I felt very underprepared for today. :( I love Halloween, but I didn't decorate or even dress up as anything really fun. Thankfully, earlier this month I picked up a possible costume for Isaac just because I walked by it in a store and thought it looked cute. Well, thanks to that day, I present to you: our little lion
We were on the phone for at least an hour with our bank getting our credit card figured out and this little boy kept us smiling!
Jake had to fly out for work this evening so we tried Isaac's outfit on in the afternoon.
After I dropped Jake off, Isaac and I dressed up and went over to my cousin's neighborhood to hang out and hand out candy. Isaac did not succeed in taking a full afternoon nap, so he was a little tired (as you can see in his pics with Annabel), but he hung in there!
Teeth. It's that time again. Isaac has had eight teeth since he was 6 months and now his first molar on the top right is beginning to make way, which explains a lot. Over the last couple weeks he's been a little more moody and clingy and it seems to come and go. He also has been sucking his thumb more and this development may be part of it! I love when there's a reason for things!
Even though he has his hot/cold moments, there are still MANY smiles from this child. Another new development is that he is walking better when we hold his hands. I should get a video of it... Even though it looks as though walking may be on the horizon, he is quite the avid crawler, but doesn't always look where he's going. Actually, when he gets excited, he rarely looks where he's going. He puts his head down and just GOES.
He also enjoys "reading" Guess How Much I Love You. With this book in particular, he gets more animated and "talks" while flipping through the pages.
Lastly, I have a video of Isaac watching one of HBO's shows, "Classical Baby: I'm Grown Up Now: The Poetry Show." I really like the "classical baby" series and Isaac does too! I put this on for him when Jake and I were trying to finish getting things ready for him to leave for work. In this clip Ike is listening/watching one of my favorite poems, (read by Gwyneth Paltrow) "How do I love thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.
I have been feeling a little off since Jake and I haven't had a "date night" in about a month. So yesterday I texted my cousins to see if one of them would be willing to watch Ike for a couple of hours so Jake and I could go out. Soon after, I found myself hanging out with Jake outside in our beautiful weather while Isaac napped and I realized something: the beauty of having one child is that every time he naps Jake and I get some time together. Granted, most of those times I am cooking or cleaning or doing something to prepare for when Isaac is awake, but there are the sweet occasions when Jake and I get to nap as well! Or we just sit outside, like yesterday, and laugh and talk. I don't usually put as much value on those times, I think, because we are home and it's not a "date," but they truly are just as special and noteworthy.
We still went out that evening and of course, we enjoyed that as well. :)
We went to a little pub in Old Roseville called "The Monk's Cellar." It was nice to get away and have a drink like when it was just us two. Naturally, we spent most of our time talking about Isaac, but what can you expect? So nice to have family nearby to watch little Ike. We'll have to do it again!
Today I was blessed by having my sister and her fabulous daughters come over for the afternoon. I tell you, sisters are a gift from God! They arrived while Isaac was taking his morning nap, which was a perfect time for us to paint pumpkins! I saw a blurb on Facebook about painting pumpkins a teal color to let parents know that you will be offering something other than candy so that if their child has a food allergy your home is a safe place to go trick-or-treating (here's the link about it). Whereas I love the idea, I am not a crafty person, so this worked out to be the perfect thing to do with my nieces and sister. And I even ended up having a good time painting my pumpkin (it was a team effort)!
Once Isaac woke up we had lunch and Eleia allowed Ike to hold her arm as he ate. He LOVES to touch, squeeze, shake something/someone when he eats, so it was nice of her to oblige.
To maximize our time together, I made Ratatouille and a quinoa salad before they arrived so we could have that for lunch while they were here. While cutting up the eggplant for the Ratatouille, I found this little friend...
I don't mind spiders, but I still prefer them outside, so he was promptly moved!
