Isaac Weekly Update: Week 51

My favorite video from this week:

I love how Isaac is getting better at imitating us. Many times he'll repeat what we say, but it's not reliable repeating. Either way, it is fun to make sounds with him.

Isaac is on his way to walking. Early in the week he walked from my parents’ recliner to the futon (about 3 steps). It was really fun to watch, but not shocking, as he has been taking little steps here and there, but again, it was cool to watch! He’s getting better! I do feel confident to say that Isaac started walking when he was 11 months old (started being the operative word). He takes steps when he wants to and that’s not necessarily that often (actually, similar to his crawling style). He began crawling around 8 months, but it was unmotivated and on his time. By his 9 month mark, Ike was crawling everywhere. It will be interesting to see if Isaac is walking that much by his 12th month or still “cruising.” Either way, he’s getting there.

Jake is good about showing Isaac the right/safe way to get down from things. Isaac enjoys crawling up onto furniture and when crawling around on the bed, he can sometimes appear reckless. Jake is quick to help him down and it looks like Isaac is remembering! so that’s exciting.

At my parents’ house, Isaac has taken on “cart wheeling.” It’s pretty fun to watch. In all honesty, at first I wondered if there was something wrong with him as he went in circles, but he sits up so happy and reminds me of spinning in circles as a little kid and enjoying that sickening sensation. My parents’ living room is very open, so there’s lots of room for Ike’s circling. :)

This has been a weird week for his sleeping. He slept great the first two nights at my parents’ and then these last couple nights he has woken up crying passionately. and getting him back to sleep has been no easy feat. We had one bad night once we got home and I concluded that it was a napping problem. It's amazing- when he doesn't get his two naps in he wakes up at 11pm almost like clockwork. The downside is that he had a difficult time going back to sleep and so ended up spending a couple hours in bed with us. Luckily, once he was in a deeper sleep we were able to put him back in his bed.

One more week of weekly reporting! Whew!

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 50

So maybe I was a little optimistic about Isaac’s switch to ending daylight savings… It’s a gamble these days if he will wake up around 7 or around 8 and I praise the Lord when it’s closer to 8. Of course, with his waking times varying, his nap times vary. I want to start attending a Music Together class with him on Friday’s at 12:15, but I am nervous about his morning nap. I think I may just have to go for it and wake him if needed.

Time in his crib is a funny thing to watch from our baby monitor. Many times we’ll put him in his crib to nap and we notice that he’s taken his pants off within minutes of being in there before he goes to sleep. Now he has begun to take every blanket he can get a hold of and his monkey and drops them over the edge.

He has also begun sorting his food and toys. At the table, he will organize his food (like pieces of chicken) into a pile either in one area of his tray or on the table. In his play area, he collects items and places them in either his toy suitcase or Annabel’s basket. In and out, in and out- this is the stage we are at now!

We got a lot of cute hand-me-down clothes from my sister-in-law, Kate Hasson, a few weeks ago and we’ve enjoyed dressing little Ike up. This colorful sweater is one of our favorites (the colorful rope chew toy is one of Ike's favorites...).

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 49

Welcome to week 49. Whew, almost a full year, just three weeks to go! This week Isaac decided to finally join much of the world in accepting the end daylight savings. The end of daylight savings has always been a favorite morning of mine, as I cherish sleeping in. This year, it has been a struggle and a forced waking up early until a couple days ago when Isaac's body finally made the switch. YAY!

Isaac is taking a few more steps and becoming more eager to stand on his feet. 

He also has begun throwing balls. I have two balls that I use for my back- a lacrosse ball and a Pinky ball and he can hold them and throw them well.

And here are some pictures of Ike and his Dad...

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 48

I will begin this post with how we get Isaac when he wakes up from his nap...

It's always fun to be with a baby who is all smiles.

In the beginning of the week, during dinner, I was talking to Jake about something and ended up putting my head in my hands and saying, "It drives me crazy." Isaac thought it was hysterical, so naturally I had to do it over and over again and get it on video.

This week Isaac turned 11 months old! Only one more month and I'll have a 1 year old!! crazy... Here's some of the pictures I took of him to commemorate the occasion.

Love this face.

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 47

Isaac has begun waving more often and it's adorable. He also took his first step by himself on Sunday (the 1st). I tried to get him to do it again so I could record it, but he wasn't as motivated. I've found that he's much more likely to walk when he has toys in both hands and then wants something that is at eye level.

Here's the attempt at walking video that I took for Jake...

still cute, but clearly the skill is not perfected. When Jake got home we tried to get Isaac to walk, but his feet seemed stuck, although you can see from the video how well he stands independently!

