Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas eve with Nana, Boompa, Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Chris, Uncle Mikey, Uncle Greggy, Papa, Mama and Isaac all together! Here are Papa and Isaac spending some time together two days ago.

Papa and Isaac dressed up similarly for Christmas Vigil Mass, but we couldn't get a picture with both of them looking. You can see that they have similar sweater vests, and they both had white collared shirts and suits! At Mass, well... let's just say it wasn't the ideal time of the day for Isaac to go to church. He spent a lot of the time out in the vestibule with Mama or Papa.
Isaac was interested in the tree, but very gentle with the ornaments.
He was also a big fan of all the tools that people received for Christmas!

Isaac did not go and rip open the presents. Contrarily, we found out that he is a very careful present opener! He waited patiently for presents to be given to him, and only helped other people open them when they asked.

We love you Isaac! Merry Christmas everyone, and happy birthday to Jesus!

volare

Grandma Hurliman, Isaac's great-great-grandma, passed away last Monday around noon.

I have a distinct feeling she is enjoying her new life now, laughing, joking with and meeting up with all the people who have gone before her.

We were able to go to her funeral last Friday, and saw a whole bunch of family there. She was buried next to Grandpa Hurliman, and next to her mother and father in the old cemetary on the hill.

(her mother's tombstone)

What I will always remember is her old house, her hugs, and her smile. Going upstairs by that little staircase as a child was like going into some secret place that you weren't supposed to be (maybe we weren't!). I remember the stairs down to the basement, the dining room, the kitchen, the bathroom even. I remember playing tag outside, and I remember that cactus tree. I remember going up to the barn, and seeing the cows. Someone at the reception mentioned her hugs, and it's true, she did give the best hugs. I guess you just would have had to have had one.

I do regret that we didn't get to see her as much as I would have liked during the last 18 months, but I am so glad that she was so close, or we probably wouldn't have been able to spend any time with her since when we visited right after Isaac was born. We were very lucky. She liked to see Isaac, and she got to hold him multiple times. The last time we saw her she was sitting by the window, with the sun streaming in and a smile on her face. She was smiling as if she was daydreaming, but she interacted with us when we talked to her. She held a flower in her right hand. I'd like to keep that image in my mind as the last image of her. I'm glad that I got to spend such a considerable portion of my life with my great-grandma, and that she got to meet her great-great grandson. We love you, Grandma Hurliman. Say a little prayer for us up there.

eighteen

Our tiny sweet love is now eighteen months old. Monday was his 18-months day. I kind of like the multiples of 9 months. I feel like it has an important developmental significance, at least when they are this little. It makes more sense than multiples of a year. It's kind of interesting too. At 9 months, Isaac had started walking. At 18 months, the developmental area I see taking off is his language. He still is very advanced in his gross motor skills - now he jumps with both feet off the ground! But, he is learning new words at a very fast pace now! I wonder what he will be like at 27 months? Good thing there are many days, weeks, and months to enjoy before then though.

Yesterday, we had a snow day! They cancelled school in the 4J school district, meaning that most off-site practica were cancelled. Mine was cancelled anyway, but I was going to go to a meeting and didn't have to, so we just enjoyed the snow for an hour and were able to move Isaac's 18-month checkup earlier in the day. It had been scheduled during his nap time so I was glad they could see him earlier.

At the doctor we discussed his weight because we have been concerned about it. He was 34" tall, so in the 90th percentile for his age, but only 23 lbs 8 ounces, or about the 20th percentile for weight. I can't find the weight he was at at 12 months, but it looks like he's only gained a little over 4 pounds since he was 9 months... I guess you can see why we are worried for our little sweet boy. So, we have some ideas for how to increase the amount of food he's eating and we'll be trying them out over the next month or so.

Tomorrow we'll be going to Grandma and Grandpa's for Thanksgiving! Mmmm, we are looking forward to it!

amalgamation

Just a few photos from hanging out with Papa. Cooking dinner...

"Hot!" said Isaac when he looked at this picture.

