Isaac Reading

It's difficult to think we could create such a cute being.

Sunny days and Easter

Isaac has gotten himself a little farmer's tan right now due to all the sun he is getting at daycare. He also gets to play every evening with Marvin and mom in the backyard. He really likes to be outside and throw Marvin's toys for him. The dog and the toddler are still just tolerating each other, but Marvin has allowed Isaac to pet him and has become more patient with Isaac.

Isaac got two more teeth at the beginning of this month. We had thought it was three at one point, and we are sure that he isn't done, we just don't know when they will come in!

Isaac had a great Easter. His mom was finally relaxed, because she had her Spring Break the previous week and she had turned in her final research paper for her graduate school work. It looks like she will be graduating on May 13th! Although she won't be attending the actual ceremony, some ideas are in the works to help her celebrate this accomplishment. Anyways, we decided to cook and celebrate with friends since we wouldn't be able to make it to see family. We met our friends Bruce and Christine at a local park to have lunch together. After some miscommunication on Annalee's part, we finally found each other and laid out our picnic appetizers. We had some wonderful crackers, glorious cheese, and tasty grape tomatoes. Then for our main course, we had ham, deviled eggs, warm balsamic potato salad, and greek yogurt coleslaw. The crown jewel on this meal was the lemon tart that Christine made. It was amazingly awesome, and I know that some are already planning for its next appearance! Bruce and Chris played with Isaac's toys, and we all took a long walk up to the putt-putt course. We got to see some people flying kites and narrowly avoided being hit. We also passed some great barbecues (especially a Korean chruch, that I almost filled up a plate at!). Isaac fell asleep in my arms on the way to the car, so we all headed home to take naps.

That night, we went to some other friends' house to have Easter dinner with them. Erin, Jacob, and Austin went all out for the Easter gathering. Austin and Isaac had fun playing outside together. Erin made cooked carrots, green bean casserole, corn mash, mashed potatoes, ham, asparagus, and rolls. We brought some deviled eggs again that were a big hit. Isaac ate most of his dinner and some of Austin's. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone, and we were spoiled with all the food. We took cheesecake home, because we didn't have room for dessert! Isaac was exhasuted, but he had a great day of playing and interacting with lots of fun people! Thanks to our friends for spending a the holiday with us and thanks to our families for thinking o fus even when so far away!

Mamie and Papaw's visit

Isaac has had a lot of excitement over the past few weeks. First, he moved from the baby room to the toddler room at his daycare. He loves his new structured schedule and that all of the toddlers want to play with him. You can tell that he is the leader and that the other children like to play with him. So far he has enjoyed playing outside, dancing and singing along with the class, marching around the classroom, and doing lots of crafts and painting.

Isaac's Grandma and Grandpa Taylor (Chris's parents) sent down his first birthday gifts. Isaac has some new clothes for the summer, a ball, and some new books.

Last weekend on their way back from their winter home in Florida, Mamie and Papaw (my maternal grandparents) stopped by for a visit! We didn't make any big plans, but it was really good to see them and for them to see Isaac. We went out to eat and played at home with Isaac. We were really glad to see them and cannot wait to visit with them again!

Today Isaac and I are home from school. He had to come home due to some stomach issues. It sounds like he might be waking up, so I will go. It is amazing home fast 13 months go by!

Isaac is ONE YEAR OLD!

Can you believe it? I can hardly. It seems like just yesterday, we were bringing him home from the hospital and adjusting to having a baby boy around. He is now so grown up, a toddler! Isaac is developing more of a personality and becoming more independent. He enjoys walking around and reading his board book "Brown Bear, Brown Bear". He says mom, dad, dog, brown bear, I spy, and more.

