Thank U

Don't you love it when you mean to do something over and over again, but it just doesn't get done? Yeah, I don't love it, either. That's how I am with this blog. I keep meaning to update, but then life gets in the way. I suppose it's a good thing, though, that I'd rather make sure I'm giving my kid attention than update a blog. Okay, sure, that's how I'll look at it. I'm SUCH a good mom.

Anyway, after months of getting warnings about how cold it gets here, the past few days have proved the words of neighbors correct. Our temperatures took a nosedive (fortunately AFTER thanksgiving travel) and we've been experiencing the joys of very negative-degree weather. In fact, according to weather.com, our high on Thursday was, in fact, 0. Goodness!

So this should tell you how much I'm taking Isaac out in the snow.

Not at all. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Look at my adorable child.

I'm so glad that this wintery weather kicked in well after we arrived home from Thanksgiving. We had a really nice trip down to St. George to spend the holiday at my aunt's home, along with my folks and sister's family. I was afraid of how Isaac might behave since we'd be traveling and his schedule would be off and he could potentially be a nightmare. But Isaac proved once again how much he loves attention. After a rough first night that I couldn't exactly blame him for, he really enjoyed getting to know Nerak's house and being following around closely by his cousins Andrew and Ali.

Isaac "playing" in the leaves. Quite the pile.

 You feed Isaac, you are in his good graces. Nicole learned this well.

It was great to see our family (and use my parents as babysitters so we could go out to a movie for the first time since LAST december!) and have a chance to breathe away from computers and the like. I really have been blessed to have such a wonderful family, and I hope to not take that for granted.

The fam (everyone at our thankgiving meal and then my folks and sis)

So now we're a week into December, and I'm having a lot of fun trying to convince mail carriers that my address actually does exist so I can receive the gifts I've ordered for my fellas. Usually there's not a problem, but last month our post office carrier suddenly decided that we weren't on his route (without informing anyone, thanks), effectively making it seem as though our address didn't exist, and several items I had ordered were sent back to the shippers. We had so much fun clearing up that misunderstanding with the post office, and we eventually did get everything I'd ordered. And then a random package last week somehow suffered the same fate of being sent back, which is weird because I've gotten other mail and packages just fine through today. So I get to figure out why THAT one went astray when I gave them the correct address. I am LOVING being far away from stores and getting to deal with this kind of thing.

Anywho . . . bring on Christmas!

-Me

"Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants." -Kevin James

Clap Your Hands

And now for the 10-month report! Huzzah!

At ten months, Isaac has cut two more teeth (number four just barely broke through in the last couple of days), has gotten a whopping cold (and so has his poor mommy), has begun clapping, and has FINALLY mastered the art of crawling.

I know that you're not supposed to compare your baby to other babies, but when you hear about other babies born around the same time as yours that have been crawling since six months, you get a little antsy about your own. I think I've said something in each Isaac post for the last two months about him being sooooooooo close to moving himself around, and today I can finally say he's really doing it! Hooray!

He loves to be tickled (when in a good mood, at least) and he loves bath time. He can be in the most horrific of moods and the instant I put him in the water, he'll calm down and start babbling away to his bath toys. (can we have bath time four times a day, please?) He definitely plays favorites with them, as well. By far his favorite one is a crab. He might occasionally reach for the other aquatic figures, but he always ALWAYS wants the crab. (i've started referring to the crab as "sebastian" in my mind.)

Ah, I remember when he lay down on this thing.

We've begun sippy cup attempts, but he's not quite getting it. He'll take hold of the handles but do absolutely nothing, and then he'll hold it upside down nowhere near his mouth . . . oh, well. Baby steps. I have to remind myself sometimes that he still has plenty to learn, but I'm waiting for that magical moment that some people seem to have with their kids when suddenly they develop a bunch of things within a matter of days. That sounds nice. I'll take potty training and feeding himself, please. (okay, he is feeding himself more and more, but the whole mastering-utensils thing would come in handy.)

See? Feeding himself. Sure, plenty of the noodles ended up on the floor, but big deal.

