Hammer Time

Isaac loves him some toy hammer! He figured out how to use it, and now he hits things all the time...the floor, other toys, the cats, my legs....

It really doesn't bode well for the toy bat that he will open at Christmas! :)

Feed Myself!

Isaac likes to feed himself now. On Thanksgiving, we gave him his first "big boy meal" which consists of all the food we were eating, with the exception of the sweet potatoes. He got plain ones, without marshmallows. I don't need him to have the extra sugar. :)

Isaac's first taste of turkey.

Hey, what's this in my mouth, Mom?

Isaac's first Thanksgiving feast.

And he ate it all!

Now he only likes to feed himself. It gets messy. The only thing he will let me feed him is yogurt and some occassional cereal.

I have to be creative with his leftover purees. I roll the meats into little balls with mashed potatoes. All his fruits and veggies I just cut into small bits now and then steam them to make them softer for his chewing pleasure.

Did I mention how messy? :)

Ten

Thanksgiving Day was also Isaac 10 month mark.

I think this past month was my favorite, simply because Isaac learned to say "Mama."

And he crawls up to me know and gets up on his knees, stretches up his arms, and makes the "uh! uh!" noise, asking to be picked up.

My next favorite thing that developed this month was that he crawls into my lap and snuggles with me.

He has come really far this past month, especially in terms of mobility. He zooms aroudn in his walker, and he is working on pulling himself to standing. He is also able to sit up from a laying down position without rolling onto his side or tummy, like a sit up.

We discovered last week that he no longer likes to be fed. He only wants to feed himself. It has been kinda fun, because now he is eating more of what we are, and it makes my life easier. He loooooooves cheese. He finally figured out the sippy cup as well. :)

Still not sleeping through the night. :( sigh. And he's pushing bed time later and later, and nap times less and less. I guess that is probably good because our nap in the swing days are numbered as he packs on the pounds!

6 teeth!

He loves Handy Manny. He laughs when the songs come on and will turn his head to see it when he hears it come on. And no joke, he's a big Kel.ly Clark.son fan. He sings along with the radio. He watches Buck.eye football with his dad, and seems to enjoy it.

We have whole conversations now and I love it.

He figured out how to fool me by pretending he put something in his mouth, chewing and watching me dive across the floor and swipe into his mouth only to find nothing. He laughs and laughs.

Yep, my baby boy is growing up. But he will always be my little Peanut. :)

Miss

I did really well on the National Blog Posting Month. :( This weekend, not so much. I missed 3 days out of 30. That's not so bad right?

This holiday just took alot out of me. I was home for 4 days, and Isaac was teething. He's a teething BEAR. 4 teeth at once. 2 broke the skin, just waiting for the other two which have caused huge bulges in his gums. We need sleep. All of us.

I will have some posts up soon, to make up for the lack of posts in the past 3 days. For now, I want to give a shout out to Miss Daniela, who incidently is watching Isaac today (long story, husband goofed and she saved his butt).

I have known her for about 4 years now, I think. She has been an awesome friend and support system ever since we bonded in the windows of VS doing their insane holiday floorsets. She has adorable little boys, her 3 year old and her 18 month twins. She just started a blog here. Stop on over and check her out, leave her some love. She deserves it!

Seriously, I would have lost my mind by now if not for her.

Blessings

Becoming a mother changed my life, obviously for the better. And on this day of thanks, I find it only fitting to say thank you to the little man who made it possible. He has taught me to be thankful on a whole other level, a level I didn't know I had. I see blessings more and more in my life evey single day, simply because I am a mother.

To my precious baby boy, Happy 1st Thanksgiving! I am thankful for all you have given me. I am thankful for your cuddles and smiles. I am thankful for your health and happiness. I am even thankful for your screams. Most of all, I am thankful to be your Mommy.

