Halloween

Even though Halloween is tomorrow, we feel like it has already passed because we've dressed up, had the party, and even gone trick or treating (trick or trunk). And here are some pictures to show how we celebrated: 

We skipped the pumpkin patch this year and opted for the more local Trader Joe's.

The pumpkins were cheap! Too bad we realized that one was already rotting when we got home...

Isaac with all his friends at Calvin's birthday party

Isaac and his two girl friends at our church Halloween party

Isaac the Builder and the Monson Construction crew.
Baby construction project to be completed in 2014. 

Brent does not normally look so delirious...but we were all pretty tired that night. 

Isaac "cooking" with the pumpkin pulp

There was a pumpkin growing in our pumpkin!! It was so weird.
Neither of us had ever seen sprouts growing inside a pumpkin before. Anyone else seen that? 

The master carver. Brent kind of sketched it out, but did a lot free-handed.
Most of the permanent marker you can see on there is Isaac's scribbling.  

The final product. I was super impressed because I had doubts during the carving. . . :-)
I should know better than to ever doubt Brent's artistic skills though! 

Isaac loved it!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday, but it is way more fun with a kid! If Isaac's allergies continue into next year though, I don't think we'll be trick or treating again. He literally cannot eat ANY candy. I brought fruit leathers as a substitute, but he was not happy about that. How he knows what candy is, I have no idea. But we had quite a tantrum on our hands that led to me giving in and giving him a tiny Twizzler. (His allergy to corn is not life-threatening.) Anyway, I think we'll avoid that part of the Halloween tradition for as long as possible. . . 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

Isaac 21-Month Update

My Justin Bieber Baby at 18 months

There is so much about Isaac at this age that I want to capture in a bottle forever. Brent and I have loved being his parents. He is just so adorable and fun-- and this age especially has revealed a lot of his personality and sense of humor.

He is a good talker, I would say, particularly for a boy his age. I have no idea what his vocabulary is at right now, but he definitely knows more than 100 words. He is comfortable with 2-3 word phrases and is very good at making a wide range of consonant combinations. Some examples are "I got it!", "I see you!", "I fall," "More ______," "Dada work?", "Apple Juice," and "See Bandit?" (when we are doing FaceTime with my parents).

And some of the words he uses all the time are, "See?" (meaning pick me up, I want to see that), "Hold" (pick me up and hold me), "Side!" (Outside or I want to go outside.), "Hun-gy" (hungry), "Dump" (this could mean I'm about to dump my food on the floor or he will also say it while playing quite a bit), and "car", "truck", and "firetruck" are up there with the words that he says most often every day. 

Also, just yesterday, he was "flying" around the house pretending to be an airplane and kept saying, "Crash landing!" and would fall down. There is usually a pause between his words though, so it sounded like " Crash . . . land-ing!" I had no idea he knew how to say that. It was so cute! 

Isaac loves his gummy vitamins and asks for them every day. We have been giving him Calcium gummies for a while to supplement his diary-free diet, but recently I started giving him multi-vitamin gummies as well. When I first introduced the Calcium gummies, I gave them to him right after his nap with his snack. When he woke up from his nap, I would say, "Do you want your snack?" And so, he thought the vitamins were called "snack"-- because I guess he looked forward to them much more than his crackers or fruit.  

So every day he yells, " 'NACK?! 'NACK?!" until I respond and ask him if he would like his vitamin. But recently, when we started giving him the new vitamins, on his own, he noticed the different colored bottles of the two types of vitamins (blue and red). Now he says, "BUE 'NACK?! BUE 'NACK?!" And after he's had that, he says, "RED 'NACK?!" Haha! He is so funny! 

