Here you go, Mommy!

Isaac is really keeping us on our toes with his growing list of words and phrases, with a favorite being, "Here you go, Mommy!" whenever he is giving something to or receiving something from Mommy.  Daddy has also been working with him to say "good morning", and when Mommy got home the other night, she heard Isaac repeatedly exclaiming from the other room, "Mommy's home! Mommy's home!", and was welcomed by a very happy, dancing Isaac. What a nice greeting! Some other phrases are, "hey dude", "more ____, please", "thank you", and "uh-oh!"

Aunt Margie gave Isaac a Mr. Potato Head for Valentine's Day, and Isaac spent a great deal of time over the weekend playing with it.  Here is a "selfie VIDEO" of Isaac showing off his new toy.

Speaking of "selfie videos", it seems to be one of Isaac's favorite things to watch himself on selfie mode.  Here's another cute VIDEO of Isaac watching himself, and eventually showing off some body parts too. 


Last week when we went to Toddler Time at the library they gave out little dinosaur volcano science experiment kits. We first tried it by adding water as the instructions said to do, but after not getting a reaction, Daddy made some changes and we tried again using more baking soda with the provided "eruption powder" and vinegar instead of water. Isaac was equally indifferent to both trials.  Here is a VIDEO of take 1, and a VIDEO of take 2.

On Valentine's Day morning, Isaac was really excited to open his gifts, giving out a very enthusiastic, "Whoaaa!" when he looked in his gift bag and saw the Abby Cadabby & Elmo bus. Here is a VIDEO. As we got ready for church, we heard Isaac happily playing in his crib, repeating, "Elmo, Abby...vroom-vroom-vroom!"

At breakfast he grabbed his Valentine's Day card from Aunt Margie off the counter and insisted on "reading" it while he ate his omelet and protein flapjacks.

After church and running some errands, we had a quick visit with Mommom & CharliePop. Isaac was so cute hiking up the steep driveway with his new Elmo/Abby bus.  He had a good time opening his gift from Mommom & CharliePop - a huge stuffed dog, and 5 different varieties of apples. Another "whoaaaa"-worthy gift!

On Valentine's evening we spent the night in with a homemade surf & turf family dinner, with filet mignon from Treuth's and crabcakes made with (thoroughly researched by Daddy) Maryland crabmeat.  For dessert we had some Valentine's cookies...Mommy's first (very rushed and distracted) attempt at decorating sugar cookies.  

On President's Day Daddy made us blueberry waffles with the new waffle iron he got Mommy for Valentine's Day.  After breakfast we did a quick foam sticker craft with owls and hearts. (Owls seems to be one of Isacc's favorite animals at the moment.)

The snow/ice that came through earlier this week mixed with an under-the-weather Daddy, made for lots of time for snuggles this week too.

  

The other night Isaac insisted on continuing to eat his apple from dinner while in the tub.  He actually did a pretty good job playing with bath toys with one hand while eating his apple with the other. That is, until Isaac announced there was "poopy" in the tub. And grossly enough, even though this isn't the first time this has happened, it was the first time Isaac was actually upset by there being poop in the tub. Even after we quickly removed him from the tub and assured him it was ok, he was still very upset and concerned as we cleaned him off and got him dressed for bed. And the next morning he went into the bathroom and with great concern looked in the tub asking about "poopy".  

And in closing, Mommy's favorite picture from the week: Isaac dancing with his arms in his overalls.  He cheesed for the camera when he saw Mommy getting ready to take a picture.

What's That You Say?

The past few weeks were pretty busy with Mommy's semester starting back up and everyone in the house getting sick, so we're a little behind on pictures and blogging. Even with congestion and a bad cough, Isaac has filled our days with laughter, entertainment, cuddles, and new words/phrases.

Before we get to photo updates, we've gotten feedback from some of our loyal readers that the videos are an enjoyable component of the blog that seem to somehow get missed at times. So here is an assortment of video clips from the past two weeks. 

First up is "Closet Peekaboo". Isaac recently discovered he can hide in Mommy's built-in wardrobes and open/close the doors while inside. Here he is pretending to be the pizza man followed by some photos. VIDEO here (at the very end of the video he asks for "Baby Bum" which is his favorite series of nursery rhyme videos on YouTube. He's a bit obsessed.)

Isaac has also been improving his dance moves with the help of Elmo & Friends.  Here are THREE different snippets of some of Isaac's head-bobbing, foot-stomping, hip-swaying dancing:   Elmo's Got the Moves (1), Clap-Clap... (2), and Elmo Slide (3).

And lastly (on the video front) Friday pizza night is becoming a favorite for the whole family.  We alternate between homemade pizza and getting carryout.  This week we tried out BricknFire Pizza Co., a (DELICIOUS) pizza food truck that we had a Groupon for.  While Isaac has never turned down any pizza we've shared, it seems as though brick oven style may be his favorite, as he insisted on having a 4th slice, and savagely ate the chewy, charred crust. Pizza time is actually a very emotional experience for Isaac. HERE* is a video clip of him almost having a meltdown when we didn't get him a 4th slice of pizza fast enough (we thought he'd had enough because he asked for some "abacala", aka avocado, and an apple. But then he spotted Daddy eating more pizza and realized what he was missing, and instantly let his feelings be known.), and HERE* is a video just a few moments later of a much happier and sillier (and pizza-filled) Isaac making content faces. 

