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

Movin' On Up

All right, here we go. Catch-up time. I take it for granted that everyone I know is on facebook (which isn't actually the case), so I haven't been doing really well at posting pictures of Isaac or letting people know what's going on with our little family on the blog. But even if you ARE on facebook and see the pictures I post there, you don't always get my detailed thoughts. So lucky you, everyone who may still read this blog! Pictures AND Megan's thoughts!

Anyway, here's what's up in the world of Megan and her fam: we've moved! Out of Provo! I never thought I would live to see the day! After eleven years, I've finally gotten out of Utah County. So I type this from the thriving metropolis of Roosevelt, Utah. (maybe "thriving metropolis" requires a sarcasm hashtag.) (if i were into hashtags.)

Glen got a job with the DCFS on a foster care team, so we came out here last week (with the help of my folks - many thanks go to the guilt that inspired my dad for the last-minute decision) and Glen officially started yesterday! There's a lot of training he'll get to do the next couple months, but we're hoping that this first foray into his chosen field is successful. (because i have no desire to start all over again.)

Roosevelt is a definite change. (understatement, anyone?) We're out in the middle of nowhere and it's going to take a lot of getting used to. (especially the water. the water is gross.) But we love our new home, which is MUCH larger and OODLES nicer than our previous apartment. (not hard.) And even though it takes only a couple of minutes to circumnavigate the town, it seems like a nice little location. And nice people, too. I will still have moments when I really miss my old pals and the support center I had in Provo. (and costco.) (and costco.) (and costco.) But I'm hopeful that I can make good friends out here, as well, even without being within three blocks of most of them. ;)

For the curious-minded, here are some pics of our place. We're mostly settled in, just have to hang the pictures up. So please excuse the bare walls!

Yep, the pack n play is still up next to the crib. Megan's been too lazy to take it down.

 Guest/Isaac bathroom. One of the things I was excited about, because I got to get new towels and everything!

Nice big closet in our room.

 Kitchen/dining area. Lots of light. Love it. (and an island! fancy schmancy.)

Glen hadn't informed me the kitchen had a pantry. I wouldn't stop being excited about it for a good twenty minutes when we arrived.

A little backyard area

 Another view of downstairs so you can see where we put the all-important couch

 And this is where Isaac eats.

Our family in front

So if you ever want to visit dinosaur land out here in the Uinta basin (and apparently there IS a standard for when it's spelled "uinta" and when it's spelled "uintah"), we've got guest towels with your name on them! Just bring me some bulk stuff from Winco, please.

-Megan

"When I was a kid my parents moved a lot, but I always found them." -Rodney Dangerfield