My parental authority...

... is about as strong as Play-Doh

Winter Blossoms

(It's not always about Isaac.) This does not make me want spring any less.

Just as cute going as coming

Mommy Time

Everyone remembers when they were a kid and the week before Christmas seemed to last a month, or the ride to Lagoon took fooooreeever. Then time seems to speed up when we are adults. Either we are more patient or maybe just tell time better.

Well Isaac has taught me about Mommy Time. The most noticeable for me is nap time. He sleeps an hour and a half to two. This is the length of most movies, a drive to Idaho, a coat of paint to dry and many other productive things. However, I feel like I surf the net for 10 minutes and the next thing you know he is stirring. I look at the clock and am surprised to see it has been more than an hour.
While this time speeds by, some days (those with lots of whining, usually) that last half of an hour before Owen gets home takes as long as the ride to Lagoon for an seven-year-old.

I didn't dare take a picture of him napping and risk disturbing his sweet slumber.

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Well we were cutting it close. But we finally made it. The snow was falling softly. The lights were bright and the cocoa was hot.

Isn't this why people have kids?

...And I thought we would have to wait until he was older

Mood swings

I gave him the first push on the swing. I couldn't see his face, but I heard this awesome laughter. I quickly grabbed the camera and made Owen trade me places. But what a one-year-old likes one second apparently can be torture the next. (Or maybe I am just a better pusher.)

Attack of the Hat

"Hey, Dude I smell something funny on your head"

"Rrrrg! What is this vile thing covering my cranium!?!"
"My head is suffocating. It must be stopped!"
"Not to mention the damage it is doing to my hair style."
"The knit monster is strong, but I am stronger!!"
"It fought valiantly, however only one of us could survive."

Three cheers for the brave orange knight from the Land of Giraffe

And moment of silence for the hat (and a warm baby head)

Taking care of children is laughably easy, provided you don't try to do anything else.
~ Dave Barry

One-year-warranty and I didn't even get an owner's manual

In the first few months of Isaac's life, every time he would scratch himself with a fingernail it would drive me nuts. He had (still does) such a perfect face and perfect skin, I couldn't wait for it to heal so he would be back to being my perfect baby. I was always happy to see that these little scratches faded within just a few days.

Now that he is mobile, he faces more dangers than a few scratches with his own fingernails. I felt like up until now I have kept the damage to a minumun. But as I have mentioned I feel like his one-year-warranty is up.

First there was a little scratch on his nose, which instead of fading turned into a scab. Then on Saturday, he toppled head first off the couch resulting in a large bump covered in scratches on his forehead. And, yes I was sitting right next to him.

The next day the bump had gone down along with some of my guilt and he decides to bump his mouth on grandma's coffee table. The worst part, he was within a couple feet of three responsible adults. After I checked for wobbily teeth and finding none, I really started to think he was doing this on purpose to keep me on my toes.

So now with a scratched nose, bruised forehead and swollen lip, I am really wishing I would have gotten the extended warranty -- at least 18 years.

Maybe, if the snow was warm

In other baby news, Isaac was facinated by Saturday's snow fall. He just stood at the backdoor watching, throwing a fit whenever we tried to close the door. Although there was just an inch or two of snow, I thought I would give his new snowsuit a try. As I wrangling him into his coat, pants and boots, a thought occured to me "Oh, no what if I have a snow baby? What if he wants to spend many hours skiing or snowboarding instead of cuddling on the couch drinking hot cocoa?" I am all for building a snowman or a quick snowball fight, but the thrill of swinter wonderlands wear off for me on December 26 and I start dreaming of green grass and sandals.

As with most new things Isaac was facinated and happily waddled out on to the back patio. We kept trying to get him to grab the snow but, to my guilty relief, he really didn't want much to do with once he realized that it was really cold. I guess I should have made him some cocoa.

Hey, this is fun!

Hey, what's this stuff?

Hey, I am done now!