New Shoes

After much ado about not being able to pull photos off my camera...  I had a full memory card, so I didn't even take many videos between posts.  I am proud, however, to present a post that has nothing to do with problems in our house!  LOL


Here's the 10-month photo (a couple weeks late).  You'll note that Isaac is standing rather than laying down for this picture.  Think of it as representative of how life is going these days!  Ha ha!

Isaac's Nana (my mom) has been here since last Sunday.  She left this morning and we were sorry to see her go.  We had a *fantastic* visit and are already hoping for her next one.  Mom got to witness first-hand the difference a couple of weeks makes in Isaac's development.

Isaac is crawling everywhere now.  It's so fun to see him exploring his world.  Monday, his friend Isaiah came over to spend the day.  Isaiah's a bit taller than Isaac, so things had to be moved up just a little higher than they were.  It made for an interesting day!  Both boys crawl all over the place, then get to a piece of furniture and use it to pull up to a stand.  Isaac is getting faster daily and seems to be pulling up every time I turn around.  The good news is that he can now also get down from a stand, which was much harder to master safely.  Since it's a matter of time before he's walking, we have also gotten Isaac some new shoes.  I think they're adorable, but you can decide for yourself.

As of this writing, Isaac has 4 teeth.  He's got 2 more coming in and I expect to see them within the next couple of weeks (if not days).  Poor little fellow!  The top 2 came in simultaneously and now he's cutting the 3rd - hopefully this weekend so he can finally get some sleep (and so can we).  Here's a messy shot of Isaac's enjoyment of a teething biscuit a couple of weeks ago.

Isaac learned to clap this week.  His friends were here on Wednesday and he saw Henry, Anderson, and Cash clapping.  Apparently this was enough to convince him to give it a try.  He is *adorable* when he claps because he gets a huge smile on his face like he's proud of himself.  Today, he also began pointing.  I try to tell him what items are in front of him when he points, but it's usually "Mom."  :o)  I'll try to get video of Isaac clapping this weekend.  It's not something he'll do when prompted, so it's tricky to catch on camera.  Meanwhile, here's a little bit of him crawling and playing (though not as fast as he was moving today!)

Flood!

I know it's been a while since my last post.  Things have been a little hectic around here.  Mom arrived to visit us last Sunday and we've been having a great time, so far.


Last Wednesday, however, we had a mishap.  Our downstairs toilet took on a life of its own and flooded our bathroom and the entryway to the house.  At about 5:00, I heard the toilet making a few small noises (no one was in the room with it).  I figured I would ask Todd about it when he got home in a couple of hours.  Surprise!  The toilet decided not to wait for Todd's arrival.  A few minutes after the initial warning sound, I suddenly heard water gushing onto the floor.  I tried to shut off the water valve in the bathroom, but the water kept coming.  I ran outside and turned off the water main coming into the house.  Mom and I did our best to clean up the water and I made a frantic call to Todd to get home *now*.  We used, literally, every single towel in the house to mop up the water.  We are not completely sure that our floors are going to survive, but the toilet has been removed and reinstalled, so we're optimistic.  We borrowed a dehumidifier from a friend and had it set up for a few days.  It's hard to say how much water may have gotten past the waterproof barriers, however, since the water was all the way against the wall (where the barrier ends, obviously).  Anyway, I opted to try to save the floors rather than taking photos, so you are spared the visions of our near swimming pool...  Cross your fingers that this will be the last you hear of this particular incident.  I really hope the floors don't have to come out!!

Snow Day!

I had lots of grand plans about blogging while Todd was out of town last week.  Then the cold weather hit...  Our pipes froze and Isaac and I had to sleep in the Jeep.  