Ol' Skool

My husband and I finished Isaac's Christmas shopping a few weeks ago. Thinking about going near a toy store or department store anytime around the holidays in this metropolitan area when I worked 5 years of retail gives me anxiety and makes me want to hide in the closet until January. I wanted to get it done, and I didn't mind spending a few extra dollars for my sanity. We had a pretty good idea of what we wanted to get him, so we left him with Uncle C and set off for the dreaded TRU and Tar.get (Note: normally I love Ta.rget. Just not at the holidays).

Ben and I grew up without video gaming systems and without TVs in our rooms. We didn't have alot of electronic toys. What we did have was something called "IMAGINATION." This is one of the most important things I want my son to have. We chose our gifts based on that concept.

It was kinda difficult. While I appreciate the educational aspects of some of today's electronic toys, I feel a lot of them are unneccessary. Sure, Le.ap Fro.g is a wonderful concept, but I grew up without it, and hey, I can say my ABCs forward and backward. I can count. I know my colors. I can't speak for him, but I am pretty sure my husband can too... :)

Even some of the newer versions of toys we played with as children are all jazzed up. It some ways, it was kind of sad to see what they had evolved into.

I just don't really know why it's necessary. Sure, some of those toys are downright cool. And I am not saying that Isaac doesn't have some of them. If one day he asks me for that 3 foot robotic dinosaur, I just might buy it. I guess it's just to keep up with the market, right?

I guess it just makes me a little sad. It makes me sad to think that there are parents out there that believe that these toys can be substitutes for actual human contact, teaching your own child. I understand that not all parents have the time they want to spend with their child. I don't. But at the same time, I want him to learn and discover and imagine on his own.

I miss the ol' skool toys. I miss the FP barn that made that little mooing sound when you opened the double doors and that was it. The chicken didn't cluck. The tractor didn't rumble. I still knew what sounds those respective items made.

And Oh. My. Goodness. It was darn near IMPOSSIBLE to find dishes for Isaac that were coverd in pink and flowers. My million dollar idea? Gender-neutral dishes for children. Without having to buy a big kitchen apparatus. Isaac loves dishes. LOVES THEM. All we wanted were some plates and maybe a bowl and a pan or two. Seriously. My idea. I claim it. And if you already made these dishes, where the heck are you selling them?!

We spent a good hour and a half walking the aisles, looking for things that we wanted (Note: part of the problem was not just lack of what we wanted, but that my husband did not seem to grasp the concept of "age appropriate" toys).

I am satisfied with what we got him. Some of the toys are indeed electronic. And some of them were toys we played with as children, ordered vintage off Eba.y.

Yep, we are taking our baby back to the ol' skool....because we're ol' fools who are so cool... :)

To Tree or Not to Tree

That is my question.

Remember how I love Christmas? And that I didn't get a tree last year? :(

I was completely planning on getting a tree this year. I have so many new ornaments that must be displayed, since I have had almost 2 years to collect them. And I have a good amount of "baby-safe" ornaments that he can pull off the tree.

And then someone said that unless I have a baby gate around the tree, I should rethink it, period.

WHAT?!

I talked about it with Ben. It kinda makes sense. I can see my baby pulling the tree down...over, and over, and over.... He's a pretty strong kid.

Sigh. So now I face a major conundrum (Did I use that word correctly? I hope so! It sounded fun and I wanted to use it. :) )

We talked about nixing the tree this year. Not the best option in my opinion. Another option is to block it with a baby gate of sorts, but we really don't have the space. I wouldn't want the gate right around the tree, just surrounding the area. I am not even sure how that would work. I would essentially be creating a "tree room" in my living room. A third option is to anchor the tree. Either with an exceptionally heavy and sturdy base, or to tether the tree to the wall or ceiling. This option is the one that gets my vote.

But I don't really know what that entails either. Or if it would be too much work and trouble.

I had a hard enough time without a Christmas tree last year. I already have to forego the snow (The only downfall of Cali.fornia weather. It just doesn't seem like Christmas without snow. And to be clear I don't like blizzard amounts. Just enough to make it a white Christmas. And only at Christmas.).

I really, really, want my tree.