Towards the beginning of February, we had to put Isaac on soy formula. He still nursed in the morning and at night, but he got formula during the day. The week of his birthday, Isaac started nursing only at night. He nursed for the last two times on his birthday and yesterday night. It is sad for me, because I really enjoyed that time with him. Isaac has quite a wide range of foods that he eats. Here are his favorites (still): avocado and blueberries. He eats the following foods: zucchini, squash, green beans, peas, chicken, turkey, pork, salmon, tilapia, beef, apples, pears, mangos, peaches, bananas, potatoes, sweet potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, tortillas, and most recently mandarian oranges. I am sure that I forgot a lot; he loves to eat! Isaac has a sensitive to dairy still and tomatoes don't work for him, so we avoid foods with that in them. He also does not like graduate meals or jar food anymore, so he gets real food to eat. When Isaac doesn't want to eat something, he throws it on the floor. His teacher at school says that he also rolls his eyes, but we haven't seen that at home.

For Isaac's birthday, my parents were here! Isaac was Grandma G's little buddy. He went to her and enjoyed letting her hold him, feed him, and play with him. On his birthday, Isaac wore his birthday outfit that Chris and I got him and bib that my mom got him. I made him some healthy carrot cake and his classmates got to eat some chocolate cupcakes at school. While Chris and I were at work and Isaac was at school, my mom and dad did a few household chores for us! It was much appreciated and probably the best gift that could be given to this busy family! We ate some great pork and potatoes for dinner. Grandma G and Papaw Sam gave Isaac a big yellow dump truck. He loves to put his toys in the back and dump them out. After dinner Isaac, Grandma G, Papaw Sam, and I ran to the mall to get Isaac some shoes. That was my parent's gift to Isaac for his birthday. When we got back we had dessert with our friends Bruce and Christine. Everyone got to choose between healthy carrot cake and cherry pie that I bought for my dad's birthday. My mom did not like my carrot cake unless it had whipped cream cheese frosting on it. My dad found a new friend in Bruce, and he has already told me that I must include a game night with Bruce and Christine on our next visit. Isaac got some really nice cards for his birthday and phone calls from far away family. Bruce and Christine gave Isaac two pairs of jeans and two striped shirts that he will look handsome in! Thanks to all for the gifts; Isaac felt so loved!

On Saturday, we got a later start. We went to Brick House for lunch, which everyone enjoyed. Then we went to Discovery Place Kids. It is a museum designed for kids aged 0-7. Isaac had an amazing time. He loved playing in the water, walking around the "farm area", ringing the bell in the ocean area, sliding down the firemen's pole, building with large legos, and working on a car in the mechanic area. We did not even make it to the upstairs part, because Isaac was exhausted! He had so much fun, and we cannot wait to take him again. For dinner, we went to Railroad BBQ. It was very delicious. I enjoyed my first bite of macroni and cheese since Isaac was born. It was wonderful. Chris and I also gave Isaac his birthday present from us. We got him a blue wagon. He loves going on walks in his new wagon.

On Sunday, we went to brunch before taking my parents to the airport. Isaac had such an enjoyable weekend that he ended up succumbing to his sleepiness and put his head down on the table and slept. After my mom finished eating, she held him. Isaac was sad to see his grandparents to leave. We had such a fun birthday weekend.

Pictures of an active 11 month old

Isaac loves to eat apples. We cannot eat one without sharing!

Isaac loves to rearrange the chairs and push them down the hallway.

This is a handsome outfit that he has, and a moment where he is not running around!

He and Marvin tolerate each other. Here they are both trying to play with the rope.

Isaac and Mom love to play together. He isn't one to watch the game just yet.

Boo Being Sick!

Well, we had a very interesting time with our little man. Isaac got pretty sick, and Chris and I both had to stay home with him and miss work. I got the experience of a baby getting X-rays. No one warns you how awful that will be. Isaac was strapped into this contraption that looked like a bike seat with plastic that covers the baby's top half. The parent (me) has to hold the baby's arms above his head and let him cry, so that the X-rays technican can get good shots of the baby breathing while in distress. Isaac was crying and crying, and I wasn't allowed to comfort him. I had to stand there and say nothing, just hold his hands about his head. It was a miserable experience, but they didn't find anything in his lungs. He just had a really bad cold. Chris had been fighting a cold throughout the previous few days to Isaac being sick. After the X-rays, Isaac and I hung out at home and worked on getting him better. We had some really rough, sleepless nights. Chris and Isaac both are feeling better, but they are not yet at 100%. We all are sleeping better, and it really helps being on our regular routine.