Ratatouille is one of my absolute favorite healthy, easy meals. So for those interested, here's the recipe passed down from my mom:
Ratatouille ("stew" or "soup" in French)
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1 large eggplant
2 medium zucchini
3 tomatoes, chopped
OR
5 tablespoons tomato paste
& 3 tbsps water
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 clove fresh garlic, minced
Dice eggplant into 1-inch cubes and slice zucchini into 1/2-inch rounds. Chop onion coarsely and cut green pepper into squares.
Use a heavy-bottomed saucepan with a lid. Saute the onion, garlic, and green pepper until they are soft;
stir in eggplant and zucchini and saute a few minutes more. Add tomato and seasonings. Cover and
simmer gently for about 30 minutes or until all the vegetables are well cooked.
Uncover and turn the heat up to evaporate some of the liquid. Serves 6 to 8.
After lunch I played hide and seek with the girls and then Ashlie and I shared some PG Tips tea and yummy dark chocolate pumpkin spice salted caramels. If you have not had these- yes they sound just as good as they are. YUM! I really enjoy eating special treats with someone, so it was nice to share them with her. It was nice to be able to sip on some tea while the kids played in the other room. Isaac was so captivated by his cousins. It's fun to see them together.
Lastly, I got to read to the kids before they headed back on the road to San Jose (2 1/2 hours- not a short drive!). And because I can't help myself: here's a video with the pictures and a little video from our time together!
Thanks for coming and hanging out Feffers! I love you to the moon and back!
A couple days ago, Jake and I took Isaac to his first pumpkin patch. Honestly, I don't remember the last time I went to a pumpkin patch, but after seeing many pictures on social media of friends and their cute children celebrating the Fall season, I figured it was time for us to join in the fun.
Isaac was more pensive about the whole thing than excited, though he did enjoy the little pumpkin we picked out for him to keep his attention while we toured around and took some pictures.
And we got some mother/son, father/son and attempted family shots...
All in all a fun time at the pumpkin patch. There were so many pictures, I decided to put my favorites into a little "magisto app" video. Enjoy!
This week Isaac got his first pair of shoes (Stride Rites- found at a thrift shop for $3)! He surprisingly took to the shoes with no problems. If anything they helped him to stand! Since he's not walking yet the shoes are more for when we are out and about than anything else, but they are fun to have! Ike is pretty good at keeping his balance and pulls himself to a stand with ease and does a lot of one handed "cruising."
Late on the 14th, was the first time Jake was able to rock Isaac to sleep. It was really sweet. Usually when Isaac cries at night I go in to care for him because I have the boobs. On the 14th I went in like usual, nursed Isaac, rocked Isaac, put him down and then he started crying a bunch. I picked him up, did the routine again and got the same outcome. I came back to bed with the sound of Isaac crying down the hall and figured we would just let him cry it out. Jake decided to get up and hold him and low and behold! He got him to sleep and STAY asleep when placed back in his crib! Way to go Dad. :)
On Monday, the 12th, my mom left early in the morning, Jake got home at 9pm and then his parents got in at 10pm. Whew! It was kind of a crazy day.
We spent a lot of time hanging out at the house which is easiest to do with Isaac at this age since he's still taking two naps- one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Since Mike and Betty wake up earlier than Jake and me, they took Annabel and Isaac for a morning walks which both the human child and the furry child LOVED.
While Mike and Betty were here we got their professional help in decorating one of our walls with the walking sticks and family fish plaque that they had made for us a couple Christmas's ago.
When Isaac was born, Mike made him his own walking stick. Ike had a lot of fun with it (which was a little scary) before we got it mounted on the wall.
The finished wall!
Later on in the week we made a trip out to my family's cabin at Fallen Leaf Lake. It ended up being kind of a dark day, but still lots of fun to show Mike and Betty the lake, have some lunch and take a little boat ride.
This is another one of those times when SO many pictures were taken that I decided to make a little video with them. It was so wonderful to have Isaac's Springsteen grandparents visit. He is a lucky little man. We look forward to seeing them again!
