Thursday: sleep

Well, to start with, Isaac has the ability to sleep well in his crib.  Monday night was great!  Tuesday night was good.  Last night...not so good.  And the pacifier is starting to require more than just sticking it back in his mouth...it takes a minute or two before he calms down.

Then he went down for his morning nap and I crawled back in bed.  And he woke up 20 minutes later.  The same thing happened several times during the morning.  He did finally take a good nap in the afternoon though.  And since I wasn't sleeping I got a lot accomplished.

I had another first today...I bought a salad spinner for when our lettuce gets big enough to eat.  I put it through the dishwasher and then used the spinning feature to help dry it.  I thought that was pretty clever.  And if that doesn't make sense it's because I'm rather tired and trying to decide whether to shower now or wait until after Isaac eats.  Which could be any minute.  Or it could be many minutes.

Wednesday: a first

Today I had a first.  I used my steamer.

I got the steamer as a wedding gift.  (It was not on the registry. :)  )  My mom never steamed vegetables in anything that looked like this, so I thought it was something to make spaghetti.  I hope I didn't say anything out loud.

I was steaming cauliflower.  The amount that I needed seemed pitifully small for the container.

Also new was the green onion.  I've never bought any of them before.  I went to the farmer's market with Cheryl and Allison today.  It was a little cool at first, but the sun came up and it warmed up.

I made twice-baked potatoes.  Ben was a great sport and tried them even though they had cauliflower.  He didn't love them, but didn't hate them either.  I liked them.  Ben also grilled steaks for the first time on the grill.

Isaac just looked longingly at the food.  He didn't nap well at all during the day, so he got an extra special evening nap.  It did make food prep easier.

Tuesday: more gardening

Today Cheryl and Grandma H came over to my house.  Isaac and Grandma had a grand ol' time while Cheryl and I did some gardening.  We moved the flowers from the mailbox to the side of the house.  (I'm trying to get rid of some flower beds.)  We cleaned up the flowers and bushes in the front.

As we were slowly working our way around the house, we got to a nice looking yellow bush.  I was going to start trimming it down as it was way overgrown, but upon investigation noticed that everything inside the bush was dead.  So I decided we'd remove it.  As we did so we noticed that it really didn't seem healthy...the leaves had weird spots, the branches had something white on them, and there was a bulbous growth.  So we think it was a good decision, even if it was a little annoying to remove.  Well, we didn't remove all of it.  There is still a chunk, completely pared down.  The plan is to give it a year and see if it starts to grow again.  We can always take it out later.

I was going to take before and after pictures, but didn't take any before ones so I didn't take any after ones either.  Maybe next time. :)

Flurry is still good at telling us when it is time for bed.  I had wanted to trim up one more side, but she wasn't moving.  So I went to bed.

Saturday: nostrils, take 2

According to the poll, 88% (15 people) breathe out of both nostrils

According to the internet, 85% of people breathe out of one nostril.

There is a discrepancy.  But a few people I've talked to are positive they breathe out of both nostrils.  If this stands true for everyone it means that for once I'm not weird; most of you are.

Friday: 21 weeks, couch

Here's the bib in the mouth that I was talking about yesterday.

And the 21 week picture.  We finally managed to get a smile.

Our new couch came today!  We were going to put it against the wall, but it looked terrible.  This way looks much better.

Thursday: laughter

As I was changing Isaac's diaper this morning, he stuffed his bib in his mouth.  While this is becoming a normal occurrence, it struck me as extra funny and I laughed.  Isaac laughed back at me.


I also helped Cheryl with some flowers and weeds today.  It was a beautiful day.  Warm with a slight wind.  And Grandma watched Isaac so that we could actually get some work done.  It was awesome.  I'll admit, I my favorite part is pulling weeds when there are a lot of weeds to pull.  I like seeing the difference between the beginning and the end.

Wednesday: mall

Today Isaac and I met some friends at the mall.  I had a great time...it was fun to catch up and watch the kids and just hang out.  But I probably should have left a little earlier.  I was exhausted by the time we got home.  Luckily, Isaac felt the same way.  He was up for just a short while longer and then we both took a very nice nap.

Tuesday: a problem

Do you see our problem?  (And only having blurry pictures isn't the problem.)

Apparently I didn't do wash fast enough this cycle, so the only bibs left were gigantic or not Tuesday.  I wondered how long it would take until I had to put the wrong day on, but I thought it would be longer.

My plants are growing.  The left two are beans and the right one is lettuce.

