Sweet Sir Isaac: Birthdays x3, and more

This past week Isaac got to help us celebrate his 2nd ever Ernst Birthday Week, in addition to a bunch of other celebrations.

The week started with Isaac joining Mommy at CCBC for the closing ceremony for her Single Step students. While Mommy was on stage introducing her students to present their writing, Isaac sat in the audience with Ms. Jenny and one of her teaching assistants, Mr. Reece. He was a great audience member, sitting quietly and clapping as each student received their certificate.

We started the birthday triduum with CharliePop's birthday on the 15th. He had taken off work to watch Isaac that day, but it turned out Mommy's classses with her high schoolers were canceled that day, so we wound up spending the morning together going out to Target so Isaac and CharliePop could spend their Hobbit Costume Contest winnings, and then to Barnes & Noble to pick out some books. Then we came back to the house and had some Kibby's shrimp salad for lunch. We had a fun day!

He was SO happy to give everyone their gifts this week!

Wednesday was Mommy's birthday, and after a surprise visit from Mommom in the morning, we spent the day running some errands. Then Mommy went out for some friend time with Jodi and Amanda while Daddy and Isaac picked up some sushi for birthday dinner.

Thursday was Mommom's birthday, but due to schedules, we didn't get to celebrate until Friday. Mommom came with us to the train garden at Marley Station and then out to lunch at the Severna Park Taphouse.

Over the weekend we had even more fun with friends and family. On Saturday morning we had a visit with Grandpa Larry, Daddy's cousin Kevin and his family, and great Aunt Debbie who had just flown in from Florida. Isaac was really excited to show Grandpa his favorite Christmas decoration, the very old Teleflora toy soldier carousel that has been around as long as Mommy can remember. He loved playing with his 2nd cousins Justin and Abby, and joined Justin on a duet at the piano.

The week of birthdays was a bit more exhausting than usual as we had a stretch of bad sleep with Isaac only sleeping 2-3 hours at a time for a few nights, due to some molars coming in. He ate a good share of frozen waffles and veggies that week!

Later in the evening we were invited to the DeBoy's annual Christmas party. We had planned to stay for just an hour or so due to Isaac's bedtime schedule, but Isaac was the life of the party and was having so much fun, so we wound up staying for the whole time. He loved the super soft blanket Mommy got in the White Elephant gift exchange, helping to protect it from being "stolen". He loved looking at all of Ms. Barb's Christmas decorations, and mingling with everyone, and was very content as we sung the 12 Days of Christmas and played some games. We thought for sure he would fall asleep on the ride home, but he was fired up from all the fun he had and just excitedly shouted, "Ma-MEEEE!!!" (Mommy) the whole ride home. Once in his crib, he happily talked to his stuffed bear for a good 30 minutes before finally falling asleep.

Here is a VIDEO of his latest pronunciation of "Ma-MEE" after a nap earlier this week.

helping to DJ

The next day at church Isaac was very good, and was particularly interested in the "baby" sitting in front of him and kept pointing to all his gear, saying "baby? baby?" After mass he was gifted a really cute homemade ball from Ms. Jane, one of the ladies at church, and he was SO happy to play with it with Ms. Ying and Mr. Frank after mass.

In other news, Isaac also had his first haircut this week. He got his hair cut by Bonnie at Vivid Salon, where Mommy gets her hair cut. He was so good, sitting still and even giggling when she used the electric razor to trim the edges around his neck.

"before":

"during":

"after":

Amidst all these outings, Isaac has still managed to keep us on our toes and make us laugh around the house. He's still "back flopping" into the dogs' bed, but very intentionally only when there's actually a dog in the bed. There have been several times he's been spotted approaching the bed, but if he finds it empty, he just moves along. Lady has quickly caught on to this, and has gotten very good at making her escape just as Isaac makes his descent. Allie, however, has not yet learned.

Allie and Isaac are developing a pretty special relationship. Isaac has been extra cuddly and affectionate with both dogs, but moreso with Allie (probably because she avoids him less than Lady does). He also calls both dogs by name now, "Ah-yee" and "Ay-dee".

We've continued to have unseasonably warm weather, which has allowed us to spend more time outside. One day while running around the yard, Isaac was spotted trying to sneak a peak into Santa's workshop where some of his assembled gifts from the North Pole are being stored.

Isaac has been really enjoying Christmas decorations wherever he goes. Here is a VIDEO of him spinning around to the wind-up music carousel. This has been a pretty frequent occurrence at the house this season. At Mom-mom-mom's he was excited to point out "Ho-ho" for all of her stuffed Santas he spotted, and happily identified stuffed Frosty's carrot nose, top hat, and coal buttons. He loves finding a place to sit around the house and quietly explore different objects, such as a wooden Christmas box from one of Mommy's college friends, and his prized ($1) 4th of July pinwheel.

"helping" to put things away

loving our photo Christmas cards

The other night, after undressing Isaac in our bedroom for bath time, Mommy went to toss his clothes in the hamper, expecting Isaac to be following her into the bathroom like usual. Turns out Isaac had made his naked self comfortable in bed and was settling in to apparently watch TV.

He's been doing a little redecorating in his room. He just doesn't seem to want the middle section of his framed dachshund trio art, as he has taken it down several times now. I guess without the middle section it just looks like a normal dog.

Randomly, just walking around the house eating an apple on a fork...

It has been an eventful and fun holiday season thus far. The Ernst-Rests want to wish our readers a very Merry Christmas. Of course we will be back soon with our Christmas 2015 entry!

Thank you Isaac for napping so well (for the most part) so we could take care of lots of DIY gifts this year!