Little Book Worm

Isaac loves to read and now has quite a collection of favorite books. We've been reading him the same ten or so books his whole life, and I actually think that's helped him love reading. He knows his books and he loves them:

 

My personal favorites are the last two. Do you have any book recommendations for us? 

My 8-Month-Old Monkey

This little chub is 8 months old! In the last month, he started crawling, pulled himself up to standing, cut his first tooth, and got his first cold. And, thankfully, the lachrymal duct in his right eye finally opened. No more teary, goopy eyes-- or worried mama. 

It's so cute to see him crawl to Dad when he comes through the door after work and stand by the tub while waiting for his bath to fill. He still kicks his heals into the ground to show any intense emotion (I'm sure our downstairs neighbors love that--- ha ha), and he has started crawling after me, crying, if I walk past him without picking him up.  

His favorite toys are things he's not allowed to play with: power cords, dirty shoes, and electronic devices of any kind. But his second-most-favorite toys are a truck a neighbor gave us and a toy alligator on wheels. He can sit for quite a while spinning those wheels with his chubby fingers. And recently, he's figured out how to push his cars around. It's so fun to watch him play! 

He greets life with his mouth wide open---literally rubbing his snot and saliva all over the edge of the couch and our ottoman. And has even tried to eat his friends . . . 

As far as eating real food, he hasn't figured out finger food yet and hasn't grasped the concept of a sippy cup either. But we're having fun playing with both in the mean time. He still prefers sweet potatoes, pears, and carrots over other foods, but he really is quite a good eater. It's amazing what concoctions of mine he will eat with no complaint: green beans with peaches and oatmeal . . . Trust me, it's actually not that bad (I always taste his food first). 

Life with Isaac is just wonderful. I've come a long way in my growth as a new mom. And I am having so much fun with this busy body! Here are a million pictures of him because I can't help but show him off: 

During our little photo shoot, he was much more interested in the cars passing by than the camera: 

But finally, he gave me some typical Isaac faces: 

 I'm so glad I get to play with this little guy every day. He is so fun! 

2 Years and Better Together

Two years ago, we looked like this:

And one year ago we looked like this:

This last week, Brent and I celebrated our 2nd anniversary. It fell on a Sunday, Brent was under some extreme work deadlines, and I was sick. So we enjoyed a candle-lit dinner at home, with me in pajamas. :-) This is real life.

And we are so much better together.

My Superheros

He's On the Move

Isaac started crawling around July 20th, but I didn't realize how good he actually was until we were at play group a few days later and he crawled straight to another mom's keys that were on the floor. I tried to recreate the scenario here, and, true to form, he went straight for those keys.

We are officially in the danger zone. Today, Isaac crawled under a dining room chair and hit his head, climbed on top of a box in our living room and got stuck, and followed me around the house like a sad puppy dog wanting me to pick him up all day long. Oh boy. :-)

But Brent and I can't get over how cute it is! We both think this video is hilarious-- especially the part where he underestimates how far he has to crawl. Hope you enjoy it too.

Seven Months-- Can You Believe It??

The first four months of Isaac's life were so slow. It felt like two years. And it was like two years-- in terms of my personal growth and the number of hours I have been awake. Ha ha. Anyway, the last three months have flown by in comparison. And I have a feeling, the pace of life isn't going to slow down from here. 


Isaac has become quite the mover. In Church, he likes to arch his back and flail himself from side to side. I think the chandeliers must look more interesting from upside down. He's not crawling yet, but he can get from being on his tummy to sitting and from sitting to being on his tummy. And he can usually roll over in any direction he wants. He also does the cute pre-crawl rock-- where he rocks his bum forward and back while on his hands and knees. But no true crawling yet. 


His favorite activities are tearing up the junk mail, playing with Dad, reading books, and now-- eating!! His favorite foods are sweet potatoes and carrots. And he doesn't mind peaches, pears, and squash. He'll tolerate green beans and apples when mixed with something else. And that's about all he's eaten so far. 


It's been a painstaking process to introduce foods because he has exhibited so many allergies, so we are taking things slow. He's shown allergic reactions to milk, rice cereal, bananas, and possibly peas. Anyone who knows me well can tell you two staples in my diet have always been yogurt and bananas, so it's a little bit strange that my baby is allergic to both. But hopefully the little chunk will grow out of them. 