He has also started singing the ABCs --- or trying to. His different versions include, "A, B, double-awch, E." and "A, B, C, Double-P, Double-P, Double-P" He really likes doubling his letters. LOL

And he has a word he made up: dungle-pop. We think it might be a mutation of Jungle Book. But in any case, he uses it in place of something he doesn't know the name of. The other day an apartment manager knocked on the door, and when she walked away, he said loudly, "Bye, Dungle-pop!" Lol. I have to admit, felt just a tad embarrassed. And when Brent was playing a new game with him, swinging him in the air, he said, "More dungle-pop!" until Brent told him he could say, "More swing." Then, he started saying, "More swing."

Isaac is extremely observant. He will sit and look at each page of a book for a long time. And he notices small details in the pictures of his books that I have never noticed-- even after reading them to him dozens of times. He also has sharp ears-- especially for trucks, planes, and helicopters. If he hears and airplane fly over our house (we're not close to any airport, so they are not loud at all), he will stop what he's doing and look at the ceiling with a surprised face and say, "airplane?" 

He also has ears for the garbage truck. I now know our pickup schedule-- every Mon, Wed, and Friday morning. And we are at the bedroom window as soon as we hear it coming. When he first started watching it about three months ago, he would cry as it drove away, but now he's used to the idea that it will leave and come back again soon. :-)

One of his favorite activities is playing with clean laundry that is often piled on top of the armchair in my bedroom. He will seriously play independently for up to 45 minutes dragging laundry around. It's weird, but I don't mind at all. He also loves to play with random objects which he uses as tools to bang on walls or try to "fix" things. These objects include an old blush brush that I set aside for him to use, un-sharpened pencils, paint brushes, and really anything that is like a stick. He also loves playing with my OXO salad spinner and, of course, my iPhone, if he can get his hands on it. (I don't have any games on it for him, but he just likes to put in wrong passwords until my phone is disabled for 15 minutes.)

As far as conventional toys go, he likes his dump truck and firetruck the best. He also likes a small beanie baby teddy bear and his Teddy which he takes to bed at night. The rest of his toys-- duplos, train set, etc.-- he mostly likes to just dump on the ground and then that is the end of it. He will build towers for about 5-10 minutes, but nothing lasting yet. He much prefers for you to build something for him to destroy. Because of this we sing (to the tune of Bob the Builder), "Isaac the Destroyer! He can wreck it! Isaac the Destroyer! Yes, he can!" 

Here are some pictures of this cute kid over the last few months: 

With more of the Bieber look going on . . . (18 months)

Playing with Sydney --who he called "See-see" until just recently (20 months old)

Watching the gardeners: his favorite Monday morning activity (20 months)

Ready for Church! This boy loves Nursery! (20 months)

California Visit

In August, Isaac and I flew to Los Angeles to visit my family. My parents had not seen Isaac since December, and I was sick and tired and wanted my Mama.

The flight there was smooth sailing:

                                   

Since we last were there, Bryan had grown a ton. Isaac loved watching him and following him around. He also loved Bandit, our family dog, who does not like kids. We kept them separated as much as possible.

Our trip wasn't much of a sight-seeing vacation. We really didn't do anything except for the most important things: spending time with family and visiting with a few friends. I mostly rested as much as I could and was so grateful to have help taking care of Isaac.

Isaac played outside every day, swam, ate popsicles, watered the plants, developed a love for the movie the Jungle Book, and got to know his grandparents really well. I read books 1-5 of The Work and the Glory series-- probably over 1,000 pages of text. So that gives you and idea of what I did: stayed in bed.

While we were there we were also able to attend my Great-Aunt Darlene's funeral service. I'm sure it was really nice. Unfortunately, Isaac didn't behave well enough for me to see it. Below you will see a picture of him playing on an altar outside the church where the memorial was held. That's where we were.

Here are the pictures from our trip.

Isaac and Uncle Bry
**When I sent this picture to my sister Marie, who is serving a mission, she wrote back, "WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE??!!!!"  Yep, they've changed a lot. 

                          

On the way to the funeral 

                               

At the funeral

                               

Reading with "Papa" 

Helping Bry wash the cars

Watching Jungle Book... I just love that face!! 

