Isla and her guitar

I love that Isla was so interested in this and actually figured out how to strum the guitar strings.

Gotta get back on track!

I cannot believe that my last post was August 11th (July post)....and I can't believe that I just wrote that...AGAIN! I am so glad that Heather is doing her blog for Isla because she is so good at keeping up with it. Me....not so much. Heather and I just recently started our Financial Peace University classes and I was classified as a "free spirit". That is how I feel with my blog so far and I need to change that. I feel like I get so easily distracted by life and that I always need to be doing something "new" (which most times I wish would include my router, but alas, I have yet to use it after about 9 years-  I wonder if it still works??). So it's time to buckle down, get back on the horse and do any other cliche sayings. So let's look back and see what all went on in the "Campberson" house over the last few months....

Isla decided that crawling on her hands and knees was too passe, so she went for standing instead. She's gotten VERY good at using any little thing around to pull herself up so she can get to whatever she isn't supposed to have.  We still have much baby-proofing to do and recently both mine and Heather's computers died. We were able to borrow a computer from her work, but we had to drape a 25' ethernet cable across our living room floor - not ideal. So inevitably, every time Isla was on the floor she would make her way over to the cord and promptly shove it in her mouth. We have been choosing to let her figure some things out on her own, but making understand that things like cords are forbidden. I don't think she quite understands yet, because every time I tell her "Isla, NO!", she looks at me very seriously for about two seconds, then gets a HUGE grin on her face....how am I ever going to resist not getting this little girl anything she wants?

The big 6-Mo.

I still can't believe Isla is going to be 6 months old on Friday. If she could have held off being born for 1 more day, she could have had her 1/2 birthday on her mom's birthday. That would've been fun. But I love that she'll have a day all to herself. We had our favorite photographer, Mala Hyder, take photos for Isla's 6 month. So far we have done newborn, 3-month and 6-month sessions with her and they have been the best pictures EVER! I wish we could just have her follow us around all the time and take pictures....you know, just throughout the day, standing over in the corner just snapping away. But I guess that would take away from Heather getting any practice in with her camera- which she is getting REALLY good at!

Heather also got her necklace from Colleen Berg, and it turned out so great! I don't have a picture on the computer yet, so I'll put one up later. We had one made before this recent one and we were a little disappointed in how the fingerprint turned out. Colleen was great enough to not only send us more molding material, but she redid the entire necklace and we couldn't be happier.

We also realized a couple days ago that our little bugger is right on the verge of full-on crawling. If she can grasp the concept of keeping herself up with her arms, look out world! I can't believe that she is going to be walking before we know it. I'm excited and I can't wait, but it scares the livin' bejeezus out of me too.

My how time flies...

I can't believe that our baby girl is almost 6 months old! We've been so caught up with going home to Michigan for my brother's wedding, and finding fun family stuff to do, that I had all but forgotten about my blog...oops. So now it's time to try to get back on track. Right now, Isla is a rolling fool. It's either that she loves rolling around, or just can't decide whether she wants to play on her stomach or her back, but she is rolling all over the place. And she's getting sooo close to crawling! It's starting to get a little frightening, thinking about her being mobile, but I'm excited for her to be able to explore her surroundings.

I am hoping that Heather and I can take her to the zoo for her first visit soon. We spent this past weekend (4th of July) hanging out and we took her swimming for the first time...well, it was my first time with her at the pool. I can tell she's going to be a little fish. Unfortunately we were only there for about 10 minutes before we saw lightning, so we had to pack it up and head for home. We also got to celebrate Father's Day (I was at my brother's bachelor party on the official day). Heather and Isla made me a AWESOME coffee mug and I can't imagine drinking out of anything else....ever. So with the exception of the rain, I had an incredible weekend with my girls.

And now we begin the baby-proofing. We have already moved things off of our bottom shelves and now we need to start looking at baby gates, or a crate or something. It's amazing how easy it is when they can't move on their own and how you really do have to constantly watch them when they start moving....it's not just a saying that "you turn around for one second and they're getting into something". It actually HAPPENS! About 3 weeks ago, Isla was playing on the floor while I was working on my computer and I literally felt like I had only turned around for 30 seconds and she was about 5 feet from where I previously saw her. Just coo-ing away like there's nothing going on. Scary, but I'm excited to see her go through the stages.

So close!

I think the greatest invention in baby gear has to be the Halo sleep sack. It has given me back what the first six weeks of newborn-ness had taken away...sleep. I spent several nights at the beginning rocking, singing, shhh-ing, dancing- you name it, I tried it. But it was all in vain. I felt like I was missing something. There must have been one key piece of advice that I missed during the pregnancy that would soothe Isla and allow us to both get a good nights sleep.

