First days

Grad school is busy. Isaac doesn't particularly like to take the pumped breastmilk, evidently. I think daycare is going fine but I'm going to be really happy that by next week I should have a somewhat better idea of my schedule. My bike lock won't unlock and it's making it a lot harder to zip back whenever I feel like. Hooray for busses. Or buses. However you spell it.

Anyways, I will try to post pictures on Friday when I have more time! Pictures of Isaac of course. Pictures of class would be boring.

potluck

Finally our program orientation is over! It was great, but all good things must come to an end, right? Anyways, to celebrate, there was a potluck in honor of us first-years. This means we didn't have to bring anything, but we just got to go and pig out. Luckily, there was fun for all. Isaac even found a new friend in the other CDS baby (belonging to one of the second years), who is just 4.5 months older than him! Clearly she is even more attuned to the presence of cameras.

She must have hinted to him, because finally Isaac caught on. "Oh, one of those things again." I don't know how they figure out that they are supposed to look there, but they do!

This is how Isaac has been looking at us as we eat. This is why he now gets to eat rice cereal.

New family picture, courtesy of.. Mary? I think so. Wow, I'm really going to need some memory therapy. Can't wait until we learn about that one.

Here's little Isaac being helped to sit up with everyone. Someone asked who, between Auntie Anna and I, was the younger sister. Um. Do I really look like a 16-year-old? Maybe it's just that Anna looks more sophisticated. It's okay though, I'll take it for now.

Here's Isaac with my new graduate adviser.

And finally, here he is showcasing his new talent - grabbing both feet at the same time!

I think I may already have some video of the squeals, but they continue. Here is more documentation. The camera might be kind of pointing at awkward angles sometime; be assured that this was because I was trying to make Isaac unaware of the camera by holding it back under my chest and behind where my face was. It only halfway worked. At a certain point, he tried to taste the camera.

Here's to the last day of orientation today! Only about 2 hours that we actually have to go to. In fact, I'd better be off.

a little taste and four months old

I gave in. Isaac got to taste rice cereal this evening. Here is some video footage to prove it. It ended up turning a little watery but he seemed pretty excited to taste something from a spoon like Mama and Papa. Sorry my hand got in the way a little of his face. I clearly didn't plan that one out so well..... You can still kind of see the expression though.

Isaac is four months old today! Orientation was fine, and I got caught up on paperwork before Isaac went to bed tonight. I think I'm feeling more organized and less overwhelmed every day. Enough of that. It was good to come home and see Isaac during lunch though and I was glad when everything was done for the day. Here is one picture of him today, at exactly 4 months!

ay ay ay

Alright. First day of orientation. Not bad. Isaac was great with Auntie Anna and didn't seem to have trouble taking the refrigerated milk. He just didn't take much, only about 4 ounces again. I came home for lunch though, so I was only really away for about five hours total, and Isaac got to have fresh lunch.

Here are some cute pictures Auntie Anna took of Isaac today.

And, for now, that's about it. I had better stay on top of things from the get-go this term if I am to be spending lots of time with Isaac while we are both awake.

hunger strike

Well, it has certainly been awhile. Last weekend, we went to Newport on Saturday for a little family vacation. Here is a new family picture. Despite the troubled look on someone's face, I like it.

Here is Isaac playing with his frog. Actually, with the biggest of his three frogs.

And making a little flirtatious face at the camera in the new shirt Auntie Anna got him.

We tried to give Isaac a mohawk the other day in the bath. By "we", I mean me. Mohawks don't work too well with curls, I have found.

Ah, so now we get to the real story. I have a ton of requirements for my grad program, and one is that we get certified in adult and child CPR as well as first aid. So, this Saturday (yesterday) I had to take an all-day class to get all of that out of the way. Papa and Isaac stayed home together. However, it turned out that Isaac would not drink the thawed breastmilk Papa tried to give him when he was hungry. He would also not take formula, but just spit it back out. My cell phone had died so I was unaware of this until I had a chance to charge it. By that time, it was time to go home anyways, so I sped home as fast as I could and found a content Isaac laying on a blanket on the floor, smiling up at Papa. Papa called this his little "hunger strike". He only took 4 ounces from 9 to 4. I'm wondering if he is eating less than he used to. It seems like that may be the case. Last night he actually didn't eat until around 5 am. We will just see how his schedule changes now.

Here is Isaac with Papa after their fun day. Or, maybe this was this morning. Yes, I think so.

Today, we went to the Oktoberfest in Mt. Angel sans Papa, since he was so tired from the week of commuting and his adventure in trying to feed a picky baby. I suppose Isaac will just have to learn one of two things: to be very patient and wait until I come back from class, or to take the pumped milk from the bottle.