Papa borrowed the Michael Jackson video from a friend and it inspired Isaac to do some quick steps. And some other ridiculous things. :)

This is from Saturday - our little jumping boy. He is really into language nowadays. The latest word is "chaud" (pronounced "show") which means "hot". So he says the word in both languages!

shorn

bronze statuettes, cleats, chopsticks and tempura shrimp

Here's what our busy little man has been up to lately.
He likes to get up on the chair and get into the quarters in this little African statuette. We like to keep our laundry quarters there. Now that I've admitted that on the internet, hopefully no one will break it to our house to steal our wealth of laundry quarters.
Sometimes, Isaac likes to put the quarters back too, but lately he just takes them out and puts them various places in our apartment.

He also still likes to try on big shoes. He found Mama's old soccer cleats the other day.

But they posed a problem when he tried to get out the door.

We also made tempura shrimp (it was really easy as they were frozen and we just baked them). Then, Isaac experimented with chopsticks as food tools.

I don't think they are meant to be used as spears most of the time, Isaac.

He tried to use them to cut the tempura shrimp.

But then he asked for a knife, so I gave in and gave him a butter knife. He is really into knives - I think this is because they have a wooden "knife" at daycare with those little velcro wooden kitchen foods that you can "cut". He really likes that set of toys. I think he is starting to understand now that he can't touch the sharp knives - perhaps because I always tell him "No! Those are sharp, just for Mama to use!" He has been good about not trying to get them, although I'm not really sure if he has the concept of "sharp". That's fine by me!

On another note, Isaac does seem to have the concept of "loud". The day before we baked our tempura shrimp, I had made ribs and mac and cheese. Despite covering the ribs with aluminum foil, it appears that grease made its way out into the oven, because there was quite a bit of smoke with the shrimp. This set off the smoke alarm. When Isaac covered his ears later (after the smoke alarm was not going off any more), I said, "Oh yes, that was loud." He immediately made the connection and said "dow". Even the next two days, he has continued to pause sometimes when he is playing, cover his ears or point to the smoke alarm and say "dow". Poor little guy - it must have made a big impression on him. The oven has been doing better the past few days, so no more "dow" sounds for the moment.

Isaac did eat some of the tempura shrimp, which made me very happy. He doesn't usually eat very much at all, and it worries me. Of course, having the feeding and swallowing class at the same time gives me an acute feeling that I am doing something wrong, even though Isaac is still high energy and looks healthy. He is still nursing, and while I was trying to check if my answer to a test question about the fat content of breastmilk was right, I found that the milk of mothers who have been nursing over a year has a higher fat content. So maybe he's getting a significant amount of calories that way? I don't know... does anyone have suggestions about the "right" thing to do so your child develops a love of solid foods? I'm trying to change my ways to align with the "right" way but both Papa and I have some anxiety about how little food Isaac eats, and that makes it hard. He doesn't eat much at daycare either, according to several people. Hm... well, we'll find out if it's affecting him weight percentile-wise at his 18 month visit on Tuesday. Can you believe that on Monday Isaac will be 18 months old?

flossin'

Evidently, "flossin'" as slang means "generally living large; living life well." Source: urbandictionary.com

Isaac loves his dental hygiene! This morning we are going to a work party over at the co-op. In fact, we should get going now.

self soothing

Sometimes, Mamas have to take a little break and well, use the restroom or something. Isaac found a way to keep himself company during the 2 minutes I was gone. The pillow in question is normally up by the other one.
Isaac is really becoming aware of the state of his diaper. When he woke up this morning, he said "Hi" and then he said "bibi" (which is ever so slightly different from "baby" that probably only Mama can tell which it is). When I didn't change his diaper right away, he got the wipes, and repeated his request. This is good. Maybe Malachai gave him some tips when we went over there.

And, Lucia, I tried to ask Isaac what he wanted to be for Halloween and he has three ideas so far: butterfly, Halloween, and spoon. What do you want to be for Halloween? :)

"this taste warms the cockles of the heart"

Isaac laughed in his sleep this morning. Perhaps he was thinking of playing with Papa yesterday before going to bed. For some reason, that sweet little laugh has put Mama in an inexplicably good mood this morning!

