Almost 14 months

People often ask me when we're out how old Isaac is. I always have to check myself before saying "one year old," and instead now say 13 months. However, even that is incorrect as he's only five days shy of 14 months now!

And boy, do I love having a 14 month old around! He is so much fun, getting into mischief about a million times a day and cute as a button every time he does. So just what does Isaac like to do these days?

He thinks pulling stuff out of the exposed garbage can in the kitchen is fun. Other "yuck" places that look interesting are his diaper garbage, the bathroom garbage and the wood bin by the fireplace. Whenever he goes to touch one of those, I say "yuck", with an emphasis on the "ckkk" sound at the end, tell him "no," and pull him away or slap his hand depending on how many times in a row I've told him. So now, whenever Isaac is headed to one of his dirty destinations, I can hear him going "ckkk, ckkk" as he heads there. He's not too sneaky yet, that little monkey of mine! And I am starting to see how moms can be accused of having eyes in the back of their heads : )

Other trouble spots for Isaac are pulling off his bib at the table (still! Ever since he started eating solids this has been a battle ground.) And yes, we believe in discipline, it's just trying to figure out what will work for Isaac as he seems to forget the bib rule at least 57 times a day.

He likes to open the stove drawer and play with doors, both things that I allowed him to do until I thought through the danger he could get himself into with playing around hot stoves or locking himself in a room or getting his fingers squished under a door (yup, that one has happened). Those are harder to discipline him on as they were once OK and now they're a no-no. Makes me really try to think through new actions of his for whether they'll be safe in the long run for him or not.

Speaking of safety, Isaac is figuring out how to open drawers now. We have many drawers in the basement suite and he's slammed his fingers in a few of them already. Poor guy : ( Luckily, cuddles from Mommy usually make him feel better.

Isaac is still calling me 'Mama', more often 'Mamamamama', and sometimes just 'Mom', which is pretty funny to us. He is failing miserably in the Daddy department though. Justin has been 'Baba' occasionally, 'Mama' often and quite often just smiles and laughs at Justin when he practices 'Daddy' with him. Lots of stuff Daddy does with Isaac is for giggles, so maybe he thinks this is a game too! And unfortunatley when I try to practice saying Dada with Isaac, he starts to look for Justin. One day I said something about Daddy coming home and Isaac crawled from the kitchen to the living room, thinking Justin must be hiding in there. It makes me sad to have him looking for his daddy when he won't be home for hours.

But when Justin does get home, it's the best part of all our days. Isaac gets super excited, crawls faster than you can say Baba and grabs onto Justin's leg. So sweet. And it allows me to get dinner finished up while my favourite guys spend some time together catching up on their days : )

Speaking of my boy, I can hear him waking up from his nap. Love my boy!

Dinner party

Aw heck, I've gone and left the blog to rot again. Why do I bother with it at all if it's going to lose momentum so quickly?!

Oh well.

Just saw an interesting post on another blog and thought I'd steal the idea.

It's a list of who I would invite to a dinner party if I could invite anyone. So I think that should be people who would keep the conversation going, something I always feel like I'm doing when we have company over.
Ugh. I hate trying to come up with a topic people will find fascinating. Especially since my life basically revolves around cleaning dirty bums, dirty bathrooms, and dirtying the kitchen making meals that will inevitably lead to more dirty bums and bathrooms. Ugh.

1. Preston Manning. (I know, I am such a dork.)
2. George Stombolopolous

3. Rick Mercer
4. Rainn Wilson
5. Jen from CakeWrecks / Epbot
6. Tracey Hogg. Actually, she's dead. But if she wasn't I'd invite her so I could get tips on what to do now that Isaac is a crazy kid
7. Peter Jackson
8. Mark Driscoll
9. Jack Johnson. Though less because I want to talk to him and more because maybe he'd bring his guitar and play some light dinner music while we eat : )
10. ...?
I should think of another girl to invite. This is horribly imbalanced.

And actually, this dinner party probably wouldn't go very well. There's not a lot of overlap between interests. Well, the first three people would talk politics. Peter Jackson and Rainn Wilson could discuss film. Jen would totally love to talk to Peter Jackson, and he'd probably find her fascinating too. Tracy Hogg really doesn't fit into this party, I should just remove her. Especially since, you know, she's dead.

Mark Driscoll is awesome and would probably end up having a deep discussion with the dudes and hopefully get them to rethink their lives. How cool would it be if Rainn Wilson or Rick Mercer became Christians? Oh yeah, Mark and Preston could have lots to talk about too.

Maybe it would be a good dinner party after all. Now I just need to fill up spots #6 and #10.

6. Why didn't I think of this one earlier? Definitely have to invite Johnny Depp. I'm not much of a celebrity fan, but Johhny's the exception. I think he's a great actor and is probably a stand-up guy too. Would be fun to enjoy some appies before dinner with him and chat about life.
10. Obviously my hubby and my baby. Cop-out? Nah, no dinner party would be as much fun without them : )

Isaac's first birthday!

