Just Hangin' Out

It's been a relaxing Saturday... even though my to-do list is nagging at me pointing out that the sink is full of dirty dishes and floors need to mopped. I'd rather play with Isaac. He's so much fun!


It seems like we're in the endless saga of the missing top tooth... Just a few short minutes later, it looked like Isaac had been at the gym working out - his chest was soaking wet with drool! Where, O where is that tooth?!


He didn't stay at the other end of the room for long after he spied the camera. He's comin' after me!!
That all-too-familiar look of determination in his eye, the way his jaw is set and his tongue is clinched... so endearing.

We tried some more finger food today: ba-ba-bananas! I had to show him that is was okay to eat the banana - he was far more interested in playing with the squishy fruit, ending in fits of giggles.

What a mess! He was covered in a thick layer of banana goo... but he loved it! Yummy yummy for the tummy...

So I need some advice, mommy friends. Now that Isaac is crawling around, I really don't want his hands in his mouth all the time. But he's sure fighting me on this - what a stubborn kid! (Where did he get that from? No one is pointing fingers, but somehow I feel the heat of them on his mother). Anyway, I don't want him to be confused when it comes to finger food... any advice? I suppose I could teach him about washing our hands before a meal and then it makes it okay. All other times it's not okay.... Have any of you had this battle? I could write a whole 'nother post on how intentionally obstinate this kid can be when I KNOW he understands what I'm telling him!

Little Swimmer

Our small group got together with the other one for a Memorial Day BBQ yesterday. It was fun to see everyone and meet some new people along the way. Our groups have grown so much! It was a fun time of water volleyball, wii, chowing and gabbing. My camera died, so I didn't get half as many pictures as I wanted to. However, we did catch a big moment for Isaac - his first time in the pool! He LOVED it!!

Watching the volleyball game and anticipating the water with curiosity

Little surf patrol

Isaac drove around the pool in his new ride, which has a working horn to boot! He had so much fun gliding across the pool as Kevin and I passed him back and forth. If yesterday was any indication, we have a little swimmer on our hands. So it's a good thing we have....

...Isaac's future swim teacher Auntie Autumn!

Eggcellent

Isaac's first "solid" food - eggs! Good times...

At first I mashed the scrambled eggs up into tiny bite-sized pieces for him and offered them as finger food...

But he wasn't too sure about what to do with the bits, so I started feeding them to him as an object lesson...

We got through the gagging and spitting as he looked at me with a perplexed expression - "WHAT is this stuff??" he seemed to say.

And we had some fun in the process. By the end of the weekend, Isaac was getting the hang of chewing (or "gumming") the eggs as I mixed them with bites of his cereal to wash it down. He is a quick study!

How Could I Have Not Known About This Place?!

No one understands my need for sweets like my dear Jaimie. She is a girl after my own heart! So after a long week, we went out for a chick date on Friday night. Jaimie introduced me to a local favorite - The Sugar Bowl. Established in the fifties, this place is decked out in retro PINK and has a menu dedicated to dessert. Sure, there's a small section for lunch and dinner, but whereas a normal restaurant would have four pages dedicated to food and a small section for dessert, The Sugar Bowl is reversed. Can you say BLISS?? With so many options, I had trouble making a decision! The waiter had to come back twice to check on us - I take dessert seriously, folks. But I did finally settle on the brownie bliss sundae, which was no disappointment.

Oops, in our eagerness to dig into our delicious brownie sundaes, we forgot to take pictures of the presentation. There used to be a tower of whipped cream and a bright red cherry atop that mountain.

Preparing the perfectly balanced bite of brownie, vanilla ice cream, and chocolate fudge... Laugh if you want, but it takes concentration!

chocolate oozing masterpiece...

Mmmmmmmmm, there's no place like The Sugar Bowl, which left me wondering - Sweet Sugar Bowl, where have you been all my life?? And how could you have escaped my notice for the past five years?

