quotes

Like I put in Sonia's blog, I am contemplating signing out of Facebook, which would likely mean I could not sign in again, as I changed my password, do not remember it, and used an old email address I can no longer access to create the account in the first place. Facebook is getting to be a big waste of time for me, I feel like. There is so much to do and I don't need to waste hours there. But, before I do that, I wanted to make sure I get any of Isaac's quotes on here so I have them somewhere, accessible.

November 23
Isaac: Mom, what does kid-tested mean? (From the Kix box)
Me: Hmmm, what do you think it means? What about the first part? What does kid mean?
Isaac: Child.
Me: Great! How about tested? What do you think that means?
Isaac: Um, they tested it on the kids?
Me: Okay, but what does tested mean though, not using the word tested?
Isaac: Um...so it means kids tasted it and they saw it wasn't poisonous?

October 27
(On the second grade spelling words list)
Isaac: Mama, these are really hard core words!

May 5
In the car, driving and listening to Abiyoyo.
Pete Seeger:...a foolish grin spread over his face.
Isaac: And then he took a selfie.

February 11
Me: I like how my hair is wavy under the top layer. If I could just get it to do this all the way down.
Isaac: You could braid it. Then you could take the braid out and voila!
Me: This is true.
Isaac: Yeah, like you did on London's hair.
Me: Nice point, Mr. I know more about hair than my mother. But my hair just does this, like when I let it dry, it dries wavy under the top layer. Just not all the way down the length of the hair.
Isaac: Keep it moist.

2015

October 10 - I used to call her Zonia. But I don't do that anymore. Cause Zonia is the last name of Lasagna."

September 3 - Sometimes there is a so tiny wind that a human's skin cannot feel it.

June 6 - Papa, spell "I cup"...

February 26 - Sweet little Isaac really wanted me to read the book he brought home from school yesterday. It is a Level 1 reading book and is called Wall-E Smash Trash. It appears to talk about a typical day in Wall-E's life. Disclaimer, we have not ever watched the movie Wall-E. I noticed Wall-E looked sad both at the beginning and end of the book. Shouldn't have said anything.
Me: Oh, Wall-E still looks sad here. Poor Wall-E!
Isaac: I know. He looks so sad, it almost made me cry.
(10 seconds later)
Isaac: (full on sobbing) It's SO SAD! Wall-E is all alone! He doesn't have any friends! It's just so sad..... :(
Poor little guy! I just love his sensitive little heart!

February 8 - Isaac on how there are oceans instead of the whole earth being land:
"God made rain and it pushed the sand down too much."

February 8 - Isaac picks up a book I had in the car in Spanish, opens it and reads "con" correctly.
Me: Oh yeah, I could show you how to read Spanish. It's a lot easier to read than English because there are only five vowel sounds.
Isaac, after a pause: Yeah, but English is easier for me to understand.


January 18 - A London quote.
London: I REALLY need a pickle! (as she takes a huge jar out of the fridge) I haven't had one in DAAAAYS.
Anna: Let's not eat too many pickles or you will get an overload of salt.
London: I haven't ate these in days.

January 14 - Isaac quote of the day, on the subject of younger siblings:
"First we practice on Sonia. She's a little one."

January 10 -
Isaac: Sonia's a party pooper! Sonia's a party pooper!
Me: Isaac, do you even know what a party pooper is?
Isaac: Of course! It's a person who goes to parties and poops in corners!

2014 --

December 8 - Isaac is obsessed with spelling right now. This is what I overheard this weekend:
Isaac: C-K-W-I-T... quit... I-T  -  S-O-N-I-A! Quit it Sonia!
Until this year I never realized how much I enjoy invented spelling.

November 9 - Mama, I tried applesauce at school with cinnamon and sugar, and guess what? I L-O-V-E applesauce! (which is amazing because he did not prior to this)
Me: What? YOU, Isaac, like applesauce? Really?
Isaac: No, I don't like applesauce, Mama. I L-O-V-E it.

November 1 - Mama, why do you only have two childs? MOST people have three, or four childs. Your mama had four.

September 19 - You don't want to hurt people on the outside or the inside. I know how you can hurt people on the inside. If I was playing with Braelyn and some other kids said, "Stop playing with Braelyn!", that would hurt my feelings. That's hurting on the inside.

September 6 - (as we eat our continental breakfast in a room of other people)
Isaac: Mama, are you constipated??
Me: Um. No. Do you know what constipated means?
Isaac: No.
Me: (after explanation) I think you meant congested. I am a little. Are you too?

August 22 - Rabbits are little predators that eat carrots.

