Thursday, April 28, 2011

a hat and a slide












It is still so cold here! It feels like winter at the end of April... 

A few things Isaac has said lately: 
1. He adds -ed and -ing to lots of things, like growinging, and watchted it.
2. He is starting to use prepositions, especially under. He says "on" and "off" but sometimes he gets a little confused with them. And he does say "in" too.
3. Compliments, like at daycare, he has been saying to the girls, "I like your shoes," and "I like your hair" etc.
4. 4-word sentences like "I see the dog"
5. Starting to use "don't" instead of "no" in phrases like "no wanna". He will say "no wanna eat snack" then will correct himself, "don't want eat snack". It's interesting because I haven't ever corrected him. Maybe just said it the right way but I guess he just picked up on it (I mean, I think that's what's supposed to happen - of course I'm just amazed because it's my first experience with it!)

And he has been getting better about trying some new foods. I know this is totally not what you do with most kids, but we have been asking him to try a bite of a food he hasn't tried before prior to having the food he likes. This is supposed to help him try things. He did try a carrot cake muffin I made at snack. But then at dinner I felt like a terrible parent because I said he should try the "Mexican soup" (we are trying to avoid the word "bean" since he doesn't like beans, and it was pureed). He got all defensive and didn't want to, so I told him he could just kiss it instead. But then he opened his mouth so I thought he wanted to try it and I put it on his tongue. Instead he gagged and regurgitated some food (read: puked)! I was really upset about it (inwardly) but he dismissed it as "burp" so hopefully he wasn't too traumatized... He ate tons of tilapia afterwards so it didn't ruin his appetite.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

fragrant




Easter weekend

We're going on an egg hunt.
 We're going to catch a big one.
 What a beautiful day!
  (Isaac really enjoys the book: "We're going on a bear hunt")





Leafblower.

No pictures of the Easter Vigil, but we went and it actually went well with Isaac and London. It's neat to go when everyone is getting baptised and confirmed and such. 

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Divine Mercy Novena


Divine Mercy Image
About the Divine Mercy Novena

This is a deviation from my usual subject matter, but I wanted to quickly remind everyone that if you want to do the Divine Mercy Novena this year, you had better start tomorrow, on Good Friday. I want to do this every year and I always forget to start on time. Also, my confirmation name is Faustina, after St. Faustina, who started this Novena. So, I have two reasons to participate! And now you have one too. We can do it together.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

burn the self

When we were playing with blocks, we saw a "juggler" on one side. Isaac asked, "What's that?" and I told him. But, since miming wasn't cutting the mustard, we got on trusty ol' Youtube for some actual demonstration. Isaac really thinks juggling is cool now. We had originally watched some videos with juggling balls. Today we got a little crazy and watched some with juggling fire clubs. Isaac thought it was dangerous, and said: "Burn. Burn self," to the guy in the video. When the guy did not heed his advice, he said, "Careful, burn the self!" Then we were all done with that video. Enough of crazy juggler pyromaniacs.

We went to church for Palm Sunday. We got there nice and early, hoping for a fun procession into church. (Isaac is trying to "drive" the truck in these pictures) But, they didn't do a procession! They just started out in church. I was a little disappointed, but it is a pretty big church. We got blessed palms anyway.  

 Isaac and I actually sat in the church for the first time in a long while, and he was pretty good! We are going to try this from now on. It is just too crazy in the back of the church there and it inspires extreme naughtiness in Isaac. The key is to bring lots of snacks. Next time I will bring more bagels. 3/8 bagel did not cut it.

Also on Friday we went to the airport to say bye-bye to Boompa for the summer. He was going up to Alaska. It turns out that Boompa lifted something very heavy and hurt his back, and it is not too good. So he might be coming back after all for a few more weeks if things do not improve. Boompa, remember, careful, burn the self. Or hurt the self. Very much. If anyone would like to pray for Boompa's back to feel better soon I'm sure he would appreciate it.

 Isaac also found one of the wheelchairs at the airport. He looooooooves wheelchairs and pushing them. Nana says she will have a job for him in a few years.

Anyways, we are happy that it is Holy Week!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

so yum

 Isaac had a fever yesterday, so he got sent home from daycare. Poor Isaac. Actually, it worked out perfectly because I didn't have my externship today so no one lost out. I just thought I would share some different things we have been doing and cute things Isaac has been saying. It was so fun to spend the day together with Isaac.