Two Nonis and a Whole Lot of Attention

As if the world doesn't revolve around him enough as it is, Isaac got very accustomed to being the total center of attention while Noni and Great Noni were here. Two Nonis are double trouble! But they shared like good kids and had equal fun times with Isaac. :)

Here are some pictures from their visit...

They came to have lunch with me a handful of times on the days I had to work. That was always the highlight of my day!

Noni got a new toy for Isaac, and it's a real hit! He loves playing at his playtable, and it's helping him to learn how to stand independently. He has even moved from the toy to the couch and back on his own!

Isaac went on a walk every morning with Noni.

Cool dude in his shades. He actually kept them on for a record time! Doesn't he look like such a little boy and not a baby? It'll be here before we know it...

Fun times... that upper front tooth should be here any time now (of course we've been saying that for the last month!)

Comin' after the camera - watch out, he's fast!

Genius! There are so many ways to play with this table!

As always, it was such a tremendous blessing to have Mom here, and it was only magnified with Noni's presence. I'm so thankful for these women in my life. They have taught me so much, and continue to teach me more and more about how to be a godly woman, wife, and mother. Alike, they are both incredibly patient, selfless, generous, and servant-hearted. They are always putting others before themselves and lending a helping hand on their own initiative. I can't say enough about them - They are a pleasure to be with!

On the Move!

He figured it out tonight! Great Noni put Isaac down on the floor, and suddenly he was doing this...

(It's really quiet because this was about the seventh attempt at recording Isaac's new skill. You know how kids stop whatever cute or fun thing they were doing once you get the camera out. We were holding our breath to see if Isaac would do it just one more time for us. It seemed as though we were more excited than he was at his achievement! But we finally enticed him enough to give it one more go.)

So I guess we should really do the childproofing thing now... and time to bring out the barricades.

Mother's Day and a Family Blessing Service

Our church does a Family Blessing Service every Mother's Day, and this year we got to participate! We like how Central conducts their baby dedications. It's two-sided, which demonstrates a partnership. With sincere hearts, we made a commitment to raise Isaac in a Christ-centered home, which has always been our intention. And in return, the church voiced their promise to assist us in raising our child in a Christ-centered environment at church. It was really meaningful and an honor to be a part of this service this year.

Kevin brought home two dozen roses for me and also got me a digital frame for my desk at work. As usual, I'm displaying my beautiful bouquet at work along with my gift. Everyone at work gets to hear about how awesome my husband is as they ooh and aah over my flowers. :)

In addition to the Family Blessing Service and my roses, having Mom and Noni in town for my first Mother's Day made the day extra special. It's so great that they were able to be here!

Isaac just adores his Noni and Great Noni.

After a relaxing afternoon at home, we went to the Cheesecake Factory for a delicious dinner. It was such a treat! Our aim was to keep Mom and Noni out of the kitchen on Mother's Day, since we knew without a doubt that even if Kevin made us dinner, they would somehow find a way to cook or clean anyway.

What a great Mother's Day!

9 Months

NINE months. We're reaching the point where Isaac has been out of my womb longer than the amount of time he spent in it. That blows my mind!

He has such a sense of humor and loves to make people laugh. He definitely gets his silly bone from his dad. One of the things I absolutely adore about Isaac is the way he responds to our smiles. We can be across the room from each other, but when I smile at him his face lights up and a grin crosses his face and puffs out his adorably kissable cheeks. And if you start to laugh at him, he'll laugh right back! Pretty soon you'll have a laughter war on your hands. And when that happens... look out! It could take a while to reach a truce. But I never mind.

Boy, and what a socialite! Putting Isaac to bed on Wednesday nights always takes twice as long because he knows there are a number of people out in the living room to hang out with (we have Bible study here every week). Give Isaac a crowd that gives him any kind of attention, and he soaks it in with great pleasure. Give him a platform, and he'll step up!

