Catching Up

As the primary author of this blog, Isaac's mom (that's me) has totally dropped the ball. Here's a quick catch up on Isaac's very eventful first set of holidays here in the Southwest.

For Halloween, Isaac went as Yoda for the second year in a row. This year, the robes of the Yoda costume fit, though the ears were a little snug. We weren't sure he was going to wear the ears at all since in the days leading up to Halloween whenever we introduced the ears, he'd pull them off his head, walk a few steps away, set the ears down, and then return to where he'd originally been standing. He must have been in true Halloween spirit on the big day, because he wore them! We Trick or Treated at a few apartments around our complex, which Isaac found interesting, but he most enjoyed the time we spent at Jeremy and Marta's house answering the door for other Trick or Treaters.

Yoda 2.0

A very sad prom queen--no sure Isaac wouldn't post with her since
Marta is definitely one of the great loves of young Isaac's life.

Thanksgiving was, again, at Jeremy and Marta's house. Ike's good friend Ethan (and his mom and dad, Jackie and JT) were also there. Ethan is a few months older than Isaac, and just happens to share Isaac's love of trucks, trains, balls, and Jeremy and Marta's cat Macho Man Randy Savage.

Ethan, Isaac, and a giant bouncy ball.

Mom's friend Rekha also visited from Chicago around Thanksgiving. She brought with her two of Isaac's current favorite books--Goodnight, Chicago and Count to Sleep Chicago. Both books feature many Chicago landmarks, and both also feature two more of Isaac's current passions--balloons and trains.

In early December, Grandma Anne and Grandpa Gene made the first of two visits during the month of December (one following a National School Board conference in Colorado Springs and another, at the very end of December and beginning of January, on their way to Phoenix). When they arrived the first time and Isaac spotted them out the window he started to shreak with excitement, attempting to scale over me to run to the door to meet them. Grandma and Grandpa brought with them the rocking horse, PB Pootdim, that used to belong to his second cousins Jack and Sam (or third? Their dad is my first cousin--so whichever). PB Bootdim, or "Horse" as he's more commonly referred to around here, along with a completely awesome kitchen set that also belonged to Jack and Sam, traveled all the way from Kansas City to join us here in in the Southwest. We'd like to especially thank all the Baldwins and Burtons who helped get the kitchen to us: Nate, Ken, Grandpa Gene, Philip, and, especially, Scott. I apologize to anyone else involved in the journey that I may have left out.

We spent Christmas in Tucson with Ricci's parents, sisters, and stepbrother. Isaac had an amazing time playing with his Grandma Jenny, Grandpa Anthony, Aunt Kristi and her boyfriend Eric, Aunt Vanessa, and Uncle Andrew. One of Isaac's favorite parts of the trip was definitely Aunt Vanessa's dog Nikki. Isaac didn't always like Nikki's kisses, but he he did enjoy watching her run around, chasing her, and sharing his toys with her (which often, unfortunately for Nikki, ended up getting her in trouble when he decided he wanted them back).

Isaac and Grandma Jenny

Isaac also continues to enjoy spending time with his good friend Bella, the first friend whose name he could say. Though they spend a lot of time together, I don't have a lot of pictures of the two of them--maybe because they're usually both in constant motion. This picture is the best I can do. They're both engrossed in Bella's copy of the Winnie the Pooh movie and are in the process of shooting me dirty looks for interrupting their private screening. We love you Bella!

Movie and snacks at Isaac's house.

I could go on and on about all the words Isaac says now. He seems to pick up new ones everyday. Today for example he pointed to the picture of a frog and said, "frog," a word we weren't aware he knew. We also think he knows about about 25 signs, though he uses the signs for various vehicles and the sign for "ball" the most. Some of his best (and most useful) words and phrases include No!, up, hold, car, truck, bus, train, Oops!, Got it!, more, chair, balloon, and help. He sort of sings along to the ABCs (though E is featured pretty prominently throughout) and he also likes to count things (usually using only the number three). He can also now identify the color blue. We continue to love him more than we have words to express, and we're pretty sure he feels the same about us.