Okay, not really.  We stayed with our friends, the Cantins, for a few days.  Henry and Isaac had a very extended play day while Candy and Heather got great breakfasts made by Jason each morning.  You could say we made the most of a bad situation.  LOL


Here are a few pictures of Henry and Isaac mostly putting up with their moms taking pictures of them in the snow...  When we got home on Saturday morning, there was still quite a bit of snow in our back yard.  I think we actually had more snow at our home than at the Cantins' house, but I wasn't about to traumatize Isaac with another snow pose.

After exhausting himself in the snow, Isaac took a 2+ hour nap in the Pack 'n' Play.  Ivy kept an eye on him for me...

Air Mattress Fun

This is what happens when you don't deflate the air mattress immediately after your guests leave...

Isaac thought this was outrageously fun.  I missed the incredible onslaught of giggles that told me to get a camera, but you can see the ear-to-ear smile.

Quick Videos from Grandparents' Visit

If I wait until I have time to write about the great visit from Todd's parents, this will never get posted.  Here are a couple new games that Isaac learned with Grandma and Grandpa:

This one, however, continues to be the favorite.  Isaac and Jackson play this several times a day, sometimes for 5 minutes or more.

A cute picture of Isaac in some of his Hokie wear:

And from our fun last night with the grandparents (at a dance hall in Granger).

9 Months!

OK, so this post is a little late...

I took Isaac to the doctor yesterday for his 9-month checkup.  He actually weighs less than he did at Thanksgiving.  I guess he's burning a heck of a lot more calories with all of his crawling.  The doctor wants me to feed him 3 meals (each a full jar) per day, in addition to as much nursing as he might want.  He weighed in at 17 pounds 2 ounces, but was 17 pounds 12 ounces back in November.  (He's now 27 3/4 inches long, so he's over an inch taller than he was back at his 6-month appointment).  She assured me that she wasn't too worried, but she wants to check him again in one month.  So, we began our new feeding regimen today and, so far, Isaac seems quite content.  He has been really hungry for the last few days and I've been doing a lot of nursing, but I wasn't increasing his "solid food" intake as much as I apparently should have.  He did eat quite a bit yesterday, though not really on a schedule.  He only woke twice to eat during the night, which was a vast improvement over the previous night.  I fed him breakfast this morning, but he didn't eat a whole container of food.  Judy (Grandma) fed him lunch and he ate most of the jar of sweet potatoes and an entire jar of apples!!!  I think he probably already weighs 10 ounces more than he did yesterday morning!


We are all having a wonderful visit with Todd's parents this week.  They arrived on Sunday and we got to celebrate Christmas one more time.  Isaac got lots of fun new toys and a bunch of new chew toys (books).  He is happily showing off all of his new crawling skills and has been pulling to a stand any chance he can.  I am wowed by how much stronger he is this week compared to last.  He can crawl all the way across the room now, which he certainly couldn't have done last week.  He is really moving now!


Here's a little video of Isaac when he finally sat still for a few moments a couple of days ago...

Judy babysat Isaac for an hour this afternoon and I was able to get out for a pedicure.  I can't even remember my last one - it may have been last Christmas.  I know it was with Kristin, but I don't know how long ago it was.

Bathroom Update #3

Todd is still working on tiling the shower, but will be taking a break after today.  His parents arrive this tomorrow and will be here through next weekend, so he expects to take some time off to enjoy their company instead of working.  Yay!  Here's where he stopped today:

I got to take a bath in my Jacuzzi last night.  In a word:  awesome!!!  I had a book and a glass of wine.  I got to watch the sky darken through the sky lights.  I may never take another shower again because the bath tub is entirely too wonderful.  :o)

Entree du Jour: Butternut Squash with Corn

I would say this has been Isaac's favorite meal.  I couldn't feed him fast enough!  He finished his meal in record time.  I fed him a little more than I was "supposed" to since it was his first exposure to corn, but I am glad I did.  Hopefully, there will be no allergy issues.  I'm a little jealous of some of Isaac's friends' moms (Cash's mom, Stephanie, for example) because they seem to be able to feed their sons any and everything.  I have to carefully screen for milk in everything.  I still haven't called to make sure that he isn't allergic to anything else.  Hopefully seafood isn't on the allergy list because a lot of the "second foods" seem to have tuna oil in them.  I am not a big fan of worrying about everything Isaac might eat...

