Tag: Isaac

Sitting Up!

~ Heather Walter ~ 1 Comment

Isaac has really gotten the hang of sitting up in the last few days.  He was sitting pretty well before, but now he’s better able to right himself if he starts to tip over.



I did manage to give him a bath by myself yesterday.  I put less water in his tub and turned him in it so he faces the other direction.  This gives him better back support, so he’s less apt to end up with his face in the water.


Isaac has also started a great deal more babbling.  Not that our house was all that quiet before, but now it’s even less so.  I am having fun with it because he’s making “M” sounds, so some of it sounds like Mom or Momma.  I was just telling Todd last night that it’s funny that I’m so eager for him to say Mom.  In another few years, I’ll probably be sick of hearing the word!  LOL  I can remember the following exchange from when my sister and I were kids:
Kristin or me:  “MOM!!” (for the bazillionth time that day)
Mom:  “She changed her name.”
Kristin or me:  “What did she change it to?”
Mom:  “I’m not telling you.”

Isaac’s First Allergy Test

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Isaac and I went to the pediatric allergist for the first time today.  She had the results from his earlier blood tests.  It shows he is not allergic to dairy, but is allergic to eggs.  This is good and bad.  Isaac is lactose intolerant, even if he’s not allergic to dairy products, so I am still not able to add them back to my diet.  I am a little bummed to hear that he is allergic to eggs, too, though.  This makes things like flu shots more challenging if we choose to get them.  I haven’t completely eliminated eggs from my diet, nor do I intend to do that.  I will just try not to eat them too often.  I am already reading all of the labels for milk products and I avoid them completely.  I just don’t think eggs cause quite as severe a reaction, so I’m less worried.  The allergist ordered some additional blood tests, so we went upstairs to the lab and he had to have his arms stabbed.  Again.  Darn it.  The tech at this lab was MUCH better, however, and Isaac didn’t shed so much as a tear.  He was quite a little champ!


The doctor also prescribed Isaac a new lotion for his eczema.  She said there are no steroids in the cream, which was a concern for me, but that it can be used to prevent some of the flare-ups. I forgot to get the scrip filled on our way home (3.5 hours after we originally left the house!), so I’ll have to let you know how that works a little later.


In other news, autumn has definitely arrived in Austin.  The trees in our front yard are changing colors and we’re bundling up in jackets when we go out.  We went for a family walk (minus Nestle) on Saturday morning.  Isaac’s new hat was just what he needed to keep his little bald head warm!

He also got in some play time with Dad and Jackson in the afternoon while Mom and Dad watched some football.  Jackson is getting a little more interested in Isaac.

Auntie Kristin and Uncle Dave got Isaac a “Hug-A-Bible” for his baptism.  Isaac is totally captivated by the soft cover on the outside of the book.  I’ve read him the stories, but he also just enjoys playing with the cover on it.


Just Another Day

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There’s not much to report from Austin today since I managed to get 3 posts up last night.  Isaac is currently sleeping, although I forgot to give him his Tylenol, so we’ll see how long it lasts…  We went to Crawlers/Toddlers yoga this morning and he crashed for a really good nap in the car on the way home.  I just had to take every back-road available to make sure he was in the car long enough and didn’t wake up the second I walked him into the house.  When he woke up, I gave him some milk before feeding him some squash.  I guess I’d fed him too much before this because he doesn’t normally make as big a mess as he did today.  He had fun with his squash.  I got some cute pictures that I just have to share.

I did take the spoon away when I got concerned that he was going to either choke or impale himself on it.  :o)


After the squash explosion, of course, I had to give Isaac a bath.  This was an interesting experience because we took out the little piece he used to be able to “sit” on in his little tub.  I seriously thought he was going to drown himself.  With me there.  Holding on to him with both hands.  He scared me half to death, although he didn’t seem to notice.  He is able to sit up well enough in the tub – unless I’m rubbing soap on him.  That makes him a bit wobbly and then he just tries to put his face in the water.  As you might imagine, I’m not such a fan of that.


Isaac is pushing up ever farther on his arms.  Today, he managed to push himself backwards some with his arms, so he’s starting to realize he can use them for mobility.



