Finally

Isaac is finally walking. He started taking steps a few weeks ago and has been getting better and better at it. He now walks more than he crawls, even though he is still a little unsteady. Charlie calls him Frankenstein. Here he is showing off his new skills on the streets of Paris!

14 Months

Isaac is 14 months old today! He is growing up quick. The last few weeks have been really fun. September was a rough month for him, but he is feeling better and is a much happier kid.

Isaac has learned how to climb and is reaching new heights! He loves to climb on the couch (with the help of Cracker's little stairs) and bounce around, but now he can also climb onto our big high bed and bounce around up there too. He pulls himself onto our office chair and thinks it is really fun to bang around on the key board. And not only can he climb onto the kitchen chairs, he climbs right up onto the table. We are a little worried about where he will decide to climb next!

He is not walking quite yet. He is funny because he has never wanted to have us help him or hold our hands and walk with us. If we try, he just tucks his feet up and hangs instead. He does stand up on his own though without pulling up on anything else. And in the last couple days he has gone from crawling on his hands and knees to crawling on his hands and feet... It looks kind of like a bear crawl or something. We can see that he is teaching himself to walk in his own funny little way. He goes from bear crawl, to standing, and then last night he even took a few steps! So we think he should be taking off any day now.

Isaac loves to be wild and bounce and jump around. He likes to play wrestle mania with Cracker... except Cracker doesn't really get into it. He just lays there. Isaac is definitely our little wild child though. We haven't heard many words from him, but there is still plenty of noise and plenty of laughter. He is such a funny kid and makes us laugh all the time.

Most parents try to keep their kids from watching too much TV but we are really trying to get Isaac to WANT to watch TV. See, we have this really long flight coming up next month and we think it would be great if he would just sit still and watch a movie for a little while. (Yeah right.) We have started turning on The Backyardigans for him. It is a cute cartoon and I kind of enjoy it myself! He really loves the opening song and gets the hugest smile everytime it comes on. After that he is not really interested unless he is strapped into his high chair with something to eat or drink. Then he will watch for 20 minutes or so.

Isaac loves books, the ceiling fans, bath time, pulling things out of cupboards and drawers, little collections of things that he can put in containers and take back out, shredding up toilet paper, pushing boxes and things around the house like a car, eating graham crackers, cheese, grapes, yogurt, and ground beef, drinking from cups with straws, and tackling the dog. We love this guy!

Haircut

We decided this time that Isaac should get a real haircut. We found a kid salon in Newport Beach and I took him there this week. I thought he would have fun sitting in the airplane and watching cartoons on the TV, but as soon as I set him down he started screaming. He ended up sitting in my lap the whole time instead and looking at an Elmo book. He did hold pretty still which was good. We put him back in the airplane afterwards to take some pictures but he really wanted nothing to do with it. At least his hair turned out cute.

Before...

After...

Feeding the Dogs

Isaac is usually a very good eater but sometimes he gets bored with whatever is on his tray and decides to share with Cracker. The other day we got to watch Lucie for awhile so Isaac had two dogs to feed. He thought this was hilarious. (Lucie is a black dog so you can't see her very well in this video, but if you look close you can see her jumping up to eat out of Isaac's hand.)

Sometimes this kid drives me crazy (like when he is feeding his dinner to the dogs), but I still just have to laugh at him.

Ready for the Cold

This cute puffy vest was one of the gifts we got for Isaac when he was a baby. He was too small to wear it last winter and of course it was too hot to wear in the summer. I was afraid he would have grown out of it by now (it is marked as size 4-6 months) but luckily it fits him just fine!

We are headed to Chicago next week and are looking forward to some nice cool weather and a chance to bundle up!

Wild Child

Where does he get his energy? Isaac loves to climb on the couch and bounce around. Unfortunately he hasn't quite figured out how to get down safely yet. He usually slides down head first. Here is a little clip of the bouncing action.

The wild times continue in the bath tub! After getting him good and clean I usually have to take a few steps back while he plays so I don't get soaked. He loves the water and loves his bath.