It wasn't until one random night that Isla was being extra squirmy that I realized the power that comes with the compression of a sleep sack. I'm sure it was around 2 AM when Isla decided that she didn't feel like sleeping any longer. It's not that she was crying, but just very awake. Even skin-to-skin (which typcially works like a charm) wasn't doing it this time. At one point she almost squirmed right out of my arms, so I had to hold her a little tighter. After she stopped squirming for a minute, I eased up on my kung-fu grip and tried to rock her to sleep. Within about 30 seconds she was back to flopping every which way. I tightened up again, and she settled down again. And then it finally hit me- she likes being held tight! Granted this was after about an hour and a half of wrestling with her and trying everything else, but at least I figured it out.

So we decided one night that it was about time to try out the sleep sack. I had hopes, but wasn't going to get too excited about it just in case it didn't work out as we planned. That thing was heaven-sent. She was sleeping 10 freaking hours! There were a few times that we would have to get up to put her pacifier back in, but for the most part she was out cold. I should've known that even things as great as this wouldn't last forever. As she has become better at rolling over, we couldn't really have her arms swaddled at her side in case she rolled over on her stomach during the night. So now we're back to square one and hoping that she will learn quickly how to sleep at night without her sleep sack. I have a feeling it's going to be rough for a little while.

- On a side note, the WubbaNub that she has in her mouth is also an incredible invention. The little stuffed animal helps keep the pacifier in her mouth and she also like to hold on to it.

Okey Dokey

So, after much contemplation, I have decided that I'm not going to start from the beginning. I have too many things that are happening right now and trying to play catch-up is just not working. Maybe when I'm chillaxin' at the pool this summer I can find the motivation (and pictures) to work from the beginning, but at this point, we'll just go from the present day.

So the other day was Isla's first solid food- avocado. I'm not a huge fan of the veggie myself (unless in guacamole form and accompanied by a margarita), but it's easily digestible and doesn't seem to upset a baby's tummy too much. Avocados are so much less appealing when pureed to a point where they are unrecognizable as a food that used to be in a solid state. We mixed it with a little breast milk to thin it out and that made it a nice apple sauce-like consistency.

We should have known that it would be a piece of cake getting Isla started on solid foods. She has been so easy since the day she was born, how could this be any different. And it wasn't. With tiny spoon in hand, Heather put the first little bit into Isla's mouth. It was easy to get it in, because any time anything comes close to Isla's mouth, it's inevitable that said object will be going into Isla's mouth. So Isla opens and closes her mouth a few times expecting to get some sort of milk substance, I suppose, and then pauses for a second and seems to get a confused look on her face. She then continues to open and close her mouth while occasionally sticking her tongue out. No crying. No fussing. I know I'm biased about my daughter, but she has got to win some kind of award for being the best baby in the world. Does Guinness  have a category for that?

So we got a few more spoonfuls into Isla's mouth and she just continued to chomp away and make a mess of her face. Afterward, she decided that she needed a little exfoliating in her "T" area so she smeared a little up between her eyebrows and onto her forehead. I wish I had some sort of "OMG, I can't believe she just did that!" story, but this is our life....a perfect little child. Sheesh. How did we get so lucky?

Holy smokes....

Been a little bit since the last post, but it's hard to figure out how to go back and start from the beginning by looking at the pictures when all of the pictures are on your wife's computer. I have been trying really hard lately to make sure that Isla is getting as much attention/stimulation as possible, so I haven't had a good chunk of time to sit down while I'm at home. I think in the back of my mind if I don't do this, she's still going to be crawling when she's 2 and won't say her first word until she's five. I know that's just me being an overly protective/cautious dad, but what if that's what really happens?! I would have to return the "World's Best Father" mug that I got for myself....no, I didn't really get that, but I did drop a few hints to Isla that I wanted that for Father's Day. I am going to do my best to get this blog rolling, but it may not be until the end of this month that I will have a little more time away from my high school that I can get on it. I'm going to put up a few recipes that I made for our picnic that we had for Mother's Day because they are just too good to keep to myself. So, until the next post when I give another excuse of why I haven't started....bon appetit!

This stuff is stressful!

I never realized how stressful having a blog could be. I always thought they were a good way to relieve stress by having an outlet. I guess it would work that way for those who are prepared and organized...which is pretty much the antithesis of who I am. I bounce all over the place, feeling scatter-brained because I'm not sure where to start or what pictures to use. And then I worry that a day has passed and I haven't posted anything....not that it matters when there are only 2 people who look at your blog. And by this point, they've probably forgotten that they are following my blog and don't make it over here anymore. Hmmm...I'm actually making myself less stressed about doing this blog. If no one looks at it, then I'm really just doing this for myself. So I suppose I can stop worrying about my entertainment factor for the moment. That is, until I hit 600 followers, which, by my estimation, will be in the year 2057. Piece of cake....speaking of which, I could go for some ice cream. I know, random.

I suppose I'll just stroll back through my pictures and just jot down all of the memories of my days with my girls...so all two of you will just have to sit back and relax for a few while I get things situated.