August 11 - Isaac does not get to watch a movie with his friends and he is very sad about this (just my rule that we don't do movies on weekdays). He says, "I wish I was never on this earth! It feels like knives are going into my eyes and my heart and my face!" This is WHY we don't watch movies during the week. The level of drama is unreal. Why the friends cannot just come outside and play I don't know.

May 10 -
Me: We need to brush our teeth.
Isaac: Ugh, I don't want to.
Me: Well, teeth are important!
Isaac: They're not the importantest thing in the world. The Easter Bunny is. And God.

April 27 - Isaac informed me that he changed Sonia's diaper for me and also that the governor steals people's money, including my own, and that once the governor stole his teacher's money. He said if the governor wants to come over for a playdate or something, he will be sure to hide his money so the governor cannot steal it.

April 12 - context: discussion about crud bumps.
Me: Sometimes stuff gets stuck in your tonsils, then it comes out as a little ball.
Isaac: That is funny!
Me: Kind of, but it's nasty and it smells bad.
Isaac: Oh, that sounds like of like a fur ball.
.....
Isaac: Mama, have you ever coughed up a fur ball?

April 11 - Mama, does the sun stink?

April 7 - They're gonna cut the trees from relaxing on the wire.

February 22 - Me: How did you like your swim lessons, Isaac?
Isaac: Good!
Me: Your teacher seems nice.
Isaac: She is soooooo nice! I think I might fall in love with her.

February 20 - Talking about pennies:
Isaac: And who's on this penny? Abraham Lincoln!
Me: Yep!
Isaac: And on this one? Abraham Lincoln again??!?
Me: Isaac, Abraham Lincoln is on every penny.
Isaac: Is your SUPERVISOR on every penny?
Me:?! My supervisor isn't Abraham Lincoln.
Isaac: Hm. Mama, can grils be president?

February 13 - Isaac brings me a penny:
Isaac: Mama, what does this say?
Me: One cent.
Isaac: No, this part.
Me: United States of America.
Isaac turns the coin over: And this guy, is he.... George Marley?
I just have to kiss this little guy!

January 26 - (London) London brings three pennies into the bathroom and sets them on the counter, so Sonia can't get them.
Me: Thank you for putting these up here so Sonia won't get them.
London: Yes, she might put them in her mouth. You remember Poompa, he had one and it got stuck in his throat and they couldn't get it out! If Sonia swallows one, she won't be able to talk very good.

January 25 - Last night, before going to sleep, Isaac says:
"Mama....Next time when I see Santa, I am going to apologize to him."
Me: Apologize? What for?
Isaac: Because I forgot to give his reindeer their snacks.... (when we went to see Santa, they had us make some reindeer snacks to sprinkle on our lawn)
Me: It's okay, I'm sure they got plenty of snacks. You can apologize if you want, but I think Santa doesn't mind.
Isaac: But I forgot, and the reindeer didn't have any food.... (very sad)
Me: Okay.
Isaac: I think I'm going to cry.
Then he silently started sobbing. I had to tell him we could write a letter to Santa tomorrow if that would make him feel better. Poor sensitive little sweet guy.

2013 -

September 14 - When I am a grown up, on the very first day, I will put on my best clothes, an dI will go find a woman to marry.

August 21 -
London: Isaac, I'm gonna get you a gun!
Isaac: Yeah, then we can go hunt some deers together!
Clearly Bambi has had the opposite effect....

August 19 - Development of theory of mind: incomplete
Isaac's friend, Koty: Mama? (in a concerned voice) Mama?
Isaac: Koty, do you want your Mama or my Mama?

August 17 - Context: getting a kid's sandwich at Subway
Subway guy to Isaac: Hot or cold?
Isaac: Uh....just right.

August 10 -
Henri: Yes, you were born in Corvallis. And do you know where Sonia was born?
Isaac: Uh... Salem PeaceHealthspital! (Sonia was actually born at Riverbend)

August 4 - What I heard upon dropping Isaac off at school on Friday: (A little girl came over to him)
Isaac, I need to have a conversation with you. If you don't want to marry me, that's OKAY! You just need to tell me. It's okay if you don't want to marry me, but just tell me, all right?
Isaac got the deer-in-the-headlights look.

July 6 - How bout our house be's REALLY clean like Uncle Chris's?

June 6 - And the bronchiolitis and the stegosaurus were there, and another friend bronchiolitis...

May 30 - Now that Isaac can say /th/, he is really good a faking a frontal lisp. I asked, "Isaac, are you doing this just to drive me crazy??" "YES!!!!!" he gleefully replied. He can also fake s-cluster reduction if you would ever like to hear it.

May 22 - The Hulk is stronger than Thor. And you know who is stronger than the Hulk? My papa. He can wrestle the Hulk almost to the ground.