Here are some cute pictures of him from the last month: 

Bath Time on His 7th Month Birthday

New Naptime Tricks: 

Tigger Tail

"Mom, why are you taking a picture instead of feeding me?"

  

A little blurry, but he always makes this face: 

Stress

Lately I have been stressing. For lots of reasons. But I've found that mostly it is the compound effect of many little things that tend to break me down. I know I shouldn't sweat the small stuff, but that has been my life-long battle. Any advice from all you relaxed, go-with-the-flow type people out there?

A Few Things That Make Me Happy

1. Perfect Fruit. Really, I like almost any fruit that is perfectly ripe and tastes like God intended. Last week I bought mangoes for 33 cents a piece that were just heavenly. And this morning, I ate a perfect peach. Ah! Really, there is nothing better than perfect fruit. (And nothing worse than biting into a strawberry that tastes like trash!!)

2. Babies. I think having a baby turned on a switch in my brain. (It probably turned several on and several off-- truth be told.) But anyway . . .  I always liked babies before, but to be honest, I was only semi-interested. I never really needed to hold other people's babies, and one little glance at them was probably enough. Now, I love babies. Every baby I see, I want to cuddle and kiss their chubby cheeks. Some moms have told me they aren't really baby-moms-- meaning they don't enjoy the baby phase as much as other phases of childhood. I'm not sure what kind of mom I am, but I definitely love babies! And so it's convenient that I live with the cutest one ever.

3. The Mormon Channel. I love listening to the radio shows on the Mormon Channel-- while I clean or cook, or even while I feed Isaac. (I think he likes them too.) My favorite shows are Conversations and the Relief Society interviews with Sister Beck. If you haven't listened to anything on the Mormon Channel yet, I definitely recommend this if you are a mother or ever want to be a mother; this if you are going through a hard time; or this if you are experiencing change in your life.

4. Sleeping. Poor Brent (and anyone else that has ever lived with me) knows this equation:

8 - x = a less than happy Sarah whenever x is greater than 0

As the value of x increases, the happiness of Sarah decreases. If x is negative, her happiness increases! There is your math lesson for the day. 

5. Eating out. I like to cook. But honestly, it is so nice to not have to do it sometimes. Brent is so good to me and usually takes me out on the weekend or we order take-out. He also likes to cook, when he can. I married the perfect man.  

6. Flowers. I told Brent not to buy my flowers for Mother's Day because they are so expensive. So, instead he made me some out of socks. But, really, I do love flowers. A few weeks ago, we invited a friend over for dinner, and he brought some white roses as a gift. They bloomed so beautifully for over a week on our dining room table, and were so beautiful, I couldn't resist commenting on them every time I walked by. (I'm sure that was really annoying to everyone else, now that I think about it. ha ha.) I also just bought some potted orchids at the grocery store for $8!! They are pink, over 2 feet tall, and still blossoming. And they fill an empty space that really needed to be filled on our side table. There really is nothing better than fresh flowers-- especially ones that are potted and will last a long time. 

There are so many other things that make me happy, but I'll end this list for now. What makes you happy? 

Rain Boots

When Marie came to live with us in Houston, she purchased a pair of these boots from Old Navy to help keep her feet dry in the rain. You see, Houston is very flat. And it rains very hard. So the water has nowhere to go, until it slowly drains/ soaks into the soil. Unfortunately, our parking spot also happens to be slightly lower than the rest of the parking lot. So whenever it rains, we have to carefully step in a huge puddle of water, trying to not get our feet wet with dumpster water. (Our assigned spot is next to the dumpster as well.)

Thankfully, Marie left these shoes for me to inherit when she moved back to Rexburg-- because this past week, I have used them every day! They make much more of a fashion statement than I am used to making, so it's been funny get comments from random people throughout the day on my shoes.

I have never owned rain boots until now. And really, I've never needed them (especially because last year was the worst drought Texas has had in history, I think) . . . until now. Thank you, Marie!!

A Teacher Mom

My writing has been sparse on this blog, because I've been writing here instead: A Teacher Mom. My friend, Lindsay, started the blog, and I'm really excited about it. Here is what I've contributed so far:

http://www.ateachermom.com/2012/06/25/book-review-simplicity-parenting-using-the-extraordinary-power-of-less-to-raise-calmer-happier-and-more-secure-kids/

http://www.ateachermom.com/2012/06/30/toys-that-encourage-creative-play/

We'd love to get an active readership going-- a community of moms who share ideas. If you're interested, let me know!