The combination of the cold and teething has made him not-too-pleasant for about a week, but all in all he's a funny and happy little kid when he's been fed, changed, napped, played with, read to, laughed with, sung to, read to, and worshiped like an Egyptian cat.

You think I exaggerate. Hahahahahahahahahahaha . . .

-Me

"If you were to open up a baby's head - and I am not for a moment suggesting that you should - you would find nothing but an enormous drool gland." -Dave Barry

We Love Halloween

Every year I'm determined to come up with a Halloween costume well in advance, just in case I hit upon a fabulous idea that takes a little extra time. And every year, that just never seems to happen. Oh, well. A few months ago, Glen and I were discussing possible family costumes, and we came up with a really great idea that we were really excited about. Did we write it down? Nope. Did we remember this fabulous idea the next time we talked about Halloween? Nope. Did we ever remember what this fabulous idea ever was? It may as well be a myth.

Anyway, I was bound and determined that Isaac would look cute, no matter what Glen and I ended up doing (or not doing). I found tons of really adorable costumes online (a dragon one particularly caught my eye, but naturally was a tad pricey). And somehow . . . inspiration struck! I am NOT a creative person in the slightest. I can carry out other people's creative ideas really well, but I don't have them myself. So for me to hit upon a family costume that would have Isaac looking cute and us not going to too much effort for ourselves AND it being fairly topical? This was a one-in-a-million chance.

So I present to you . . . What Does the Fox Say?

 Love this candid pic of Glen

Incidentally, this fox costume was far less pricey than any other costume I looked at online, so that was a plus. And basic white t's for us were pretty cheap, too, so while we still spent some money, it was still fairly economical. Bonus!

The rear view

Seeing as how we're outside of a small town where people are spread out far and wide, this was one of those times that I actually felt like having a trunk-or-treat was actually justified. (usually i'm pretty opposed to them, but that's another rant entirely.) After running out of candy within five minutes (tops) with plenty more children to come around the church parking lot, we closed our trunk up and let everybody partake in the awesomeness of our family get-up. (don't get it? this will help.) We had several reactions from people immediately getting the reference and thinking it was awesome, a few more getting it once they had read our t-shirts and thought for a second or two, and then others who had no idea what it meant but still agreeing that Isaac was an utterly adorable fox.

And they were right.

-Me

"This Halloween, the most popular mask is an Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him." -Conan O'Brien

The Leaves Will Change

A couple weekends this month we've been able to see some friends, which has been awesome for my nomadic existence.

We love seeing his little belly

We took a very quick trip to Provo (about a total of 24 hours) on what turned out to be BYU's Homecoming weekend, which gave us pause, but we did manage to avoid any yucky traffic. In addition to seeing friends, our trip also meant I was able to visit Target (oh, the crazy things i miss -- walmart will never replace you in my heart, target). And India Palace. I'd been craving Indian food for a couple weeks before we went, and mmmmm . . . it satisfied my appetite generously. We got to visit with the Mechams and the Lawlors, and it was so fun to visit with our pals and see how much their kids are growing!

 At Bluebell's Corn Maze

The next weekend Megan came out to visit, which was so awesome of her to make that drive for the day! It was all her idea, too, which made me feel special. We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather to visit a local corn maze and pumpkin patch, which was pretty fun. Isaac was in the midst of a big tooth coming in, so there were points he wasn't enjoying himself too much, but we had a great time anyway. And we were all ready for a nap once we got back from the patch and lunch at Marion's. Good thing Megan didn't fall asleep on her way back to Orem.

Let's hope Isaac likes pumpkins better next year.

 A first impression of ice cold water (he actually wasn't crying; this picture just gives that impression)

They mock my sugar fast with a milkshake

Extremely happy to be feeding a baby. Maybe excessively so?

See how fun it is to visit us? We can guarantee that Isaac will like you by the time you leave. :)

-Megan

"Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie." -Jim Davis

Is This the Little Boy I Carried?

And then it was October . . .

Today Isaac officially turned nine months old. As Glen said, he's now been outside my belly as long as he was inside it. (well, maybe not quite, but close.) What a funny and slightly strange thought. But what else can you expect from Glen?