In other news, I taught Isaac how to say /th/ this morning and now he can say it at the beginning of single words after a model. I totally did not mean to do speech therapy on my four-year-old but we had a big discussion about how the superhero's name was Thor and not For, as his classmate had told him, and one thing led to another....

May 19 -
Isaac: Mama, is Sonia a boy?
Me: No, she is a girl.
Isaac: Then why does she not have long hair?

May 18 - Isaac just sat on Sonia's bottom (lightly) and she farted. Of course that is the funniest thing in the whole world to an almost-4-year-old.

April 21- Isaac "The Boss" Compaore says I could take "maybe a 30 minute nap," but "after you finish all the chores." Okay, evil stepmother son. ;P

April 19 -
Me: I've got this song stuck in my head now....
Isaac: Can I see it?

April 12 - Context: We have an ongoing ant problem. I swear there must be a nest in the wall, because they keep coming back. I do not love ants.)
Isaac: Mama, a long long time ago, my Papa and I were reading a book about reptiles and there is one with these poky things coming off that eats ants.
Me: Oh really?
Isaac: Yeah. We need to get one of them and bring it to our house and then leave.
Me: Why do we need to leave?
Isaac: Because it can bite people.
Me: Hm, I've never heard of this reptile, but it sounds like a good idea. Wait, do you mean an anteater?
Isaac: Yeah! It has a really really long tongue so it can get in the carpet to eat the ants!
Anteater, you are pre-approved for a visit to our house whenever you like. I didn't think anteaters bit people though.

April 7 - Isaac loves Sonia so much! He said this morning: "I will use my money to buy toys for Sonia!" I asked him what he thought she would like to have. "A tractor set!" he replied. "Sonia, I am going to get you a tractor set with my 3 coins!" I love this kid.

April 1 - We a four family!

March 9 - Isaac saw a picture of some hockey players: "Look, mom, it's the hockey fight!"

February 19 - This is the mama worm. She looks really... mama-lous.

When I try to go past this point, Facebook crashes. Oh well, at least we have multiple years of good laughs!

Oh wait, maybe I can pull some of it from the activity log! Let's give it a shot!

February 17 - Me: Hey look, here are some footprints. What animal do you think made these footprints. They have claws.
Isaac: Hm, it must have been a crocodile.
Me: Do you think a crocodile really came through here? (Corner of 18th and City View)
Isaac (completely serious): Yeah.

February 14 - Why I love preschoolers:
This morning, I went into Isaac's classroom. I was reading a book to some kids, and holding Sonia on my shoulder. Two kids were listening, two were interacting with Sonia. Line in the book: "The clock struck seven, his real name was Kevin.."
Preschoolers: "Wait, his name is really Kevin?" (referring to Sonia)
Me: "Haha, no, the mouse in the story. I guess his name is Kevin."
Preschoolers (completely ignoring that information): to Sonia "Hi Kevin!" x 25

February 7 - Because there is no such thing as a day without a good Isaac quote...
Isaac is aware that he is half Bissa. I thought it was time to make him more aware of his other ethnic background.
Me: Isaac, did you know that on Mama's side there are a lot of different ethnicities? My grandmas and grandpas came from many different places. So I am Portuguese, Swiss, Italian, Irish, German, Norwegian and Swedish. That's what's in my background."
Isaac: "That's in your backyard?" (puzzled look)
Discussion postponed.

February 5 - Evidence that they can eventually learn. Isaac was singing around the house on Sunday morning: "I will not rub my mama's tummy until my hands are much..more..gooder! I will not rub my mama's tummy until my hands are much warmer!"

February 2 - Me: I'm going to a baby shower. And I have to take Sonia.
Isaac: Is Sonia going to take a shower?

January 30 - Isaac this morning on his dreams: I was dreaming about London...but then my dream wanted to dream about bad monsters. So I gave my bad dream a timeout from dreaming that."

January 30 - (context: Isaac is eating hotdogs, I am eating grapefruit)
Isaac: You can make sausages from many kinds of meat.
Me: That is true. What kind of meat do you think these sausages are made from?
Isaac: Um... cantaloupe!
Me: (What? Is he talking about the grapefruit?) Hm... no, grapefruit doesn't come from cantaloupe. It is its own fruit.
Isaac: No, cantaloupe is an animal!
Me: Isaac, cantaloupe is a fruit.
Isaac: Cantaloupe is an animal on the TV.
Me: Oh, ANTelope?
Isaac: Yeah, antelope.
Me: No, sweetheart, I don't think your hot dog is made of antelope. Maybe turkey.

January 25 - Me: I think she does food science (talking to my dad)
Isaac: Does she speak food?