Here’s a quick video.  He was quite the energetic little fellow this afternoon.  (Mom, for the record, Nestle walked by just after I turned off the camera, so Isaac started gunning for him, instead).


Daily Elvis

~ Heather Walter ~ 1 Comment

Isaac turned 7 months old on Monday.  I can’t believe how quickly my little boy is growing!

He’s gotten so much stronger over the last few days and weeks it’s really incredible.  This one is for Nana – Isaac can get his foot into his mouth.  Proof that he is my son as I am notorious for putting my foot in my mouth!

He is able to sit for longer periods of time, usually without too much wobbling.

He is learning to make new expressions.



Isaac is also much more able to move himself around and get to his toys.  My brother-in-law, Dave, has estimated about 2-3 weeks before we have a crawler on our hands.  We have a LOT of baby-proofing to do between now and then!

Isaac’s teething has made things a little more interesting at our house.  First of all, there’s been very little sleep for the last few nights.  I talked to Mom tonight about Isaac needing a change of activity every 15 minutes or so and she suggested that I dance with him.  A tangent:  one of my sister’s coworkers has a theory that Elvis is so ingrained into our culture that we are exposed to something Elvis-like every single day.  We refer to this as the Daily Elvis.  This was my Daily Elvis today:


Wednesdays

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I am sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again.  Wednesday is my favorite day.  Last week, we met for our moms/babies group at my friend Marielk’s house.  It was a lot of fun to see the older boys (Isaac and Henry) playing with Jackson.  Jackson’s about 6 weeks younger than Isaac, but he’s learning a lot of the same skills that Henry and Isaac are mastering.  Pretty nifty!
They are all learning to roll to get somewhere.  Henry’s pretty much an ace on this:

Jackson’s not far behind, though:

It’s also good because the boys generally get in a little nap at some point during our meetings, but the mommies are still able to hang out and talk.

Unfortunately, a couple of our members have recently returned to work.  One of these members is Marielk, who hosted last week with her sweet little Christopher.  This week, we were back to Stephanie’s house, which is always a fun place to gather (since I take over the biggest, comfiest chair)!  Isaac was “bullying” Henry for the toy Henry was using by trying to beat him up with another toy.  It sounds like all of the boys are teething now, too, which makes for some interesting playtime.

They did eventually get better… Or maybe we just decided to separate them after a few little encounters.

Cash showed off some of his new dance moves:
And Henry crashed for a really long nap.
All of the “original” group of boys are able to sit up now.  The other girls were able to get a few shots of Isaac, Henry, and Cash all sitting together, but I wasn’t quite as quick with the shutter as they were.  Here’s a quick glimpse of Isaac and his pal, Henry, though.


Godparents

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Isaac was baptized on November 7, 2010.  My sister and brother-in-law agreed to be Isaac’s godparents.  They arrived for the blessed event late Friday night.  They immediately set about spoiling him rotten (not that they weren’t already doing that with their nephew)!!

Isaac wore a sweet little linen outfit that Judy and I found.  It was just perfect because the rector’s (priest’s) assistant had called to tell me not to put him in a hot, satin gown for the baptism.

The baptism itself was a wonderful event and the service was beautiful.  Isaac was baptized by Susan Barnes, the same priest who conducted our premarital counseling 8+ years ago.  Todd and I were happy about this because we’ve felt a stronger connection to her over the years (even if we haven’t been regular churchgoers).



After the service, we had a shindig at our house with enough food for an entire army.  Dave Baum stepped up to the plate as grill-master and the food was great!



In a fun twist, Dave and Kristin were supposed to leave for Virginia on Monday afternoon.  As it turned out, a bird flew into their airplane as it was landing in Austin, so their flight was delayed and they ended up staying another night.  What a great bonus!!!  They got a little more time to spend with Isaac and then left Tuesday morning.


Teeth!

