Vacation

I decided to take my flight with Isaac all by myself.  Stupid?  Probably.  But it all worked out really well.  Isaac is a traveling champ!  Isaac and I flew to Baltimore/Washington on Saturday, May 14.  Isaac did not cry, or even fuss, once on the plane.  Our flight was super-early, so he slept through most of it before proceeding to charm our seatmates for the last 45 minutes or so...  My college roommate, Gail, came to the airport to pick us up.  We spent the night at her house where she and I had a chance to catch up while Isaac played with her kids' toys.


The next day, Gail dropped me off and my friend Amy picked us up.  We spent the night at her house on Sunday and had an awesome time with Amy, Sebastian, and the boys.  Amy's son, Nicholas, and Isaac had a great time building things with foam blocks and knocking them down.

That was before Isaac discovered that the blocks would float in the dog's water...

Isaac loved Sebastian, who let him get away with murder...

Amy's sister (and my FB friend), Jessica, brought her daughter over.  Juliana and Isaac were due within about a week of each other, but were born nearly a month apart!  They babies were so cute together!

I could have spent a week at the Fonss house!  :o)  But...  Monday, Amy and her sons drove into DC to take Isaac and me to Union Station.  We took a train to Williamsburg.  It took about 4 hours and Isaac was, again, a great traveler.  I got someone to help me load my ridiculously heavy suitcase and the car seat on the train.  Then Isaac and I found a seat with a woman who spends her days working with 1- to 2-year-olds.  Perfect!!!  She was fascinating because she has lived, literally, all over the world.  She was great to talk to on our journey and Isaac even managed to relax enough to take a little snooze while we chatted.


We spent the work week in Williamsburg at my sister's house.  Nana, Aunt Kristin, and Uncle Dave all lavished plenty of affection on Isaac.  Unfortunately, I have very few pictures of the week spent at their house...  Isaac practiced his walking skills and had great fun losing Aunt Kristin's markers for her.


Friday, we drove back up to Northern Virginia.  Isaac was really good in the car and napped much of the way.  As Kristin pointed out, he was actually less cranky than she and I were while sitting in traffic.


We had a wonderful roommate reunion at Michele's apartment.  We spent the day at National Harbor and then retired to Michele's apartment again for milkshakes, sushi, and relaxing.

Todd flew in on Saturday evening.  After dinner with a friend, he came down to NoVa and met up with us.  The next day, we drove up to Maryland, where we had a family gathering for our nephew, Kyle's, seventh birthday.  Would you believe that I didn't take a single photo of Kyle's party???  We did get a good family photo of all of us, though.

Tuesday, we drove up to the Youghiogheny River in Pennsylvania.  We were in a technology blackout - no phones, no email, NO FACEBOOK!!! for the rest of the week.  It was glorious!  Isaac had already traveled by planes, trains, and automobiles, and once we reached Yough, he got to experience a boat.  He wasn't a big fan of the bulky life preserver, but he wore it.  The river was beautiful and peaceful before the Memorial Day holiday weekend.  We took advantage of it.

Back at the A-frame (river house), Isaac worked on his stair-climbing mastery...  Mom wasn't terribly thrilled, but sometimes you have to pick your battles.

Isaac practiced walking with PopPop, as well as with both grandparents.  Grandma thinks he'll be walking on his own within the week, but I think it's going to be a few more weeks.  I'm fine with letting him take his time - I can still sort of keep up with him while he's still crawling.

After a thoroughly relaxing few days on the river, Todd, Isaac, and I went to Lower Burrell, PA to see Todd's grandmother.  She was so surprised that she got to meet Isaac!!!

We finally returned home on Sunday evening.  We had a day to get used to being back in Austin before Todd had to return to work today.  Isaac was an amazing traveler and never complained on our trip.  We had a great time seeing so much extended family.  I think we'll try to do it again next month.  :o)

Upright Mobility

Today was an exciting day at the Walter house!  Isaac took a few steps while holding my hands.  Up to now, he pushes the chairs around in the kitchen, but he won't try walking while holding onto Mommy or Daddy.  I am not sure he's realized he can walk to get to a destination.  He sometimes cruises down the couch, but he seems to do it more for fun than to get where he's going.


Anyway, this morning I had gone outside to set the cloth diapers in the sunshine.  As I re-entered the laundry room, Isaac was coming toward me.  He held onto my pants' legs and stood up, just as he's done a million or so times.  Usually I pick him up when he does this.  I was getting ready to move the laundry from the washer to the dryer, so I wanted to keep both hands free.  I asked if he'd like to look in the dryer while I loaded it - it is, after all, a giant container.  :o)  I took his little hands off my legs and held them.  He turned around, and then took 4 little steps to the dryer!!!  I was jumping and clapping and carrying on like a lunatic!  LOL


Anyway, I managed to (sort of) take a video of Isaac walking.  He was trying to get his hands free so he could crawl because that's faster, but he managed to get across the living room on just 2 feet.  I couldn't be prouder!


Enjoy!!!