Minnesota pictures

We got all of the pictures that everyone took from our Minnesota trip a few days ago.  Here are (many) of my favorites.  There were lots of cute ones of the other children too, but if I included those I would have too many pictures.  So these are the highlights that mostly include Isaac.

Day 1:

Day 2:

 

Ladderball was a hit with the boys

Isaac liked playing with the girls though too.

Day 3:

Smoothies are delicious!

Isaac loved dumping rocks in the water.

Day 4:

Tired out after the zoo.

Day 5:

Can't forget a foot and arm photo!

She smiled every time I showed her my frozen yogurt.  Until it was gone.  Then she got grumpy, but who can blame her?

Day 6:

The boys in red, all looking disinterested in the camera

Day 7:

Time to try and get all the kids in a picture!  But Isaac stood up too soon.

Then the other boy got up too.

The girl gave the boys a stern talking to.

We got one!

Time to go!

Day 8:

The boys were all tired out.  

Our group!

Saturday: bubbles

Isaac and I were walking into the house today after doing some errands and he kept saying something and pointing.  After he said it a few times I realized that he was pointing to the bubbles.  Now, all in all this wouldn't be noteworthy but for two things...

1) We haven't worked on the word bubble.  It's been around and he's played with bubbles, but it's probably been at least two weeks since bubbles have been out.
2) The bubbles aren't in a normal bubble container.  I just made some with dish soap after I realized my actual bubbles weren't bubbling, so they're in a Tupperware container.  We probably haven't gotten these bubbles out for a month.

So, hooray for Isaac!  He had to put a lot of things together in order to communicate with me.  So we got the bubbles out for a few minutes.

Friday: toys, pool, don'ts

Lately, when Isaac and I go to help Ben wake up, Isaac brings a toy with him.  It's a little annoying, but he gets so mad otherwise that I go with it.  (It also means that we always have random toys in our bedroom.)  Anyway, today it was MegaBlocks.  He had one in each hand when we went in.  He gave them to Ben and left to get some more.  Bringing in two at a time, Isaac probably took about fifteen trips back and forth over the next ten minutes.

We again joined Betsy and Ethan at the pool this morning.  The boys seem to slowly be understanding that you're supposed to spend time in the water and not running away from it.  We still had to chase them a little bit, but it felt so much better than the last several times.

And finally, the things I have found myself saying the last few days that I never thought I'd have to teach someone...
"Don't lick the floor."
"Don't lick the deck."
"Don't kiss the wall."
"Don't bite the bed."

Thursday: grocery store adventures

I choose a slow line at the grocery store check out today.  So slow.  Slow enough that I ended up giving Isaac my phone to play with and I rarely do that when we're out and about.  I just hope the poor mother with the screaming baby got a special line.

It was finally our turn to check out.  Yay!  I'm asked if I have any coupons or bottle returns...not today. The cashier set up my two reusable bags - bags that have been well used but are still in decent condition.  The bottom plastic thing is mangled, but the bags themselves are fine.  Then she puts a brown paper bag in both...what??  I brought the reusable bags so that she didn't have to use those!  Well, by the time I got over my shock I decided it wasn't worth saying anything.  Maybe she didn't like the condition of my bags.  She asked again if I have any coupons or bottle returns...I still didn't.

I had more groceries than bags, and so I figured she'd just put the rest in a plastic bag.  She got out a paper bag.  Ok...I'm fine with paper.  Then she put the paper bag in the plastic bag...what??  What was going on?  Why was she using so many bags?  Again, by the time I got over my shock it was really too late to say anything.  But I have now figured out why the line was so slow.  Right before ringing up the final total she asked again if I had any coupons or bottle returns.  Sigh...I still didn't.

I've since then thought of many reasons why I might ask for a double bag, but no reasons for the cashier to do it without prompting.  But I do have a good coupon now for the next time I check out.

Tuesday: Isaac loves Dad

When Ben came home today Isaac was so excited to see him.  "Yay!  Dad's home!"  Unfortunately, Ben needed to do some stuff and needed Isaac to not be around, so after spending some time together Isaac and I headed out of the room.  We closed the door and Isaac started crying.  Tears came.  Toys couldn't distract him.  Curious George finally helped for a little bit, but when that was done he remembered Ben again.  A little more crying, although we finally found some toys that were distracting enough.

Monday: change of plans

Today's activities ended up being completely different than I expected when I woke up this morning.  We ended up spending the morning with Abby and her daughters...first going out for breakfast and then playing at the park.  It was hot out!  It was still mid-morning when we were at the park, but we were drenched in sweat.  The kids probably would have happily played longer, but the mothers said it was too hot.  (As a side note, the high today was 100 degrees and probably felt warmer.  It's currently 10:30 pm and 85 degrees but feels like 90 degrees.)

Then this afternoon my aunts unexpectedly stopped by!  It was lovely to see them.  Isaac was just waking up so it took him a little bit to warm up to them, but by the end he was laughing at Aunt C and "talking" to them.   At the beginning I had given him some puffs to help him wake up.  Aunt C gave one to Aunt Sue on the other side of the room and Isaac immediately got off the couch and retrieved it.  She was not allowed to have his puffs!

Saturday: unexpected results

So we ended up with some unexpected results with potty training.  After some early successes he didn't continue the trend.  But I did discover that Isaac is more than willing to sit and read while on the toilet.  Since I've been having problems getting him to read while in the chair in his bedroom, I think we're going to have reading time on the toilet for a while.  And if he happens to do his business...that's even better.

Friday: pool, food

We went to the pool with Betsy and Ethan again today. Isaac walked in the pool up to his armpits! And he probably spent about half the time in the pool...a significant improvement from before.