Layout

Not much happening this evening. Heather was tired and decided to crash a little early tonight. Isla has been asleep for a few hours. And the cheese stands alone (with the exception of a whiny dog). Just decided to jump on here and fiddle with the layout/background/etc. I originally created this blog with the anticipation that I would instantly have 300K followers and monetize the blog so I could quit my job and just be a stay-at-home dad. I think after the second day and having only one follower (myself....and that was an accident- not sure how you're able to *follow* yourself), I pretty much gave up on keeping up with the blog. I have now found a renewed sense focus that will keep me going (hopefully) and it's something that's very important to me- my daughter. <---so now that I've written that, I'd feel horrible if I didn't keep up with the blog.

So the layout...I decided that with all of the little "gadgets" that you have to put on your page in order to "monetize" it, it looked really ugly. I like the clean look of some of the blogs that I've come across and I think I like the non-commercialized look a little better. I'm sure I'll still play around with the background until I find something I truly love, but this will do for now. I have so much that I'd like to post, but I think I first need to sit down and figure out some sort of time line so my posts have at least a slight semblance of continuity. Feel free to leave a comment on what websites you thought were helpful in putting together your blog....and on a side not, I think I make one helluva lasagna. 

Trying to keep up...

I told myself that I would do my best to try to keep up with this blog. As my wife put it, it's going to be a record for our daughter and I don't want it to be a patchwork of memories. I am hoping that this will be somewhat continuous and flow easily (although I can't promise anything).

While I have to admit that there were some frustrating times after Isla was born, I think that was due more to a lack of sleep than Isla crying or being fussy. She is actually one of the most content little babies that I have ever seen. It was hard at first to get any real sleep, but Heather and I eventually figured out a schedule where I would get up during the night so she could sleep, and then after Heather left for work, I would get to crash for a few hours. Most of the time, with eyes barely open, I would make my way to Isla's room in the middle of the night (getting through our obstacle course in the apartment was a task in itself), feed her and rock her to sleep. Easy enough. It was the few nights in between all of the easy ones that would make it frustrating. It seemed that no matter what I tried, Isla would wriggle and squirm and cry. I didn't do anything different from any other night, so how could I be doing something wrong?

                                                             {such a sweet little girl}

It wasn't until at least several weeks after Isla was born that I had my "Ah-ha!" moment. After feeding Isla one night and doing my best to rock and sing every lullaby under the sun, Isla began her ritual of doing her best to break free. I have always been afraid of both letting her slip out of my arms and squeezing to tight, but when she attempted to escape, I held her a little more firmly and it seemed to calm her down. I couldn't believe something worked! I felt like I had to hold my breath and not make any sudden movements....it took all of five minutes to get her back to sleep from that point. And from that night on, I was the self-proclaimed master of getting our daughter back to sleep. And if you were to ask me what my favorite item is that we got for Isla, I wouldn't hesitate to say "The Sleep Sack!". It's an easy choice when, at 13 weeks, she's sleeping about 10 hours straight during the night.

Ms. Isla Mae

My wife (Heather) and I went back and forth trying to decide on a name for our little angel. Throughout the pregnancy, I had in the back of my mind that she would either end up as "Ella Lou" or "Louella". We had had countless discussions about how much we both loved the name "Ella". But it seemed that as the closer we got to our due date, the more and more we discovered that "Ella" was quite a popular name. The name seemed to climb the "Most Popular Names" list faster than I can forget what my wife just told me to do. We were just glad, for the moment, that we weren't having a boy, because we had put about 0.003% of our combined brain power into coming up with a boys name. We wanted to give our daughter a unique name, and "Ella" was becoming less and less *unique* with each day that passed. While it was still on our short list, we both started to feel that we needed to find another name (it was sad to let Ella go).

I don't remember the exact day that it occurred, all that I remember is that I thought of the name :) While she is not named after the actress, I had always loved Isla Fisher's name. I liked how it was spelled and how it was pronounced. It wasn't until after Isla was born that my mom (through her genealogy prowess), found that my great great grandfather was from Scotland, and more precisely, from the island off the coast of Scotland, aptly named "Isla". So as much as I'd like to say "yes, 'Isla' is of historical significance to my family and that is how we decided on her name"....nope, it was the actress from "Wedding Crashers". There ya go, sweetie...a great story for the grandchildren. Heather asked me the other day if our daughter looked like an "Isla", and when she was first born, I wasn't sure. Now I couldn't imagine her with any other name. She is our sweet Isla Mae.

                                                                       (such a doll)

Punkerdoodles

My wife had the incredible idea to start a blog about being pregnant and all of the ups and downs that come along with it. It was not only so we could remember what we did and how we felt during those times, but also so our daughter could have a scrapbook of memories from us so she knew how very much we love her. So this is where my blog makes a turn from PA school (which I still plan on doing), to my daughter and how she has turned our lives upside down (for the good, of course!).

 "Punkerdoodles"....no, I don't know where it came from. I just opened my mouth one day while holding Isla and out it came. My first reaction was "what did I just call you?". I easily amuse myself, so after a few more times of calling her Punkerdoodles and laugh to myself, it stuck. As I'm sure it would be so much fun to yell out "Hey Punkerdoodles! Over here, Punkerdoodles!" when she walks out of school with all of her friends, it'll probably just be our thing and I hope that it lasts.