Chris found out from his mom that his sister-in-law is pregnant again! We are excited to welcome another niece soon. We aren't exactly sure when she will arrive, but her head is already down. They have chosen some unique names from the little girl; we are intrigued to see which name they will choose. Congratulations Taylor family!

Isaac's birthday is right around the corner! It is hard to believe that he is going to be one soon. I have started planning what we will do on his birthday and the weekend after. Because Isaac got so much for Christmas (we had to take a lot of toys back--it was just too much!), I wanted to let everyone know some items that he does need. We are in the process of opening a college savings account so we welcome donations to that. Isaac loves his daycare, so we would appreciate gifts that would pay for a week of daycare. Isaac wears size 4 diapers, so that is another great gift. He doesn't need clothes, and like I said previously, he doesn't need toys. We have toys in the attic that we haven't given him yet (they weren't age appropriate). We are excited to share Isaac's first birthday with everyone, so look for that post coming up (and some mail from Isaac as well).

No pictures this time--Chris has hidden the memory chip! Check out my facebook pages for images I took on my phone.

Christmas

Isaac's first Christmas was busy. As I had posted on facebook, if stuff equals love than Isaac is really loved. He got way more than he will every need. We took off Thursday for Indiana and around Louisville, Isaac started screaming. He had had enough for the car (and so had Chris and I). We luckily didn't run into any bad weather and arrived around 6 or 7 p.m. to my parents' house. Marvin didn't make the trip with us, so the car had some more space than usual. My parents ordered Jimmy John's for us (yummy!). My niece and nephew also were spending the night that night, so we got to spend some time with them. Cousin Elizabeth and her boyfriend, Mamie and Papaw, and Leann and Andrew all came to see us and hang out for a little while. Isaac loved to watch his cousin Ty play.

The next day we went to the Japanese steakhouse with the kids and my parents and Mamie and Papaw. We celebrated Audrey's second birthday at Andrew and Leann's. We also did our family Christmas that night with Leann's mom and her boyfriend. Isaac really liked playing with this cousins and their toys.

Santa visited Isaac on Christmas morning at my parents' house. He really liked his food and his piggy bank. We then went over to Andrew and Leann's to see what Ty and Audrey got for Christmas from Santa. We also had some doughnuts together. My mom and dad made a ham lunch for us back at their place, and we let Isaac play for a little while. After that we went to Mamie and Papaw's for Christmas. Isaac was very tired, but he enjoyed seeing his family and sitting at the boys' table. I think everyone was impressed by how much avocado Isaac could put away. I spent most of the night hiding in the kitchen, so that Isaac wouldn't be so clingy. I thought the gift I got from my Uncle Rick was hilarious! I got a dog training book and some treats. Marvin this summer had bitten him, so it was a very appropriate gag gift! Isaac got some great outfits, a car toy, and a puzzle.

The next day, we went to visit my other grandparents. Isaac and Audrey had fun running around and chasing the dog. It was really great to see them as well and for them to see Isaac. Andrew, Chris, and my dad watched the Colts game while my mom, me, and Isaac visited with Mamie and Papaw. We had Mexican for dinner that night at Andrew and Leann's. Audrey and Isaac had a blast playing in the tents. That day we also discovered Isaac's fourth tooth!

On Monday, we headed up to Chris's family. I will let him write about our experience up there. The car was packed to the brim after we left his family a few days later. We barely had any room to move in the car. Isaac did not enjoy the ride back home. It was difficult for all of us. We were glad to be home. It was even more awesome to see Marvin. We all really missed our dog. It took some time to unload the car, and we are still making returns and reorganizing everything that we got for Christmas. Hopefully by this weekend and with the past three snow days off of work, we will have everything cleaned, organized, returned, and ready for the next adventure.

Thanksgiving

Isaac was sick during Thanksgiving. My parents came down and brought with them a Christmas present. We were really thankful for their thoughtfulness about bringing Isaac's tractor down early instead of us trying to haul it back from Indiana. We barely had room to move after our trip back from Christmas but more about that later. Chris and I enjoyed cooking and made a very satisfying meal! Isaac loves playing with his tractor. It is his favorite toy!