                                  

Watching Jungle Book Again ...  and I love this face too. :-)                   

More time with the hose

                              

Swimming! In a pool that was cool and refreshing! 

                     

                     

I also have to share this fun comparison. This is a picture of my brother Bryan and then of Isaac--both at 21 months old in the same pool. I think they look so much alike! 

                               

And my mom caught this gem of a picture right before we got in the car to leave for the airport. Isaac's two favorite things: his teddy and his doggie.

                           

The flight home was less than stellar. Isaac sat--more like wrestled--on my lap the whole 3 hours and 20 minutes. I barely survived. Luckily the guy sitting next to us was tolerant. 

Thanks, Mom and Dad, for a wonderful trip! And thank you Brent for keeping up the home-front while we were gone. 

Allergy Report

On Monday, we took Isaac to an allergist to have some testing done. I had been putting it off for quite some time because I knew it would be expensive and we hadn't touched our deductible yet this year. Thankfully, it actually cost much less than I expected--only $125 (the doctor graciously gave us a 25% discount after I told him we hadn't met our deductible for the year).

But the experience held some surprises I wasn't prepared for. Up until this point, I had seen what I thought to be allergic responses in Isaac to milk, soy, rice, bananas, peaches, oranges, and tomatoes. I was also suspicious of corn. And even though I hadn't seen any reaction to wheat, I was really hoping I hadn't missed something there. So we tested him for these, plus a few other items: peanuts, almonds, and two types of dust mites. There were actually 15 items he was tested for, but I can't remember what the last two were.

The nurses came in and first wrote on Isaac's back with a pen codes for all the different allergens. To help him not freak out, the nurse first drew a smiley face on his hand so he would know what she was doing on his back. That really helped, and he stayed perfectly still and didn't make a peep while she wrote on his back. (Unfortunately, however, I have had to stop him from writing on his hand with a pen multiple times in the last few days. ha ha) Here is the before picture:

Then, as I held him on my lap, they quickly pricked his back one by one with small needles that had been dipped in allergen serum. During the first few pricks--at the top of his back-- he was fine. But as they went lower, where the back is more sensitive, he started to jerk and burst into tears. Soon it was done though, and we had to watch and wait for the results. Within just a few minutes, it was already clear he had a couple reactions. And because the reactions were labeled with codes, we waited anxiously to find out what was what.

It turns out that the biggest reaction was to peanuts. I was shocked. There is no history of peanut allergies in either of our families, and although I've been dealing with allergies since Isaac was born, I haven't had to worry about life-threatening allergies. Peanuts are a whole different ball game.

After fifteen minutes, here is what his back looked like:

The reaction on the upper left is the positive control. I have no idea what they use for a positive control since it has to be something that everyone is allergic to, but he definitely was. The reaction next to F79 is peanuts. Milk is 17 and orange is under that. He also reacted slightly to corn, which is the c in the middle of his back. I was grateful he didn't react to anything else including rice, wheat, and almonds.

The doctor explained, however, that gastrointestinal responses to things aren't signs of allergy, but could be signs of intolerance. So, if I give Isaac rice and it gives him diarrhea, I obviously shouldn't give it to him. We're going to have to just test things as we go along.

The doctor also said that allergy testing for fruits is very inaccurate. He said that it's better to test with fresh fruit. So, next time we test--in about a year-- I will bring in fruit to do a more accurate test.

It was hard for me to tell what was a slight positive reaction and what was considered a negative reaction because every place he was poked turned red. But what the nurses looked for was the redness around the dot. Then they measured the size of the welt and the size of the red rash around each welt/hive. These measurements will be a base for future testing to see if he is growing out of his allergies or not.

After a while, Isaac's rash started to spread up his neck, so I quickly got someone to come. They gave him liquid Zyrtec and wiped off the allergens and sprayed his back with what I think may have been a cortisone spray.  It was amazing that in just a few minutes, all of his reactions were gone.