This child continues to love the outdoors. Whenever we go for a walk or just hang out outside he is captivated by the trees and wants to touch all the leaves.

one of my favorite pictures

One of Isaac's favorite things to do is crawl around with Annabel's food bowl. Truth be told, Isaac loves everything that belongs to Annabel- her water dish, food dish, toys, etc. Thankfully, she doesn't necessarily mind, she just gets out of the way!

And one more pic of this adorable boy standing with one of his favorite toys in hand.

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 46

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.

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 45

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. :)

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 44

This week Isaac turned 10 months. 

My mom visited this week and had a good time with little Ike. At one point things were a little stressful and this ended up happening...

It actually lightened my mood. He looked so perplexed, as if he was thinking, "I wanted some cheerios, but now how do I get them?"

He is still good with people, but his stranger danger is becoming more apparent. When we went my great uncle's memorial, my Dad came up to him and he was a little unsure. I felt bad for my Dad, but soon after my Dad was holding him during the service and Isaac was obviously comfortable and smiley.

He nurses about 3-4 times a day, but only acts really interested in the morning and evening. Otherwise, it seems more like a game to him. I am not going to try to wean him until he's a year, but even then I will still nurse in the morning and at night if he wants to. It will be interesting to see if he does...

And to finish off this post, here are some more pictures and a couple videos of Mr. Isaac. Still chatty as can be, crawling up on things, always trying to get out of his enclosures and staying cute.

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 43

Isaac finished off Week 43 still a little sick, but almost 100% better. He doesn't act sick at all, but his nose is still a little runny and once in awhile he coughs. He hates having is nose wiped, but sometimes it needs to be done!

This week we had Isaac's first well child visit with a new pediatrician since we moved to Roseville. Thankfully, we really liked Rainbow Children's Clinic and Dr. Del Mar and the whole staff was great. It is a smaller office than the one we had in SLO, which I really like. You don't realize you have a preference on stuff like that until you experience it! I thought I wouldn't mind having my baby in the hospital since I am comfortable in the hospital setting, but next time I will try to have my baby in a Birthing Center or possibly at home. It wasn't a bad experience at the hospital, but I realize now that I would like to try something different. Something similar goes for Isaac's pediatrician's office. The one in SLO gets rave reviews, but it was just too big and impersonal for me and thankfully we found one that feels better here.

Isaac got his first flu shot and did awesome. He truly takes shots like a champ- cries some, but recovers quickly. He's a little low on his weight- 20th percentile. That kind of blew. I feel like I feel him a lot and nutrient dense food, but I guess he needs a little more! So this week I've been putting a few more nuts in his diet and avocado and other fatty good foods mixed with peas, sweet potatoes, carrots, beef broth, yogurt, chia seeds, hemp hearts, etc. He's tried just about everything and will eat just about anything.

Jake's sister, Kate, sent Isaac some clothes this week which was great since we were in need of 9-12 month clothes. Here's a couple pictures in his "My Aunt Rocks" shirt. Thanks Auntie Kate!

And now I leave you with a little video I made of Isaac's 43rd week.

And here's the video that I used in the weekly video of Ike grooving as he eats. :)

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 42

This week started off with a sickly Ike. Even with a runny nose and cough, he still can smile! This is how Jake and Isaac enter the kitchen:

Besides Isaac and I being sick this week there's really not much more to report. Isaac's sleeping has changed some which is a bummer. I didn't mind waking up at 5:30am to feed him if that meant I got to sleep till 8-8:30am, but lately he's been skipping the 5:30 feeding and just waking up at 7:30am. Most people would probably prefer that time, but I am a night owl and it is a rare night that I get to bed before midnight no matter how hard I try, so this has been a more trying adjustment. Jake has been home so he's helped a lot in the morning with this munchkin.

Isaac and the kitties enjoy the same toy. Thankfully, they are good at playing together.

Isaac Weekly Update: Week 41

Isaac's accomplishment this week was balancing on his feet without support. It's brief, but he's able to do it! He continues to be a good little eater and sleeps well at night, though he has turned into a little more of a light sleeper. I'm thinking/hoping it's just a phase.

We have a baby monitor that we can watch from our phones and computer. It catches some pretty cute pictures of this kid.

We have a few books that we read to Isaac. Because of his age, we stick mostly to the board books since he still wants to gnaw on them. One that never gets old is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" Why is it such a child favorite? It really does amaze me how this book seems to capture every child's attention.

Isaac is also quite chatty and is constantly pulling himself up to stand.

Although Isaac is becoming more weary of strangers he was happy to be held by my dear friend, Renee. Her personality is great and that necklace was a great "conversation" piece for them. :)

And the last video (probably one of my absolute favorites) is of Isaac crawling over to Jake.