petite compaore

Yesterday we found out that we will be having a girl!!! Hooray! I made a new blog for her which differs just in one letter: petitecompaore.blogspot.com but haven't put anything up quite yet. Now, what would I have done if we were having another boy? Well... I'm sure I would have thought of something, but then I guess I didn't have to, did I? :) I don't know if it will make sense to have two blogs, but I have to tell you, I have never been able to finish another scrapbook (except those ones you make online) since Isaac was born, so this is my substitute. I know it isn't realistic to expect to be as good about tracking things with the second or third child, but so far I have been faithfully recording events in her baby book, and I am going to try my best to keep it up!

Any girl advice? I'm going to have to get more girl hair advice but have some prospects. Then again, we'll see. Isaac's hair is pretty straight now. Lots of surprises to look forward to!

Isaac's first dentist visit

Isaac went to his first dentist appointment today. The dentist said his teeth look great, just to keep brushing and flossing. The dental hygienist was awesome and made him feel totally at ease. I think it was a positive experience for him! London came along too and they gave both of them little goody bags with dental items inside, plus they both got to choose a prize at the end. You can see Isaac's fake mustache. It was pretty funny. Isaac wore his soccer cleats, a favorite shoe choice lately. 

remember

The first debris from the Japanese earthquake/tsunami last year.... a dock that washed up on Agate Beach. Naturally, like thousands of other people, we went to see it when we were in Newport. 

It is interesting, massive, and sad. Sad because probably a lot of the people who used that dock the day before were caught in the tsunami. Massive because it is an 8-foot tall structure of concrete and stainless steel. And interesting, because it already made it all the way here despite being a huge structure of concrete and steel. I guess docks are built to float though. 

We took off  a lot of Isaac's and London's clothes (partly because London fell into the water right away) and let them splash around. The dock provided a wind block so it was pretty warm there. 

Isaac and London

Isaac with "eggs and bacon and pancakes for breakfast". We made this on Saturday, just like they had in "A Day on the Farm", one of Isaac's favorite books which unfortunately isn't in print anymore. 

Then, yesterday evening we came over to Newport to help take care of London while Nana went to work. Isaac took his job very seriously. "I'm a really big cousin!" he says.

 We walked over to Grandma and Grandpa's house in the morning, in between rain showers. Then we came back and stayed around the house. We played outside in the afternoon in the sunshine, and I tried to take some pictures of Isaac and London. It's hard to take good pictures, at least for me! But here are a few of the ones that are a little better.

 Okay, this is why it's hard to take good pictures. Either kids are moving, not looking, or making ridiculous faces.

 Isaac has some good faces.

We'll still be here tomorrow, then hopefully back over to Eugene the next day to check on our garden. I put out a lot of plants yesterday and watered them thoroughly in the hopes that they will make it with the hotter weather.. and the slugs.

totally

So, last Monday, our green car got rear-ended by an empty log truck. Luckily it was only Mama in the car and she did not see it coming, so her neck is feeling better. Unfortunately, although the car was so well taken care of and a solid car, the damage was too expensive to fix versus the value of the car (a '97 Camry). So, we got a check, our stuff, and our license plates and the insurance took our car. Now we have to find a new car. Isaac keeps asking, "Where is the green car?" Right now we have a rental car (until the end of today, when Mama is done working) but after we turn it in, I wonder if he will ask again. Poor Isaac. That was our car that we drove in every day! So, we will be looking for a new (used) car. Any suggestions?

May we review?

I think I kind of missed the month of May. Which is a pity, because important things like Isaac's 3rd birthday happened. Other major events: Mr. Troxel, my first accordion teacher, passed away. The funeral was actually on Isaac's birthday, which in a way was a good thing because I took a personal day off work and got to spend it with  my mister and we got to see Nana and baby London, Grandma, Grandpa, and Rose. I also got to play accordion with a man who also knew Mr. Troxel and played with him. I had never met the guy before. We did pretty good for not having played together before, and it was definitely the right music for the reception. Isaac's birthday was on a Tuesday, making it his first non-weekend birthday. So, it was a little different in that we didn't have as big a party - but we had family over and I think it made sense. Isaac didn't care as much about his birthday this year, but he very quickly made the switch from 2 and 1/2 to 3 when people ask him how old he is. Papa also got a new job offer - in Salem. This is good for him and for us financially, but will be a bit of a bummer since he will probably find somewhere to stay during the week so he doesn't have to commute everyday. I also checked out my two preschool options (well, I'm sure there are more, but only 2 make sense) for Isaac for this coming year, but am a little unsure which one to pick. Mostly for reasons which will be discussed in the next paragraph.  Uncle Mikey went to the state track meet and placed 5th in the state for 4A in the 800. Not bad for being the only sophomore in that event. Then, of course, on the 30th, Papa got his citizenship. It seems like everything always happens all at the same time.

