Wednesday: some of it went well

The day started out fine.

Then Joshua accidentally caused my phone to fall, and the screen shattered.  As I was trying to figure out if it still worked (it did) and give myself two minutes to think about what to do next Isaac would not stop talking to me.  After the third time of telling him to wait because I just needed a few minutes and I'd get back to him shortly, I cry yelled at him.  He laughed.  Yes, I'm sure it was amusing.  However, that was the wrong response.  He went in time out.  That let me have my time out.  (It finished...we hugged, we talked...all the normal stuff.)  But blah.  (I found a place to fix the screen, but it will be a few days before they can get the part.)

Anyway, next we went to get the boys haircuts.  It was Joshua's first professional haircut and he did a great job.  He just sat in my lap, not saying a word.  He moved his head a bit, but not excessively.  The front still isn't as straight as I was hoping, but the rest of it is thinned out.  I don't have a picture since he was sitting in my lap.

Ben and I played racquetball tonight.  I really played quite poorly, but I did have one awesome shot which caused Ben's shoe to come off.

Oh, and Joshua left this for me.  Maybe he's trying to tell me that he would eat some steak?

Tuesday: zoo and a problem

Ben had the day off today, so we went to the zoo.  We had a good time...it was pretty empty when we got there and we were just finishing up when the boys were done.  We went to an Indian restaurant since we were in a city that has Indian food.  (It was ok.  Not great, not bad.)

Joshua loves birds, so I thought he'd enjoy feeding the birds.  Not so much.  They got too close and freaked him out.  I had him leave the cage before the food was gone.

This afternoon we took our weekly stroller/bike ride to water the flowers.  Only to find out there is a serious problem with my plan - the plan was that Isaac would learn to ride his bike and then we'd have a nice stroll to water the flowers.  Well, it turns out that once they figure out how to ride a bike they go rather fast.  Even when Isaac wasn't trying to go fast he went faster than me.  So I was running half the time.  Isaac can now get himself started from a stop, which was the biggest problem he had last week.  I think I'm going to get a bike seat for Joshua so that I can bike with Isaac...because running is not fun.

A few days ago: 54 months

Isaac turned 54 months old a few days ago.

Family: He finally loves Ben infinity much.  He insists on telling me that "I love you more than you love me."  I've tried to stop it since I don't really like it, but it hasn't worked.  He seems to be enjoying Joshua more...he likes making him laugh and helping him say new words.  Isaac happily still holds my hand; something I love.

Eating: Isaac has been extra hungry this month.  Several times he would eat dinner, his treat, a graham cracker, and then start in on the fruits and veggies.  He is a slow, slow eater, but with all of that food it isn't uncommon for it to take 1.5 hours for him to eat.  He has a few foods that he definitely will not eat (scrambled eggs, for example) but isn't too picky over all.

Silliness: Isaac loves to be silly.  (Above is his silly picture.)  He is always a puppy, although he refers to himself in third person and in a funny voice when a puppy.  This month we learned that puppy is still learning how to eat, and so somethings took a few extra tries.  He's been doing more climbing, standing on one leg, hopping, etc things...it makes me wonder if gymnastics influenced it.

Playing: his favorite things are still marbles and legos.  (I often hear the marbles when he's supposed to be getting dressed.)  He got some new fun things for his birthday and he's been playing with those a lot too.  I put the puzzles away since he hasn't gotten them out for months, and then he asked for some during quiet time.  I brought a few up, and am not sure that he did them.

Attitude: Besides a few minor listening incidents, Isaac has been really good lately.  He's really fun and tries really hard to get people to laugh and smile.  He's trying to scare Ben and me; he's gotten Ben once but hasn't really gotten me yet.  Oh, I'm not sure if this fits in this category, but Isaac is amazing at delayed gratification.  We got donuts on Wednesday and he decided that he didn't want to eat his until Thursday because that was his birthday day.  We've noticed this in several other places too.

Work: Isaac has been somewhat willing to do work around the house, but we just set up a chore chart for him.  He gets some money just for being part of the family.  The chores are to say 5 s-blend words (snow, stop, spit, etc.), feed Flurry, put away the clean silverware, water the plants (4x/week), help with laundry (1x/week), and clean his room (1x/beginning of the week).  So far it's worked pretty well.  Most of the chores take him a total of 15 minutes at the most, so it's easy to have him do even if it's at the end of the day.  (Cleaning his room, on the other hand, takes a while.  Especially since he doesn't want to do it.  Our solution is that he doesn't have to, but no ipad (or other fun things), until he has done it.