Today my baby turned one year old! It's hard to believe my tiny little scrunchy monkey is now a busy, noisy, crawling one year old.

Today was a good day. We are having a crazy big party on Saturday, so today was lovely in its low-key, relaxed type way. Didn't make a big deal out of anything, just relaxed and enjoyed the day together. Isaac gave us a bit of a gift this morning by just laying in bed cuddling after he had his bottle. He never cuddles and is always on the move, so that was a nice treat. If Justin didn't have to head off to work, Isaac might have even fallen asleep again!

We played for a bit, then I made Isaac blueberry pancakes for breakfast - I think that's his favourite. There was a little bit of orange juice in the fridge so he got to have that too. He's only had a bit of orange juice before but he sure likes it!

After his morning nap we played again, then went to Renfrew Park for a bit to go on the swings and the slide. The sun was out but it sure was cold. Isaac got a bit wind-burnt and we were only out for maybe half an hour to 45 minutes.

We had grilled cheese for lunch - definitely one of his favourites - then played a bit more before his afternoon nap. Unfortunately his nap wasn't long enough and he was clingy in the later afternoon. But it just meant dinner wasn't quite ready when Justin got home.

We had lasagna (frozen leftovers from my massive lasagna I made last month), and I pan fried butternut squash - a definite veggie fave for our boy!

After dinner we got ready for Isaac's smash cake. Oh boy, what a production that was! Good thing it was just us, the kitchen was filled with the vinyl sheet, and I was basically in the way of Justin shooting photos because the space is so small. But it was definitely worth it! Isaac had so much fun, ate some cake, got thoroughly messy and now we will have some fun first birthday pictures to treasure.

He got dropped right into a bath, then got to open his presents after. We gave him a book that will be better when he's older and doesn't rip pages, a dish set from Ikea with a suction-cup bowl and a sippy cup that he picked up right away and tried drinking out of! And we gave him a jungle puzzle. I love the Melissa and Doug brand stuff, they are all very cool designs and I love that it's wood too. Isaac had fun playing with the three puzzle pieces and I think that will be a good toy.

We ended the day as we always do, reading a couple stories, praying over him then singing a couple songs. All in all, it was a day mostly like any other - except the smash cake and presents! - and it was a good day. Happy 1st birthday Isaac!

Stocking stuffer ideas

It's always a toss-up with stockings. I love getting stockings, but it's sometimes hard shopping for them. And Justin gets discouraged trying to figure out what to buy me that won't tip our cheapo-Christmas into a spend-a-thon.

But when I walk around the malls, I could buy about five stockings worth for myself. Isn't that awful? Here's some of the things I might buy if I was doing my own stocking:




scarves, pashminas

gloves and toques

hats

pjs

cute socks

slippers



earrings

necklaces

lip gloss

Body Shop stuff like body butter, fragrance oils, tea tree skin products

gum

chocolate

gift cards



yummy smelling candles or Scentsy diffuser and variety of oil cubes

fun kitchen stuff: cool straws, cookie cutters, cake decorating stuff, new spices / seasonings, special flavoured oils, cupcake liners, wooden spoons

specialty teas or hot chocolates

small filled picture frame

crafty stuff: cute ribbon / fabric for a sewing project plus a pattern, craft supplies to do with Isaac when he's older

pretty home decor stuff: mantle knick knacks, vinyl wall art, outdoor decor

nice pens

journal

dish cloths / tea towels

fridge magnets

stuff for my boy: leggings / arm warmers, onesies, sleepers, bath toys, harmonica, tambourine, other fun toys or games

I could go on and on. But I won't : )

I am so excited to fill Isaac's stocking this year, and have some ideas to get me started. Before I know it, Christmas will be here!!

Oh Christmas!

I am getting so excited for Christmas this year. Usually I enjoy the holidays, but it's not really something I start thinking about until at least the third or fourth week of November. I'm one of those people that roll their eyes when the Christmas stuff starts showing up.

"It's too early!" I always exclaim. No matter when the green and red paraphernalia appears.

Last year, I would have preferred if Christmas just skipped right past us. I was SO tired, SO utterly and completely exhausted, the thought of doing anything other than eating something and going back to bed when my very little one was sleeping left me overwhelmed. Just the thought of decorating, baking, trimming the tree etc. was beyond me.


We did cut down a tree. Brought Isaac out in his stroller to one of those u-cut places in Lynn Valley. By the time we got there, Isaac was hungry - AGAIN - and tired. But we trudged around the lot, looking for a tree. It was fun and I'm glad we did it. But then that poor tree sat forlorn in our living room, looking bare and dying more every day. By a few days before Christmas, all that had happened was a bunch of needles fell on the floor. Finally Justin decorated it one evening. Poor guy, pretty much did it all himself. I sat on the couch in my pjs and watched.




Christmas day was nice. Isaac slept at the right times so that I could open presents with my family and eat Christmas dinner. He was taking approximately an hour to nurse still, and he nursed quite frequently. So the fact I was able to partake of some Christmas activity was a big deal.