The doctor didn't have a lot to say about the peanut allergy, as far has how severe his allergy will be or whether or not he will grow out of it. The truth is, with allergies, it is mostly guess-work. But he did say we need to avoid all foods with peanuts including the "May contain" and factory warnings on foods. And he gave us a prescription for an EpiPen and said we need to keep it with us at all times. (Big sigh.)

On the drive home, I felt pretty overwhelmed.

And I'm still somewhat in denial. I still haven't thrown away the peanut butter in my pantry, or done any online research about peanut allergies, or picked up the EpiPen from the pharmacy (although the fact that I got the stomach flu/ food poisoning yesterday also has something to do with that).

It will be interesting to see what the future holds. But for now, no peanuts for us.

Toddlerhood: A Different Ball Game

Isaac is almost 18 months, and I can't believe how much he's changed just in the last few weeks. He's finally transitioned to one nap a day (usually from noon to two-ish), which frees up a lot more time--time that needs to be filled. Hanging out at home is not his activity of choice. If that happens, I get tortured. :-)  In fact, every day around 9:00 am, he says, "Bye, bye? Bye, bye?" or goes up to the front door and cries. He wants out.

And for a good reason: this kid is filled with energy. He's had running mastered for a few months, so of course he's on to developing the next skill. Unfortunately, that means climbing. Now, all dining room table chairs must be pushed in at all times. And I know it's a matter of weeks until he figures out how to pull them out and climb up anyway. He stomps, he runs, he jumps, he dances, he attacks things. And he now tries to snatch my glasses off my face and has almost broken them. A big no-no.

But the biggest no-no of all is that, yesterday, he hung on the door to the oven (while I was cooking a pizza) and put his feet up, as if to climb up spiderman style. And his weight opened the door to the oven. AHH!!! Luckily, I was standing right there, and it only opened a few inches before I slammed it shut. I gave him a very firm, "No, no," and took him out of the kitchen, but a minute later (when I was not right next to the oven) he did it again. I don't think I've ever heard myself scream, "No!" like that. It was scary. Thankfully, it startled him and he jumped off before the oven fully opened. But that was the end of that. We bought a baby gate that very night. He is no longer allowed in the kitchen whenever the oven is on.

Yesterday he was also quite a terror at the library story time. He threw crayons everywhere and screamed during the quiet coloring time before it began and wouldn't sit still for one minute during the story time part. Instead, he ran around the room laughing and squealing. Even though there was general mayhem during the reading portion, we left half-way through because he was being so disruptive. I guess he's not ready for it. And I'm definitely not.

Never a dull moment with a toddler. And today was no exception: he got his first goose-egg-- right smack in the middle of his forehead right at his hairline. He ran full speed into a corner. I didn't see it happen, but my friend who was visiting did, and her reaction was pretty intense. So, after she left we watched "Bob the Builder" while I fought to get ice on his head for three seconds at a time.

And today we couldn't find any of his pacifiers. His paci has been one of his most treasured possessions since about 6 months old. I've limited its use during the day, but he knows he can have it when he sleeps, and he asks for it. He also asks for it when he wakes up, and I let him have it for the first few minutes to get through that waking-up grogginess. But I couldn't find it when he was crying after hitting his head. And I still couldn't find it at nap time. How they disappear, I know not. We had three just two weeks ago. But I'm sick of buying more, so I reluctantly decided that this would have to be it.

Luckily, he went down fine anyway. It helps that he's just as attached to his Teddy as his paci. But when he woke up, he said, "Paci? Paci?" with a sad, anxious face. And when I said it was, "All gone," he made the sign for "All done," (which he thinks is the same as all done) and wailed, "Ga-gone? Ga- gone?" And when I said yes, he cried really hard. Poor little baby.

He asked for it a few times this afternoon, but tonight--miracle of miracles-- he didn't ask for it. It took him over a half hour to fall asleep, but he didn't cry! He just talked happily until he drifted off. Of course this is just day one, but this is all going much better than I expected! Hallelujah! Now, I hope we don't find it.

