Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very fun, relaxing, and productive Memorial Day weekend!

On Sunday morning we met Debbie for an early trip to the JFX Farmer's Market where we got a lot of different produce for the week, including some local strawberries for a new cake recipe Mommy wanted to try.  Isaac had fun hanging in the carrier, sharing samples, and checking out all of the sights.

Ready to go! Let me out of here!

Then we went home for our morning nap, and Debbie went to Ryan's to pick up Jimmy & JJ to join us for an afternoon trip to Kinder Farm Park.  After a picnic lunch we went and checked out the animals, and then the boys had a lot of fun playing on the playground while Isaac sat in the shade and took notes.  Our friend Jeff also happened to be there with his daughter, so we got to catch up with him for a bit too. When we got home we put the boys to work weeding and picking up pine cones (trying to tire them out for Ryan & Lauren who were at home busy packing for their move!), followed by some hammock time.

before we left Debbie gave Isaac a sunscreen mohawk

hammock time

Later that night after bed time, Mommy and Daddy bottled the beer Daddy is brewing. It should be ready in a few more weeks!

On Monday, Isaac got up at his regular 6am wake-up time.  He wakes up ready to play, and after clearing off the books and toys we now keep on our headboard, he decided to climb on top of it and crawl around. *sigh*

both of our alarm clocks on the headboard
The electric one is just an unnecessary backup for the Isaac model.

Then we went on a family walk to the duck pond.

After naptime, Mommom Patti & CharliePop came over for some homemade strawberry cake, and to visit with Isaac. Then Isaac had some more playtime outside, pushing his cart and getting soaked at his water table.  

water break!

We had an extended weekend with Tuesday being one of Mommy's regular days off and Daddy taking the day off to finally get out and golf.  He hadn't been out since well before Isaac was born. It'd probably close to 2 years since he's swung a golf club.  So while Daddy headed out to the links, Mommy and Isaac went out for a morning walk to see the ducks and then ran some errands.  It was a pretty eventful day at the duck pond, with a very vocal greeting of quacks & honks and lots of action amongst the ducks and geese.  We also finally got to see the ducklings up close as they came all the way up to the fence and eventually came out to the sidewalk where we were!

trying out the flotation devices at Costco

14 Months Old

Isaac still has no interest in walking.  He's shown us he's perfectly capable (cruising like a pro, standing on his own albeit without realizing it, and taking a few "accidental" steps), so Mommy has no worries developmentally, but he just prefers crawling, probably because he's so good at it! If I had to rank Isaac's mastery level of crawling, it would be "expert".  Other moms and playgroup leaders always comment on how fast and strong he is. Grandpa Larry described him as a waterbug and said he's "the crawlingest baby I ever did see" (which says a lot coming from a grandfather of 8, and a former daycare runner!). With the warmer weather we've been in bare feet quite often and the tops of Isaac's feet have been quite filthy by the end of the day from all of his crawling.

Some monthly updates...
(we'll have more specifics on his physical stats next month when we go in for his 15-month well visit)


Isaac naps about 3-4 hours a day between a morning and an afternoon nap.  The bedtime routine starts around 7pm with a bath and ends with toothbrushing and a few books.  His current favorite seems to be Ten Tiny Toes.  He smiles whenever Mommy grabs it and laughs and smiles while she reads it.  He usually falls asleep around 7:30/8 and on a good night just wakes up once around 4am, and then gets up for the day around 6am. He's still working on some more teeth which has been causing some restless nights and more early mornings in bed with Mommy and Daddy.  We know he's up for the day when he wakes us up with his big half-moon grin and a giggle and a kiss. He starts with Mommy and then moves over to Daddy to wake him up with an ear- or nose-grab...whatever he can get his hands on.  He'll do this until Daddy finally opens his eyes, and then he laughs and smiles. 

In general Isaac seems to be enjoying books more and more and is trying to eat them less and less.  He is still pretty squirmy a lot of the times so we have found that reading to him while he's in the tub or in his highchair are some of the more productive read aloud times. But in general he is getting to be more content sitting and listening to a story, and also sitting by himself and flipping through the pages.  He especially loves interactive books with one of his current favorites being Where is Baby's Belly Button? Here he is enjoying his latest installment of the Zoobies subscription we got him for his birthday, all about penguins.  

He is still breastfed throughout the day in addition to eating a solid breakfast, lunch and dinner. He has been maintaining his big appetite, and we've been getting more vegetables in him by way of homemade pouches and zucchini-carrot oatmeal breakfast cookies.  His recent favorite pouch has spinach, peas, sweet potatoes, pineapple and strawberries.  Another favorite lunch has been a spinach-artichoke hummus sandwich.

trying out his first potsticker:

Now that the weather is staying consistently pleasant, part of our morning routine is going for a nice long walk after breakfast.  The duck pond is one of our favorite stops, and as we turn onto the street where the birds reside, Isaac has started to recognize the path and starts to make excited noises as we get closer. We also usually make a stop at the park and swing while we watch the school buses arrive, dropping the kids off at Isaac's future school.

backyard swinging

We've been shopping around for a dining room table, and one of the stores we went to had a cool car-cart.  Isaac had a good time driving around while Mommy and Daddy were absorbed in finishes and tabletop dimensions.

And one of Isaac's absolute favorite things is anything that can be turned into a percussion instrument, be it a table (or any hard surface) to drum, his shaker eggs, or his pasta shaker.  He loves banging on any potential "drum" and dancing around to a beat created by Mommy or Daddy.  He LOVES music (no surprise there!). When he sees us going to turn on the radio he starts dancing even before the music comes on.  

Isaac went back to the eye doctor this week and got his training glasses taped. We had a long wait in the kid-friendly waiting room and Isaac had a good time playing with lots of new toys, and crawling up and down the hallways.

After our appointment we went for our weekly visit to see Mom-mom-mom and great Uncle Tony.  Uncle Tony answered the door, and Isaac immediately reached out to him to be held.  He and Uncle Tony are getting to be good buddies.  While sitting with Mom-mom-mom on the rocking chair, she got a good laugh when Isaac reached up and made silly faces when Mommy got out her camera.

Grandpa Larry got Isaac (or, "Issac") his first baseball that was given to him after playing catch with a kid in his neighborhood. Isaac can already grab the ball one-handed, and more and more seems to be showing signs of being a lefty.