The Walters had a terrific Valentine’s Day!  Isaac got to play in the yard, naturally, and he loved it.  We try to maximize our outdoor time these days.  Here are a few photos from yesterday:

“No, I’m not eating sand.  Why do you ask?”

“I’m standing on the picnic table and you can’t catch me!”

A demonstration of the photo above:

Snuggling boy:

Mmmmilk…

What’s that camera doing over there?

Standing on the swing

Playing on the swing:

We also baked some little surprises for Daddy.  Hershey Kiss Pies:

Isaac got an awesome gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  They sent a photo book with pages of all of his family members.  He really loved it and has asked to “read” it several times today.  This was a GREAT idea!!!

Finding his favorite page in his new book:

Big blue eyes!!!

Isaac is using all sorts of words to communicate now.  Here are a few we hear often:
Dad
Mom
Milk (along with the ASL sign)
More (along with the ASL sign) – this does not necessarily mean “more” of something he currently has, however.
Shoes (along with the ASL sign) – this is by far his favorite word.  It’s the first thing he says every morning.
Socks
Go – said as “Go go GO!!!”
No (of course)
Yeah (thank goodness) – usually accompanied by a vigorous nod
Cat
Dog
Woof Woof – whenever he sees a dog, including Jackson
Meow – not used nearly as often as “Woof Woof”
Choo Choo – relates to anything with trains, whether they are in a book or at the train table (Dave and Judy, this is what he says when he wants to read Dog Train)
Cheers – complete with toasting with his milk, something that I STILL haven’t been able to capture on camera
Uh Oh – whenever he drops something
Car – multiple cars warrant a “Car Car”
Cark – this either means Truck or Honk (the sound a truck makes).  We aren’t sure which.
Bath – he tries to say this one, but he absolutely knows what it means.
‘Na (along with the ASL sign) – this means banana
He signs “Eat”, but he still doesn’t say the word


He clearly understands more than this.  If I mention “Daddy” and “home” in the same sentence before Todd arrives home from work, Isaac will immediately go to the front door and begin pounding on it.  He understands the word “outside” and MOST days he understands “walk.”  Sometimes he just wants to go outside and selectively forgets the word walk…  He is saying something that sounds like “swing,” which is one of his favorite things outside, along with the sandbox, which he also understands.  At night, we will say either “Do you want a bath?” or “Ready to go to bed?”, both of which means he heads to the bottom of the stairs and starts climbing.  He gets a bath at least every other night, but he tries to get one every night.  Tonight, for example, however, he was WAY too tired to bathe him…


He is getting better with “gentle touches” and he recognizes the phrase, but still gets a bit carried away sometimes.  The biggest challenge with this is keeping him from hitting/throwing things at Jackson when he gets excited.  He just *loves* the dog and wants to play with him ALL of the time.  Jackson, not so much.  🙂  He’s a very patient pet.


There are probably another 50+ words he understands, but I can’t think of them just now.  Meanwhile, here’s a short clip of Daddy coming home in the evening.  I was too late grabbing the camera to capture all of the squealing that preceded Isaac looking out the window, but I think you’ll get the general idea.  🙂

A few photos to update you on Isaac, who had a fantastic Christmas!

Our tree!

Helping to decorate:

Re-arranging the ornaments:

Coloring a snowflake ornament.

Inspecting the box from our tree:

GrandDad (my dad) came to visit us the weekend prior to Christmas.  Before he arrived, he shipped a gift to our house.  It got here a few days before GrandDad did.  Isaac had a blast with the box:

Isaac and Jackson both made sure GrandDad knew he was welcome at our house:

He got Isaac a Power Wheels that goes an “exciting 2 miles an hour!”  Isaac has had a lot of fun with it so far.

The men assembling the Power Wheels:

Isaac was eager to help:

Daddy teaching Isaac how to make it go:

Isaac is learning to ride more often than pushing, but this was his preference for the first couple of days:

“What does this button do?”

Figuring out how to get it going:

The Thursday before Christmas, Isaac and I hosted our friends from the Baby Mamas for “brunch” in the afternoon.  Allison and her son, Anderson, had great fun with the swings.

Isaac really wanted to climb this tree:

Henry played on the swings while Candy pushed:

Stephanie and Cash also played on the swings, but I don’t have any great photos of this because Steph and Candy were chatting about Steph’s new neighborhood.  Sorry, Steph!


Isaac doesn’t sit on the swings for more than a second or two.  Unless, of course, there’s an incentive:

Hair!  Isaac’s hair is getting long.  I took this picture shortly after nap-time on Friday.  Fun, right?!

Although I completely forgot to take pictures, my good friend Tracey and her family (4 kids!) came to see us on Christmas Eve.  Her son, Wesley, asked if he could play with the Hess truck that Grandpa (Todd’s dad) got Isaac for Christmas last year.  Todd agreed and Wesley had fun.  After they left, Isaac decided he wanted to play with the truck, too.

This is pretty neat!

Christmas morning was a ton of fun at our house!  Isaac got just shy of a billion gifts and had fun playing with each one before he was ready to move on to the next.  He got a Glockenspiel, which has been fun:

My aunt, Elaine, sent Isaac a new book.

Jackson is critical to all gift-opening…

Reading the book from Aunt Elaine.

Sharing the love – the same book with Daddy:

Opening a wooden train from Nana:

I am glad we have this photo of the train before it was broken down into all of the little pieces that make it up.  Now, should I happen to locate all of the pieces in the same room (ha!) I can re-create it.  LOL

Polar Express on Blu-Ray!  How the heck do I play with this?  He actually watched nearly the entire movie sitting still.

Decor for our new front porch:

Jackson for the assist:

The beginning of the tearing-apart of the train:

He also got this neat-o truck that comes almost completely apart.  I still haven’t found all of the pieces since this first photo was taken…

Trying to combine pieces from the truck and the train…

“Hi, Elmo!”

Aunt Kristin (my sister), Uncle Dave, Montana, Rylie, and Piper recorded Twas the Night Before Christmas for Isaac.  I was genuinely touched.

Isaac tested his Hokie Bird Pillow Pet:

Fridge Phonics!  They have been on the fridge for a grand total of under 5 minutes because he likes to carry it around the house.  🙂  Mommy and Daddy sing along with it…

After gifts, our friends Christian, Elke, and Milena came over for brunch.  Milena sat in Isaac’s chair while he napped for a bit.  She was a very happy girl playing with all of our new toys and eating breakfast.

Isaac and Milena “sharing” the work bench we received from Aunt Shannon (Todd’s sister), Uncle Scott, Kyle, and Kaitlin.

Elke supervising to facilitate sharing…

The train table from Grandma and Grandpa!  Christian had fun helping with the assembly.  I think it went together infinitely faster than it would have if he hadn’t been there.  4 parents to 2 kids is a much easier ratio than 2 parents to 1 child!!!

Everyone gathered around the train table.  I especially love Milena’s happy face on the right:

Milena with the train:

Before Isaac began re-configuring the track:

The train table has been *fantastic* indoor fun, especially because we had a few days of rainy weather and I didn’t have to try to convince Isaac to stay inside.  He wanted to play with all of his new toys.  It’s easy to tell when he has a new favorite because he brings it to the train table to incorporate it into the game.  So cute!!!


Sunny days and mild temps have us back outside again:

Our little rider:

There are, of course, more updates since this last round of pictures was taken, but the camera is downstairs.  I will try to post again over the weekend…