One Year Stats

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Isaac had his 12 month check-up a few weeks ago. He is 33 inches tall, which puts him off the charts again. He weighed in at only 22 lbs, putting him in the 50th percentile. I say "only" because he had the stomach flu for two days before his appointment and I'm sure he lost a couple pounds. Poor little guy. It was so sad seeing him that sick. He also had a reaction to one of his vaccines and was pretty sick for awhile after that. He is finally starting to feel better and is getting back to his normal happy self again.

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Happy Birthday Baby!

Isaac turned one year old last Monday. We had a Hawaiin Luau party for him and invited some of my family over to help us celebrate. Isaac got lots of fun new toys and enjoyed diving in to his own little cake.

Happy Birthday little Munchkin!

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Growing Up

Isaac will turn one year old on Monday. Sometimes I can't believe how fast a year has gone by, but it has been really fun watching Isaac grow up little by little. A few things that were supposed to wait until the one year mark happened a little early.

Isaac has never liked riding in the car very much. Charlie wanted to go ahead and turn him around a few months ago but I refused. I was probably a little dangerous driving around with one arm behind my head trying to hand Isaac toys and pacifiers to keep him quiet, but I still insisted that he face backward until a year. And then two weeks ago I gave up. It was the drive to Palm Springs that helped make up my mind. I planned for Isaac to take his nap on the drive, and sure enough he was sound asleep within just a few minutes after we left. But just 20 minutes into the drive Cracker barfed all over my leg and we had to stop and clean up. That woke Isaac up and the rest of the drive was awful. He was overly tired and did not want to be in that carseat. After awhile all of my usual tricks stopped working and there was nothing I could do to stop the screaming. That felt like a very long drive! So before we headed home, I told Charlie to go ahead and turn that seat around. It has been completely worth it!

He is still no angel in the car, but he is much much better. Of course that might also have something to do with the "Toddler Tunes" CDs we bought at Target recently. See, one of my car tricks that Charlie didn't know about until this Palm Springs trip, is that I sometimes sing to Isaac and it quiets him down. I sing all of the songs from our swim class this summer. And after Charlie had to endure my singing as we drove through the desert, he suggested that maybe we should buy Isaac some music instead. What, is my singing that bad? (I'm pretty sure that it is.)

Some people say that you are supposed to wait until your baby's first birthday to cut their hair. We were trying to hold out. Even through all the crazy hair days...



But it was just getting too long and looking really messy. Charlie said he'd rather cut Isaac's hair himself that take him to one of those kid salons, so I bought us a pair of barber shears and Charlie snipped off Isaac's cute little baby hair. It turned alright... if you don't look at his right side. I am still in favor of the kid salon for next time.




Finally, all the books and websites and doctors tell you it is best if you can breastfeed for a full year. I never thought I would make it that long, but I ended up doing it much longer than I ever planned. I'll admit I was a little hesitant to give it up, but it was also partly because I couldn't get Isaac to take a bottle! And he wasn't too good with the sippy cup either. Finally, about a month ago I found just the right sippy cup for Isaac. Now he is a pro! Within a few weeks I had him completely weaned. And I think we are both enjoying this new arrangement.


Now just a few more days until the Big #1!!!

Isaac & Cracker- Imitating Each Other

Cracker thinks he's human. He has recently decided that Isaac's car seat is his favorite spot in the car.

Good thing Isaac doesn't mind and thinks its pretty funny.

And Isaac sometimes pretends to be a dog. His new favorite trick- crawling in and out of the dog door.

Swimming Lessons

Today was our last day of Isaac's swimming lessons. We took a two week "Mommy & Me" class. Isaac's little friend, Hudson was in our class too.

Mostly we just splashed and sang songs. The boys were supposed to learn to blow bubbles, kick and do "big arms" but Isaac didn't really understand any of that. I think the class was mostly just to get the kids comfortable in the water. And Isaac loves the water! He is our little fish. He can't get enough of splashing and kicking. He doesn't mind one bit going under the water, and during our lessons I even let him go for a few seconds at a time. I don't think you can really teach an 11 month old to actually swim, but when Isaac is in the water he kicks his arms and legs so much that you'd think if you let go of him he'd just swim away!