After Isaac finished eating, I set him on the kitchen floor while I put my dinner in the crock pot.  Isaac is not wearing pants today because it's in the 70's outside.  Gorgeous, January weather.  LOL  God bless Texas!  Anyhoo, he seemed to crawl much better on the hardwood without the slick pants he's been wearing.  I can tell he's getting stronger and enjoying crawling much more.  Not nearly as much belly-crawling...  He's also pulled himself to a stand a couple more times.  It's so fun to see how proud he is of himself when he does it.  Hopefully I will be able to capture it on camera at some point so you can share his excitement.  :o)


In other fun news, even Todd has noticed that Isaac's laughing more now.  He loves to be tickled and seems to generally be having more fun.  He still gets a huge kick out of me trying to crawl on the floor, too.  He's such a joy to watch.

Bathroom Update #2

The bathtub is finished!  All it needs is a good cleaning and I can use it.

Todd also started tiling the shower.  He is about to change the tile pattern from here on up, so this was his stopping point yesterday.  As you can see, we are each going to have 2 shelves (there are separate shower heads) and there will be a small seat in the middle of the back wall.  We are still debating what to do for the shower doors.


On the right, you can see the red towels on one of my Christmas gifts - a towel warmer!  Last year's gift was a heating system to go under the floor tiles.  Are you noticing a theme?

Isaac Feeds Himself (Sort of)

Warning:  These videos are much longer than usual.  The first one is 1.5 minutes (if you're in a hurry, skip to about the 40-second mark) and the second one is over 2 minutes long.


I may have missed my window of opportunity on getting Isaac's horrible expressions from trying to eat his Gerber Puffs.  I tried, though.  This video will give you a hint as to what his reaction has been to the Puffs.  The funny part is, he'll make these faces and then stick another one in his mouth!

After this, I fed him some sweet potatoes, but he was still hungry afterwards.  I thought I'd try to give him some banana.

Isaac has started really crawling over the last day or so.  It looks like a zombie crawl and more like a real baby crawl now.  He does opposite arms and legs as he crawls (which is correct, there's better balance this way).  I had to relearn to crawl to help him learn because apparently adults do it wrong.  If you haven't crawled on the floor in a while, get down on your hands and knees and try it.  You'll see what I mean.

Splish Splash

Isaac was takin' a bath...  Isaac loves to take his baths!  His favorite bath toy is his rubber ducky.  It keeps him occupied while I bathe him, so everyone comes out a winner.

Favorite Toys

This was taken on my iPhone today.  Note the plethora of "appropriate" baby toys in the background.  Note that they are the toys he was sitting in when he decided to crawl over and grab this toy instead...  Jackson is not going to understand what's happened to his peace and quiet...

(In case you can't tell from the white on white in this photo, Isaac is holding a well-chewed "Nyla" dog bone).

Yes, we have no bananas!

He ate some of the bananas, but not all of them.  But then he spit them up 20 minutes later.

Bathroom Update #1

There will be at least one other bathroom update within the next 48 hours (I think).  Todd's currently working on tiling the walls in the shower!  The bathroom counter and sinks were installed on Saturday and they look *amazing*!  It worked out really well for us.  We hired these guys to install our kitchen counters several months ago and were thrilled with the way they turned out.  We were going to use the remainder of the slab from the kitchen counters to install in our bathroom.  Since the kitchen install, the company has moved.  I am not sure whether the piece just didn't get moved or it broke, but one way or another, they didn't have the remainder of our slab (which we'd paid for).  The gentleman, Demitri, who helped us before told us to come pick from one of their other remnants and they'd just give it to us.  This was even better than expected!  The counters downstairs are very light and are exactly what we wanted for the kitchen, but we wanted something a little different for the bathroom.  Voila!  Ask and ye shall receive...  To give you a perspective, I'm standing with my back to the shower, the entry to the room is on my left (beside the tub) in this photo.