To end on a happy note, I must say it is so fun to see him learning. His vocabulary is growing by leaps and bounds! Just this week, he began calling his books by name: "Go" for Oh, the Places You'll Go, "Doggie" for Go, Dogs! Go!, and  "Vroom, vroom!" for his book, Trucks. He has also been labeling things a lot more: shoe, hat, key, meow (for a cat), ball, teddy, and of course his paci that is no more.

As much as he wears me out, I wouldn't trade him. He's my treasure.

My Sweet 14-Month-Old

My friend, Olya, took these adorable pictures of Isaac. Isn't he a cutie? My favorites are the last two. But these raccoon ones melt my heart as well. :-) Actually, let's be honest: I love them all! 

I love this age! I think I've felt that way about every age, but it just keeps getting more fun. Isaac loves to read, and he will bring books to me throughout the day. His new thing is that he hands me a book and then runs to the couch because he knows that's where we sit to read. I love it when he sits on my lap and rests his head against my chest. It's our time to relax.

Isaac is a really good eater, but drinking has been a challenge for us. He is officially weaned, and really, it was the smoothest transition ever. I was the one that had been pushing nursing for the last 3 months because I was worried about his liquid intake and diet (due to his allergies). But my milk dried up, and nursing became a futile cause. So, we just stopped, and he hasn't even cared. Talk about an easy transition.

But getting him to drink enough has not been easy. I put sippy cups around the house, but if it were up to him, he would drink less than 8 oz a day. So, I offer, offer, offer. If I offer a lot and spoon feed him a bowl of cereal and oat milk, he can get around 20 oz down-- but that is still 4 oz shy of what is supposedly the absolute minimum he's supposed to be drinking. ACK! Any suggestions there? We did buy a straw cup, but I'm still not sure if he prefers that. We've tried Nesquick in the oat milk. I even blended up fresh strawberries to make a smoothie-like drink, and he wouldn't drink that. So the only things he drinks are watered-down juice and water. I'm hoping this is just a phase and that he will start liking chocolate oat milk. What kid doesn't like chocolate milk?

His new skills include walking backwards (he does it when he's trying to see what's on top of the counter), spinning in circles, crawling up the stairs (I let him climb all the staircases in our complex as we s-l-o-w-l-y make our way to the mail box), eating with a fork, and saying a few words! He is not a big talker and rarely says these words, but he has said all of them multiple times on his own:

dada
ba (ball)
teh-teh (Teddy)
buh (book)
buh-buh (bubble)
nuh-nuh (no no)
puh-puh (poke poke) -- This is what we tell him to do when he's eating with a fork.
ickle ickle (tickle)

The thing he says the most is "DUH!" Which is pretty much the equivalent of "THAT!" He points and says "duh!" to whatever he wants. It's cute, but I'm excited for him to become more verbal.

Life with a one-year-old is very sweet.

Feeding a Child with Allergies

Isaac has quite a few allergies. I haven't taken him to see an allergist yet because 1) it is expensive 2) none of his allergies seem to be life-threatening 3) I have been able to figure out most things he is allergic to on my own and 4) I'm hoping he will grow out of them in a couple years.

In the mean time, we are avoiding milk, rice, soy, bananas, peaches, and nuts (because there is a good chance he could be allergic to them). I am also suspicious of beans in general, but have to do more testing on that one. This means I can't give him bananas, yogurt, or cheese-- which are all convenient, easy-to-eat, high-calorie, baby-friendly foods. And I can't give him rice puffs or anything with milk in the ingredients, which pretty much eliminates everything made for toddlers in the grocery store. I also can't give him tofu or peanut butter-- which normally I would have used as good alternative fat and protein sources. I think this is why he is 21 lbs and in the 16th percentile for weight. (A very healthy weight but definitely on the small side for my family.)