 Arm over the eyes: It's like watching my dad sleep.

New Isaac habits that we're enjoying these days:

He's perfecting the art of the pincer grasp (between the thumb and forefinger), which means he's getting a lot more finger food on his tray these days. We have fun watching him concentrate on new things to eat, and it's sure become a handy way to shut him up. I mean . . . uh . . . I would never say that . . . I try to keep the feeding-to-keep-quiet to a minimum, because I don't want a Dudley Dursley on my hands, but by the end of day, I'm ready to keep him reaching for food all the time so he won't whine anymore.

 Quack, quack, quack!

 Cute laughing fella

 He loves those rings. Best. Purchase. Ever.

He babbles quite a bit (when in a good mood, at least), and every time he discovers a new sound, he loves to try it out, and I'm happy to encourage it. Some of my favorite moments these days are when we have "conversations" with each other. The other day he said "mama" and it almost sounded deliberate! I know it wasn't, and he just happened to make that sound a couple times in succession, but even to hear it by accident just melted my heart. I'm so excited to hear him say it "for rills".

 He doesn't "talk" as well with the camera on, but here's a little example of babbling.

He also continues to make baby steps toward crawling. He can turn himself well, and is very successful in pushing himself backwards, but we're still working on getting him to move forward in any way. The last couple of days, though, he's been getting up on his knees, which is pretty new. Glen occasionally would try and "help" him do that in the last month and he would get really upset, so it's great to see him jump up to his knees on his own. He likes to be on his hands and knees and rock back and forth. What a hoot. Now we just need him to be confident enough to lift his hands off the floor at the same time and he'll be moving!

Sure, Dad's paying attention to General Conference . . .

 An afternoon he wouldn't put himself to sleep. As my mom says, how can you be mad at this face?

There still are plenty of times that he doesn't want to put himself to sleep, but he is falling asleep on his own more often and faster these days, which is awesome. I know I should have started training him to do so earlier, but hey . . . I'm new at this.

 Maybe he won't end up under the chair all the time once he learns to go forward.

Possible professions for Isaac based on his current habits:
World traveler/Explorer
Drummer
Chef
Soccer player
Singer
Writer

I know my life has become The Isaac Show, but I'd rather write about him than work. And Glen being gone for two and a half weeks last month.

-Me

"What we call 'Progress' is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance." -Havelock Ellis

Here Baby, There Mama, Everywhere Daddy Daddy

Good heavens, when did it get to be September?!? It already has been for a week and a half, but I suppose I just wasn't paying too much attention.

Isaac Update: He's a funny child. His latest habit is to shake his head at us, particularly when he's cheerful. The other day Glen started to shake his head back, and it almost seemed like Isaac was imitating him. It was pretty funny to watch them during dinner, just shaking their heads at each other. Isaac sure likes his daddy.

On top of the world

Sometimes I think he likes me, too, no matter how much more boring I am than Glen. My favorite sound from him is his laugh. When he began laughing a few months ago, it was a very wheezy sound, and he still laughs like that when he's mildly entertained by something. But he's got a fantastic new laugh when he's being tickled that doesn't cease to make me laugh in turn. It's kind of hard to describe, but it is a sound of pure, uncontrollable joy. Maybe some time we'll get it on camera so you can hear it, too.

 Anything that makes noise, he likes

He makes the funniest faces at us, as well, mainly because he still only has two teeth. He begins sucking and chewing on his lips in bizarre ways, and he looks like a little fish. I know it wouldn't look as funny if he had a full set of teeth, so I'd better capture these faces while I've still got the chance. Problem is, he tends to make faces when the camera is on another floor. Clever, kiddo.

And another thing that's snuck up on me is his hair! He actually has hair! He was never completely bald (like his mother), but now hair is well and truly starting to cover up his head! There are even some strands long enough to overtake his ears. It makes me kind of wonder how long I'll let his hair become before his first haircut. (sob!)