I was cooking black-eyed peas for a recipe and when I drained them, I think Isaac must have asked "What's that?" because somehow he said, "Beans. So yum!" I was a little surprised because last time I checked, Isaac is not a huge beans fan. So I offered him one and of course he did not want it. But they are so yum. So very yum. Isaac just had chicken and rice instead.
Really so yum.
 We spent a good amount of time inside today (poor Isaac) because Mama was waiting to see if her supervisor would call or not, and it was raining in the morning. Still, it was good for recuperating and finding new games to play.

We played with this stacking blocks set that my cousin Erin got for Isaac. It is really cute, with little vintage-style pictures on the sides. Isaac loved building the tower and knocking it down - especially the second part. There was a picture of a girl on one side of it with a broom. Isaac thought the broom was some kind of machine, but I corrected him, and we talked about the girl. Later, we talked about boys and girls. Isaac had said, "Isaac girl!" I said, "No, Isaac is a boy. Mama is a girl and Isaac is a boy." We argued about it and finally Isaac had the last word that he was a girl and I decided to drop it for the moment. This evening, we checked with him, and he had to admit that he is actually a boy. Glad we have that cleared up. Next, to un-confuse the words "cow" and "pig". (He knows what each animal does but for some reason calls the cow a pig and the pig a cow... I have no idea how to unteach it so probably with time he will figure it out.)
One other cute thing he said this morning (or maybe weird, depending on your stage in life): he pointed to his cheek and said "Broken da cheek." I said, "Really? How can your cheek be broken?"
He replied "Fell it. Take it off." I told him we can't take our cheeks off. They are part of our face and we just have to live with them. Maybe this is related to the "no wanna kisses" stage. :)

In other news, we weaned Isaac at night over the weekend very successfully so far. The only weird thing has been that he's been a little sick with a cough so a few modifications (like water at night), but it worked really well for our set up and I'd love to write about it. I'll just add it here. I just figured out how to use the "jump break" thing so if you don't care you are spared my rambling. Hoorah! 

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Monday, April 4, 2011

mama drive it

I sent my camera over to Auntie Anna because she is missing hers and with all the chaos in our tiny apartment, I may well have an extra one floating around and be unaware. Don't worry, I do have a camera so we won't be cut off either, but the first few months are so crucial for pictures because they change so much! I had a few videos I wanted to share but I think they must be on the other SD card. "The implication of this is... that there are no pictures in this post." (I can't wait for my EBP project to be OVER in a little less than 6 weeks).

Isaac is definitely at the three word level now. He has said a few four word things, so I'm sure pretty soon he'll be speaking his mind. He's already doing it with tantrums... so maybe the expression part will help with that? Maybe not. I can always keep my hopes up. So I guess I'll just list a few things Isaac has been saying lately.

I got mama shovel. (I think that was the first 4-word one I noticed)
Mama use it.
Mama drive it.
Mama do it. (etc.)
Bye-bye X. Soon. (such as "bye-bye moto. Soon." It's cute because the intonation on "soon" makes it clear that it's "see you soon" - he just can't say that much yet I guess.)
Isaac driving.
Isaac driver.
Pickup fwuck. (thank goodness he's getting the w in there now)
Baby pickup fwuck. (I don't know why the pickup is a baby truck....)
More Alouette. (his new favorite thing to watch on youtube - the "Alouette" song in French)
No wanna kisses! (when I kiss him too much)
No wanna hugs! (same idea)
No wanna diaper! (etc. speaking of which, the potty training has kind of relapsed. Hm. Oh well, it was good while it lasted. We'll get this eating thing straightened out and try again.)
No wanna dinner!/breakfast! (much to my chagrin)
Very deep. (there's a place between the apartments and the high school that is a trench that fills with water. There is a duck pair back there right now and we like to go see them. The water is probably very deep, or at least I don't want Isaac finding out just how deep it is, so I've told him this numerous times.)
Fuming (swimming: No Isaac, not here. But we will go swimming some day soon again).
Go home.


That is all for today!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

sushi with Boompa

We were out eating sushi with Boompa on his birthday. Isaac impressed us with his chopsticks skills.



Friday, April 1, 2011

Isaac's beauty tips

To maintain a youthful appearance, Isaac has two suggestions he would like to share. First: Using a blanky as a cape dresses up any tired, run-of-the-mill wardrobe. Second: Be sure to use food as a skin treatment from time to time. Grits with cheese and milk work well to keep hands soft. A food face mask is equally appropriate for its moisturizing properties. Also, he has learned from Mama that "smile" means "practically close your eyes".