Now these issues are not nearly as difficult as having a child with grain allergies/intolerances or life-threatening allergies. Isaac can still eat bread and pasta. And he can eat cheerios and graham crackers, which he loves. I don't have to worry about being in the same room as a peanut butter sandwich or monitoring his every bite, thank goodness.

The hard part is figuring out what to wean him to. Most babies his age drink cows milk, but that is not an option. And neither is soy, rice, or almond milk. (I actually am going to try rice milk in a few months to see how he does with that one.) Our pediatrician encouraged me to continue nursing him until 18 months and gave me samples of Alimentum, a formula made by Similac. I made pancakes with it (because Isaac refused to drink it after multiple attempts), and Isaac didn't tolerate it well. Thankfully, Dr. Lindsay also gave me a sample of Neocate, a prescription formula that costs $55 a tin (I think insurance can cover it if you really need it.). This  formula is 100% dairy free and pretty much soy free (there is a little soy). The proteins are broken down to the level of amino acids, so it virtually eliminates the possibility of an allergic reaction. I made pancakes with this, and so far so good. I have two cans of it and I'm hoping I can get one more free from the company (I sent in a request).

I'm not sure what I really wanted the point of this post to be. But I guess I just want to acknowledge the miracle that it has been to nurse Isaac for this long. It is a blessing we really, really needed considering his allergies. And I want to say that if you are feeding a child with allergies, I understand. It is a stressful puzzle.

What Happens When I'm Not Looking

I was four feet away from Isaac when this happened. I was reading an article on the computer and was obviously very distracted. Luckily, I think he had only taken one bite of dirt. I'm not sure if the plant will survive though. I guess I should recommit to my goal of not using the computer while Isaac is awake . . . 

But I have to admit, this did make for a good laugh!

Poster Child

This is a poster my mom put up on the wall at work. She is an elementary school librarian. I think it's adorable. 

Isaac-kun

Because Brent's mom is Japanese, he grew up using Japanese words, phrases, and suffixes. And slowly I'm picking up on things. One thing I'm learning about is honorific suffixes, or endings that show respect or endearment towards the person you are talking to or about. For example, when you talk about another adult, to show respect, you use the suffix -san. (So my mother-in-law would be Naoko-san.)  

Another suffix that shows endearment towards a younger person is -chan. This is the suffix my mother-in-law uses for Brent (B-chan) and my sister-in-law Emily (Emi-chan). I just love the way those names sound. To me they really do capture the love she feels for them. 

Kun is another diminutive, endearing suffix, usually used for young boys-- similar to the suffix -ito in Spanish.  And so, one of our nicknames for Isaac is Isaac-kun. I love this nickname because it feels as endearing to me as it is meant to be. Our little Isaac-kun. 

And because he is so cute, I have to share some more pictures: 

He was eating this shoe a split second before I snapped the picture. We try to discourage this behavior, normally. 

Looking out the window:

The only problem with these window pictures is that this is proof that we can NEVER. I mean NEVER! EVER! EVER! open this window. We live on the second story, and just look how easily he could fall out. Does anyone know of any good solutions? 

Feeding a toy to Dad. Such good sharing! 

My little sous-chef. He always wants to be where I am and get in on the action. Just look at that face!!!

Enjoying some peaches in his mesh teething bag. I have to say I have enjoyed that little gadget. I should have bought it sooner because he's already doing finger food now. 

At the zoo with some friends: 

Looking at a chipmunk at the zoo (but I think you know who the real chipmunk is. . . ). 

His favorite place to play these days: 

Oh I just love my baby!!

Playing with Mom's necklace: 

His after-nap smile: 

And can I just say, I really love being a mom! It is the best job I've ever had! 

Also, another random side-note: Today Isaac had his 9-month well check and he was 29 inches (74th percentile) and 19 lbs. 10 oz (33rd percentile). Really? Thirty-third percentile? You would never believe it with those cheeks and thighs. It makes me wonder about the validity of these percentiles. . . .