~ Heather Walter ~ 2 Comments

Isaac has been a little more needy for the last couple of days.  I honestly attributed it to having 6 adults doting on him instead of just the usual 2.  Yesterday, we couldn’t do any activity for more than about 15 minutes before he started getting fussy.  I was actually much more patient with this than I normally would have been, though, which is good.  I didn’t even get a shower until Todd got home about 6:30, though…  Anyway, last night (as well as the night before), Isaac woke up about 45 minutes after I’d put him to bed and would *not* go back to sleep.  Both nights, I rocked him and nursed him and played a little, but nothing would get him back to bed.  So he ended up staying up a couple of extra hours both nights.  Finally, around 10:15 last night when I was doing a final attempt at getting him to bed, Isaac leaned back from nursing and sort of stretched.  I put my finger in his mouth and felt his 2 bottom teeth coming in!  No wonder he’s been so out of sorts!!!  I’ll see if I can get some pictures with the Moms’ Group meeting today.

Games with Grandparents

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We had a wonderful visit with Todd’s parents as they were in town for the last week and a half.  They left yesterday morning to get back to Maryland before heading up to Pennsylvania.  Isaac had lots of fun with both of his grandparents.  Todd’s dad introduced Isaac to a tickling spider:



Isaac also mastered sitting up while Todd’s parents were here.  What a difference a week makes!!!  We couldn’t believe his progress.  It’s now much more interesting to try to give Isaac a bath because he wants to roll over and/or sit up in his little tub.  (He also wants to roll across the counter when I set him on it post-bath to apply some lotion and put his diaper on).  He is able to sit unassisted for a minute or more now, but not long enough that I can actually take his little butt rest out of his tub.  Maybe in a few more days…  This is his must-get-out-of-tub testing yesterday.



Anyway, he sits better than this now, but here’s a fun little video from Saturday where he was just getting the hang of it.  (And let’s face it, video of him sitting still isn’t nearly as fun).  It’s now possible to see measurable differences in his skills from one day to the next.  Unbelievable!



Grandpa wasn’t the only one who got Isaac giggling, either.  Grandma also got in on some play time and some sweet snuggles:



Finally, Jackson also got some attention from the grandparents.  What a relief!  The poor pets have been so neglected over the last 7 months.  It was good for them to have a little love lavished upon them.



In addition to purposely playing with Isaac, we played a great deal of Mexican Train (dominoes) while the grandparents, and then also godparents, were in town.  Isaac helped Grandpa by knocking all of his tiles down with one of his toys.


Give Peas a Chance

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Isaac sampled peas for the first time today.  It was definitely more of a success than his last “green” food!  It sure beats avocado.  It almost makes me wonder if he can really be my child – I love avocado and I totally hate peas.


I apologize for the shaky video.  I set the camera on top of Isaac’s high chair tray and he kicks the tray when he’s excited.


Fun Weekend

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Last weekend was super-busy!  First, Todd mounted Isaac’s swing on Saturday morning.  Grandma and I kept Isaac occupied while Dad and Grandpa mounted the swing.



After the swing was hung, we all went to the Tour de Fat.  This is a beer festival hosted by New Belgium Brewing (makers of Fat Tire).  They visit several cities each year and Austin is on the list.  We haven’t been in a couple of years.  The last time Todd and I went, we attended with our friends Kyle and Mo, whose daughter was only about 1 month old at the time.  Thankfully, we were able to meet up with them again this year for Isaac’s first beer festival.  Isaac spent most of his time hanging out in his Ergo and even took a little nap on his daddy.



Once the festival fun was over, we headed over to Chuy’s for some grub.



Then we went home and Isaac got to play in his new swing a bit more.  (Don’t worry, Todd didn’t let go of him while he was this high up)!



Sunday was the big day, though.  Isaac’s first (and our 9th) Wurst Fest!!!  For those of you not versed in the awesomeness that is Wurst Fest, it’s a 10-day celebration of sausage.  We had a great time!!!

Isaac was a little champ during Wurst Fest.  He napped on both Todd and me throughout the day.  He wasn’t fussy and he didn’t mind the loud music at all.

As evening turned into night, the weather got a bit cooler, so we put Isaac into his Halloween costume.  I added a hat to my own wardrobe, as well.  For warmth, of course…