 Todd got the water running!

 We have drawers under the sinks, as well.  I love it!

Just Say "No" to Finger Food

We got Isaac some of the Gerber Fruit Puffs.  Actually, we got him a *lot* of them because they were at Sam's Club.  He's not such a fan.

When he did finally get the puff in his mouth, he made terrible faces and spit it out as soon as he could get it to unstick from his tongue, where it was dissolving.  It was entertaining to watch, although he didn't seem to find it nearly as amusing as Todd and I did.  Perhaps if we shaped it like a plug or set it in the dog's bowl it would be more appealing.  LOL


Isaac's greatly enjoys standing.  He's still not a great crawler, but can now easily go from a crawl to a sit.  This is new within the last few days.  He has pulled himself to a stand a couple of times in his crib, though not today.  He can easily pull himself to his knees from a seated position and is very proud of himself when he does.  Here's a quick shot of the Isaac "making a stand."

Home Sweet Construction Zone

Todd's been working hard on the master bathroom for the last few days.  He's gotten quite a bit done!  The tile floor is down, grouted, and sealed.  He has cut the holes in the ceiling for the surround-sound speakers.  The vanity is in the room, though not yet attached to the wall.  The counter guy has come and measured, so we'll have a counter this week or next.  There is a door hung in the door frame to enter the room.  Today, Todd tiled the front of the bath tub and cut the tile for most of the "deck" surrounding the tub.  I think it looks amazing so far!  (Parents:  we are keeping the door closed so that Isaac is *NEVER* in the room unless someone is carrying him).

Several people have asked me what Todd and I are going to do when the house is finished.  I generally just want to laugh at this question.  Todd's working on the master bath now - including finishing the tile work on the tub and the shower and installing a toilet.  Then he'll need to put up doors for the master closet and hall closet.  Once that's complete, we need to finish the laundry room because it is about 5 degrees warmer in there than outside.  There's still some minor finish work to be done on the stairwell, plus the trim in the nursery and master bedrooms and under the stairs, in addition to installing shelves and a hanging rod in the downstairs closet.  He's going to set up the whole-house audio at some point since all of the wiring is run and he's gotten most of the equipment.  I believe we would also like to park our vehicles in the garage someday, too, so we'll need to sift through whatever is in there after the indoor projects are complete to determine how best to organize it.


My sister is working on designing a new front porch for us.  It's going to be 2 levels and we'll be able to walk out from the office and the master bedroom.  We're hiring someone to do that.  We're going to have the windows and the siding replaced at the same time.  Hopefully that can be done outside while other projects are still in progress inside.


Assuming all of these things are completed someday, we're going to begin work on an outdoor kitchen/entertaining area.  We'd like to have a smoker and a fire pit.  Autumn is so nice here in the evenings that we expect to get a lot of use out of such a space.


Whenever that is done, Todd would really love to purchase a small plot of land from the park next door.  He wants to build a nice large garage where he can also have a workshop.  We're also thinking that someday we might like to build on over our existing garage.


As you can see, we still have several years' worth of projects in front of us.  This is why I find it so amusing when I'm asked what we'll do when we finish.  I don't doubt that this house will continue to keep us busy for many years to come!

Tile in the Bathroom

Hark!  The tile floor is down in the bathroom!  The tile and the grout are down, but it hasn't been sealed yet.  Progress!!!

Isaac's First Christmas!

Isaac certainly had an enjoyable first Christmas.  He got lots of new toys, some new clothes, and a child-size table and chairs.  His favorite parts were, of course, the wrapping paper and the boxes.  I took several photos of Isaac in front of the tree, per my mom's request.  This was Christmas Eve, before Santa came.

