Only a few weeks late posting pictures :)

I didn't completely forget about posting Halloween pictures but I put it off as long as I could. :) We thought his costume was cute but no one could guess the right animal. He was called a bear or mouse most of the time. Oh well!

The last few pictures aren't from Halloween but I thought they were cute. Isaac and Katy really look forward to seeing each other but lately, there have been some pretty serious spats. Isaac has taken to one of Katy's dolls. He's very nurturing and carries it around the whole time we're visiting. Katy snatches it up if Isaac puts it down for a second and then the screaming begins. Isaac's face gets bright red and they start Tug of War on the poor doll. It's quite a sight. Next time we go to play, we're taking the camera. If we're lucky enough to capture it, I'm sure he won't be thrilled to see it when he's older. :) The last picture in the slide is Katy wearing Isaac's clothes because she had a blow out while she was here playing. I'm sure she won't want to hear that when she's older either!

The other interesting thing that's happened over the last few weeks is that Isaac has started going in the potty. He's definitely not consistent but he's gone several times at home and school. I plan to hit the training hard over Christmas break when I'm home with him for a while so, hopefully, it'll go smoothly. I got a book from the library called The Potty Train and it's one of Isaac's favorites. David can't be in the room when I read it because he can't help laughing at it and then we all start laughing. Our favorite part is "Tinkle, tinkle, toot, toot! Sprinkle and a poot-poot!" You'll have to check it out for yourself to get the whole effect. :)

We had a nice Thanksgiving but Isaac's favorite part was the train set Great Grandpa gave us. It's a real set (not for kids) but Isaac loves to 'make it go faster' with the controls. We've been impressed with how much time he's spent just watching it go around. I hope the novelty hasn't worn off when he gets his 'little kid' train set for Christmas! This month has already started to fill up with activities so it will be here before we know it!

Fall Fun

Isaac went to 3 pumpkin patches this month! He loves them and often asks to go on tractor rides, hayrides and to the pumpkin patch. Unfortunately, we picked the coldest days of the month each time so the pictures aren't the best since we're all bundled up.

He has a Halloween parade at school on Thursday. All the kids get in their costumes and walk around the gym with the parents lined up around the sides to give treats. Halloween is our absolute least favorite "holiday" but we did get him a monkey costume. I think he'll be able to wear it to a few different events and he's awfully cute in it so I'm hoping we get some good pictures.

We can definitely tell he's in his 2's now. He's attempting to be very independent and gets very upset when he can't do something on his own. But he's very proud when he does accomplish something (we hear, "I did it!" frequently)! He's especially good at putting his shoes on - he gets them on the correct feet most of the time. He also really likes to play with his little girlfriend down the street but they can get into some real fights/screaming fits when they both go for the same toy. They definitely cannot be left alone. It seems like they don't like each other when they're playing but they get very sad when it's time to go home and always ask for each other when they're away.

David and I are doing well just to tolerate the cold weather moving in. I've been trying to be a bit more domestic - I made some really good soups and my own chicken stock! Isaac also likes to help me bake but I'm trying to cut back on that stuff. :) I decided I want to start a hobby of making my own jewelry but I haven't taken the plunge and purchased any tools. We went to Michael's this weekend and the selection of beads is so big, I don't even know where to start!

That's it for now. If I remember, I'll post some monkey pictures of Isaac next weekend. :)

Hap Birthday!

I asked Isaac on Friday if he knew what tomorrow was and he said, "Hap Birthday!" (He says "happy" when it's not combined with "birthday" but I can't get him to say it correctly together.) We decorated the house that night so he would be excited when he woke up. Unfortunately, the party wasn't until the afternoon and he was VERY upset when he tried to put him down for his nap. We think he thought his birthday was over.

He had a good time at his first party and loved his blue car cake. He was so anxious to blow out his candles, he actually blew them out before we could sing so I had to light them again. On Sunday, he woke up and went straight for the Mickey Mouse balloon that sings Happy Birthday. He kept making it play and danced his little feet off. He had a party with David's family later that day and by this time, I think he was getting used to it being his birthday. He was very excited about the truck he got and I had a hard time getting him interested in opening his other gifts. When it was time for the cake, Isaac got impatient and started singing Happy Birthday to himself and everyone joined in.

I'd say he had a great birthday! He started answering the question, "How old are you?" correctly and even seems proud to say it! He sure has changed a lot in a year and is such a funny little guy. We definitely enjoy this age and hope he can stay relatively sweet in the next few years. :)

Almost 2

It's almost September and I still haven't figured out what to do for Isaac's birthday. I have ideas for several activities that I want to do in the next couple of months but nothing that would be a good birthday party for a little guy who won't remember it. :) We're working on getting him to answer the question of how old he will be on his birthday but he keeps saying "One."

We've started switching off babysitting duties with a couple down the street so David and I have gotten to go out a few times recently. Tonight was our turn with the kids and they stayed still just long enough to get this picture. They like watching Word World - in small doses of course. :)

Isaac is talking more now but I still have a hard time understanding a lot of what he says. He's got his animal sounds down pretty well though - especially cow, dog (differentiating little dogs from big dogs - pretty impressive) and cat. He's also the cutest little money I've ever heard! He basically reads "Moo Baa La la la" and "The Very Busy Spider" to me since they're mostly animal sounds. :)

Zoolander

Everyone is going to think we really do his hair like this because there are so many pictures but it's really not us! His teachers just love doing this to him and they snapped this funny face on the playground. He's just too silly!

Isaac had a good 4th of July and actually got to see lots of fireworks this year. He liked them when he was sitting on our laps with arms around him. They were all over our neighborhood so it was kind of neat to see. He loved stomping on the poppers or throwing them in the air (but most of the time, he still had to stomp on them to get them to snap because he didn't throw hard enough).

We've had mixed results with each swim lesson. The first time was horrible, the second time was great, the third time was a little of both and this week was good until the end. We're not sure what happened but all of a sudden, he just flipped out and didn't stop crying until we were on the way to the car. But I had the camera this time so maybe David will upload some clips (of the good part, not the crying). :)

15 seconds of fame

David took Isaac to the Royals game tonight and he was selected for one of the activities. It was supposed to be the Midwest Airlines suitcase shuffle but the jumbotron wasn't working at that time so he got trivia instead. :( He got two of the three questions correct so he only won a t-shirt and cookies instead of 2 round trip tickets. Oh well! My uncle was also at the game and snapped this pic so now I know David wasn't just telling a story!
Isaac started swimming lessons this week. David was sooo excited...until they actually got in the pool and Isaac wouldn't stop crying. He clung for dear life the whole time. It was terrible. In fact, he cried/screamed so much, his voice was hoarse for a couple of days. I hope he does better next week because I'll be out of town for work that day so David is on his own.

Liking hats

Isaac has been pretty attached to a Royals hat lately. He likes to wear it all different directions which is adorable. :) This morning, he just wanted his shorts on his head. Not sure why...

I don't really have any other updates but I had to share this picture!