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And even though Isaac gets slathered with sunscreen everyday, he's still managed to get a pretty good tan!

Me & My Buddies

Isaac is lucky to have lots of other little boys his age at church. On Sundays when he is being a little too loud to sit in class, he gets to go out and crawl around the halls with his friends. It is really funny to watch them all chase each other around.

This is Isaac's friend Hudson. Hudson is just a few weeks older than Isaac and it is fun watching them interact.

Here they are playing together earlier this week. They both wanted the same "toy" - the Gerber Puffs canister, of course. They were actually pretty good at sharing. Or at least neither of them got mad when the other grabbed it away. It was funny to watch.

Isaac's other good friend is Daniel. Daniel is only a few days younger than Isaac. Here are some pictures of the two of them playing out in our yard a few weeks ago.

I think as the boys get older they will enjoy playing together more and more. But for right now, I am just lucky to have some good mom friends to hang out with!

And of course, this post would not be complete without a picture of Isaac & his best buddy Cracker.

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10 Months Old

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Isaac is 10 months old today! He is such a happy little guy. We are really having a lot of fun with him. We've been spending a lot of time outdoors lately. He loves to play outside in the backyard and he especially loves playing in the water, so we go to the pool a lot too. He is crawling around faster than ever and discovering new things to get into. He has even learned how to crawl through the dog door to chase after Cracker! He likes to play with balls. He throws them and then crawls after them. Another one of his favorite games is to choose a toy - or the remote, or one of the wooden ducks in the living room, or any other random object he picks up - and push it all around the house like a car. (Except he doesn't want to push around any of his cars, just things without wheels.) He is super ticklish and has the funniest little laugh. It is really easy to get a laugh or a smile out of him. He loves hanging upside down, and everytime you try to bring him back up he arches his back to go back down again. He is always up for playing and wrestling with mom & dad.

Isaac is still a super sleeper. We had a few rough weeks after coming back from Hawaii, but now he is back to his old routine and sleeping 12 hours a night. He is usually in bed by 8:30 and sleeps in until 8:30 the next morning! I know I am very lucky. We tried doing just one nap a day for awhile, but lately he has gone back to two again.

He has been learning how to drink from a sippy cup and has been doing much better with it lately. I still have to hold him in my lap and help him tip it back far enough, but he likes to hold the cup himself. He has a little trouble sitting still very long though, so sometimes it is a struggle to get him to drink very much. He would rather shake the sippy cup in the air, bang it against my chest, or just wiggle around and crawl out of my lap. He loves eating food though and cannot seem to get enough! No matter how much I feed him he always wants more. His favorite thing is the baby goldfish crackers. He also loves to sample anything that we are eating. When he sees our food he opens his mouth, waves his hands around, and starts making his bird call noises. It is pretty funny. The problem is, once we start giving him bites there is no stopping! He gets very impatient waiting for more.

Isaac has seven teeth and one more on the way. His hair is still a little out of control. We are debating whether we should trim it a little bit or wait until his first birthday. Even a trim won't get it to lay flat though! He is super tan from spending so much time at the beach and the pool, and his hair is totally blonde now.

Isaac is constantly babbling and making noise. We think he just likes to hear himself. But in the last week or so, he has developed a bad habit. He loves to scream. And it's not just any scream, this is a high pitched ear splitting shreek! It is no good. We used to be able to go out to dinner or to the mall with no problem, but lately he is just too loud. He is not necessarily mad, he just wants to make noise. And it is quite the noise! If anyone has any tips on how to keep a baby who doesn't quite understand "no" yet to stop the screaming in public, please let us know!

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It is so fun to watch this little guy grow and learn new things. He is such a joy to have around. We love our little man!

9 Months and Clapping

Isaac had his 9 month check-up this week. More of the same news: he is a big kid! He is 30 1/4 inches long which puts him off the charts for his height. If he were 18 months old, he would still be in the 99th percentile. He weighed in at 24 lbs 6 oz, which is the 90th percentile. At least I can rest assured that he is getting enough to eat.