Similar to "Super Baby", he loves being upside down

Seriously, why is it that babies stop performing when the camera is turned on? While Glen is eating breakfast, Isaac is cooing and squealing and making fun sounds that I want others to be able to hear, but I know that the instant I go downstairs and turn the camera on, he'll just look at me and do nothing. So there are things he does that you may never get to see. Unless you come to Roosevelt. Come to Roosevelt! You'll have fun watching my amazingly hilarious little boy as he puts everything in his mouth but food.

-Me

"I get a lot of cracks about my hair, mainly from men who don't have any." -Ann Richards

For Old Friends Who've Just Met

At the risk of sounding completely melodramatic, I'm just going to say it: I'm lonely.

Don't get me wrong; I'm still optimistic that I'll be making friends and acquaintances and feeling more at home here, etc., etc., etc. But right now . . . yeah, I'm lonely.

Isaac, for all his good qualities, isn't much of a conversationalist, and he's who I'm around all day. Glen is awesome, naturally, but by the time he comes home from work I'm almost totally wiped. (and depending on how isaac's been behaving, i can't guarantee the mood i'm in when glen does come home.)

The people here have been very friendly and welcoming, and I've talked to my new neighbor a couple times, and really, I know it will get better. This is just an entirely new experience for me.

I never moved as a kid, and when I moved from Oregon to Provo for school eleven years ago, I wasn't even beginning with a blank slate then! My sister lived in Provo with her little family, I had several cousins around, and a few high school friends to boot (including my roommate). Moving around within the Provo/Orem area the next few years, I never went very far from people I knew, so even though I was meeting new people, I still had old friends to rely on during times of moving adjustments.

There are plenty of things to adapt to, living in an entirely different environment (small town in the middle of lots of desert and not-muchness). And I anticipated some of these feelings. Some days have just been harder dealing with it than others. I practically burst into tears when my pal Amanda texted me last week to see how things were going. Things are going just fine, really! They're going well, even! It was just a little text made me realize how much I miss my friends. I definitely enjoy alone time (especially when isaac's down for the night), but I also really like being around people. And aside from church on Sundays, I have been without other people for a month. (i love my boys, i promise. they are people. but do you get what i'm saying?)

This may sound depressing, and I don't mean it to. I don't want to make it sound like I'm despairing of my situation and circumstances. I just miss having friends around. A girl needs those every once in a while. And I don't know when they'll start popping up again. (and who likes being kept in the dark about something like that?)

To end, here's a cute picture of Isaac I took this morning.

-Megan

"My mother used to say that there are no strangers, only friends you haven't met yet. She's now in a maximum security twilight home in Australia." -Dame Edna Everage

Step by Step

It's amazing the things that now make me feel like I've accomplished something really spectacular since Isaac came along. For example: today I clipped his fingernails without clipping his skin. Ever since the very first time we clipped his nails and subsequently his left thumb, I've been paranoid that I'm going to do it again. (seriously. felt like the worst mother in the world that moment.) But today was a rousing success. (all right, "rousing" may be an exaggeration, but at least he doesn't have talons anymore.) For some reason he found it hilarious every time I blew on the clippers to get the clipped nails out. There's no accounting for taste.

 Gotta love camera timing. This makes me crack up.

 When Glen still had the beard. He shaved it off a couple weeks ago.

I've also been attempting to get him to put himself to sleep for the past couple weeks. And it's been working! (for the most part.) And suddenly my child who never took a nap longer than half an hour is taking decent-length naps! It's wonderful!!!!!!!! He doesn't put himself to sleep at bedtime very well, but I kind of blame that on his west-facing window and the fact that it's brighter in his room at bedtime than at any other time of day. It makes me eager for winter. Although it's pretty funny to see the positions he gets himself into when he's just happily hanging out in his crib. Seriously, whenever he learns to crawl, he's going to have a ball.

A couple of the random positions I've found him in during naptime.

It's so nice that he's sitting so well, because working and just watching him be on his back so much just made me feel guilty, even with taking breaks to do tummy time and other playing activities. Now I can prop him up and he plays with his rings and other toys around him for a bit before he gets noisy and wonders why I'm not paying attention to him as I edit.

We've only barely started putting him in shoes, and boy, is he fascinated by them.