January 13 - I was explaining to Isaac what a merchant was. Then he asked: "Is Papa a merchant?"
Me: Well, no. Well, I guess kind of. He does buy and sell things, in a way.
Isaac: Are you a merchant too?
Me: No, I'm more like a teacher. Definitely not a merchant though.
Isaac: You not a teacher! You just a mommy!

January 6 - Me: Boompa likes bissap (hibiscus drink) a lot.
Isaac: Boompa doesn't speak bissap (he means "Bissa", the language). Mama doesn't speak bissap either.
Papa: I speak Bissa.
Isaac: And I speak half bissap.

2012-

December 17 - Isaac and Henri don't like chocolate. (This has since changed, by the way, at least for Isaac.) Case in point:
Isaac: She (baby Sonia) smells like chocolate.
Me: Yes, she just smells so good, doesn't she?
Isaac: No. She smells like chocolate.

December 14 - So, on the way home, Isaac and I were having a conversation about different cities. I asked, "Where does Uncle Greggy live?"
Isaac: "Portland!"
Isaac: "We have been to Portland."
Me: "That's right, we have. Let me think, what did we do last time we went there?"
Isaac: "Me and Uncle Greggy, we had all the fun we could have!"

December 14 - "There are so many KALE (hail) at our house!"

December 11 - "I'm gonna snickerdoodle through this" (I think he meant sneak)
" I'm going to chuckle the chair back over here" (push)

December 5 - Mama, take me to gymnastics and leave me there.

November 22 - (about Sonia, while sleeping): She is thinking about me. But I am already here.

November 11 - A ladder is a tool you use for climbing.

October 27 - Me: Isaac, who is in the presidential race? Who's running? Do you know?
Isaac: Uncle Mikey!

October 18 - Isaac: What's a stepmother?
Me: A mother who is not your biological mother.
Isaac: Are you my magical mama?

October 3 - Isaac: Big brothers go to high school. But sisters don't go to high school.
Me: Oh really?? (Thinking, hm, what is this kid going to say?)
Isaac: Yeah. Sisters go to college.

September 24 -
Isaac: I like this hanitizer.
Me: Oh, the hand santizer?
Isaac: Yeah, the hand... hanitizer.

August 27 - Discovery of the day: Isaac can peel garlic cloves with amazing dexterity. YES.

August 22 - "I hode under the blanket."

August 9 - Nana: Isaac, would you like a little hamburger?
Isaac: No thanks, I choose life.

August 4 -
Papa: Do you want to stay at the park? We could pick you up tomorrow morning.
Isaac: No, I want to come home. I want to be with good people who take care of me.

August 2 - Isaac: Nana, can I have some strawberry milk?
Nana: Yes, in just a few minutes.
A few minutes later, after no strawberry milk has been presented.
Isaac: Gina's mom, can I have some strawberry milk?

June 18 - Me: It is so fun to dress you, London, because Isaac doesn't get to wear dresses.
Isaac: Yeah, I'm too big for dresses.
Me: Well, usually boys don't wear dresses, sweetheart.
Isaac: Yeah, boys don't wear dresses. They wear princess pants.

June 5 - Isaac got up by himself to use the restroom last night!

May 27 - I'm a big floss (sloth). I move very fast! I'm a floss with poky fingernails.

April 30 - Mama, when I grow up, I want you to show me how to go to college.

April 26 - Isaac's comment on our garden this past weekend: "The dandelions will not let our garden go away from them."

April 11 - Papa: You need to keep your food on the table because God made it and he will be mad if you throw it away.
Isaac: God made food? But I don't like food.

March 4 - Isaac's word substitution of the week:  "floss" for "sloth"

January 22 - The story of a true Oregonian: The sun peeks out from behind the clouds, or maybe just shines through less clouds, as we walk out of Fred Meyer (with our reusable shopping bag, of course). Isaac buries his face in my skirt and complains, "MAMA! IT'S TOO BRIGHT! IT'S HURTING MY EYES!"

January 21 - Isaac on milk in a bottle: "It keeps the tears from coming out."

2011-

December 9 - (context: I'm cleaning out my wallet)
Isaac: Mama, what's this for? (gift card to Pottery Barn, where we have never been)
Me: Oh, that's for Pottery Barn.
Isaac: Oh, I used to go to Pottery Barn!

November 29 - Mama, our house needs some songs!

November 20 - The sweetest checker lady every at Fred Meyer gave Isaac his own little bag for his broccoli tonight. He was beside himself with happiness.

November 16 - Me: Isaac, why did you want to buy a cookie if you didn't want to eat it?
-long pause -
Isaac: I just wanna look at it.

November 1 - Isaac: Mama, you can have a turn when I'm done (eating a sucker).
My thought: Nice embedded adverbial clause, Isaac, but no thanks.

