California: the arrival

And then, all of a sudden, there we were. At Uncle Chris's house, at last. 

It was so sunny. We like sunny. We like it a lot.

 You can't really get a sense from these pictures of just how amazing Uncle Chris's house is. It is a really nice setup inside for guests - it essentially separates into two houses, but there is shared space, obviously. I really liked the decor too. The yards/gardens, both front and back, look like something that should be featured in the next issue of Sunset. Someday I would like a lemon tree in my front lawn and an orange tree in the back. With some experimental papayas thrown in for good measure. 

 Cute and cozy, but not too small.

Uncle Chris was a great host! He had a delicious shrimp taco creation for us upon our arrival. I am 97% sure I wrote the recipe down somewhere and I hope I can find it because I am getting hungry again just thinking about it. He also tolerated Sonia pooping on the floor the next morning. I swear these things never happen at home - only in the weirdest possible locations. I think Grandma and Grandpa brought the carpet shampooer down there so hopefully that spot really truly went away. Sorry Uncle Chris. Sonia has not worn tights since then.

I want to write about the next three days but I am getting kind of tired... so hopefully I can write more tomorrow. I am almost a month behind on getting these pictures up, so I really need to get caught up. That and my SD card is full, but I know that if I put the pictures on the external hard drive, I will never post the pictures of California, and it was one of those trips that was so good that I need to document it. To me felt like an out of country trip, which is a good thing for two people who like to travel, except it took much less time to get there. Afterwards you feel really relaxed and you don't really want to go back home. So, a' demain. 

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.

potty training and other accomplishments at 8 weeks

Isaac is eight weeks old today! Doesn't he look quite a bit different than when he was born?

Here's the sassy boy again.

Check out the triple chin on that baby. I guess they do get fat by 8 weeks. Good thing though! We compared his foot to his baby footprints, and his toes completely hang over where the toes used to end. So, they have grown a whole toelength.

Also, I noticed that the cartilage in his ears is getting harder, more grown up. When I was changing his diaper just now, I noticed him definitely start to look at his hands. The way I could tell is that he went cross-eyed to try to focus on the one hand, then he brought it to his face to touch his face. It won't be long before he figures that one out.

Sometimes, though, I think he still looks like Michael a lot.

We decided to potty train Isaac, and we figured you can never start too early. So, we are habituating him to the seat. And look! He went in the pot!

Okay, so actually there was a momentary crisis as Isaac was without a diaper for about a minute, so he really only did it halfway by himself... Nevertheless, we are proud of our little son for trying out the big kids' pot at just 8 weeks post-birth!

I lost the other camera (Grandma's nice one). Is it in Grandma's purse? Her glasses got left here too.

Isaac's cradleboard

Craig's mama made Isaac a beautiful cradleboard.

In fact, there should be a word that means more than beautiful, but applies to objects. Exquisite, maybe?

Isaac was very calm as we put him in it.

He really liked his own personal cradleboard.

He felt quite content, all snugged up.
He was so happy about his cradleboard that he started smiling and telling his Mama how much he liked it.

It took her a week to do all the beadwork on the top. I can believe it. It would take me much longer. It is just so pretty! I have a doctor's appointment this morning. Perhaps I will bring it along in case I need to set him down somewhere. I think I'll make another post to summarize the last few days. These are a lot of pictures.