Months 6 and 7

Isaac is now 7 1/2 months old. He continues to be a pretty big guy, weighing in at 21 pounds and measuring 28 inches at his 6 month check up on October 4th. We're not sure exactly how big he is now, but he seems to have grown even more in the past three weeks. Currently, his hobbies include rolling over on the changing table, chewing on his mommy's face and, most recently, attempting to remove his own socks. His favorite toys are, in order, Mommy's phone, the TV remote (and don't try to trick him with the DVD remote--he wants the one that changes the channel), and his jumper. While sweet potatoes are still his favorite solid, we've added lots more foods in the past weeks, and he's learning to drink from a cup. He gets more water on himself than in his mouth, but that's partly because he loves drinking out of a cup so much he gets too excited to really do it. He scoots like a champ and pushes up on all fours to rock back and forth, so he'll hopefully be crawling soon.

Ricci is out of town during the week for his current clinical rotation for PA school. Since we only have him home on the weekends, Saturday and Sunday are pretty exciting days for Isaac. After 12 weeks of away rotations, I'm looking forward to getting to see the kind of excitement Ricci inspires in Isaac at the end of every day rather than just on the computer screen via skype or on the weekends. We feel like a pretty lucky little family and our favorite times are when we're all three together.

Isaac after scooting himself backwards under the couch.
While he'd like to go under head first, he can't. His noggin is too big.

Going nuts in his jumper (and also trying on the headpiece to his Yoda Halloween costume).

Eating Peas.

Nebraska

Six weeks went much faster and was much busier than I had anticipated. The following are some highlights of our time in Nebraska that haven't yet made the blog...

Grandma
Isaac and Grandma Anne are the picture of mutual adoration. Isaac looked forward to smiling at her when he got up in the morning, sitting on the front porch with her and watching the trucks go by, and lunging for whatever necklace she happened to be wearing.


Grandpa
Part of our purpose in coming to Nebraska for these six weeks was to give me the chance to work on my dissertation while my dad watched Isaac. Almost every morning, Grandpa took Isaac on a 5 mile walk around my hometown. Pretty much everyone in town knows Isaac and enjoyed seeing a softer side of Mr. Burton. On mornings when they didn't walk, Isaac was a little confused and usually spent a least a little bit of time looking around for Grandpa. I'm not sure what either of them will do with their mornings when we get home.




Uncle Justin!
Nearly all time with Uncle Justin requires an exclamation point. Isaac LOVES Uncle Justin. And Uncle Justin tosses him in the air, holds him upside down, and flies him around the house. It was Justin who taught Isaac the anticipation inherent in counting to three, since counting to three with Justin almost always means you're about to be shot straight up in the air.



Burton Family Gathering
The last weekend in August, my dad's family had a reunion in Western Nebraska. Isaac enjoyed being passed among my dad's brother and sisters, falling instantly and madly in love with my cousin's daughters, viewing the polar bear at Olie's Big Game Bar and Grill, and generally entertaining everyone.



Great Grandma
During our stay, Isaac was able to visit with my mom's mom a few different times. Whenever Great Grandma leaned in for a smile, she was almost always rewarded with a smile in return which pretty much delighted her every time.


Babysitting
Isaac helped my mom and me babysit my cousin Cassie's two kids while she, her husband, and her parents were away at a wedding. Much hilarity ensued.


Baldwin Family Gathering
The Baldwin family gathered at our house on September 12 and Isaac got his first full fledge taste of the people, the noise, and the general hilarity that are part of Baldwin family gatherings. We look forward to many such gatherings in the future. A mini version with my mom and my aunt Betty will take place in Salt Lake City at my aunt Connie's house in just a couple of weeks.