Isabelle Time

For three years Isabelle led the blissful and carefree life of an only child. There were always two parents with nothing else to do but cater to her happiness and we were only too willing to oblige. Having a little sister has brought its own joys to Isabelle's life (always having a playmate, a baby to dress up, being Mommy's special helper) but occasionally Isabelle realizes there has been a fundamental shift in her life. One day Jason came home from work and picked up Madeleine and we were both talking to the baby. All of a sudden Isabelle came over and, with a look of consternation on her face, said to me, "Mommy, somehow you're only making Madeleine happy and nobody is making me happy." I love how she added the "somehow" as though it was almost impossible for her to believe that she was not receiving all the attention.
Isabelle really has been a wonderful helper and is so kind, patient and gentle with her sister I decided it was time for a day out with just Isabelle. We had a great afternoon together, painting pottery at Color Me Mine and then going out for dinner and ice cream. I think she had a good time being an only child again for one afternoon.

Even with hundreds of items to choose from Isabelle managed to find Tinkerbell hidden amongst the plates, pitchers and figurines.

Carefully sponging Tink off before painting.
Doing her best and most careful work.

Four hours later we were finished with our masterpieces. We did take a break for dinner after a couple hours but that's still a pretty good attention span for a four-year-old!

If you look closely at Tinkerbell you'll see that she somehow ended up with purple demon eyes. Maybe they'll look a bit more cheerful after our pieces have been fired.

Time for a dinner break!