September 7 - Isaac: Papa, where are you from?
Papa: I'm from Africa. Where are you from?
Isaac: Um... I'm from Fred Meyer!

August 27 - Mama, you're a big elephant. Papa, you're Cinderella.

June 24 - Isaac stepped in dog poop for the first time. It was just awful.

May 23 - Today Isaac astounded his pediatrician at his well-child check by correctly responding to the question, "Where is your philtrum?"

May 13 - Isaac and I saw a beaver for the first time yesterday! It was so cute!

March 19 - London got baptized!

February 25 - coalescence + book on fire trucks = plenty of laughs and a good evening.

2010-

July 10 - Pool party au naturel! For 14 months or younger only....

2009-
November 12 - Isaac just started reduplicated babbling today! (uhdaedaedae and aegaegaegae)

climbers

Real climbers start their days out with a good breakfast.

Bananas and cheerios...

 or pancakes....

 Then the climbing practice begins. 

Climbers practice on stairs...

 And on trees...

Everyday they get better at climbing! 

Isaac's 4th birthday party

We had Isaac's birthday party the weekend before his actual birthday. It was fun and luckily the weather was nice so we were able to make our park plans happen. Now that I think about it, a consistent theme in Papa and my relationship has been that for social events, we prefer to spend more money on food than the "venue". I would say maybe it was just me, but Papa is actually that way too. He actually fine-tuned the bissap recipe too and it turned out really good. Without further ado, here are the pictures!

Ah, yes, I forgot to mention that Isaac wanted a "rainbow superhero" party. So here is the rainbow spiderman cake before assembly...plus some cupcakes. I made it from scratch to avoid food allergies to soy for one kid, and the Taste of Home cookbook came through for me! It was edible. Hooray!

 Then we had the party and I took about three pictures of Isaac then forgot about the camera. Isaac had a lovely flower crown made for him by one of the moms. We live in Eugene, folks, and we are all flower children here.

 No, but I actually thought it was cute!

 One of the few pictures where you can see the rainbow spiderman cake pre-consumption. Note my total cop-out by just making a spider web with a spider on top instead of a Spiderman picture. Isaac didn't care though.

 In fact, it was kind of windy, and I couldn't light  the candles, so we had Isaac pretend he was blowing them out, and he was a good sport about that too.

 This is not the best picture of me, but I liked it because it has a lot of people in the picture and one day it will help me remember some of the people who came.

 Isaac had fun playing with the kids. I noticed he played a lot with his classmates. It is interesting, because he already spends a lot of time with them. I guess maybe it is like adults - the more you get to know people, the more likely you are to either want to spend more time with them or not spend time with them. Maybe?

I'm so glad Papa took some pictures! It really was a nice day at the park. I am looking forward to a year in the future when Isaac's actual birthday will fall on a weekend again. Those first two years were so convenient! We enjoyed the party very much. If you brought a gift, thank you for not making it too big, and if you didn't bring a gift, thank you for reading the invitation carefully. We really have a lot of stuff in our house and now I will need to go through the toys again and give some of them away - well, the ones we don't use anymore or are not in the best shape...

the little gymnast

Isaac has been taking gymnastics lessons the past eight weeks and I finally took some pictures. He really enjoyed it! I don't now if we'll do another eight weeks. We will see! It might be getting close to time for soccer and I bet he would enjoy that too. It might be nice to have a few weeks off from activities too. 

Gymnastics really was Isaac's cup of tea!

wading pool and a new park

We went to this little wading pool on Friday that great-great-aunt Christy told us about. Isaac loved it! Unfortunately, it was the last day it was open for the season. A great little place though - free! 

 The park was fun too. Isaac did not balk at the climbing structures designed for 5-12 year olds, although he chose not to go down the spiral slide.

 A truly silly face. Can you tell he is almost laughing as he makes it?

Loving this time with my little mister.

I'm so cute

This is what Isaac told me today when we got back home in the evening: "Mama, I'm so cute. I'm so cute, Mama." I guess I only say it every day. He was bound to say it eventually. Now I have to teach him not to say that all the time/to other people. At least he has a positive self-image. 

Isaac's interpretation of this picture:

"Mama, I grow up a man. I'm so strong. And Isaac's a man in the picture. I want see Isaac drumming. Mama I wanna watch Bouba. Mama this is my computer. I'm gonna ? my computer. I havva look at one thing."

Isaac also has a watch now that he really likes to wear. It doesn't work but it's all about the looks, not the functionality.

Someday I'll write about my thoughts about working, but not today. Just wanted to write about the "cute" boy.

running away

Isaac flipped out, just a little bit, today. 