Conclusion: Isaac is usually a lot of fun to be around and while he prefers "playing" with us he's really quite happy to do anything with us.  He's becoming quite independent while still enjoying having us around.

Sunday: puzzles and fireworks

I had a few extra minutes this evening and so worked on some puzzles with Joshua.  He was a pro.  So I got out the four piece puzzles.  He had the right idea, but execution wasn't great.  But that is good...something to work on.

Isaac got to go see his first fireworks tonight.  He took a nap this afternoon, as part of the deal, and then he and Ben went to Travis' neighborhood for them.  He loved them.  They were rather loud, but he just covered his ears.  Ben said that Isaac was saying "Bang, bang" in between the explosions and bouncing all over the place.  When they lit off a small one he would get a bit disappointed and wonder when the big ones were coming again.

Saturday: assorted pictures

Another one from Cheryl's birthday:

We got our worms yesterday.  Joshua seemed a bit squeamish and even though Isaac didn't flinch away he didn't want to touch them.  We put them in and they wiggled around.  I've checked them several times, and mostly can't tell they're doing anything.  I did find one group that had escaped through some holes in the bottom, so stuck them back inside.  They quickly went down into the dirt again.

Isaac wanted this picture taken of him.  It was a pajama day.  He also did an amazing job with Joshua Friday morning...sharing his new toys and helping him a few times without being asked.

A few days ago: 23 months

Joshua recently turned 23 months!

Family: The biggest news is that in the last month he switched allegiances.  Ben used to be the preferred parent, but now I am.  This has lessened a bit in the last week, but still hasn't changed back to Ben.  He and Isaac have also started interacting a lot more.  I won't say that they're playing together, but they're playing next to each other and laughing at each other.  Joshua keeps pretty close tabs on Isaac.  He's started to recognize extended family and be excited to see them.

Sleeping: We just got him an ok-to-wake alarm clock.  He was waking up a little bit early, and he really needs that last half hour of sleep.  I'm not sure it's helped a ton yet, but he does seem to not be so loud when it is time to wake up.  He's more or less sleeping 8pm-7am with at least a 1.5 hour nap, sometimes up to 2.5 hours.

Playing: he's been enjoying fiddling with stuff...the circuts, legos, duplos, etc.  He loves to read books and enjoys drawing.  He makes sure that he gets his allotted Ipad time every day.  He also really enjoyed this photo shoot, so there were lots of good pictures.  He's also started doing some games that he makes up.  It might take me a while to figure out the rules, but there is a pattern to them.

Eating: ug.  He'll eat carbs and some dairy.  And applesauce.  I haven't been able to get him to touch the veggie pouches or any fruits lately.  (But I keep putting them on his plate!)  Cheese and yogurt work sometimes.

Attitude: I feel like I always write these on days that weren't great.  I'd say overall things are getting a little bit better...and it's not as though they were that bad even at the worst.  There are a few small tantrums here and there.  But he still listens well and that's half the battle.

Speaking: he has many words/phrases.  It's still the odd stage that he can understand pretty much everything you say, even if he can't respond well.  Many of the phrases aren't very understandable, but since I've heard them in context so often I get them.  He knows to repeat the last word of phrases when we're praying and does a good job trying words he doesn't really know.

Overall, he's a very fun kid.

Flashback: Disney

Here are some of my favorite Disney pictures...it took a while to get them from everywhere.  And so, in no particular order...

Family picture in animal kingdom

Ben and Amanda in Magic Kingdom on date night.

Magic Kingdom with a fancy border.

Gear flowers.  Isaac is the one that wanted the picture here, and we happily obliged.  Besides the animals on safari, it was the only thing he asked for a picture of.  But the sun was bright, so both boys got some hand shades.

Goofy at breakfast.

Joshua.

Waiting for Jake to get to our table during a breakfast.

Finally!  Jake!

Storm troopers up close.

Giraffe on safari.

Date night again.

Playground after Disney.

With Mickey.

 Joshua, waiting for Ben and I to ride a ride.

With Mickey at breakfast.

This is one of my most favorite pictures.

More storm troopers