would go to sign "more", and need two hands, so would let go of his knee and sign over and over until she got more cake.... not even realizing that she wasn't holding onto anything! The other day I was cooking dinner, and came around the corner to see her standing at the fridge with a picture in her hands...when I said "yay" she looked at me and fell over. oops. Anyway, we're getting there! She will be 11 months in a week and a half... so no doubt she will be fully standing (and hopefully close to walking) by a year!

Dropping naps

I must say that I have been super fortunate with Isla's napping since she was about 3 months old. It took work ( a lot of it) to get her napping, but she did and has been really good about it. For the past few months she has been on two naps a day: one at 10 and one around 2. Generally, she would sleep for an hour or so for each one. Recently, she starting extending her morning nap to 2 hours (sometimes more). This is great because I enjoy the "me" time and the chance to shower and quickly organize the house a little bit in the morning. However, she has decided that she is not sleepy at all for an afternoon nap... I can't blame her! So tomorrow (she woke up early today so I decided to give her 2 naps... not a good choice as I have heard her playing for the last 40 minutes) we start transitioning to one nap. 

I am going to attempt to do it gradually, as I think I will get a battle if I attempt to all of a sudden keep her awake until 12:30. I will keep her up until 11 or 11:30 tomorrow and then go from there... move it in small increments every couple of days and see how she does. 

Hopefully, this is what she needs and it works out!!

10 months old

Yesterday, Isla turned 10 months old. Only 2 months away from being a year- crazy! She continues to be a ball of energy and is such a smiley and happy kid every single day. 

I had the opportunity to head back to work as school started up last week. With two Grandmas who were very keen to come and help out, I took the offer and went back to the classroom teaching French for a week. Tuesday (the first day of school), was a pretty tough day as it was the first time that I had ever left Isla for more than a few hours. If I have to leave for any reason, I usually time it during a nap, so she doesn't really ever notice. It was a really long day, but I survived and she did wonderfully. My work week is over and I am back home with her now, but let's hope that daycare start up goes as smoothly in a few months. 

On the topic of daycare, we have (almost) secured her daycare spot for November. I need to run over the paperwork and deposit at some point this week. My only worry is that our provider is pretty insistent that she is walking when she goes... that means we have two months to practice, practice, practice. As Isla is a busy little thing, I am hoping it won't be a problem at all. At the moment, she loves walking holding onto our hands, can walk (holding on) along the couch, and can stand if holding onto something. The other day I did see her stand on her own for a few seconds when she was playing at her music table. I have my fingers crossed that Isla makes this an easy milestone and picks up walking quickly on her own!! 

Here are some of the new things that Isla has started doing recently:
- Giving "kisses" and "hugs" to Miso and Pierogie. 
- Playing peekabo on her own 
- Drinking homo milk (organic goats milk... homo cows milk hasn't gone over well so far)
- Loving the slide at the park
- Actually putting the balls in the right hole in some of her toys

AND we almost have another new tooth on the bottom. So far we have four on top and two on the bottom, but I guess this new one makes three! I  can see it and feel the tip, so it won't be long now. 

Happy 10 month birthday Isla!