le dessin

Isaac is now doing some representational drawing! Very interesting! He can also trace his name very well when they make the little dots for him at school. I didn't believe it was actually him but he just did it for me this evening, so I guess I'd better give him more credit.

This is a picture he drew of Papa. It has legs and arms and a head! WHAT? When did this happen? How did my little mister go from "mountains" and "circles" just a few months ago to drawings of Papa with a "pickle eye" and a "regular eye"?

He really is learning a lot at preschool, and he likes it a lot now and is having fun. I am glad about that. He always talks about how he played with friends. That is good. That is what I want him to remember - that school was fun!

grand

Isaac is definitely getting bigger all the time. He is starting to say his /r/ sounds at the beginning of words by itself now. He also says /ar/ and /or/ correctly. It is reassuring for the speech-language pathologist in me but sad for the mama, well, and the speech-language pathologist in me too. He says "round" correctly. 

He also keeps learning new songs in school. I think the teacher may teach them songs in parts, because "petit moulin" has changed a little. Then we looked up the video on youtube and there are actually two parts to it. So now he knows both parts and is starting to put them together. The other reason I think this is because he is starting to sing "Alouette", but just a very little bit. He will sing "Alouette, gentille alouette" then say "Aah-ahh-ahh-ahh" and start over. 

He still really likes to paint.

Isaac will say things like "J'ai fini" and "Est-ce que je peux aller aux toilettes?"  now correctly and at the appropriate time. He knows "la maison", "oiseau", "rouge", "jaune", "poisson" and I'm sure many other things. It is good because we have been stepping up the French at home and he is more open to it as well. 

Poor little Isaac though. He is a sensitive soul. He is still learning the nuances of social behavior, as we all are. Yesterday we went to Walmart and there was a lady sitting outside the haircut place. Isaac likes to strike up a conversation with everyone he meets. Unfortunately, what he said to this lady was, "You are really big!" - which she was. And as a co-worker pointed out, to Isaac, being big is probably the ultimate goal and the coolest thing ever. Maybe not big like that but it is all kind of the same concept for him. Also I had told him before that people can feel sad if you say "fat" so you should say "bigger" instead. I think the specific context was that my tummy was getting bigger, not fat, and "fat" is never really a useful word when striking up a conversation with others. So now I had to tell him that sometimes people also get sad if you tell them they are big, even if they are. I could tell that he felt really embarrassed. I had to pick him up and give him a hug and tell him it was okay, he didn't know that before and he is just learning. He was still embarrassed for a really long time. He said, "Mama, I feel embarrassed." 

On a different note, a cute thing, that I also posted on facebook, but need to put here so I don't forget: Isaac said that "brothers go to high school, but sisters don't go to high school." I said, "Oh, really?" thinking - now why would he say something like that? Then he continued, "Yeah, sisters go to college." Oh dear. I hope he realizes we would like him to go to college just as much as we would like his sister to do so! We love you, sweet little Isaac.

sous-oreiller

I feel like I need another theme. I mean, we have another family member coming up soon and I know this month is going to go by quickly and really slowly at the same time. So I'm going to make kind of a theme and make all the titles in October in French. Because Isaac is still learning about a phrase or word a day. It is really fascinating. 

What is also fascinating is why someone would choose to sleep with the entire upper half of their body underneath a pillow, yet not want any blankets. 

silly silly

Enough plum product to keep you going. Har har har... 

Look, firewood for the winter! Oh, nope, those are just a bunch of zucchini hanging out by the front door.

What Mama looks like, except I couldn't find a big enough ball to give the full effect.

"Mama, I want to go to bed." 

tourne tourne petit moulin

I was cooking (actually, canning) and Isaac started singing a really sweet little song in French (on Tuesday). I asked him if he could sing it again, but instead of repeating the first song, he sang this one, complete with hand motions. So cute!! 

Also, we need to say that we love Nana so much. She always goes back and comments on all Isaac's blog posts that have no comments. If it weren't for her I'd probably think no one cares about Isaac's little goings-on besides myself. She calls to check on us when we are sick. She even comes to take care of us sometimes. We know that Nana loves us. Yesterday Isaac asked, "Mama, are you my friend?" and I said, "Isaac, I am your Mama, so I will always love you no matter what." Then I asked, "And do you know who else loves you?" His very first answer: "Nana."  

ecole

Isaac has started preschool during the last two weeks. It is a French immersion preschool and although every morning he complains that he doesn't want to go, he has told me he loves his preschool teacher and he seems to be picking up on average one French word or phrase per day. So that is good. There are not nearly enough boys in the class for me, and the girls are all several months younger than Isaac. But Isaac is fast friends with the one other boy, although he cannot name any other children in his class when I ask him. 

He knows Bonjour, Au revoir, how to count to six in French (not sure he actually knows how to do this in English, so I am doubly impressed!), l'oiseau - bird (also one of his first words.... just now re-learning it), and a few others I can't remember right now. Papa and Isaac impressed me yesterday with a lot of words Isaac has learned. I think it is helping remind Papa and I to speak more in French too. I can tell Isaac's attitude towards French has definitely changed.

Also, I have to pack him a lunch, and he has been doing very well eating almost everything I send with him!

I guess that is about it for now on preschool. There is a cute saying I have to add - Isaac has been trying to "bribe" me (unnecessarily) to do things on empty promises - it started out with "I'll give you some candy..." then turned into something else for one day that I can't remember.... then turned into "I'll give you some vegetables...." :)

Mt Pisgah

On Labor Day, we went on a little hike up Mt. Pisgah. It was fun. It was mostly an ego boost for Mama (I hiked up Bald Hill in Corvallis when I was 8 months pregnant with Isaac so wanted to try some hiking at 6.5 months... maybe I can still be hiking in another month and a half..) but we all enjoyed it. For some reason we have not been hiking as much this year.

 The reason I don't need to get a tan anymore. Any efforts are futile. Pale is cool too. I mean, I think I have gotten a little sun but you couldn't tell from this picture.

A nice day walking. And as a bonus, no one got poison oak, although it was quite abundant.