We went to Washington Park after work because there was an ice cream social and I wanted Isaac to meet my co-worker's son, who is just a little bit younger than him. They didn't really hit it off, but they didn't fight either so I guess there's always next time! Isaac loved running around in the sand.
However, it was getting a little chilly around 6:30, and I told Isaac we had 5 more minutes. It ended up being 10 more minutes, but you know how that goes. Anyway, everything was pretty normal until we got in the car, and then Isaac just flipped out! He started screaming at the top of his lungs. If you've ever heard Isaac scream, you have a good idea of his lung capacity. I closed the car door and waited a second, thinking maybe he would calm down. But he didn't. He screamed the entire car ride home. I started to worry that maybe some sort of insanity (such as I have experienced at times) was starting to manifest itself. I mean, this was total loss of control. Only when we got two blocks from our house did Isaac calm down enough to be able to tell me, "Mama, I don't wanna leave the park!" I told him that we could go tomorrow, since it was the weekend and we would have all day to spend there (assuming it isn't too cold). He didn't like that answer either. 

When we got home, Isaac started to get out of the car, then said, "Mama, I need my shoes." He had kicked them at me during his rage. "The poky things will hurt my little feet." I helped him get them on, and thought he had calmed down. Then, he stepped out of the car and started taking off, going around the garage. I said, "Isaac, where are you going? Come this way!" He said, "I'm running away!" He started running, being careful to step onto the sidewalk before continuing his escapade. After I realized that reasoning with him would not work this time, I thought I should alert Papa to the fact that Isaac was trying to run away, so he would know where we were. I knocked on the back door, but it was locked. Isaac stopped running. He said, "Mama?" I decided to hide in the "garden" when it was apparent that the little footsteps were now coming toward the house rather than away. He came up to the house and tried to open the door, saying, "Mama?" He started to get disappointed and sad, then I popped out and said "Hi!" We went inside, but then he got upset again. He still wanted to run away. Into the woods, apparently. 

Papa came and convinced him to wear a coat at least, and then we went back outside to let him "run away". 

I don't know what this "running away" idea was about or where it came from. Is it innate in kids? He has apparently been liking "Where the Wild Things Are" lately at daycare. That little boy is naughty, but does he run away? I don't know; it wasn't one of my favorites growing up. Any ideas on where that comes from? I was a little astonished that he is thinking about these things already. He was supposed to just be a sweet little boy that doesn't think about making his mama sad.

In the end, he and Papa "ran away" together "into the woods" by our house. They returned around 15 minutes later as our gourmet dish of the night, macaroni and cheese, was about 5 minutes into being boiled. Seriously though, what the heck just happened? This is crazy. 

22

Today is Isaac's first golden birthday. He is twenty-two months old today, on the 22nd. I can hardly believe it's just two more months until he is a two-year old...

Some fun things he has said lately:
During the trip to London's baptism - "Isaac driving", "I can do it"
In general - "Na-wan-it this", "My shovel", "Dance mama", "More toothpaste", "I like it!", "Other one" and most importantly, "I love you". My favorite of all favorite phrases so far.
I also asked him yesterday morning what he wanted for breakfast. He considered a moment, and responded, "Grits". I was surprised because we haven't had grits for awhile, so to me it was like a new stage in communicating with Isaac. He really is understanding and expressing himself so much now. And he is still just as energetic and ready to do silly things as ever!

(Also see the two posts below for some other little updates, kind of related)

gassing

We have been discussing with Isaac the difference between "gas" and "poop", since everyone has gas sometimes. Now I am really sure that Isaac is using the -ing intentionally, because today he told me he was "gassing". Papa says, " He's the smartest little boy ever."

He also decided to use a chicken bone as a phone at dinner. Normally we wouldn't encourage playing with your food but in Isaac's case I think it is a good thing.

pictures galore and the Ouangolo

Here are some more pictures from last weekend. Isaac in the grass...

He also went to a birthday party for a 3-year old girl here in the apartment area. He was a little dazed because he didn't get a good nap in beforehand. They had a piñata, and they had some candy, but mostly little toys in it. I thought tha was such a cute idea! Isaac got an assortment of sea creatures, including two lobsters, a seal, and a turtle.

He helped Papa cook. He has been loving to help cook in the kitchen. Every day this week, not omitting one, we have cooked pancakes at least once. I guess Isaac is on a pancake kick. Two nights ago, he woke up at 4 in the morning. By 5, I said, look, you need to have milk. He didn't like the idea at first, but changed his mind and was quiet for awhile. Then, he said, "Hungwy" around 5:30, followed by "pancake". Luckily we had leftover pancakes, so we went out to the kitchen and got a pancake. They are "baby pancakes" but Isaac ate half of one and drank some milk to go with it. After that, he was able to go to sleep.

