great aunts and not-so-great ants

Well, the camera battery just died so I will post the remaining few pictures later. Anyways, I am thoroughly enjoying my "day off". It feels so relaxing to just chill with Isaac, and I am so happy that Thanksgiving and then Christmas break are almost here. We went to "coffee" (actually bagels) with my friend Antonia this morning before Isaac's doctor's appointment.

Isaac's cousin Louisa (and her parents, Isaac's godparents, Mike and Kayleen) came down for a visit for Isaac's great-great-grandma's birthday. They were so sweet and brought Isaac a present. He liked it a lot.
Oh, and he liked the toy that came with it too.

They also got him a sweet little board book which I think is "My first book about God" or "All about God" (I would go check but it is in by Isaac and I want to let him sleep to recover from his shots). It also comes in a paperback version, but how sweet that they made it into a board book!

The doctor also gave him a little board book today so now he has four!

Isaac has been standing up at the windowsill to watch people and cars go by. It is just so sweet, I had to take a video. I've taken quite a few videos lately, it seems. Isaac has just grown so much that pictures can't really capture it all.

Actually, while we're on the topic of growing, we went to Isaac's 6 month appointment, and I was a little shocked to find that his measurements were only 17 lbs 6.6 oz and 26.5" long. I wonder if the nurse-type person did that right. That puts him at only the 55th percentile for height and 50th for weight. In case you don't remember, he was in the 90th for height and 75th for weight through his last appointment, which was right before I started school. I believe his head circumference stayed at the 75th percentile, although they didn't give me the measurement. I do have to admit that somewhere in the back of my mind I was worried that he would stop growing so well when he started daycare/ I started going to school, but without any logical reason. Anyways, the doctor is going to check up on his weight and height in six weeks instead of waiting until his nine-month appointment. He said this can be a normal thing, that Isaac is just finding his true growth trajectory, but that it's important to check to make sure it's not a downward trend. I think the new doctor is good - he seems nice and he even knows the capital of Burkina Faso! Evidently he did a report on Upper Volta in middle school. It seems like an excellent fit.

So, on Sunday, we went to Great-great-grandma Hurliman's birthday party. She is 96 now! Isaac had fun playing with all his cousins. Well, by the time I got around to taking pictures, I think he was a little tired. But he had fun. I swear. Here he is with his cousin Lucia, who likes to say that he has "big hair" every time she sees him. It's pretty cute.


Isaac was feeling better after eating and went to play with his cousin Louisa, who is very close to his age. Isn't she just so cute you have to resist squeezing her?

We tried to get a picture of them together but this is just about the most successful shot.

This one is pretty funny though. You have to love the look on Louisa's face. Babies are so intense.

Here we are. Papa didn't come to the party because he was tired, but I think the nap helped, and now he will be all ready to come to future parties.

Here is what I saw when I went in to check up on Isaac the other day while Papa was getting his bath ready. Papa set up the stuffed animals so he wouldn't fall and hurt himself.

Finally, here is a video of le petit compaore himself, crawling fast now, as he has been doing just recently. Did I mention he also pulled to a stand on Monday? I thought it was just a fluke but he repeated the feat at daycare yesterday (Tuesday) so.. wow. I mean, I was already impressed. Ah, notice our recent installment of the electrical outlet protectors. This step may not have been premature, although that particular outlet is a bit high to reach.

Oh, about those bad ants. We had an ant invasion the other day, randomly. I squished them with tape because although I don't like to kill small creatures, I didn't want to have to spray anything. They seem to have disappeared as quickly as they appeared though. Seriously though? Ant problems in late fall? It seemed weird to me.

Finally, I googled my name, and found that I have a youtube channel that I forgot about where I posted a video about how to make brik. Evidently said video has had 3,018 views in the past year. Wow - I didn't know it could be so helpful, but I'm glad it was. I think I craved brik during my pregnancy and that is why I posted it. In fact, it sounds good now. I just don't know where to find feuilles de brik...