Here are some fun pictures from our culinary adventures at the Oktoberfest. As you can see, Isaac has some very strong toes.

He would have liked to have eaten that corn too. I have completely changed my mind about waiting until six months to feed him solids. There is no way. My new idea is to wait until his saint's day, which is October 19. However, do not be surprised if I have a video of him tasting rice cereal this Tuesday night, when he turns 4 months old. This little boy is very very interested in food. He watches you grab it and then watches you bring it to your mouth and put it in your mouth. He knows what is going on. There's no denying that.

On Friday (going backwards, I know), we went to Corvallis for Isaac's 4 month appointment and shots. He weighs 15 lbs 13 oz now and is 26 and 1/4" tall. It was a little less weight gain than I had expected, but he is still exactly on the 75th percentile line so I guess that was just the healthy amount for him to gain! He is still just above the 90th percentile for height, so the pediatrician thinks he will end up being tall and slim. I finally saw a picture of Uncle Herman, who is supposed to be the muscular one in Papa's family, and I have concluded that there are no big muscular genes in the pool at all. So, Isaac should end up being slim, even though he's in a high percentile for weight.

Also, last Friday (sorry to jump around so much, but I really haven't posted much lately), we went over to Great-aunt Christy's house. We tasted some lox (it is really tasty) and played with Isaac's cousins. Little Malachai surprised me because I went to wipe his hands, which had some delicious banana on them, and wiped the first one, then said, "I need to wipe your other hand" and he gave his hand to me! Then I said, "And I'm going to get your face too," and he put his face up for me to wipe. I had no idea that at 9 months they can already understand basic things that you tell them. It could have been coincidence but then he understood something I said later too (can't remember exactly what right now, maybe that his sister was coming back). I am getting pretty excited for that stage now.

Finally, here is a video of Isaac's talking from sometime in the last two weeks.

The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur because, as I mentioned, I have had so many grad school requirements that I have been running around trying to get finished. Luckily, everything is done now, because tomorrow is Orientation Week. Auntie Anna is down and is going to be taking excellent care of Isaac tomorrow! I'm so glad that she could come. I am also already planning to come home for lunch although it is supposed to be a brown bag lunch. I just have a feeling that the first day is going to be the hardest, and I want to try to reduce that as much as possible. So, I'll make sure they take my picture first for the "get to know everyone" sheet.

pat-a-cake i.e. way too much fun

Okay, I am officially doing pat-a-cake this way from now on. Although I can't promise I can match Nana's energy level.

man time

I think the pictures won't rotate because the camera's memory card is full. So, I guess you can rotate your head until I can fix it.

to my little love

Dear little love,

Last year today I found out that you were alive. I was going to meet you in a little over 8 months. I remember I found out at 4 in the morning and I couldn't go back to sleep. How funny that I also woke up at 4 in the morning on the day you were born! Before I even knew you, I dreamed of you. How can you know how much I thought of you before you even existed, on the back of a fishing boat in Alaska, half-awake and running to set the nets in the wee hours of the morning (or was the sun finally setting?)? How I imagined you when I was 16 or 17, mon petit metisse? And how when you were born, I felt that even dreaming of you all this time, I didn't know you at all! Since then, I have gotten to know you so much better. We are nearly inseparable now, and I wish that didn't have to change so abruptly.

I am sad that I have to leave you in daycare while I am in classes these next two years. It won't always be all day long, and if it is I will come to visit you if I have even an extra half hour. Even though I feel tired sometimes when we are together all day, I want to spend as much time as possible together before orientation next week. We will all have to help each other out so Papa can finally realize his dream of finishing pharmacy school after Mama finishes her degree. I think the teacher in daycare will be very nice though, and will take good care of you when I have to go to class. If I had my way, I wouldn't do school right now. I would just stay and take care of you until you were a year old, at least. But, this is what life throws at us, and we have to do the best we can with what we are given. It does seem like God is helping things to work out, too. I hope it will be okay like the summer classes were, and that at the end it will make the rest of our lives together easier and better.

I just wanted you to know that you are absolutely perfect, and that I will always love you most.

Love,
Mama

squealy boy

Well, Isaac is experimenting with the loudness of his voice now. And, interestingly, he started turning over from back to tummy last Friday (Sept. 11). Now he's doing it all the time and I'm worried to leave him on the bed when I change him even though he is perpendicular to the edge. He also turned onto his tummy last night to sleep towards the morning. He slept in pretty late - until 9 am! Sleepy boy. I have some videos but again the USB cords are separated from the cameras so they will come later. Or I will hook up my laptop if I ever get a spare moment in this crazy last week before orientation for grad school.