Monday: sleep

Last night Isaac finally decided he didn't need to wake up every hour, and it was wonderful.  The last week and a half or so has been rather rough.  He kept escaping from the swaddle so we finally just removed it.  Which helped some, but then every time his pacifier fell out he woke up.  Needless to say, Ben and I were both getting tired of it.  It's amazing how a few uninterrupted hours of sleep can make the day go so much better.

What did I do differently last night?

*He seemed very tired going to bed

*I put him in a onsie instead of pajamas.  It was warm out.

*He started sucking the palm of his hand.

*The stars aligned just right.

Hopefully tonight will go well too.  The beginning has gone well, so I'm going to take that as a good sign.

Sunday: busy fun day

Today was rather busy, but a lot of fun.

It started with my Aunts stopping by to see and meet Isaac.  Since Nathan was around they came over too.  It was really nice to see them.

In the afternoon, we went to Autumn's Birthday Party.  She's one!  There was a nice breeze, but it was still really hot out.  Isaac still seems to run on the warm side, so we didn't stay for too long.

Our next thing was canceled.  While it would have been fun, it was nice to be able to go home and relax.  However, I made a big pan of brownies about 30 minutes before we found out it was canceled.  I haven't decided if that is a good thing or not. :)

Then we played Dominion with friends.  Dusty and Laura joined us with Marshall, so we got to see him and hear about his birthday.

Side note: is there really no one else that breathes with one nostril at a time??? There's still time to vote.  Haha.  I was checking it again and it switched while I was checking.

Saturday: noses

Since Nathan and Liz were around, we spent the afternoon relaxing with them.

Of course, we started talking about family traits.  Sinuses brought us to noses.

All of my blood family only breathes through one nostril at a time.  I had assumed that there was a good reason for this and that it worked this way for everyone.   (For example, right now I'm only breathing through my right nostril.  It randomly changes over time.)

It turns out that this is not the case.  All of the non-blood relatives said that they breathe through both nostrils.  I tried feeling what Isaac does, but that didn't work.

What do you do?  I think I'll put up a poll for easy click response, since I'm really quite curious.

Friday: 20 weeks

I once again remembered to take his weekly pictures.  I'm afraid I'm going to forget sometime.

Dad and Pat came over in the evening as we waited for Nathan and Liz to arrive.  Unfortunately, Isaac had to go to bed before they got here.  :(  I was willing to keep him up, but his drooping eyes and cranky demeanor argued against me.

Thursday: dressing up

Ethan and Isaac both decided to get their Dutch costumes on so that they could have have their picture taken.  Getting both boys to look at the camera at the same time was close to impossible.  Ethan wanted a nap and Isaac kept looking at Ethan.  Thankfully the boys put up with their mothers pretty well.

Then at night we went to watch Jacob's baseball game.  He made it to third base, and their team won by seven.  Woo-hoo!  Isaac dressed up in his baseball shirt for the event.  (White with red stitching.)

Wednesday: firsts

It seems like every day Isaac has some sort of first.  Or at least an improvement.  Sometimes it is just being to do something better than before, sometimes it is something that Ben and I decide to do with him, and sometimes it is something really cool.

Today I have several new things to report.

He found his toes.

He sat in a high chair (to eat his fruit).  The only reason he sat in this is because I found it at a garage sale last weekend and cleaned it up today.  It was $8...and I'm pretty proud of my find.  He's pretty small in it.  His feet just barely reach over the seat.

He sat up for a rather long period of time by himself.  Ok, Ok, about a minute.  Ben and I can both see that he is self-stabilizing better.

He reached out for a toy during tummy time!  Before he's always just laid and watched me.

Tuesday: Eight years

Today is our eight year anniversary!

Ben took the day off of work and Cheryl babysat Isaac.  We played some computer games, went to see The Avengers, played Frisbee golf, and read in a park.  It was a very nice day.

After dinner we got Isaac and then went to Jamie's birthday party.  Hurray!

Monday: guest room

Last week I finished up the guest room.

I'm sure you're wondering what's on the wall...It's frogs.  I'm not sure why there are frogs on the wall.  It isn't really my favorite, but I also don't dislike it enough to change it.

Sunday: Mother's Day

Today was my first Mother's Day...and it was a very nice one.  Ben got up with Isaac during the night.  And they got me donuts and flowers.  What more could I want?

We also had a delicious brunch.  Cold peach soup, orange bread, fruit, cheese, waffles...yum.

(If you look closely, you can see our lettuce growing in the pot.  All the vegetables are starting to come up!)