At dinner Isaac started to throw his food. The immediate response to this is to remove all his food. Except he only had his vegetables left...so this may not have been the punishment that I was going for. He did get a little mad though, so I may have lucked
out.

Thursday: puzzling

A few days ago I decided to get out a puzzle.  I'm not really sure what I was thinking...it's not an easy puzzle and I have a toddler!  But it's worked out a lot better than I expected.  We've done a lot of puzzling together; he'll do his puzzle and I'll do mine.  Once in a while I'll let him sit on my lap while I'm working on mine and he keeps trying to move my arm and tell me that I'm not putting the pieces together fast enough. Mine isn't as easy as his!

Wednesday: 18 month appointment

Today was Isaac's 18 month appointment.  He's doing well and there's nothing that we need to be concerned about.  He's weighing in at 23 lb 1 oz (33%), and is 31.75" (17%) long.  He got two shots and didn't cry!  For that, he got his first sucker.  Luckily the nurse gave us a clear one (coconut flavored or something) because Isaac did get it all over himself.  He also had some blood drawn.  He cried a little bit for that, but probably because we were holding him so that he couldn't move.  The crying didn't start until about 30 seconds after the needle was put in.

On the potty training front, there was some more success today so we'll try again tomorrow.  I didn't work it too hard in the afternoon/evening due to the doctor's appointment.

Tuesday: potty training, day 1

Well, I thought we'd try potty training this week.  There were several reasons that I thought this might be a good week; if things seem to work I'll go into why.  Today didn't go great, but we did have some success.  I'll give it another day or two and see how things are going and whether I want to continue trying right now.

Isaac has also decided that Flurry makes a good pillow.  She was actually purring on the bed when he was using her as a pillow.  Then later in the afternoon Isaac followed her around and tried to lean over and lay on her.  That didn't work quite as well.

He did wear pants for part of the day...

In other other news Ben and I have noticed a lot of new things that he can do over the last day or so.  It was pretty cool to compare notes tonight.

Monday: 18 months

Before we went on vacation, I took Isaac's 18 month photos.  This month I asked him to stand in front of the quilt for pictures and he did!!

Sleep has gotten better than last month.  He sometimes has been talking himself to sleep, but hasn't needed as much help again.  Naps are still a little bit of an issue, but he still goes down at some point during the day.

His vocabulary has exploded during the last week.  Still not a ton of actual nouns, although he did add ball, but he also can meow, neigh, moo, beep, whee, and say amen.  Amen is only one syllable and really funny. He's been noticing a lot of sounds in the environment.  When he hears a train or a car beep he'll beep and say woof when he hears a dog.

I'm not sure what else to talk about with regards to being 18 months.  He still plays well by himself, although he often prefers to play with us.

Isaac laughs easily and has great faces.  He hasn't enjoyed reading as much this month.  Curious George is still a favorite.

He's been waking up still between about 6:15 and 6:45 most mornings pretty happily.  He often hands me all of his stuffed animals to get out of the crib first.

Sunday: home

After Dunkin' Donuts, Isaac and I went to a park so that Ben could sleep a little longer.  It looked like a big park from the map, so I was hoping for a playground.  No luck.  There was a part that looked like a play structure, but it was really a splash pad and it was locked up.  The park was a little boring, but Isaac chased some sparrows and found rocks.

Ben drove home while Isaac and I slept.  The rest of the day was fine...we were a little tired but not exhausted.  Isaac was pretty happy the rest of the day, but went to sleep pretty easily.  I think vacation wore him out. :)

Saturday: easy day

Today was our last day together. Ben and I packed up in the morning and then we all went to have Indian food...yum!

We had an easy afternoon hanging out. We watched the rescuers down under. When the mean lizard is chasing the little lizard to get the keys Isaac was enthralled and kept saying "uh oh" through the whole scene.

We finally took a group picture, ate dinner, and took off. It was a really fun week and we were sad to leave.

After almost stopping early because we like to sleep, we kept going and are near Chicago. We'll be home soon!

Friday: strawberries and pool

This morning we went strawberry picking. Isaac did a lot better at it than I was expecting. He could easily pick the strawberries I found for him and put them in the box.







Later in the day he found where the cut strawberries were being kept on the counter and nicely asked for one. And another. And another. Then he dragged our friend closer to the counter because she had left and said please. He kept coming back but he so politely asked for them that he kept getting them.

We went to the pool in the early evening. We were surprised by an awesome rate because we got there so late. Hurray for the nap! It took Isaac a while to warm up to it, but he had a lot of fun. There were some really nice water slides for the adults too.







Lastly, there was kick the can ice cream...and it was delicious. Isaac figured out to do a little kicking, but ladderball ended up being more fun to play.

Thursday: mall of America

Although it was the fourth of July, we decided to have a restful morning and then go to the Mall of America in the afternoon. The mall doesn't seem like a very patriotic thing to do, but we hoped that would make it a little less busy.

So the morning...our host are dog sitting, so Isaac got to play with a dog. He also got up the nerve to pet Hamlet. Those two critters kept him pretty occupied.










We played some Dominion (yay)! And then took off for the mall. We stopped at LegoLand and got some souvenir Lego figurines. Ben and I rode the roller coaster. Isaac got grumpy because he couldn't ride the roller coaster. We went through a mirror maze which I thought might be a little dumb, but was actually quite a bit of fun (with a child). Isaac and Ben ran away from me and I chased them and Isaac thought it was hilarious. Isaac and I also ran head first into a mirror once too...it was pretty funny. We ended our day at the food court because it was getting late, not because we had really planned to do so.







By this time Isaac was barely holding off the grumpiness, but it was a little too early for bed. So we played some Frisbee golf. He loved it, as long as we were doing what he wanted. (which was most of the time, but not all the time.). The home team won by one stroke and everyone else tied for second...guess the teams were even. :)