Tricycle Video

I had to create a YouTube account to be able to upload this.  I thought it was worth the effort, though!  I think Todd had even more fun than Isaac.





Since we shot this video, we’ve started crossing the shoulder straps on the trike so Isaac is a little more secure.  He loves to go FAST!

Isaac’s First Birthday

I didn’t realize (until Mom told me) that I hadn’t posted any photos from Isaac’s actual birthday.  I only posted pictures from the party.  Sorry!  Most of the excitement was actually at the party, rather than on the day itself.

Blue Bear is shrinking!

First, our friend Candy brought over a super-cute little dinosaur that she made for Isaac.  The red fabric has little grey tools all over it and is perfect for Isaac.  It even goes well with his bedroom decor! 

Then, our very nice next door neighbor, Kathy, surprised us with a toy for Isaac.  He LOVES this thing and the various (loud) noises it can make when Mom and Dad are trying to watch TV.



Then, Daddy came home from work and put together the gift from Mom & Dad.  It’s a cool tricycle thing.  Isaac’s friend Cash has one, too, and Isaac really likes this.  It’s how we go on walks now…

I have a great video of Todd playing with this, but I can’t get it to upload…


Later, Isaac opened his present from Aunt Shannon, Uncle Scott, Kyle, and Katie.  The tree frog passed the taste test.



He got this fun rocking puppy (as opposed to a rocking horse) from Aunt Krissy and Uncle Dave.  This has been a fun toy for him so far.  Sometimes he rocks on it; sometimes he kneels on it.



Finally, we gave him the Noah’s Ark set and book that Nana sent.  He plays with it every single day now.  Last night, one of the giraffes jumped ship and went for a swim in my water glass while I wasn’t looking…



The other big, fun gift Isaac got was given to him before the birthday party.  It’s a water/sand table from Grandma and Grandpa.  He likes this toy – especially the various shovels and rakes that he carries all over the house while crawling.


Giggles

I have seen several videos of babies giggling lately – they seem to have all gone viral on the Internet at the same time.  I think they are adorable.  So, here are a couple of videos of my favorite baby laughing:

Bluebonnets

Texas tradition is to brave the oak pollen every spring to get pictures of your kids in the bluebonnets.  We didn’t succeed last year because Isaac was so young.  This year, we delivered!  Isaac did a taste test and then we took several shots.

 Sweet, happy boy

 Family photo

 Four generations:  Albert “Abe” Walter, Dave Walter, Todd Walter, and Isaac Walter

 The Walter Men

Isaac and the girls




Birthday Party!

Wow!  Today was an amazingly fun time!!!  Today, we celebrated Archer, Henry, Cash, and Isaac’s first birthday.  We had a huge party for all 4 boys and they had a blast.


Isaac had his first taste of sugar and I think it’s safe to say he liked it.  We got all 4 boys to sit at a little table in the yard so they could enjoy their cupcakes.  We lit candles (and kept all fingers away from the flames) and then let the boys dig in.  Isaac went FACE FIRST!!!  It was absolutely hilarious!  All of the kids played with the water/sand table and we got pictures of the birthday boys, their mommies, and the Baby Mamas.  Here’s a hint of the festivities from today:


The fun (messiness) is about to begin!

 “Let’s get started, Grandma!”

Preparing to taste the cupcake:

 The first taste:

 Hm, this is pretty good!


 What is this thing?

 Who cares?  I’ll just dive right in!
Yum!
No hands required

Cash’s icing mustache.

“WOW! Have you tried one of these?  They’re terrific!!”
Starting on the “cake” part of the cupcake
Mmmm…

Isaac’s face… The “after” picture!

Icing on the elbow

…and the foot.

Crumbs EVERYWHERE!

Isaac says, “YAY! for cupcakes!!!”



Sitting with Mom for photo ops:



Playing with his new sand/water cart.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa!

 Anderson is having fun, too!

“Hey, Isaac, check this out!”

“That’s pretty neat, Anderson!”

Fun with sand

 Hooray for messes!


All of the birthday boys:  Cash, Archer, Isaac, and Henry sporting their super-cool birthday shirts that Bethany (Archer’s mom) made:

 The Baby Mamas! 




11 Months!

Isaac is 11 months old today!  This month has been LOTS of fun.  He’s learned some new things, like pointing and clapping.  We are also working to get his sleep “schedule” back on track as it’s been off for about a week now.  Last night, he also said his first word!!!  It was “Yay!”  Naturally, right?  He’s my kid…  He has said “mama” and “dada” and something similar to “hi”, but this was the first thing he said remotely close to being in context.



In the past month, he’s gotten a little longer and stronger, but, unfortunately, has lost 2 ounces.  He is back down to 17 pounds, 12 1/2 ounces.  I took him to the doctor’s office and weighed him today.  I am glad that I did so that I can try to make some changes before his next check-up in a month.  I was worried that I was force-feeding him because he was taking 4 ounces of food (one container) at every meal.  Now I realize I may actually be underfeeding him.  <>  I am still nursing quite often and even gave him 4 meals today.  I am adding some olive oil to his food (the veggies, anyway) to try to increase his caloric intake.  I don’t want to force him to eat if he doesn’t want something, so we’re going to have to get creative on getting him to eat enough.  It almost doesn’t seem like there is enough time in the day!