Also something that has been effective for a few weeks now (but started to lose its effectiveness, and now works again) is that we have been telling Isaac that if he is crying really loudly and being naughty, the Ouangolo will come eat him. The Ouangolo is a creature of Papa's invention, and it growls very fiercely. Papa told Isaac that it "eats children" and Isaac of course repeated back "eat children" (although pronounced differently). Since his more elaborated description of the Ouangolo, I have been successfully using night noises to my advantage to get Isaac to stop crying loudly at night (because, let's face it, the bachelor guy neighbors are not pleased with 3 am wake-up calls). Actually, I don't really need night noises because Isaac is so loud when he is upset that he can't hear anything anyway. I have been saying, "Oh! Isaac, be careful, I just heard the Ouangolo!" and I hug him. Immediately, he falls silent. Then I usually say something like, "I'm going to get the milk. I'm going to be sooooo careful so the Ouangolo can't get me." Isaac says, "Careful" and I go get the milk. Isaac at least gives the milk a try after that and calms down pretty quickly.

When Papa originally made up the Ouangolo, I thought maybe it was a word for "monster" in Dioula or something. But no,Ouangolodougou is a place in northern Cote d'Ivoire, by Burkina Faso. So it's just a place name. Very frightening.

Finally, yesterday I went to Saint Vincent de Paul. I was unsuccessful in finding what I went there for, but I did find a few clothes for Isaac and a ton of books for 50 cents each! I am going there again for sure - a lot of them were like new, and they had a lot of classics like Dr. Seuss hardbacks and Little Golden Books. I was very excited and could have easily spent $20 on books, but I restrained myself this time, and spent a little less. There was one that I could not go home without: a book on "Things that Go". After returning the books about fire trucks, trucks, planes, and boats to my supervisor, I was a little sad I didn't have anything to replace it since Isaac is so into that stage right now. Voila. Problem solved.

See how much he likes it? Please excuse his pronunciation of "fire truck". In phonology-speak, we call this "coalescence". Features of two sounds that make up a consonant blend are present in the sound produced, for example, in "tr", which would be pronounced as "chw" or "tw" by a kid this age, the fricative quality of the "ch" and the labial quality of the "w" come together and you get "f". Put "fire" in front and you're in for a mess. At least he'll grow out of it. :)

Most importantly, this weekend we are going to baby London's baptism! I can't wait to see her again and for her to become a new little Catholic! We love her so much.

And, Isaac received a letter from his cousin Louisa yesterday. He loved it and has been going around randomly saying "Weesa" now ever since. This morning, he spent too much time near the pancake griddle and his hand started feeling hot. Somehow he combined the "hot" with a random thought about Weesa so he was saying "Weesa hot" for awhile. I wasn't sure if he was confused about what Louisa meant, or if he was imagining playing with Louisa, but there you go. There is so much going on in that little mind!

the writing on the wall, avoided?

I am of course avoiding doing an assignment that I have to do but want to pretend I don't have to do. So, I was looking back at old pictures of Isaac and seeing if he had gotten skinnier. I think he has gotten skinnier since the summer. But, then I looked at his newborn pictures, and by golly, he was skinny back then. So I'll try to stop worrying and just be happy about the little things, like that he ate a bunch of bread before going to bed tonight! He has been really good about trying new things though, lately, so that has been great!

(from the summer, August)

(a few days ago)

One of my professors suggested I videotape language samples of Isaac now so I can use them if I ever teach a class. I don't know why that hadn't dawned on me before now, but of course now I'm trying to videotape him a lot. A bonus is that my old Casio uses a lot less memory per minute of recording!

Um, there was nothing deep and profound in that post at all. I'm sorry. It's too late/early in the day, I suppose.

backlog: adventures of various cute boys

Chapeaux

Ellie's first birthday party
Silly boy, what's so funny?

Oh, I see. Your choice of footwear.

With Boompa at Cousin Jake's 30th birthday party.

Isaac and Boompa dancing to some Lady Gaga at said party. Note to self: weird lighting does not work on this camera.

No comment?

Isaac being good at church.

Peter, another cute boy, getting baptized.

Playing with Pooh.

Making pancakes with Mama during Christmas Break. Isaac likes to help!

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!

big

Before we have our second Halloween tonight, I thought I'd better round up all the pictures that haven't made their way onto Isaac's blog yet. Well, not all of them. But most of them. The main thing that seems to characterize these last few weeks is how Isaac is getting so big. Look. Here he is helping tidy up the porch (he also wore my sandals to walk across the apartment to get outside. The thong from one of them was in the right place between the big toe and next toes, but the other one wasn't...)