In fact, one of his tactics in responding to discipline has been enlisting the use of his charm by flashing a wide smile. Yeah, he's workin' it! He knows he's cute, and he's going to use that as much as he can!

New in the last week, Isaac has started to point at things and will make some sort of sound to describe what he sees. Just the other day he pointed at something across the room (could have been the wall for all I knew, but I played along), and said, "DA!" Then he seemed to notice his extended pointer finger, as if for the first time, and studied it in awe for a moment before pointing again and repeating, "DA!" This time he was watching his finger as he said it. So now when he points something out, we'll tell him what it is.

He's only nine months but fitting very comfortably in TWELVE month's clothing. Can you say Wow? Such a tall kid! Still in the 95th percentile as far as we know... we don't think that's going to change any time soon.


And finally, I have a cute story about Isaac firmly grasping what they call "object permanence."

The other day he was down for his afternoon nap and taking a bit longer to holler than usual. I needed to get something out of his room anyhow, so I snuck in very quietly to check on him. I spied the top of his head just beyond the rim of his crib, which meant that he was up on all fours and definitely awake.

So I stooped down and hid at the end of his crib so I could spy on him. I was curious about what he was doing because he hadn't made a single peep yet. As I peered through the slats of his crib, unbeknownst to him, I watched as he studied Panda on his crib bumper with great curiosity. He stayed there for a bit before turning to his left toward the door. Then I watched as he reached up and pulled the top edge of the bumper down and peered over it to look at the door. After staring at the door for a moment, Isaac went back to silently socializing with Panda. After another moment with Panda, he turned back and pulled down the bumper to gaze at the door to his room again. This went on for a few minutes, back and forth, eventually including a little bit of "conversation" with Panda, no doubt telling his little friend all about how he was waiting to see Mommy and that she usually came through that door right over there.

I couldn't help but smile at his knowledge and clever ability to actually pull down the bumper and stare at the door in anticipation for my entrance... and all without fussing at all! What patience... for that occasion anyway...

Always laughing... so contagious

Ah Sweet Tresses!

It's official, Isaac has had his first haircut! Sure I've trimmed his hair a little here and there, but this time we pulled out the big guns. And he braved it like a champ! ... With the help of Sally Hausen and Mommy buzzing like a bee to similate the clippers while Daddy guarded Isaac from doing any crafty maneuvers to spin off of the countertop or get his eye poked out.

It ended up a little shorter than I anticipated, so I actually found myself mourning the loss of his beautiful tresses. I might have said along the way, "What have I done??" But the good news is.... it'll grow back! Kevin had to assure me before I shed a tear over it. It was a good decision because Isaac's hair was becoming very unruly. He just has too cute of a face to frame it with the untameable quaff it had become.

And yes, of coure I'm keeping those sweet tresses! They are already preserved in a ziplock bag marked with the date. :)

Just a Matter of Time Now...

He has figured out what to do with his knees, and boy does he love rocking back and forth! It's been so fun watching his progress from mini pushups to furious frog kicks to tabletop on hands and knees. And now we know that in all of his squirmy glory, it's only a matter of time before he reaches the coordination to actually move forward. So far he's just getting really good at scooting backwards and pivoting around in circles. Too funny... but effective nonetheless! He'll end up across the room before I know it!

And then we have Mommy's assistant, Isaac the mail sorter... He isn't pulling himself up quite yet, but once standing, he's pretty good at holding onto the couch and ottoman on his own.

Treasure Box

I propped him up on his knees the first time, but it wasn't long after I revealed that little secret to him that Isaac started to do it on his own!

Eventually Isaac was taking toys out and then putting them each back in the basket on his own! Hmmm... too early to start training him to clean up his room? I think not. Maybe by some amazing blessing from God he'll be naturally gifted at picking up after himself. Hey, one can dream!! Rain on your own parade, this one's got steal idealism! hahaha....

This Might Make You Laugh

Sidenote... it's not to say that peas and carrots can't be good. I happen to love carrots...