But then Boxing Day, he did – I am not kidding – a 16 hour nursing marathon. He was obviously going through a growth spurt, so I literally spent the day on the couch. Ugh.

But this year? Oh yeah, this year is going to be AWESOME! My little one is not quite so little anymore. He crawls and rolls and sits up and plays with anything and everything put in front of him. I can't wait to see him playing with his toys and, let's be honest here, the boxes and wrapping paper too. I can't wait to let him try some Christmas goodies, to sip a bit of egg nog (that's OK, right?) and to hopefully take him out in the snow. Squee!

When the silver balls and red bows started popping up in Superstore - right next to the bloody chainsaws and scary skeletons - I couldn't wait to start browsing. I twinkle toed up and down the half an aisle, picking up this and that, dreaming of decorating and Christmas pictures and stuffing stockings.

Yup. This year, I've been smitten with Christmas spirit. I cannot wait. Hurry up Christmas, get here already!

These pictures are basically the only pictures I took on Christmas day. I didn't even take any of our tree at home, though I think Justin did. And we didn't even get a family picture. So much for starting traditions with our boy! Oh well, traditions can start a year later, right?

11 months

My baby,

You're almost not even my baby anymore. You're almost one year old. You're almost the age where we will start tracking the time less by the months, more by the 'year' and 'half year' markers. You're almost at the age where you will do much more boy stuff, much less baby stuff. You're almost at the age where you move inexorably towards independence and further away from needing me. Gradual, slow, small steps, but each one a step towards standing on your own two feet - first literally and then as the years pass - figuratively.

But for now, you are still mine. You're my baby and I will hang onto you for as long as I can, keeping you safe and cuddled and mine until my job has been done well enough that I become incidental in your life.






You are learning so quickly now, each day you are discovering more and figuring out how your little world works. Just this week, you started dropping objects into containers. It's a big deal, since up until now it's been take out / dump out things. We have a shape sorter ball that's broken, and you put the shapes into the empty, upturned half a ball now. Then you dump it out, grab the shape and drop it in again. You also spent a good deal of time yesterday dropping a ring into the container and taking it out again. So precious.

You caught your first cold this week. Mommy got sick on Tuesday, Daddy caught it Wednesday, and we managed to keep the germs from you until Friday afternoon, when your nose started running. You're a real trooper with your cold so far, still playing even though you're not feeling too great. Yesterday afternoon you had a small fever, but by the evening (after your second two hour nap of the day) it had dropped.

Hmmm, what else? Anything significant happen in the last month? Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that you're CRAWLING!!!! We are SO proud of you, little one, as you pull yourself along with your hands and push with your sweet toes. Your bum lifts up a bit, but you don't have the classic "crawl" happening yet. I know I mentioned this in the last post, but it's worth expanding on. Because people, this is a BIG DEAL!!!



At first you would get so frustrated just moving a foot or two forward. Now, you move across the living room quickly, you go out into the hallway and turn around, figuring out where you want to go next. If Mommy is working in the kitchen, you "fwop fwop" (the term I've dubbed for the sound you make) your way towards me. You let me know you're on your way not just by the sound of your hands fwopping, but also giving me a talking to about the fact that I am not in the same room as you anymore and you are not impressed!

In the last month you've cut three top teeth: the top front left Sept. 20, top right Sept. 30 and Oct. 16 (OK, one day past your 11 month) you cut your third. Now you've got five - wow!

You still say lots of 'mamama' sounds, and your favourite sound is 'ba'. You make that lots, especially when you're happy. But if we ask, "where's Daddy" or "where's Mommy" you look right to the correct parent. Good job!

Anyway, I could go on and on. But seriously, I think pretty much every moment with you is worth recording and everything you do is adorable. So that would be a lot to write about. Ooh, one last thing. Yesterday morning you tried blueberry pancakes for the first time, and loved them. I think we've found your new favourite food. You inhaled those flapjacks like they were made of candy. Which as far as you know, they are.

Thanksgiving

Thankful today for so many things. But most of all, thankful that the Lord blessed us with such a beautiful baby 11 months ago. He is my boy, and I am his momma, and that is a blessing beyond understanding. There is nothing I did or can do to deserve this perfect child, this baby with his body and mind intact, who is growing, learning, developing, who has no genetic diseases, sicknesses, who can see and hear and taste and touch and smell, who understands and responds. I cannot praise the Lord enough for this child of mine.


And in related news, Isaac is a crawler now! Hurray!! Within days of him "creeping" a bit across the floor, he was learning to pull with his arms and push with his toes, and is a boy on the move now. He gets his bum a little bit in the air, and it's still a lot of hard work. But he can motor from one end of the living room to the other, and come out into the hallway when I'm in the kitchen. It's cute and pathetic at the same time, because he's crawling and crying since it's still hard work for him. I feel like he's thinking, "Mommy, how come you don't want to be with me as much as I want to be with you?!" He's working so hard to get to me, but then it's so rewarding because I meet him in the hallway and scoop him up in my arms and get the best cuddles!! I love this kid.