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