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!

Tuesday at the aquarium

He was also facinated by the gum squished on the ground (but I didn't take a picture of it)

Just the three of us

I don't forget that I have a baby. Being a stay at home mom means that Isaac is a constant in my life. He is with me more than my shadow. However after 15 years of being a couple, the idea of being a trio is still sinking in. That is why sights like this still catch my eye.

I like being part of this love triangle.

It was a treat

My little pumpkin

Since Isaac was born a week before Halloween, I always regret not taking his picture in a pumpkin when he was really little. When Erin told me David was growing a really big pumpkin I thought I had another chance.
Turns out it's a little harder to get a one-year-old in a pumpkin than a one-week-old. Not only do they grow bigger they also grow an opinion about were you try to shove them.



It wasn't all torture. Isaac had a lot of fun helping David carve his pumpkin. He didn't really get the concept, as he kept trying to put the seeds back in.

But David was very sweet and patient with him.

Cheap entertainment

Box of tissues + one-year-old = 30 minutes of fun for the whole family

It was a happy birthday

What a year!

Happy Birthday, Isaac!

Love, mom

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Working our way from the bottom up

Hit the play button above

Baby Steps

While Isaac is not officially walking yet, his record is five steps on his own, this is all he wants to do. He is constantly grabbing our fingers, sliding off our laps and pulling on our hands to get us to walk with him. His favorite thing to do is walk up and down the hallway gripping our fingers, which I have to tell you, gets boring (not for him) after about the third trip.

After a few walks to the mailbox, I decided we should walk around the block. Then I realized he didn't have shoes that were walk-around-the-block worthy. A trip to the mall solved this dilemma. I had him test drive his shoes in the store, and once he realized he could walk around he was not going back into his stroller. So along with his first official pair of shoes, he threw his first official public tantrum.

I was pretty excited about our upcoming walk, but Isaac is teaching me a lot about patience (in many ways). We had to wait for daddy to come home then there was a bottle and a nap. But it was well worth the wait.

Watching him walk around the block was surprisingly emotional. My baby is walking around the block, how did this happen? This is what it must feel like when your heart breaks and grows at the same time.

He loved every second -- stopping to investigate dandelions, leaves and rocks. He met new dogs and tried to lick a fire hydrant. I have walked this block many times, but it has never been such an adventure. I can't wait to wear the soles off those new shoes.

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First the bookcase, then Everest

I know it's hard to tell but if you look close both his feet are off the ground. How sad is it that my ten-month-old do a pull up and I can't?

And of course there is the climbing

Sweet Dreams

Sorta-daily Random Photo

Helping daddy in the garden:

Raccoons in the backyard, snakes in the front

There was going to be a picture of a really big snake. It was found living in the very overgrown garden. Owen trapped the snake in a sidewalk crack. I ran to grab a box, tongs and my camera. Owen secured the large snake in the box. I decided it would be a better picture if Owen was holding the snake. When we opened the box the gigantic snake was now an angry, gigantic snake -- darting back and forth in the box. Faster than you can say Samuel L. Jackson that snake was out of the box and back in the garden. Owen was not so quick to grab the snake this time, now that he had an attitude. So you will now have to take my word on the most enormous garden snake ever, because I have no picture to prove any different.

Four-legged Alarm Systems

Can you see what the dogs protected us from last night?



After midnight...
with really loud barking...
Like it was a chupacabra or Jason Voorhees...
Look closer to see the horror...

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The food critic:

Lounging Poolside

Just like all good things seem to, his babyhood and summer are going by too fast.

His Toy Sucks

Everyone has heard the anecdote, give a kid a new toy and they will be more fascinated with the box it came in. Well Isaac's box is the vacuum.

He has toys bursting with rainbows of colors, toys that play music, toys that jingle and jangle, but none hold his attention for more than a few minutes at a time.

Tonight he happily played on the kitchen floor for almost an hour with the vacuum. He shook the cord, pulled on the hose, pushed the wand around the floor and up the wall and finally he conquered the entire machine by pulling himself up on it.




He was so intense. Like the fate of the world depended on figuring out how this contraption worked.

While this may not be the safest toy, do know how much I got done? This vacuum helped me do two loads of laundry, load the dishwasher, clean the kitchen and take out the garbage. The only thing I didn't get done was the vacuuming.

I can't tell if this means he has a future in engineering or janitorial services.

On a another toy side note: earlier today, after pulling the DVDs off the shelf for the hundredth time, I offered Isaac his entire toy box in the hope of entertaining him. After pulling out a few toys he closed the lid and climbed on top to reach even higher on the shelf.

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I am already breaking my only rule. This was not taken in the last 24 hours. But still in the last week. Pineview Reservoir, Aug. 1, 2009