Christmas 2009

We drove to Kansas for Christmas to visit our families. We knew that we wouldn't be able to drive 12+ hours in one day with Isaac, so we split the drive into two days. It made for a much more relaxing and enjoyable trip. Isaac did so well with the long drive - better than I ever expected he would! Of course, I think it helped that we turned his car seat around to face forward - a little early, I know, but considering he's as big as a 2-year old we felt pretty safe. He loved having a better view through the windows, and also being able to see us in the front seat. When he would get bored with his toys, he would pull his blanket over his head to initiate a game of peek-a-boo.

Michael wasn't feeling well on the trip north, so I ended up driving most of the way. By the time we got to Iola, though, he was starting to feel a little better, thankfully. We had to change our plans a bit because of the weather, but we did end up getting to see both of our families while we were there.

I'm glad we arrived when we did - just before the snow. On Christmas morning, we had 5 inches or so of snow, but the drifts were huge! Just to get to our car, Michael had to get through a 2 foot drift, and in other areas the drifts were as high as 6 to 8 feet! We ended up getting stuck three times on Christmas day: once trying to get out of the hotel parking lot, once going up my parents drive, and again when we tried to leave their house that evening! Good grief! Thank goodness for help from nice strangers (at the hotel), and for a great dad, brother and sister-in-law, and a 4-wheel drive truck for freeing us from the snow that day!

Because of the snow, Dad had to go in to work on Christmas day. So, we waited until he got home to open presents, and the kids were all so good while we waited. Isaac loved getting to play with his cousins, and I think that they enjoyed playing with him, and showing him some of their toys.

On Saturday we went to Carthage where we had Christmas with Michael's family at his sister's house. Isaac's favorite part of the day? Max! Max is Chris and Michele's dog, and he was so very calm and patient while Isaac proceeded to crawl on, push, pull, cuddle and generally annoy him to death - poor dog. I thought Isaac would be afraid of him - he's a big dog - but he wasn't at all. In fact, once we got home, every time we read a book with a dog in it he had to kiss the dog - too funny!

We had a great time with both families, but the time went by so quickly! I'm already looking forward to our next visit, but maybe we'll plan a summer trip so we won't have to contend with the snow! :-)

Isaac at 10 months

Isaac turned 10 months old today. I can't believe how fast he's growing and learning! So many things have happened this month. Two new teeth made an appearance, for a grand total of four, and with his new teeth he's enjoying more and more new foods. This month we discovered that he loves potato soup, macaroni and cheese, and shrimp scampi. He loves to be in the kitchen to "help" when we're cooking; and by help I mean that he wants someone to hold him up so that he can watch everything that's going on. I understand that he's curious, but it certainly slows everything down.

The boy is still constantly on the move. He loves to dance to any kind of music, and his balance is improving as he continues to cruise around the furniture. He won't stay in his jumper anymore. I think it's just too confining for him, so we haven't used it all month. He loves to walk with his walking toy, and he's moving faster and faster every day! He also loves to move laundry for me. If I bring out the laundry bin, he'll push it into the laundry room for me. And, if he hears me open the dryer, he's there in a flash to push the basket of clean clothes to the living room to fold.

I rather enjoy that he likes to help so much, and I try to encourage him in any way I can. For example, I've been teaching him how "fun" it is to dust. Now, when I get the duster out I have to give him one too, or he gets mad! Yay! Maybe he'll love to clean - that will certainly make my life easier as he gets older. :-)

Last month we were teaching him to go down stairs, and he's already doing that very well - just a little help to navigate the landing. We were also working on some signs with him. This month he learned "arms up" and "arms down". He thinks this is great and will occasionally throw his arms up in the air and say "up, up, up" when he's ready to go upstairs. I suppose it really sounds more like "upupup" - not three clearly defined words, but we'll take what we can get at this point.

Speaking of talking, he loves the phone! I can't talk on the telephone unless I put it on speaker so that he can hear too - and then he still wants the phone. I've been trying to give him a toy phone, or the old cell phone that I took the battery out of. He loves to play with those in general, but he knows the difference and prefers the real one.

This month we've also found new toileting success. After about 5 weeks of a "potty strike" he's finally using the toilet again. Michael and I were thrilled because up to that point we had not changed more than a few dirty diapers since he was 6 weeks old! After a month of no toileting, we'd had more than enough of the dirty diaper thing. We finally figured out that he wasn't comfortable sitting on the child seat on the large toilet, so we got him a potty chair. I think he likes not being so far from the ground, and because of that, he will actually relax. Since using the new potty, he's only had one BM in his diaper. Peeing is a little more difficult. I'm just not brave enough to leave a diaper off all day, so I don't always catch him before he goes. Still, he does well enough with timed toileting that we often only use a couple of diapers during the day.

OK, that was probably way too much info for some, especially since I haven't talked about infant toileting on the blog before. It's a major accomplishment, though, and I'm very proud of how well he does.

This month Isaac received a new leather rocker/recliner from my parents for Christmas. It's so cute, and he just loves it. I'm glad to get rid of the infant seats because he was getting too big for them. He loves to rock when the music is on, and he also loves to kick back and just lounge around in the chair - you'll see him doing this in some of the pictures.

