lover of broccoli

sans photo

I don't have a picture again. I know this isn't winning me any points. :)

Isaac just learned how to say cake, and I think he almost said the 'k' sound at the end! He also pointed to the window and said something that sounded like "window". Earlier he was grabbing my hair and tried to say something like hair, then I said "hair", and he said it back really close to "hair". He is getting really good at copying what we say!

I visited him at daycare today in the middle of the day because I had just done a load of diapers and needed to bring some so he didn't run out. But, this made Isaac so excited that he didn't take a nap the rest of the time he was there. When he got home around 5:10, he indulged in some milk and signed out for about an hour and a half.

I'm a little torn about the visiting Isaac thing. I haven't been doing it because I know that he gets so excited when he sees me that he puts off important things like taking his nap. I think it's better for him to just know how the day is going to go. I guess that's the other part of love that Nana wrote into that Care Bears book I had when I was little. I found that she edited a lot of the books I read in my childhood. It's not the "warm fuzzy feeling", although I do get that alot with Isaac too! It's probably along the lines of doing the best thing for the other person, even if it is not the best thing for yourself. And, it would be ideal if I could do all my homework during the day, then just play with Isaac and not worry about school. Not that that actually has happened so far, but I try. Maybe I can catch up soon. Either way, I hope we can spend most of the weekend doing non-school related things while Papa studies for the PCAT!

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!

We harvested some...

from our garden. We are also growing peanuts and bambara beans. Isaac is a good little help in the garden. He helps dig, and he helps pull up weeds. Sometimes he accidently pulls up plants too, but I forgive him because he has good intentions.

for whom the bell tolls

The bell tolls... for Mama. The school bell, that is. Our stay in Newport is up and we have to make our way back to Eugene tomorrow, to get ready for my last term of classes!!! I really wish you could write intonation into text, because I am very very excited about this. I have a ton of pictures to share with everyone, but I thought we would start with this fun little video that just happened today.

Isaac has been staying with Grandma and Grandpa or Nana during the day and has been doing very well. When I get home, he tends to get a little crazy though.... a little careless and more energetic, so he really wears himself out.

Happy crabs

This is from a few weeks ago.

Isaac and I have been over in Newport for the first part of my student teaching. It's really hard to believe that next year I could very easily be starting the school year out kind of on my own (we still get a mentor for the year after we graduate but they are mostly for checking in). Well, that will be a bridge to cross later! My mentoring SLP is great - not in the bubbly ohmygoodnessyouaremoreenergeticthanIthinkIevercouldbe sort of way. I can't really explain it, but mostly she is just an effective communicator that doesn't ramble on.

Isaac's new word is "bu" for "spoon"!