Saturday: lake excitement

A hot air balloon made a stop by our lake!

It was kind of funny because Isaac and I were randomly talking about hot air balloons just the other day.

I was rather exhausted today; Joshua hasn't been sleeping well.  I went to take my nap after putting Joshua down.  Apparently Joshua didn't fall asleep for his nap for Ben and was rather loud.  I didn't hear a thing.

Friday: this is life

Today I cleaned the table.  Look at it!  All clean and empty.

But what you can't see is the mound of clean laundry waiting to be folded.  (There's also a load in the washer and drier too.  The closets are looking a bit empty.)

Or the kitchen, which never quite can get clean this past week.  There are places to put stuff though, so I guess it isn't as messy as possible.

This afternoon I suggested to Isaac that we go to the bird house library or color.  He suggested sewing...that was fine with me!  Both boys actually ended up on my lap.  Joshua got to push the start button and Isaac pushed the stop and all the other buttons.  Isaac was very cute as he would help Joshua reach the button and tell him how to press it..."In the middle, Josh-e-a."

After that Isaac decided there were rats on the ceiling and so ran around as fast as his legs would go.  He also pumped his arms because that made him "super, super, super fast."  He was trapping the rats, and did so for a surprising amount of time.

Thursday: distracted

On the way to school this morning Isaac mentioned wanting to knock on the right (vs. left) door.  Then two seconds later he said that it was actually the left door that he wanted to knock on, and I knew that was what he meant based on Tuesday.  I was excited that he figured out right and left!  He's doing better with it than I am.

I was a bit distracted during the second class session today.  I was trying to fix a link for the class that I thought would just take a minute while they were working on exercises.  And it took another minute.  And another.  I still responded to questions, but didn't walk around and actively seek the questions like normal.  I should have just left it alone, but I also knew that after class wouldn't be much better...I'd have to put on the "Mom" hat.  Sure, it could have waited for tonight but it was supposed to be a quick fix.  Anyway.  I guess I'll just have to keep it in mind for the future.  I'll try to make up for it on Tuesday. :)

Joshua has started to sit in laps.  It is the cutest thing.  He'll crawl up to you and then position himself just so.  It is very intentional and so snuggly.

Wednesday: odorific

There is a very unpleasant odor in our kitchen.  It is an obnoxiously illusive odor.  It likes to be smelled in the middle of the kitchen, but upon further investigation tightly curls up and says, "nevermind."  It is happy to be covered up by other odors until 2:15am in the morning when you put your preschooler back to bed because he thinks it's time to wake up.  It is happiest as you then spend the next half hour wondering if there is a dead mouse under the stove and how much noise it would actually make if you were to check right now.

And so, should you feel as though you have an exceptional nose please, come by sometime and track this odor down.  Then, perhaps, we can figure out a way to get rid of it.  (My guess is still the sink, because where else would it be?  I was going to get a lemon at the store for the garbage disposal, but ended up having to leave promptly.  And it really is just a guess.)

Tuesday: teaching

Today was the first day of classes.  I think it went pretty well, although I do a lot of talking in the first lecture.  I've added some anti-cheating macros to the spreadsheets they need to turn in, so I'm interested to see how that works.  I'm feeling much more comfortable with the class this semester...I found myself cleaning up the class website a bit more and making changes that I previously felt uncomfortable doing.  

When I picked Isaac up from school he was sitting on a bean bag reading with a friend.  Joshua declined to take an afternoon nap...but was rather happy still.  He did a ton of assisted walking tonight.

Monday: paino

Yesterday we were all on our bed and Isaac had way too much energy.  So we had him go back and forth to the paino to play different notes.  The highest note (a "peep"), the lowest note (a "doh"), a black key, a white key, etc.  He was still interested today, so he learned about C.  He can find middle C and maybe other Cs.  We'll see if he remembers tomorrow.

Also, boxes are fun.

Sunday: 13 months, 44 months

Joshua recently turned 13 months.

Sleeping: Joshua is sleeping from 8pm until 5am(ish) when he eats and then goes back to sleep for about two hours.  He usually still takes a morning nap, but it is often pretty short.  He takes an afternoon nap for at least 1.5 hours, sometimes longer.

Talking: He has a few words, notably "dada", "mama", and "hi".  There have been a few times where I've asked him what my name is and he'll say "mama."  He waves a lot.

Eating: Eating has gotten a bit less stressful since he now eats pretty much what we're eating.  He has all four molars, although I'm not sure if they're in all the way.  He loves bread products, eats meat easily, and likes many fruits.  I'm having a harder time with vegetables.  He is now drinking from a sippy cup.  We are still nursing often, but I'm not pumping.

Attitude: Still pretty happy, although he's had several clingy days.  Possibly due to the teeth.  He is often serious, although laughs regularly.  He is very content to play by himself.

Moving: He is still scooting.  He can stand on his own for up to about thirty seconds.  We have started to get the walker out and it works ok...not great yet.  Today he did make it all the way across the short dimension of the room though.

Isaac has turned 44 months.

Sleeping: he still naps sometimes.  We're finding that when he naps it takes him forever to fall asleep, but if he doesn't nap he gets cranky.  He goes to bed at 8ish and usually falls asleep by 9pm.  He is awake around 7am.

Eating: Still pretty good at eating, although slow.  He likes some vegetables and tolerates others.  Besides that it is rather hit-or-miss as to whether he'll eat something.  Unless it is a treat.  He loves his treats.

Attitude: Isaac is still super silly and laughs at anything.  He has been having some trouble listening lately, but at the same time we've noticed him being extra helpful the last few days.  He's taken care of things without being asked.

Learning: He can count up to 11 and then skips around with all the teen numbers.  He can recognize A-Z and 0-9.  (Ok, he's been able to do that for a while.)  He can spell his name but sometimes has a hard time remembering the S.  He knows it's there, but can't remember what it is.  He likes to read, but I've noticed that some days he wants to read all the time and other days he doesn't.  We don't have many in-the-middle days.

Fun: He still likes to run around and play with asssorted toys.  Duplos often, although with summer we haven't done as much.  Playdoh comes out on a regular basis.  He loves to go out.  If we only have one errand to do he sometimes gets a bit sad.  He loves Giraffe the Giraffe and Isaac the Monkey.  He has a wild imagination and it usually involves feeding someone something.