Candy and Henry came over to play in the pool today.  It was a warm 80 degrees outside, so the mommies ate some barbecue while the boys splashed.




Here’s a quick video of Isaac demonstrating his ability to clap (and charm his parents).  It was *immediately* after I turned off the camera that he said, “Yay!”  Todd and I were so excited!  



This second video was recorded this morning.  I had already finished feeding Isaac his oatmeal and was eating my cereal.  I had some blueberries that I was adding to my bowl and decided to let Isaac try them, too.  I was thrilled that he actually tasted them!  He’s not been a big fan of self-feeding over the last 2 weeks or so.  We did give him a bite of tortilla the other night, though, and he managed to turn it into a gooey mess before finally swallowing it…


Pool Weather & Video Update

Isaac got to experience the pool for the first time today.  It was sunny and in the 70s, so we took advantage of it.  I used the hose to put most of the water in, but then added some more warm water just to be sure it wasn’t too chilly for Isaac.  He took a few minutes to get used to the idea, but then he played for about an hour in the water!



Here’s a little video of Isaac having some fun in the sun.



These are a couple of quick videos shot over the last few weeks of Isaac doing his Isaac thing.  I thought those of you who hadn’t had an Isaac fix in a while might enjoy watching a few of these.  The first video is Isaac on the move, crawling after the dog, as usual.



Our little boy stands all the time now:



A little fun with Dad after work:



Here he is in the midst of pulling every toy out of his toy bin (the truck Todd’s PopPop made for Todd when he was Isaac’s age).





Wednesday, a couple of friends came over to play.  The dogs in the backyard, of course, were the highlight of the boys’ day…


New Shoes

After much ado about not being able to pull photos off my camera…  I had a full memory card, so I didn’t even take many videos between posts.  I am proud, however, to present a post that has nothing to do with problems in our house!  LOL


Here’s the 10-month photo (a couple weeks late).  You’ll note that Isaac is standing rather than laying down for this picture.  Think of it as representative of how life is going these days!  Ha ha!

Isaac’s Nana (my mom) has been here since last Sunday.  She left this morning and we were sorry to see her go.  We had a *fantastic* visit and are already hoping for her next one.  Mom got to witness first-hand the difference a couple of weeks makes in Isaac’s development.



Isaac is crawling everywhere now.  It’s so fun to see him exploring his world.  Monday, his friend Isaiah came over to spend the day.  Isaiah’s a bit taller than Isaac, so things had to be moved up just a little higher than they were.  It made for an interesting day!  Both boys crawl all over the place, then get to a piece of furniture and use it to pull up to a stand.  Isaac is getting faster daily and seems to be pulling up every time I turn around.  The good news is that he can now also get down from a stand, which was much harder to master safely.  Since it’s a matter of time before he’s walking, we have also gotten Isaac some new shoes.  I think they’re adorable, but you can decide for yourself.



As of this writing, Isaac has 4 teeth.  He’s got 2 more coming in and I expect to see them within the next couple of weeks (if not days).  Poor little fellow!  The top 2 came in simultaneously and now he’s cutting the 3rd – hopefully this weekend so he can finally get some sleep (and so can we).  Here’s a messy shot of Isaac’s enjoyment of a teething biscuit a couple of weeks ago.





Isaac learned to clap this week.  His friends were here on Wednesday and he saw Henry, Anderson, and Cash clapping.  Apparently this was enough to convince him to give it a try.  He is *adorable* when he claps because he gets a huge smile on his face like he’s proud of himself.  Today, he also began pointing.  I try to tell him what items are in front of him when he points, but it’s usually “Mom.”  :o)  I’ll try to get video of Isaac clapping this weekend.  It’s not something he’ll do when prompted, so it’s tricky to catch on camera.  Meanwhile, here’s a little bit of him crawling and playing (though not as fast as he was moving today!)


Snow Day!

I had lots of grand plans about blogging while Todd was out of town last week.  Then the cold weather hit…  Our pipes froze and Isaac and I had to sleep in the Jeep.  


Okay, not really.  We stayed with our friends, the Cantins, for a few days.  Henry and Isaac had a very extended play day while Candy and Heather got great breakfasts made by Jason each morning.  You could say we made the most of a bad situation.  LOL


Here are a few pictures of Henry and Isaac mostly putting up with their moms taking pictures of them in the snow…  When we got home on Saturday morning, there was still quite a bit of snow in our back yard.  I think we actually had more snow at our home than at the Cantins’ house, but I wasn’t about to traumatize Isaac with another snow pose.

After exhausting himself in the snow, Isaac took a 2+ hour nap in the Pack ‘n’ Play.  Ivy kept an eye on him for me…


Air Mattress Fun

This is what happens when you don’t deflate the air mattress immediately after your guests leave…



Isaac thought this was outrageously fun.  I missed the incredible onslaught of giggles that told me to get a camera, but you can see the ear-to-ear smile.