Thursday: Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

We didn't do much for the evening, really.  We did pass out candy, but didn't get a ton of people since it was raining.  We dressed Isaac up in his Winnie-the-Pooh costume...could he be any cuter??

Ben and Isaac visited four houses.  I'm pretty sure that the highlight of Isaac's evening was playing with the candy.  He put it in his bag.  He took it out of his bag.  He gave it to Ben.  He gave it to me.

By the end of the night he had also figured out that he could get candy too any time people came to the door.  He never really got the "trick or treat" part down, but he was good at please and thank you.

(Here he was last year...not even able to walk.  The costume fit much better this year.)

edit: I just found out that the highlight of the evening was actually when Ben would open the umbrella back up between houses.  The pop of the umbrella opening after Ben pushed the button was super funny.

Wednesday: Flurry and the counter

Flurry is not allowed on the kitchen counter.  I wouldn't say that it is the only rule that we have for her, but it is a high priority rule for us.  Lately we've been having trouble with her going on the counter a lot.  (I think it is because there is yogurt there in the morning.  She and Isaac share a passion for yogurt.)

So we finally got a spray bottle.  I got the bottle on Monday and was a little disappointed that she didn't misbehave until today.  I squirted her.  She looked at me with such surprise!  I squirted her again, perversely enjoying it.  She looked at me with disgust.  I squirted her again, barely able to contain my glee.  She jumped off the counter.  And didn't jump back on.

Also, things that we never expected to say:
"Apples don't belong in your hair."
"Don't hammer Flurry"

Tuesday: takeout and M&Ms

Today's dinner was pancakes.  The problem was that I forgot to look to see how much pancake mix we had prior to starting dinner.  I thought I could add some Bisquick, but they weren't really turning out correctly.

Cue Isaac.  He threw a tantrum.  I have no idea why.  Usually I can pinpoint something...I took something away, he wanted something...something.  I had no idea with this one.  Ben had no idea.  It kept going and going.

Ben offered to go get takeout.  I agreed.  Thank goodness for takeout.  Thank goodness for Ben.
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Today Isaac also thought that I should get M&Ms after going to the bathroom.  I thought, "he's right!  I should get M&Ms!"  But I didn't because 1) they're on the other side of the house and 2) they're a weird brand that we're actually giving him and don't quite taste right.

Monday: could have been better

Let's face it; today could have been better.  It could have been worse.  It was one of those days were all the little things annoyed me more than they should have.

*Flurry had a vet appointment and got a clean bill of health.  However, she had a stinky accident on the way home and it got all over her.
*I was expecting more training pants in the diaper delivery.  (But...Isaac only had one accident today!  That included an hour at the gym.  If he can keep that up we'll be fine.)
*The Subaru's license plate renewal went to the last address we lived at.  We did a change of address with the Secretary of State shortly after we moved.  The Toyota's license plate renewal worked fine.  I called them up, expecting something like "oh yeah, that's a known problem.  I can change it for you since I see that there is a discrepancy."  No, I got this: "yeah, that's a known problem.  You need to go into the nearest branch and fill out the paperwork.  You can't do it on-line.  And you can't do it for your husband unless you have a notarized paper saying you can."  Why are there two address databases for one government office?  I think I'm just going to put a yearly reminder on the calendar to renew the license plate.
*The dinner I decided to have didn't really sound good, but I wasn't sure what else to make.

Mostly little things, but it just wasn't working today.

Sunday: no nap

Mr. Isaac didn't take a nap today.  He happily talked in his crib...for an hour.  He must have been playing with his water bottle, because that's all that was in there.  He does love his water bottles.  Anyway, I heard him say "Pee!  Pee!"  and thought that maybe it was time to get up.

We proceeded to have a pretty rough afternoon and he feel asleep early while eating a late dinner.  Hooray!  I even manged to do a diaper change while he was sleeping.  Now I just need to hope that 1) he keeps the blankets on because he has no pants and 2) he doesn't wake up too early.

Friday: blowing

A few days ago Ben and Isaac were playing by blowing water bottles over.  Since then I've noticed Isaac trying to move all sorts of things by blowing on them.  The problem is that he's not a very good blower yet.  So this morning when he kept missing the little piece of paper that he was trying to blow his hand would sneak out and move it closer to the edge.  He would try blowing again, and it might move.  But if it didn't, his hand would sneak back out to help it along.