And, the other day after daycare, I realized that Isaac is now tall enough that his feet can touch the ground when he sits on his bike. Ah, so much less bending over to push him around. I like this development.

I thought I had a video of Isaac saying pumpkin, but I guess it was some sort of pipe dream, because there isn't any such thing on the memory card. Perhaps this will be a goal of tonight! Happy Halloween everyone!

I'm going to just post, without any nice pictures or videos, because time goes too quickly and I don't want to forget. Isaac surprised me yesterday when he labelled the "day-o" (cheerios) we were snacking on. And he did it several times, so he has picked up that word for sure. His vocabulary is really expanding right now. He's very much into things that move, so I hear a lot of "ba" = bus, "nano" = moto = motorcycle, "bai" = bike, "nee-o" = avion = airplane and "nono" = camion = big truck. We're kind of weird like that. We teach Isaac random words only in French and say them in French even in the middle of an English sentence. I know that's not how you're supposed to do it, probably, but when your baby says "wawo" for oiseau=bird, it just doesn't feel right to say, "Oh, yes, that's a bird." No. You say, "Oh, yes, that's a oiseau (wazo). Look at that oiseau. Caw-caw!"
I think he understands certain words better in French (besides oiseau, avion, and camion), like Regarde (look), Vien (come here), Attend (wait) because when I tell him the English equivalent he seems to obey less. I think Papa has successfully taught him that "nez" and "nose" are two ways you can say nose.

I also wanted to say that Isaac has 6 teeth now. I can't remember if I wrote that before. I think all the other little boys at his daycare have more teeth than him, except maybe little Isaac (yes, there are two Isaacs already). The two new ones are on the bottom. The left one came in first and that was before we went to Newport, and I believe the right one came in about a month later, although I don't remember exactly when. I just know that for several weeks there Isaac had 5 teeth.

Isaac also has stopped taking a bath in his whale bathtub that he had used since birth. He now takes his bath in the big bathtub. He takes one every evening and ideally every morning so I can comb and style his hair, but that doesn't always happen. I think I'd better go to bed now, but as sad as it may be, I am forseeing more picture-less posts in the future. It's such a hassle sometimes to upload pictures, and, like I said, I don't want to forget these little moments just because I didn't feel like waiting for a video to upload or I couldn't find the USB cord!

backlog

I'm going to recap the events of September in a backwards fashion.

The last week we were in Newport, it was nice out, so Isaac and I went down to the beach twice. Isaac now loves the water and wants to go swimming in the tidepools even though it is not safe. I'll post a video of him running at the beach later. :)

Before the last week, we went to the Mount Angel Oktoberfest for about an hour to get some food and dance a little bit.

And before that, Isaac and Papa explored Portland while Mama went to a laryngectomy conference at OHSU.

The weekend before that, we went to the Nativity Church picnic on Sunday, and Isaac played outside in the grass. He got upset twice because he ran off, then looked around and couldn't find Mama in all the people.

The day before, we went to our friend Freeman's outdooring and naming ceremony in Salem. Isaac had fun listening to the drumming and eating the food.

He had fun playing with some of Freeman's older sisters, Aurora and Josephine.

But, before that, we went to the Oregon Zoo. I have to say, I think Isaac enjoyed it more this time, being more grown up and all.

He saw turtles.

He saw schools of fish.

He even found out that Bouba is real.

But before that, on Friday, we went to the wedding of our friends, Micah and Brittaini, and Isaac got to play with their three fabulous children (only one of them is in the wagon with him).

Here they are cutting the cake! It was a great reception (we had trouble getting there on time so we missed the ceremony) and Brittaini's dress was beautiful.

Papa and Isaac enjoyed the garden outside the reception area.

The weekend before that, we spent some time at home. Isaac read books.

We also visited the ducks and geese at Alton Baker Park. Isaac wanted to go swimming with them, but we prevented him from fulfilling his wish.

The geese were so enticing.
Before that, Isaac couldn't decide what to wear, or which team to root for, so he settled on a win-win wardrobe.

The weekend before that, when we were coming back from Newport, we stopped by Avery Park in Corvallis. Isaac was interested in this old millstone they have there.

Before that, he found a special cart that he did not want to leave without kicking and screaming.

Before that, we watched a race, and before that, we smelled the roses in the rose garden there.

Before that, during the week, Isaac got to take a ride on Boompa's shoulders.

And before we left for Newport in the first place, we went to the Eugene Celebration. Not the actual celebration, but the free parts around it. Isaac tried to pedal the bike to make the smoothie. He had good intentions but short legs.

He got to pet a baby crocodile too.

And that, sweet Isaac, is a recap of all the things I failed to blog about while we were at Nana and Boompa's. We really had a great time, and got to do lots of fun things despite all the work!