As you can see, Isaac is curious about the camera and what Mom is doing and would rather not sit still for a photo op.  :o)  Our little adventurer...


Here's a little insight into trying to get a good photo pose (after we took away a gift for Todd and swapped it with a gift for Isaac):

This was Isaac opening his very first present, a bunch of stacking cups from Todd's Aunt Nancy and Uncle Rod.  These were a huge hit.

Isaac played with each of his toys as they were opened.  I enjoyed it because I understand that it's only going to be that way for a few years before the excitement is opening the next gift instead of playing with the toy he's just seen.

He decided he needed a nap about 5 minutes after I finished this video.  He opened 4 gifts, took a nap, then opened more gifts.  It was a fun way to draw out the excitement of Christmas.

We had an outstanding feast last night.  I had originally thought I would bake a goose, but reconsidered after reading that I would have to siphon off the fat every 20 minutes and, oh, by the way, goose fat is highly *flammable*.  The ham was great (and low maintenance)!

At our Thanksgiving feast, Isaac was sick.  I remember thinking that we were unbelievably blessed with all the wonderful things that happened this year.  I still feel the same way a month later.  2010 has been the most incredible year!


We ended our day with a Skype call to my sister and her family in Virginia.  We saw lots of people because Dave's daughters were also there and Mom was staying with them.  It was snowing there and we got to see the accumulation through the windows.  They loved the white Christmas and were not-so-secretly hoping the girls would get snowed in and "have" to stay a few extra days.  It was so good to be able to see them as we talked.  The girls are 14, 12, and 11.  Todd and I haven't seen them in 3 years now, though I try to keep up with the oldest on Facebook.  I thoroughly enjoyed seeing all of them, even if I can't get a hug through Skype.

On the Move

Isaac is getting better at crawling every day.  Before I know it, I won't be able to keep up with him!  I'm sure he'd prefer that.  LOL  He currently does a "zombie crawl."  This is similar to a military crawl in that he's on his tummy, but different because his back end is dead weight.  He also does a little bit of "real" crawling, but he's faster with the zombie crawl.


He also pulled himself to a stand in his crib the other day, but not on camera.  This video does not come close to capturing it, but is so cute that I have to share it.  This is Isaac about 5 minutes after he was standing in his crib.  He's very pleased with himself when he learns something new and he was in a playful mood.

Yesterday, I was getting ready to take a shower.  I plopped Isaac into his swing so that he'd be able to hang out in the bathroom and breathe some steam to help him breathe a little better.  I walked out of the room and came back to find this.  He was having the time of his life on this thing!

My dad came to visit us for a couple of days this weekend and I totally forgot to take any photos. I'm pretty annoyed with myself for that...  Ho hum.  We may plan to visit him the next time, though, so we can get some of the seafood he keeps talking about.  Yum!

Sick Baby = No Updates

Isaac has been super-snotty for about a week now.  The poor little thing wants only to sleep in someone's arms and semi-upright so he can breathe.  Today, he fell asleep in his swing while I was in the shower, so I left him in the steamy bathroom.  I have the door open so I'll hear him when he awakes.  Hey, don't judge.  I've been holding him for most of the last 4 days.


He's getting closer to crawling when he will let me put him down to play.  I have started crawling on the floor like a lunatic, which Isaac finds amusing.


This is the monthly picture with Blue Bear.  I took it a few days ago, but this is the first time I've had a chance to blog since then.  The bear is starting to look smaller!  I am sorry the picture is sideways.  I have no idea what's going on with it - it's the second time I've uploaded it because it was too large to fit on the screen the last time.  I've never had this problem before...

In other news, Todd finished all of the trimwork downstairs.  We are counting the stairs themselves as a separate entity.  :o)  He'll finish those in a few days while he's off at Christmas.  My dad is visiting us this weekend, so I am not sure whether Todd will have a chance to work on the trim then.