I have to go to bed soon because it is just about time for little boy to go to bed and I am pretty tired!

kick, cantaloupe

Nana brought up a good point - there were no cutest thumb pictures the other day. I have taken some now and will post them whenever I find the camera. Here is one. Yes, I cleaned his thumbnail and trimmed it up after taking this picture. Those little thumbs are hard to get. Actually I was unable to get another one that was in focus. The quest continues.

So, here I have been ranting and raving about how Isaac is going to be solely breastfed until he is 6 months. I was in the kitchen last evening putting stuff away when Papa said, "Isaac just ate some cantaloupe!" I'm pretty sure you can imagine my reaction, but it consisted of the word "WHAT?" with a rising intonation and increasing volume. I have a video of his third taste of canteloupe. I will also post this when I find the camera. To clarify, he was just tasting it, not actually eating it. Papa often substitutes similar words, and sometimes this nearly gives me a heart attack.

I was actually going to post last Thursday but both the camera batteries died and Isaac woke up. Since then, we have been quite busy. Isaac is getting more fun every day! He has started grabbing at just about everything in sight. I think he has also figured out that when we put stuff in our mouths that is how adults eat. Hence the ever-dwindling chance that Isaac will actually make it to six months before eating some solids. I think I'll just talk to the pediatrician when we go in for our appointment in about two weeks. Isaac probably thinks that everything tastes like that good sweet cantaloupe now....

Here is the kick video.

And here is the cantaloupe one. There are so many other little videos, but for tonight this might be good.

thumbs

Here's the gnocchi I made yesterday. They were quite tasty. However, for as much work as that recipe is, it doesn't end up making a ton. I guess that's fine for a family of three but as Isaac gets older I will definitely double it.

Isaac got to meet my friend(and neighbor now too! Yay!)'s niece, Siena, yesterday. She is six months older than him almost to the day. Here are some pictures.

Don't you just love little baby expressions?

Anyways the point of this post is that Isaac's thumbs are the sweetest in the world to me. He has been grabbing at my arms lately when we walk, and holding on with his little thumbs. They are so cute because they are fat because of the bone (like mine) but have a lot of loose skin on them because he hasn't used them much up to this point. Every child is perfect to their own parents, I am pretty sure. He just woke up so that's all.

Addition: Now that Isaac is back asleep, I can add some more! He is starting to grab at food. I had a yogurt cup that I was eating from and he reached out and put his little fingers in the yogurt. I wiped them off quickly before he could get a taste. I really want him to wait. Evidently Grandma (who we may call Nana now, we will try that out) found some yummy baby yogurts that combine fruits and veggies like peaches and squash. She said they are so tasty. Maybe I will taste one and Isaac can have it via his milk for now.

I finally got all my grades back from that summer term and am happy to announce that I am starting off grad school with a 4.0. Let's see if I can end it that way too. I'm pretty darned confident that with a little help from Isaac it is entirely possible.

Tonight, dinner will not be nearly as involved. We are having some baked chicken, some corn, and some canteloupe that is perfuming our apartment at the moment.

Did I mention that our neighbors are both getting their PhDs in Music? They are both professors of music already in their home country. The lady is a pianist and I am getting a little concert right now, although somewhat muted by the wall. The guy plays trumpet and we had some trumpet music earlier. I didn't realize you could practice the trumpet quietly. I was quite impressed. We went over yesterday after we watched a piano being moved upstairs to their apartment. I have never seen that before. If you haven't, you should sometime. It is also quite impressive. Isaac was enthralled by their tablecloth, which had a bright flower design on in and was from Russia. It was really cute. Maybe we should get one like that if we find one. Well, not that we are going to Russia anytime soon....

toes toes toes

Ever since yesterday Isaac has all of a sudden started grabbing his toes. It is so fun. Last night he also stayed up ridiculously late until 10:30 pm or so. It was a little extra frustrating because I started trying to get him to go to sleep at 9. When you keep getting roundhouse kicked for hours while someone is eating for way too long, your temper runs a little short. Henri finally took him for a few minutes because I didn't know what to do anymore. Finally, sometime after 10:30, he fell asleep. I'm not sure which of us fell asleep first.

Isaac has now developed an interest in moving things, such as people running, cars, and people on bikes. I'm glad - it seems like a healthy thing to be interested in at this age. It also comes in handy when we are waiting for the bus.

I made gnocchi today, and I think Henri is home. So, we are going to fill our little bellies up.