We're both pretty glad at the end of the day when Glen comes home. Me, because I'm eager to hand him off to someone else, and Isaac because Glen plays a lot more with him than I do. Mommy's the boring one who's either working or making dinner in front of him. What a riveting time he must have with me.

-Me

"If your parents never had children, chances are you won't, either." -Dick Cavett

Baby Love

Isaac update time! Yay! This is what you really want to know, I'm sure.

I can't believe that Isaac's already seven months old. Didn't he just arrive? Glen and I were looking at some pictures from the first couple of months he was around and commenting on habits he had then and I almost chuckled because we're already reminiscing, which makes me feel silly because we're still so new at this parenting thing.

One of his first really good camera smiles

Sure, he knew enough of what was going on to be proud of Daddy

I love this contented couch-throne look

Most people are aware, but we ended up having to do some physical therapy with Isaac for a couple of months. He was favoring turning to the right, so his neck was stiffer on one side, and it also contributed to his head shape getting lopsided. What. Fun. He absolutely hated the stretches we did with him, but he also responded to them quickly, so the therapist was always very pleased with his progress each time we took him in for an appointment. Normally, torticollis takes three to four months of therapy before discharge, but Isaac's case was never that advanced, so he was able to "graduate" after only two months, which was great news for us. He still occasionally tilts and we still make sure he lies on and looks to his left (plus the occasional stretch), but he's been doing great.

He totally has this Elvis lip thing going

What's awesome is how long he sleeps at night . . . on a normal night, at least. He still is driving me nuts by not staying asleep for his naps, but he's been having very good long nights of sleep for a couple months now, and that makes me soooooo happy.

Awwwwwwwwww.....

Super Baby is one of his favorite things

He doesn't roll over for us very easily, but every once in a while he'll do it. I kind of figure he doesn't do it often because he's so darn big, but what do I know? (answer: practically nothing.) He's started to really act interested in moving when he's on his tummy, but he doesn't quite get the crawling mechanism yet. He ends up moving slowly backwards when we do encourage him to grab a toy out of reach. I'm sure he gets frustrated because he can't move the way he wants to just yet. He'll get there, after just a little tweaking. He'll be moving more than I want him to; I can feel it.

He's got a good Daddy

Beginnings of being able to sit on his own

He loves to eat. And he'll eat anything (although we think sweet potatoes are his favorite). Glen and I laugh because whenever we feed him, he gets a very confused look on his face at the first bite (no matter if he's had the food before or not), but then he just opens his mouth and takes whatever we give him and is happy. Hooray! He grabs at anything within his reach, so I've taken to keeping the jar farrrrrr away from him. He gets messy enough as it is.

Cute Sunday suit that he fit in for about a day. Especially that blue shirt

New shades for the 4th of July. Love this one

Speaking of eating, the first thing that anybody says about him is how big he is. And he is enormous! At his latest appointment, he was almost 100th percentile for both height and weight. This kid doesn't fit on my lap at 30 inches! (okay, he hasn't really fit on my lap for a few months.) But everybody adores his chunky thighs and chubby cheeks, and it just wouldn't make sense for me to have a small baby anyway, right?

This must be how Mozart started.

Isaac at this point really likes people. He smiles at just about anybody these days (which charmed everybody who talked to us on sunday in our new ward) and he thrives on attention. He can be in a terrible mood and if somebody picks him up and starts paying even an infinitesimal amount of attention to him, he'll perk right up. Of course, he's always happier for other people than he is for us. He was happy and charming and cute for all the new people at church all three hours on Sunday (prompting a few comments of "he's such a happy/good baby" that made me inwardly scoff), and then once we got home he was a terror until bedtime. Darn kid. I love you, anyway.

Before and after the move. His onesie sums him up pretty well.

I'm sure I'm missing other stuff (like how much he squeals and squeaks and how well he sits and his two bottom teeth coming in a couple weeks ago), but this is long enough already. I'll stop now and possibly check in again sooner than three or four months from now.

-Megan

"Anyone who uses the phrase 'easy as taking candy from a baby' has never tried to take candy from a baby." -Unknown