Saturday: diagrams

I found this fun creator at http://www.wordle.net.  You know, the thing that takes the words that you most often write and makes a picture out of them?  I downloaded the blog again.

I find it interesting that Isaac made the list even though he's only been around for 9% of the posts.  I probably need to stop starting the posts with "today".  There are several words that don't really surprise me, but I'm not sure how they got there, such was two, three, minutes, small, and Amanda.  (I don't refer to myself in the third person that often.)

Today I went to the quilt show with a friend.  This was my favorite.  Afterwards we saw the flower arrangements...they were really cool too.  And we watched the Dutch Dancers.

Isaac is eating his elephant's ear; he is sad he didn't get to last night with Ben and I.

19 weeks!

I took a lot of photos from this angle.  It was hard to narrow it down to one, but there are already a lot of photos in this post.  I do like the single finger in his mouth...that started about two weeks ago.

Ben liked the picture of Isaac in the box, but said it was too blurry.  So we tried again.

Thursday: more costumes

Isaac convinced me to get my Dutch costume on today too.  It barely fit, but it did fit.

And my contribution to StemFest:

Wednesday: downtown

Isaac and I went downtown today to have lunch with Brian and Amy.  Isaac was being a little cranky so we didn't stay for the parade.  He has a runny nose.  It was hard to tell because he slobbers all over himself so often, but by late afternoon I was sure.

I'm hoping to get a few more picture in the Dutch Costume.

Cheryl also came by to look at all my plants.  She declared almost all of them not weeds - and could even tell me what almost all of them were.  I was rather impressed.  Now for weeding and making some changes...I expect it will take me most of the summer.  At least.

Tuesday: theme day - things that swim

Today we talked about things that swim!

Isaac wore a whale.  I may have changed his sheet just so that it would be the color of water for the picture.

He also had fish on his feet.  I wore my duck socks.  Ben participated by being the beach (khakis and a blue shirt) since he had to work.

We also saw some fish in the lake!  They were pretty scared of us, but if we didn't move they would come a bit closer.  They were bigger than I was expecting.

Monday: Grand Haven and Boxes

Today Isaac and I went to Grand Haven to have lunch with some of my old co-workers.  Isaac charmed them.  He also charmed some of the tables next to us...it was a good time.

Sunday: Plate

Scene: Dinner time, the food is ready to eat but still in the kitchen, waiting to be served.  Ben is wondering what size plate Amanda would like.


Ben: Big plate?  Little plate?
Amanda: What begins with plate?

Sigh.  Children's books are getting stuck in my head. (If you aren't familiar with the book, every letter starts with "Big A...Little a.  What begins with A?"  Or whatever letter it's on.)

(photo from Amazon)

Saturday: not much

I don't have much to say for today.  Isaac was still not excited about his afternoon naps, but did manage to take two short ones.  He also wore some 9 month pants.  They're a little long, but fit fine due to the huge cloth diapers.  He was wearing 3mo and 6mo pants, but the 3mo pants are now too small.  He didn't have enough 6mo pants and since he's going to outgrown them soon I decided to just go for 9mo.  I know, exciting times, right?

Friday: uff

Today didn't really go all that well.  The morning was ok, but afternoon then rolled around.  I was tired and wanted a nap.  I thought Isaac was acting tired, so I put him in the swing.

Isaac: I don't want to be here.
Amanda: Let's try the crib.
Isaac: That's ok, but I don't want to sleep here.
Amanda: Ok, you're not tired.
Isaac: No, I'm tired.
Amanda: Let's try the swing.
Isaac: I don't want to be here.
Amanda: Ok, let's join Flurry and we'll both nap on my bed.
Isaac: No
Amanda: How many want to sleep on my bed?  Three.  How many are sleeping on my bed?  Zero.
Isaac: I still don't want to sleep.
Flurry: I'm out of here.
Amanda: So are we.  Let's try the swing.  (And follow Flurry)
Isaac: NO SWING
Amanda: Ben, dinner change.  Let's order pizza.
Isaac: Fine, I'll sleep on your lap.
Amanda: Ben's home early!  Hooray!

He is also 18 weeks.  His cranky and happy extremes seem to be getting more extreme.  Which is lots of fun when he's happy, and significantly less fun when he isn't.

Everything goes in his mouth.

We play with blocks during tummy time.  Er, I play with them.  Isaac watches.  The goal is to make the highest or coolest tower without it falling over.  Since all the blocks are the same size cubes, I have to be rather creative when making new configurations.  I've recently been rotating some blocks 45 degrees.  The photo below isn't a great example, but some of the blocks are like that on purpose.