Two months. How can it possibly already be two months since I met my sweet girl?

The past few weeks Isla has really started expressing herself more. 90% of the time we just marvel at the beauty and joy that she is and how on earth could we be so blessed to be her parents. That other 10% we are wondering who is going to come adult for us and calm the screaming baby so we can watch Brooklyn 99 in peace...haha. For the most part she honestly is a very calm, content baby and makes our journey into parenting easy. She honestly lights up my world. We're not worthy (said in true Wayne's World fashion).

It's been a lot of fun to be able to take Isla out. It's weird to go from being alone often to never EVER alone lol but she is my little sidekick and there's nothing else I'd rather be doing than being her mom. In the past month she attended church for the first time and it was very providential that one of my best friend's Magna was preaching. Magna is someone I mentored in photography as a teen and is now someone I strongly look up to and would love my daughter to turn out like so I was thrilled that this was the first sermon Isla sat in on :) We also have been able to take Isla on all our outings and she is quite the crowd pleaser...especially if we are shopping with her in the Binxy Baby hammock! She sat with us by the pier in Collingwood for the Canada Day fireworks and actually slept through the whole display! Last weekend she attended our good friends Marc and Kayla's Buck N Doe and was very content. I was worried it would mess up her sleep schedule but it didn't at all. She seems to love sleep like her parents.

Since around 3 weeks old Isla has slept through the night. That used to mean 11-5:30 but now it means usually 10:30/11pm until around 7-7:30am. We of course are super grateful for this - it means Scott and I don't need to sleep in separate areas in order to ensure he sleeps for work. If she has a fussy period of time it's generally sometime between 4-8pm which can make dinnertime interesting but for the most part her demands are easily met and she is one healthy and content baby.

Isla is now in her second "leap" as per Wonder Weeks, a guideline to help you know when your baby will hit certain developmental milestones. She has really started paying attention this past week and you can tell she is studying everything she observes. It's so cute to remember when she first started noticing things and staring wide eyed around the room. Now she still does that but notices movement and follows it. She loves to entertain herself on her playmat where she can flail around and see toys moving above her as she kicks the sides. I always catch her smiling to herself and she is really startig to entertain herself in the past week. One of my biggest prayers for her is that she will love herself and be content in who she is and enjoy her own company. Not in a boastful or prideful way - in a peaceful way. I don't believe you can truly love others when you don't like yourself. So I love to see her having fun independently...though after a few minutes I miss her and want to play too lol. Dance parties are a daily occurance of course and I also hope she loves nature like her mama. 

Isla has started smiling a ton in the past few weeks. As long as she is content, she smiles every time we talk to her and she laughs and talks to us with the cutest sounds. It really is the most heart melting thing to hear her try to laugh and let out shouts of excitement. She loves being called a pretty girl or a silly girl. It's too funny - vanity at such a young age. I can't help but laugh. I have started ensuring she is also called a funny and smart and kind girl as well but there is no denying she prefers pretty girl. Go figure...lol. 

For the first month I was really just trying to keep my head afloat. I felt really disappointed with how I was feeling physically and how limited I was. I missed having energy and being able to explore. There were many times where I just felt exhausted and really overwhelmed without any "me" time. This second month has been a lot better, especially the past two weeks. I am feeling back to my normal self...if my normal self had a totally different life :) 

For about four weeks now have done cloth diapers full time and really love it! There is a TON of laundry but I actually love laundry so I am okay with that.

I know I am biased and rightfully so, but to me Isla is just the sweetest and dearest baby. She makes the most adorable sounds and expressions. I want to record them all and have those sounds forever. I never knew I could love someone so much...it's such a new kind of love. It's a good thing my hormones are back to normal because otherwise I would probably just cry and cry about how beloved she is to me and I would never get anything done haha.

Here is a collection of images from the past 4 weeks!
Images #2 & #3 were taken by Amanda Arch.