*while I don't know where he gets the skinny legs and dance skills evidenced in the previous videos, it's clear where Isaac gets his pizza-loving and general food obsession from

Isaac is still a pretty good eater and is definitely growing...in height and weight, but seemingly not much in girth.  We're still searching to find the best fit pants for his long and lean physique, as exampled by his 24 month pants shown below that he walked right out of on several occasions the other day, giving Mommy lots of laughs.  

We're still practicing being consistently gentle with the dogs. For the most part, Isaac is doing better. The other day as Isaac was switching sides during a morning nursing session, he stopped to give Allie this sweet unsolicited hug.  And he often stops amidst playing to lean in towards the dogs saying, "muah" and giving them a sweet kiss midair. 

Allie often returns the favor with her own kisses:

We're taking a break from homemade smoothie pouches after this rebellious pouch-emptying. All of the green spots you see are smoothie.  That was fun to clean! 

Isaac has been enjoying his new toddler-height book shelves we installed over the snow break and had an inaugural clothing optional baby book club meeting. 

Here are just a few other random shots around the house from the past few weeks.  

an interesting seat for watching Sesame Street

Mr. Bob from the choir gave Isaac this shirt. He loves it and calls it "eyes"

Mommy had a rehearsal at the house with one of her choir members. Isaac literally stood like this the entire 30 minutes we practiced with his eyes glued on Ms. Alice, not making a sound. Ms. Alice had a hard time keeping from laughing with such a serious audience member watching her every move. 

On top of adding new words and phrases each day, Isaac has also added some non-verbal signals, such as this not-to-subtle hint that he'd prefer to watch Sesame Street instead of eat breakfast. 

Finishing up his coloring sheet from Toddler Time at the library.

Isaac has really seemed to master his spoon use, being able to eat brothy soups and his new favorite treat: oy-ee-ool (cereal) with milk (and of course drinking the milk after all of the cereal is gone).  He is also a bit of a clown at times, trying to balance things on his head such as an apple, or a dirty spoon. *sigh* 

He has been having an amusing relationship develop with broccoli these past few weeks.  Mommy has pretty much given up on giving Isaac any raw veggies for now, as he simply doesn't seem to like the texture.  However, whenever he sees Mommy enjoying a snack of broccoli he always asks for some "brockee?" Mommy shares it each time, with very low expectations.  The first few times Isaac would take the broccoli and oh-so-slowly bring it to his mouth and then right as it's about to touch his mouth he holds it away, with a very adamant, "nooo!". However, the last few times, he's taken the broccoli and taken progressively more nibbles to the point where he is now finishing a whole rather large piece of broccoli with meals when Mommy is snacking on some. Progress! Here he is enjoying broccoli, veggie spring rolls, and jasmine rice. 

We've been trying to get out for some fresh air whenever possible.  Between the snow storms we had some fun outside swinging and exploring the yard, even venturing out to a new (ivy filled) corner of the yard.  We had a little more snow earlier in the week, so we bundled up again and Isaac had a fun time trotting around between the snowflakes and laughing at Lady who seemed to be really enjoying her frolic through the dusting of wet snow. 

We had Grandpa Larry (poo-pa) and Grandma Jean over on the 30th for Grandpa's birthday. Grandpa requested a special Greek lemon chicken soup that Mommy makes and we also made some homemade french bread. 

Debbie came over one day for some wedding errands, and to entertain Isaac while Mommy got ready she face-timed with Megan.  Megan tried her hardest to entertain and get at least a smile out of Isaac, but he kept this serious/perplexed stare on his face the whole time.

While getting ready to leave Sandy's the other day, Mommy went to grab Isaac's coat and hat thinking he was right behind her, but when she turned around she saw he had went the complete opposite direction and had quickly sat on the couch with Declan hoping to stay longer and watch a movie. 

And he was so sick last week when he was at Aunt Margie's that he actually fell asleep on the couch after his nap, and stayed laying down like this even once Mommy arrived and started talking to Aunt Margie. Poor guy. :-/

Isaac had to spend the evening with Mommy at church on Monday while Daddy went to the doctor's.  Isaac sat nicely in a chair happily reading books while Mommy had a meeting before rehearsal. Then at rehearsal, Ms. Rhonda set him up with a music stand so he could "direct".  Isaac did a pretty good job staying entertained and out of trouble while Mommy led practice, but he did manage to sneak over to the piano a few times, playing a few notes of his own and one time cranking up the volume to full blast. 

We've had a couple of our weekly Mommy-Son breakfast outings at Willy's trying out some of their healthier pancake options (so far we've tried buckwheat and sweet potato) and practicing our table manners. Isaac really enjoys looking at the menu when we first get there.  One on of our outings we made some friends with some of the older patrons who commented on how well behaved Isaac was (and being very impressed with his appetite, especially once finding out this was his 2nd breakfast of the day).  We also ran into someone Mommy went to high school with.

We visited with Mom-mom-mom and Great Uncle Tony this week. Isaac is starting to figure out where everyone keeps their snacks.  As soon as we got in the house, Isaac somehow dragged Uncle Tony into the kitchen where he asked for some cereal.  He came back into the living room while Mommy was still taking off her coat, surprising her by already having his mouth full! Isaac had fun playing and dancing with Uncle Tony while Mommy taught Mom-mom-mom a crochet stitch. Then he came over and did some more dancing for Mom-mom-mom.