In other good news, Isaac managed to tell me that he needed to go to the bathroom before going to the bathroom for the first time today.  We still have lots of accidents, but we have lots of successes too.  And rarely needing to deal with dirty diapers has been a treat.

Thursday: snow!

It snowed last night...and this morning.  I wasn't expecting any accumulation, but when I woke up we had a small inch!

Surprisingly, it didn't melt during the day either.  It just snowed a little bit more and never got warm or sunny.  A lot of trees where in pretty rough shape since most leaves haven't fallen yet and the snow was just sticking to the leaves.

Wednesday: on-task

I had a really hard time keeping on any task today.  Between a cold that is knocking me out, continued potty training, and normal Isaac care it felt like just as I started something I was pulled in a different direction.  This wasn't too bad if all I was doing was a single step process (i.e. moving something from point A to point B) or something that is an on-going task (i.e., keeping the kitchen clean), but for anything else it felt like I was pulling teeth.  I was trying to get a package together to send out and it probably took me three times longer than it should have.

But...Isaac and I took a really nice nap this afternoon.

Monday: food

Isaac was funny with his food today.  During breakfast, he thought his oatmeal was too hot.  So I said, "drink some water."  A minute later I look back and he had poured the whole (small) cup of water into the bowl and was trying to mix it.  :)

Then for lunch I thought I'd try peas again.  He eats them at daycare; why not at home?  So I tried to get him involved...
Amanda: "Can you help me put some of the frozen peas in the bowl?"
Amanda: "Shall we warm them up?"
Isaac: "No."
Amanda: Uh..."Are you sure?"
Isaac: "Yes."
Ok...and he ate most of them.  So maybe the texture of frozen peas is nicer than that of cooked peas.  It's easier for me!!

Sunday: some sucess

Sick of potty training stories yet?  Well, it tends to be the big news around this household.

Today Isaac did really well.  There were still a few accidents, but he got a ton better about going to the bathroom when he was put on the toilet.  (And he often went promptly.  Sometimes within a minute!)  He still hasn't figured out how to get to the toilet if he needs to go though.

Saturday: kitty watering

Isaac has started to give water to animals in his books.  Last night he also tried to give Flurry water.  Never mind that they couldn't even see each other; Isaac would hold his sippy cup towards her.

Potty training continued to have ups and downs today.  Isaac went on the toilet several times, but hasn't quite figured out that he needs to tell us before he has an accident.  I still feel as though we're making a little bit of progress, so we'll keep at it.

Friday: potty training

We're trying to potty train again. There's been some success this week so we're persevering on.

What, you don't make pipe cleaner hats in the bathroom?

Thursday: ham and squash

It's that time of year again! Time for ham and squash. Isaac joined us this year and loved it! I expected he would enjoy the squash, but was rather surprised about the ham. I often have a hard time getting him to eat meat.

Wednesday: artwork

We got our first artwork from daycare yesterday.  It's a foot butterfly.  And it's on the fridge.

Tuesday: getting ready for bed

"Brush, brush, brush your teeth,
Brush them every day.
Up and down, around around
Keep cavities at bay."

That's the song I sing that the start of the bedtime routine.  Isaac proceeds to take out all three of his combs while I get his toothbrush ready.  Holding them seems to be the only way that he'll let me brush his teeth.  Then he has to put all of them back...this always seems like it takes longer than it should.  One comb at a time, and he often combs his hair with it before putting it in the drawer.

(The following story isn't part of the normal routine, but it was part of bed time which is why it got in this post.)  Today he put two of his whale toys together like they were kissing.  So I asked, "are they kissing?" and I got a bunch of kissing noises.  He did it a little bit later too, with two different whales.  I thought it was cute.

Monday: fruitflies

Fruit flies are annoying.  This weekend they came out in force, so I finally set a trap for them.  They're still around, but their numbers are dwindling.

It's annoying, but I guess I can't complain too loudly since it was my lack of cleanliness that allowed them to thrive.  The kitchen has been extra clean this weekend though, so that's been nice.