He is quite the speedy little crawler now and is having all sorts of fun exploring the house and the yard. He has also developed his "pincer" grasp so he can pick up all of the lint and leaves and anything else he happens to find and then put it straight into his mouth.

While we were in Hawaii he learned how to wave and did really good waving back at us, at the camera, and even at strangers. But now he seems to have forgotten how to wave and has moved on to clapping. He claps all day long. He claps when we clap, he claps when he's eating, he claps while he's playing, he claps while his diaper is changed, he claps when we tell him not to touch the DVR, and if you wave at him - he claps. We think he's a pretty funny little guy.

Our Vacation in Kauai, Hawaii

Here are some pictures of Isaac last week during our wonderful vacation in Hawaii. For a more details, visit our other blog.

Isaac was very happy at the beach.





He loved crawling all around the sand.



And didn't mind sand getting everywhere.



He also loved to eat some of our Hawaiian shaved ice.

Here we are at Waimea Canyon. It's a beautiful canyon and a nice afternoon scenic drive.



Here Isaac is ready to leave for the day. All lotioned up with SPF 50 all over his body including his hair. (hence the cool hair style)

Frequent Flyer

For being only 8 months old, Isaac has quite a bit of flying experience under his belt. And so far he has been a great little traveler.

As we were getting close to LAX on our trip home last week, Isaac wanted to look out the window. He kept giggling as we flew past all of the buildings. I'm not sure what was so funny, but I'm glad he enjoyed it so much.

The people in seats around us always comment on how well behaved he is. Of course, I think I deserve a little bit of credit too for packing a diaper bag full of tricks to keep him entertained with!

The Bionic Baby

Here is Isaac at our hotel in Philadelphia. All three days- he woke up early, didn't take naps, and would not go to sleep until 11:00 PM or Midnight.


Here is Isaac on one of the nights at 11:30 PM. He was full of energy!

Ready to Travel

Isaac got his passport yesterday! He's ready to travel!

Buddies

ok....they are not quite buddies yet.....but they certainly are interested in each other and are never far apart. (Cracker follows him around all day)

And He's Off!

Isaac has been up on his hands and knees rocking back and forth for a few weeks now. We kept thinking he'd be crawling any day, and finally yesterday he did! He was going after Cracker. Today he found a toy he wanted and took off to get it. Here's a little video clip of the crawling action!

7 Months Old

Isaac turned 7 months old this week! I can't believe how fast he is growing up. Here are some recent pictures of him and what he's been up to lately.

The weather has been warm and beautiful here for the past few weeks. Last weekend we took Isaac swimming for the first time. He wasn't quite sure how he felt about the pool at first. When we put him in the water he made his mad grunting noise, but after awhile he warmed up to it and had fun.

Isaac has his two bottom teeth. You can see them in this picture:

We bought him a high chair, but he doesn't like sitting in it very long unless he is getting something to eat. He started off good with the rice cereal, but eventually he started gagging when I fed it to him. Now we've moved on to some fruits and vegetables. He seems to really love the applesauce. Oh, and he wants to feed himself. I always have to use two spoons. One for him to hold, and one for me to hold.

Here he is on Easter Sunday in his cute new outfit. He still doesn't sit on his own very well. I think it is because he is too impatient to hold still.



We bought him this new exersaucer thing to play in. I needed somewhere to put him where he couldn't get away! He likes bouncing up and down in it. He also likes the little piano it comes with. It's his first noise making toy. Lucky us!


Isaac loves playing with Dad. Cracker gets a little jealous, but Isaac thinks that's funny too.



Isaac loves to be down on the floor rolling around. You can put a million toys in front of him, but he usually wants to play with the non-toy. We can't turn our heads for one second or he is on the other side of the room getting into something. In this case: the laundry!


But he does more than just roll now. Isaac is up on his hands and knees and rocking back and forth! He should be taking off crawling any day now.