I'm also glad that Isaac seems to be over the throw-up bug he had. It was a short duration thing, but it's never ever fun when your sweet baby is throwing up. Mama had it too, on Sunday, then Isaac on Tuesday, and he stayed home Wednesday in the land of breastmilk and quinoa (ninwa).
Isaac also showed me he knows how to say "elbow" now. He really knows most body parts and can say a lot of them now. Just prior to the throwing up sickness, we took a bus ride, just for fun, since Isaac likes buses so much. Life has been relaxed the past 36 hours or so, and it does make me wish for break that much more.....

Bebe shower

Isaac and I went down to Newport this weekend for Auntie Anna's baby shower. In just two more months, Mama will be an Auntie to baby London! It was great to see everyone who was able to make it. We need to have little get-togethers more often, I think.

One highlight was that Isaac actually ate significant amounts of solid food while we were there. I'm not trying to wean him just yet, but he really does need to eat more solids. Man cannot live on breastmilk alone.
Here is Isaac with Nana and Loretta.

The Wechters and Michael and his friend Austin.

Chel and I. By June, she will be a nurse and I'll be a speech-language pathologist. Yay! So close, yet so far away...

Anna opening gifts: the baby cocoon! So cute! I can't wait to see London in it.

Isaac evidently felt a little overwhelmed during the shower. Both he and Louisa stayed up throughout although they both usually take a nap around that time. If you can't tell, he's screaming into the couch.

Isaac had fun playing with Louisa! I didn't get a really good picture of the two of them together, for whatever reason.. It seems I always forget to take pictures.

I had to get a picture of the two expecting mamas. Louisa joined in.

After all the fun, Isaac had some time with Peaches.

Peaches acts fierce, but he has a wimpy bite.

Again, it was so good to see everyone this weekend! I'm already looking forward to Thanksgiving.

fro it out

Uncle Mikey taught Isaac a new way to style his fro. Isaac caught on quickly, but took it very seriously.

November

November has come, and that means most of the leaves have fallen from the trees. The end of daylight savings time means the days are just ridiculously dark now. Well, we will have to hone our indoor play skills, which might be hard for an "dadai (outside)" oriented little boy. Here are a few random pictures (I'll also post about this weekend).

Isaac looking at one of his favorite things of the moment, the bus:

We also finally got the chance to go meet our adorable new little cousin Peter, who is already one month old. He is sooo precious and he has a wise, calm look about him. Isaac and Malachai played and tackled each other a few times - what can you expect from little boys? Isaac had lots of fun. Also, Lucia wanted to show Isaac everything in their house. (approximate transcript below)

Lucia: Mama, I want to show him, I want to show him, I want to show him...

Erin: What do you want to show him?

Lucia: I want to show him, I want to show him, I want to show him...

Erin: You don't really know what you want to show him, do you?

Lucia: Uhhhhh.....

Lucia also drew a lovely picture for Isaac. Actually, maybe genial is the better word. I think it is awesome. My cousin Erin (her mom) had her write Isaac's name on it too. Come on, don't you love the depiction of Isaac too? Basic person with a huge afro. I asked her if the other circle was his diaper, but she said it was just how she draws people. I was waiting to scan it in, but not having a scanner, finally settled for a picture.

Moo

Pre-Halloween, we drove out Lorane Highway...
all three of us...

We pulled over to the side of the road...

And took a look...

At some real, live cows.

They were some miniature type of cow and they were really cute. Originally they seemed very interested when we pulled up, but soon ran away to the more distant parts of their pasture.

Then we went home and armed with this first-hand knowledge of cows, got ready for Halloween.

Isaac's costume had a perky tail.

And a hood that he kept on, surprisingly, most of the evening.

He found some sidewalk chalk and tried to liven up the entryway.

And we waited inside for trick-or-treaters to come by.

We trained Isaac to hand out the candy, which he did very well with some supervision (i.e. constant reminders). We love our little bovine. Hope everyone had a happy halloween! I think we may be finally on the mend (we've been sick a lot these past 3 weeks).