Isaac also had his first haircut this month. I took him to Snip Its. They are set up specifically for kids - toys, bright colors, and a video screen at every hair station. He did so well, even when the hair was itching his nose. Fortunately, I've taught him "be still" so that I can clean his ears, put drops in his ears after swimming, or take his temperature. Of course he doesn't stay still very long, but usually long enough for me to get the task done. That skill was very useful when she was cutting around his ears; she was impressed when he sat so perfectly still. When she finished he got a toy and a "First Haircut" certificate. I was pleased that it went so well.

He still loves school. He often doesn't want to leave when I get there. He just wants me to come and play too. He has a little girlfriend there. She's a little older, and already walking. When I dropped him off one morning she dropped everything as soon as she saw him, and came running over to give him kisses and hold his hand. It was too cute!

He also got to see Santa at school. It was not scheduled, so I didn't get a chance to go over and take pictures. His teacher took some pictures, though, and has promised to send them to me. She told me that he was very interested in Santa, and just kept staring at him, but never cried. Santa gave him a wooden airplane in Isaac's favorite color - blue. How did Santa know that!?!

That wraps up another month of firsts, and continuing milestones. I can't wait to see what he does next!

Isaac at 9 months

Isaac is 9 months old, and this month we have seen even more of his personality emerge. He can be so determined when he sets his mind to something. Crawling is now done in hyper-mode, because he can no longer do anything slowly - unless of course you really want him to go fast and then he seems to move in reverse!

He was given a clean bill of health at his 9-month check up. He's 31.5 inches tall and weighs 24 lbs 4 oz. He's actually on the chart at the 95th percentile - instead of somewhere above the chart as he's been in the past.

Two new teeth made their appearance this month - one on top and one on bottom, which is very odd but adorable, so we'll go with it. Even with only two teeth he has been eating more finger foods. I think he likes being able to have some control over his environment (I have absolutely no idea where he gets that). Rice puffs and green beans are his favorite, but we've also tried scrambled eggs, cottage cheese, and bananas. The problem with most finger foods is that they still need to be rather soft, and though he doesn't mind the texture in his mouth, he hates it on his fingers. Apparently I have a child who doesn't want to get his hands dirty. So, we've started using the toddler spoon instead of fingers for those really sticky things and he likes that much better.

His new found mobility has changed the way he plays, and it is so funny to watch him. He loves to pull up on toys and furniture and he's started to take a few steps around the tables. Our entire living room now seems like his personal obstacle course. He crawls over, under and around everything. He has a three-section play wall upstairs and he loves standing up, hiding behind it, and crawling through each section. He also enjoys walking with his push toy. There are days when he never tires of it, so we do what feels like a million laps around the house. Now that he's learning to walk with something for balance he tries to use everything like a push toy - like his infant seat, toy basket, a box, or the laundry basket. He has also started using every toy like a car - pushing it back and forth on the floor. It's so cute to watch him try to move Michael's huge shoes that way!

Even toys that he liked before have become more enjoyable for him as he begins to understand that he can do more than bang things together and put them in his mouth, though he still does a fair bit of both. The way he plays the piano now is really quite musical most of the time. Instead of just banging on the keys he's starting to rock his hands in a rhythmic way as though trying to mimic the actions he sees us making. He loves his little playhouse, and knows how to turn the "radio" on so that it will sing songs to him. He also loves ringing the doorbell and listening to the sound and watching the light go on; I have some pictures of him crawling through the door just to ring the bell.

Last month we were working on waving and other signs. He's got waving down - and now uses it to mean everything - hello/goodbye, more, hungry, all done, tired, etc. Every time we try to get him to sign, he waves. I shouldn't complain; at least he's trying to communicate! I think so many things will be better once we can establish a higher level of communication.

Now that he's mastered going up the stairs, we've been working with him on how to go down. He's making progress, but I thing the language barrier gets in the way. If only the boy understood English!

We finally had to set up a computer just for Isaac. Michael and I aren't able to do anything computer-related if Isaac is around because he is so fascinated by what we are doing that he wants to "help". So, we got out an old laptop and installed some baby/toddler software for him. He loves it! He knows where to go when he wants to play with his computer, and we don't have to worry about his trying to climb onto the chair, desk, etc while we're using ours. Now if we could just convince him to leave the mouse on the desk instead of trying to chew on it...

Sometimes he surprises me though. We put up the Christmas tree and decorations last weekend. I was afraid that it might be a constant fight to get him to stay away from the tree, but after telling him no a few times he seemed to get the idea. He's still curious and we still have to remind him occasionally, but for the most part, he just wants to look at it. This morning I looked over to see him waving at the tree. I'm not sure if he was saying "Hello", "Goodbye", or "How are ya?", but he looked happy, so we'll just leave it at that and hope that his curiosity doesn't get the better of him while the tree continues to invade his space for the next month!

Overall, it's been another great month, and after looking back at all of the notes (mostly his accomplishments noted on Facebook) I can't believe how many new things he's started doing.