The other important thing, which isn't really a May announcement because it has absolutely nothing to do with May, and 75% or more of people who read this blog already know, is that we are going to have another Compaore family member in November! I don't find out for two more weeks though if it is a boy or girl. I thought I cared which one it would be but as time goes on, I am finding that I really don't care either way. Either one will be interesting. So if you didn't know, now you do. Or if you did know, but were waiting for me to tell you so you could pretend you found out from me and not someone else, now you "know". (Don't worry, this happens to me all the time. You know our family.) As long as you don't go announcing it on Facebook or whatever, you can tell other people that know me. Work knows now, as of last week, and my belly has started to stick out to a nice little round belly state so the baby can announce itself. I'll be 18 weeks along on Sunday.

For some reason this time it has taken longer to tell people. I think I have been more cautious because I have known several people within the past year who have had sad endings to their pregnancies. One of them was a co-worker, and I wanted to avoid bringing it up to her since I know her loss was extra painful for her. :( But, now it is really obvious and I am excited that I am getting to share the news with others. Isaac will be a good big brother. Hopefully he will be out of this "crying" stage by the time the baby comes along. When he has been interacting with London lately, he has been really nice to her (he has always been so gentle and sweet with babies and younger kids - honestly I think it is just his personality and is not as much a developmental stage... I think he also would have been fine having a sibling at 27 months... but we will see how it goes) even though she has been pretty mean to him, but instead of solving the problem himself or using his words, he just starts crying. The kid needs to realize that he is taller than her and can hold a lot of things out of her reach if she is trying to grab them. I guess I need to work on this...

Also, I only have three more days of work, this next week, then I will get a long break until we have 4 weeks of summer services. I am so ready, but there is so much paperwork to do...

Here are some (as in, a lot) pictures so this post isn't all text.

 We had a few really sunny weekends in May. 

 We grew carrots in a large pot outside our door. It is fun to pull them up! 

 Isaac got this 4-wheeler. Papa found it for a good price of $20 at Goodwill. However, due to battery problems, it might be going back to Goodwill..... We will see.

 I love all the spring blossoms! I like my zinnias, but to me the blooms in the vegetable and herb garden are my favorite. 

Like chives.

 Thyme...

 And sage.

 Papa must have taken this picture. Chives make a pretty bouquet too! 

At Mr. Troxel's funeral reception..

 At the state track meet.

 At Isaac's birthday party

 Peter!! and London!

Letters

Isaac is starting to learn his letters. I know there are several 3-year-old little girls out there who already know their letters, but for us it is pretty exciting! He has started being interested just recently. The first question was "How do you spell my name?" and he memorized "I-S-A-A-C" (I think I had a video a few weeks ago about that). Then he wanted to know how to spell my name and he learned "M-A-M-A". He is funny, he will say other things are spelled "M-A-M-A". A fabricated example because I can't remember the exact word:
Isaac: "How do you spell fish?"
Mama: "F-I-S-H"
Isaac: "No, that's not it! It's M-A-M-A."

Then, on May 25th, in the morning, he said, "Mama, can you show me some letters?" He wanted to know how to write some letters. I showed him how to write his name and then we practiced the "I" since I figured a single vertical line is developmentally appropriate! Then he surprised me. By a fluke, he wrote an "S" too! Not next to the "I" but still on the same piece of paper. I was really impressed.

We took a video of him today because he was on a roll with the letters on this new sign we got. He found a "G" on a book we were looking at, then found "G" on the sign. It will be fun to see how this develops. This little mister is definitely more into letters than numbers. It seems like a lot of little boys want to learn numbers first so I kept trying to push it, but he has never caught on past "1" and "0". That's okay. Letters are probably more appropriate anyway. Some of the phonemic awareness skills start to develop at this age, but I think the whole concept of what numbers really mean doesn't come until kids are older, like at least 4? Maybe. I mean, kids can rote count before that and sometimes point to one object for each number they say, but tying that number word to a symbol and having it be meaningful? It just seems like a harder concept.

Anyway, here, finally is little Isaac with his Go Ducks sign.

You know you live in Eugene when....

Your 3 year old comes home from daycare singing this: