Thursday: theme day - frogs

Today's theme day was frogs.  We said a lot of ribbit-ribbits.

We went for a frog hunt.

(We didn't find any.)

We learned that frogs exist in different habitats.

We captured one.

(I was having trouble with all the pictures today...sorry.  But this one you can clearly see frog eyes in two places, so I thought it was cool.)

Another habitat is the basement.

There are brown frogs and dragonflies (on my bandana) live around frogs.

There are orange frogs.  The green frog and orange frog proceeded to kick around a new pillow that was in plastic.  On the hardwood floors, it went far and spun easily.  And it was hilarious to both frogs, but especially to the green one.

Frogs exist in wet climates.

Wednesday: story time

Today we went to story time at the library.  We've gone a few times, but this is the first time that Isaac seemed to interact a little bit.  Or maybe he just liked looking at other babies.  He still does not like things on his head...one of the songs involved covering his eyes for a peek-a-boo, but it took too long between the cover and the reveal and he was able to yank my hands off.

edit: oh bother, I actually had an interesting topic for today.  Luckily it's a general topic so you can get it again later.

Tuesday: dinner

Ben and I brought dinner to a couple that just had a baby tonight.  It worked well because the baby was not having a happy afternoon, so the parents would not have had much time to make dinner.  The baby is so small...it's amazing how much Isaac has grown in the last eight months.

And Isaac was super cute.  As almost always.

Monday: quilt

Today I finished my Tetris quilt.  I've been working hard to get it done by tonight...it was really a little bit too fast of a pace for me.  I should have done the quilting differently or ignored the "deadline."  I needed about three or four more days for it to be a comfortable pace.

Anyway, Isaac wanted to help a lot today.  I had it spread out to tie off the thread ends and get the lint off and he kept getting in the way.  A lot like Flurry always does, but at least Isaac doesn't shed.

(You can see more pictures here if you're really interested.

Sunday: hmm

Hmm...I thought I had a subject to post about today, but I don't remember what it was.  We were getting ready for church this morning when we realized it was actually at 10am for a special service and that we missed it.  Then we went to Arby's for breakfast only to find out they have stopped serving breakfast.

I probably should have gone to bed a while ago.

Saturday: inch worm

Isaac finally let me tape him crawling.  Or inch worming, as I like to call it.

Thursday: digital read outs

In this day and age of technology, I would like more than an instruction manual for babies. I would like some digital read outs. The most important being how long the baby is going to sleep for before (s)he wakes up.

Wednesday: light switch

A light switch turned on in Isaac's head over the last two days.  If you'll recall, on Monday we were excited that Isaac crawled a foot.  And that foot was a struggle.  Today he crawled from Ben to me (three feet away) and then to back to Ben and then back to me within about three minutes.  We looked at each other and were rather amazed.  It's so fun to watch his little body move...and actually get somewhere.

Monday: baby gate

As Isaac gets more mobile (he crawled a good foot today!), we decided it was time to put up the baby gate.  It was a bit more of a hassle than we were hoping for, but it seems to be working fine.

We know it's a little high, but Isaac won't be able to get all the way under it and Flurry still can.  (I really like this picture.  It's hard to see in the small view, but he really looks scared.)

Sunday: mini golf

We went mini-golfing yesterday.  It was fun...and a good activity to do as a family.

Isaac was not very excited about my hole in one.  Ben won overall though. :)

I also found this cute picture on my camera.

Saturday: 8 months/35 weeks

It's picture overload time again.  I'll start with the normal two pictures:

And then we have some nice 8 month pictures.  (I didn't edit/crop them like the 6mo ones, but at least I could if I ever get that ambitious).

The last one looks like he is concentrating so hard on his name and getting the A in the right spot.  However, the puzzle is upside-down. :)

Every single one on the couch ended with this series of shots:

Isaac is getting rather mobile.  He has a hard time crawling (he does an inch worm thing), but he can roll.  And lunge.  He's also started clapping.  And eating more food by himself.  He got rid of the pacifier and is now sleeping better, although a runny nose the last few days has made it a little harder again.

Friday: groceries

I went grocery shopping today.  I was super excited to finally find boneless, skinless, and trimmed chicken.  I know it costs more, but it is one of the things I'm willing to splurge on.  Especially since it is hard to trim chicken with Isaac around...starting and stopping takes a little bit of effort.

But then we ran into some disappointments.  They are still out of canned mango juice.  I'm pretty sure that some restaurant comes early in the day and buys out the entire stock, because I've only seen an empty shelf for the last two months.  And the Indian sauce that we use with chicken is gone...there isn't even a spot for that.

I got some new grocery bags as the ones we have are starting to wear out.  I was promptly disappointed when the cashier put one layer of cans in the first bag and moved to the second bag.  I thought maybe she'd wait to put some light things in it, but I had to prompt her to get the rice cakes in it.  I use the bags in a large part so that they can be filled to the brim.  I arrange my groceries on the conveyor belt to optimize their use.  It annoys me when cashiers ignore my system, although they probably have a system that they think works better.

Wednesday: dirt

Today I was putting in some of our new window screens and noticed that the windows really needed to be cleaned.  So I made a pact with the dirt...I'd relocate it if it wanted.  Most of the dirt took me up on the offer.  Some of it stubbornly decided to stay where it was, but it was in the minority.  The only exception was the green dirt...it had to go.

Also, Isaac is moving slowly.   (There's another one for you, Heather.)  There's even a chance now that we'll get hit by the very tail end of it.  It'd be cool to have Isaac in Isaac.



(Second Image from NOAA)

Tuesday: a grumpy day

I had a rather grumpy day today.  The morning was especially bad...I think the main thing was that Isaac didn't sleep well and was then up rather early.  And then little things piled on top, as they always do.

I took a morning nap with Isaac and woke up un-grumpy.  I knew that was what I needed.  We had someone coming by to fix our windows as they are really hard to move up and down.  I'm a little frustrated with the company...I've talked to three people and they don't seem to talk to each other.  The cost is rising...some of which is understandable, but they could have figured this out a while ago so all the parts could have been ordered at once.  I tried getting Isaac to take a nap shortly after the guy left, but he wasn't ready.  So we ate lunch.  Isaac almost fell asleep.  I know parents always get pictures of their babies sleeping in the highchair, but I didn't realize he would come so close while I was actively feeding him.  It was pretty funny.

I took an afternoon nap with Isaac and woke up happy.  I even woke up before he did, which is always nice.  I think we slept for about two hours.  The rest of the day went by rather nicely.

Sunday: Isaac and Dominion

We played on-line Dominion with our friends tonight.  Apparently Isaac really, really wants to play too because whenever we have a Dominion night he doesn't sleep well.  It's rather odd.

We're wondering if he's teething.

Saturday: this and that

A few random things for today.

Ben found this video.  It's hilarious.  I was laughing about it for hours after watching it.

Ben's golf ball return broke a week ago.  I opened it up to see what was wrong, figuring I couldn't break it any more than it was.  And I fixed it!  Then we decided to add a switch to the side...Ben had been taking out the batteries as we were afraid it is one of those devices that drains the batteries even when not actively doing something.  So Ben attached the switch and got some wire, and I did some soldering.  So now we have an awesome ball return.  Go team!

Isaac got a Hope bib in the mail today.  Yay for more bibs.  I never thought I'd say that, but it's true.  Especially the big bibs now.

Friday: weeks 32, 33, 34 and TS Isaac

Ready for lots of pictures?

We have Isaac at week 32.  He was joined by some goats.

Week 33

(He was done with pictures at this point.  I have a whole bunch where he wasn't moving (or smiling).  But it does make for clearer pictures!)

Week 34.  He's been sticking his tongue out a lot this week again.  (I really like this first photo even though it's blurry.  He looks so happy.)

And Isaac is lucky enough to be alive during his tropical storm!  While he won't remember it, he is at a time in his life when he is a lot like a tropical storm...

Isaac will have everyone reconsidering their travel plans.
Oh shoot.  Ben had a whole list that I thought were funny and now I can't remember them.

Thursday: Flurry and Isaac

Flurry often escapes into the garage when I'm coming in and have my hands full.  She's usually really good about coming back in within ten minutes, so unless there is a big temperature difference between the house and the garage I let her explore with the door slightly open.  Today she didn't come back in, and so Isaac and I went to look for her.

We found her curled up in Isaac's next car seat.  She stayed there for a while.

Isaac's appetizer was cottage cheese today.  I don't think he gets many curds in his mouth, but he does enjoy trying.

Then he had some zuchinni and summer squash from Nathan and Liz.

(Here it was a few days ago)

(And today)

Wednesday: quilt show

Today I went to the large American Quilting Society's quilt show in Grand Rapids.  It was a lot of fun.  There were vendors and quilts and people and fabric and sewing machines and more quilts.  We got there right away which was nice...it wasn't quite so busy.  Two hours later it was getting hard to move without bumping into people.

The fabric was gorgeous, but I restrained myself and didn't buy much.  Mostly because I don't have any patterns in mind right now that I want to make.  I did get a panel fabric that I'm going to make into a book for Isaac...that way I don't have to be worried about him eating it.

The display quilts were amazing.  Some were amazing but I could probably make something similar (although the quality might not be as good) and some were amazing and there's no way I could make it.  I actually liked the former a lot more, as they can give me ideas for quilts I might want to make.  (I was able to take pictures, but sadly I can't post them.  I kind of wish I hadn't read the photography policy on the web, but I did.)

Overall, it was a great time.  Made even better by the fact that Ben stayed home with Isaac, so I was child free.

Monday: pictures

We got Cheryl some photography lessons for her birthday.  Then she took some pictures of Isaac as part of one of the lessons.  Whoo!

Sunday: birthday

Well, it was a major milestone birthday for me.  However, it was a pretty low key day, which was nice.

Ben made me a delicious cake.  It was even better than it looks.

Isaac slept in a little bit, played contentedly on the floor while Ben and I were getting stuff ready to have people over tonight, and had a half hour conversation with a chair while we ate dinner.  The conversation was actually quite funny...and when we tried to pick him up because we were done eating Isaac got mad.  So we put him back down so he could continue his conversation.

Saturday: a new rhyme

Eenie feeney finey fail
Catch a lion by its tail
If he hollers let him flail
Eenie feeney finey fail


The making of this rhyme caused a lot of laughter. No one was permanently hurt.

Thursday: rain, food

There was a lovely thunderstorm today.  Ahh.  I do love the rain and am glad we've been getting more of it.

I also spent a lot of time in the kitchen today.  I made some baby food and some curry.  The curry is probably the meal that takes the longest for me to make.  There's a good hour of active cooking plus some simmering time.  This time I started it an hour earlier than normal so I wasn't feeling rushed and it was probably one of the best batches I've made.  (It might also help that I remembered to put in the salt.)  Luckily, it also makes 3.5 meals so even though it takes a while I now have two very fast meals to pull out of the freezer.

VA pictures

Here are a few of the pictures from our Virginia trip.

Veterans Crisis Line: it's for everyone.

Goats!

More goats!  (These were the small ones.)

Feeding the goats.

Petting the goats.

At the zoo

Yay!

There was an exhibit that you could go into and see birds.  I think this was Isaac's favorite exhibit.  The birds were easy to see and moved a lot.  The otters were fun to watch, but there was glass between us so I think he just watched his reflection.  He also enjoyed checking out the wood fence around some exhibits if the animal wasn't moving or was far away.

Let's feed the goats again!

Tuesday: home

We made it home!  We took a tad bit longer than going down, but we also ran into an accident on the highway and needed to make a detour.

Isaac again did great on the drive and slept the whole time.  But he was awake a lot today.  I think we took three half hour naps.  I might have been trying to get him to take a nap on the early side of when he normally does, but by the last one I really figured he'd take a slightly longer one.  I was doing ok until about 2:30, when I started to crash.  I got my second wind after the subsequent short nap at 4:30, but I'm really starting to drag as I write this.  I'm not complaining too much though...Dad did a lot of the driving and it is a lot easier to entertain him at home than in the car.

Hopefully there will be pictures tomorrow.

Saturday: a hike

The weather was beautiful today, so we went for a hike. In true family tradition, we went to look for a waterfall. And we found it!

Thursday/Friday: Virginia

Last night dad, Isaac and I left for Virginia to visit Nathan and Liz. Dad and I were excited, but rather nervous about traveling that far with Isaac.

We traveled through the night and Isaac was great. He woke up when we stopped, but promptly went back to sleep. I think he cried for about two minutes at one point because it was a normal feeding time, but he went back to sleep once he realized he wasn't going to be fed.

Then today we looked at the goats and the cows and took naps. It's been a nice day.

Wednesday: my nap

Today my nap of the day was finished before Ben got out of the shower this morning.  He was running about fifteen minutes late, but that doesn't change the fact that Isaac was awake before the crack of dawn.

Honestly, this is a little worse than having to get up a few times every night to put the pacifier back in, because I could do that while mostly asleep.  It seems like it should be better, but fighting with Isaac at 5:20 for forty minutes about the fact that it is still night time is no fun.