Weekend: more laughter due to Isaac

This morning's toy-du-joir was an easy puzzle...three pieces and something that Isaac can put together without any problems.  So when he was struggling with the bird, I finally said, "Isaac, the picture on the piece needs to match the direction of the picture on the puzzle."  Isaac looked up at me, slowly shook his head no, and went back to his puzzle.

And in things we never thought we'd have to say, Ben had this gem the other day, "Don't smash Flurry's tail between two rocks."  (No cats were harmed for this saying.  Isaac didn't have good enough aim.)

Thursday: VanKley musuem

Today Isaac and I dropped by the VanKley museum/zoo at Hope.  There was a chinchilla that was very happy to see us.  There was a guinea pig hiding in his plastic cave.

Isaac was more excited about the guinea pig than the chinchilla.

Wednesday: "Are you finished?"

I ask Isaac if he is finished eating about a million times a day (or so it feels).  Today was no exception, and he must have been feeling the same way.  So when I asked if he was finished, he turned to me and opened up his mouth widely.

"No Mom, I'm not finished.  Can't you see I'm still eating?"

Ben and I couldn't help but laugh.

Tuesday: rocks

This morning's toy-du-joir was two rocks.  Isaac came in the room, knocking them together.  He gave them to Ben, who knocked them together.  Isaac gave them to me, and I knocked them together.

"Shhh!"  Isaac immediately said after I knocked them together, with one finger to his lips.

I guess I was the only one not allowed to be noisy this morning.

Monday: clapping

Isaac likes to clap.  The other day I kept missing when I was trying to clap and he was like, "no mom, just put your hands together like this."

So then we've started clapping different ways.  The funniest is watching him try to clap vertically.  He thinks about it a second, and then his hands go together...but usually both palms are facing down.  He figures out that that is wrong, but after at only the top hand moves.

We've also tried clapping above our head and behind our backs, but his arms are rather short.  So he hits himself on his head or just fails his arms behind his back.

Saturday: funny conversations and nice people

Ben moves Isaac's play chair.
Isaac: "No"  (but it sounds like a Moo)
Ben moves Isaac's chair.
Isaac: "No" (but it sounds like a moo)
Ben: "Are you a cow?"
Isaac: "No" (but it sounds like a moo)

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During our walk today a dog ran at us from across a busy street and several houses down.  After getting to us, it turned around.  A little scary, because I never like it when dogs run at me, but otherwise fine.  The two cars that saw it both found me down to make sure I was ok.  I found it incredibly nice.

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Isaac was coloring on his sippy cup while we were out to eat this evening.
Amanda: "Isaac, only on your paper."
Isaac moved the sippy cup on the paper.  (But he also stopped coloring on it.)

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Our dinner was paid for tonight by someone that I work with.  It was a wonderful surprise.

Friday: 21 months

Hey, I finally got the 21 month pictures.


Isaac has been reading a lot of books by himself.

He's been counting, although he really can only do two-three.  He usually skips one.

He loves my camera, so I finally gave him one of his own.  He goes around pointing the camera at you and saying "cheese" and then waiting for you to say it back.  (It's an old camera and doesn't have any batteries.)

Isaac has become a great mimic.  He will say words back (although I don't know if he completely understands what he's saying) and mimic motions.  He's picked up several new words that he can use appropriately in context.  Or at least mostly appropriately - blueberries, strawberries, and grapes are all called blueberries.

Isaac has started using real plastic cups (sometimes) and thinks they're the greatest thing ever.

I introduced colored pencils too and those have worked well.  They're a little easier than crayons, so we have some fun drawings around.

I always think of things that I want to add to these reports when I'm not at the computer and now can't remember most of them.  Oh well.  He's still a lot of fun!

Wednesday: nap

Guess who didn't take a nap today?

(The answer is both me and Isaac.)

But to be fair, Isaac behaved himself very well.

Tuesday: mamamama

Picking Isaac up from daycare today was a little chaotic.  I needed to pay the bill, there was a door issue, and a weird note on the daily slip that didn't end up applying to me.

Then I heard a loud "Mamamama!"  And Isaac came running up. :)