Firsts

Today has been an eventful day of firsts, some will be repeated, others hopefully not.

On the hopefully not repeated side of the scale, we made our first call to poison control.

Yep, in our exceptional parenting our 9 month old son ate one of those packets that usually come in shoes, purses and such. You know, the ones that say "do not eat." Apparently there was one in my diaper bag that I failed to throw away. And of course, Isaac found it while I was paying less attention to him than I should have been. And of course, he ate it. I'm not sure how many of the actual pellets he consumed. There seemed to be a ton vacuumed off our floor, but who knows. Jacob called poison control and the guy on the other end of the line was very helpful and very kind. He made sure to mention that they get calls about those packets all the time. Turns out the silica inside the packet is not poisonous. He described it as the equivalent of sand. He said it was probably like eating a hot dog at the beach on a windy day. He advised us to keep Isaac well hydrated and to call back if he had any other complications though he doubted there would be any.

So, crisis averted. Phew...

On the upside of new things. I piped icing onto cupcakes for the first time and they are quit pretty. The recipe is from the "cake doctor" but I'm not thrilled with it. They are a tasty "cinnamon toast" cupcake but I don't love the amount of oil the recipe called for. They seem slightly greasy to me. I think I would cut back on the oil next time. The frosting, however, is fantastic. It is a cream cheese cinnamon frosting. Yum!

A Day in the Life....

I had this brilliant idea for Isaac's nine month update and thought I would document his day in photos. This proved to be a lot more difficult than I anticipated because every time I would try and take a picture of him doing the things he normally does, he would stop and crawl to the camera. So, what I have, and what you get to see, are a bunch of photos of Isaac stopping his activities and heading for the camera! Hope you enjoy this 9 month old baby as much as we do.(And don't worry, I have spared you pictures of all the dirty diapers changed and nursing. But rest assured we do plenty of those things too.)

Isaac begins his day playing with his favorite "toys." He loves to play in the kitchen and dining room. He likes pushing chairs and his high chair around. But he also loves bolting for the garbage can. I chase him away from there probably 5 times a day.

He also loves to pull up on everything. He likes the couches because I put everything I don't want him getting into on the couch. Sometimes it's less effective.

After a little playing it is time for second breakfast. Isaac is kind of like a hobbit. He gets many more meals than the standard three throughout the day. Because really before he played this morning he nursed. Second breakfast usually consists of cereal and fruit. But mostly Isaac is spitting out all baby food these days and would prefer to eat his favorite cheerios. Or anything he can feed himself really.

And then it's back to playing. He discovered one of his favorite "toys:" the diaper bag and it's contents.

And the most favorite "toy" is his changing pad. I'm not sure what he loves so much about it but he hauls that thing all around the living room. And I have to keep it out of his mouth as much as possible. Because, ew! We change dirty diapers on that thing!

Mom's favorite time is this sacred hour. Nap time! I was even brave enough to take a picture and it didn't wake him. Luckily.

After nap Isaac got dressed for the day and headed out the door to do some thrift shopping with mom. Probably not his favorite activity.

And after shopping and lunch the play resumed. Isaac loves stickers of all kinds. He tries to get the labels off everything he can get his hands on.

I didn't brave a picture of the afternoon nap because it is a little more difficult to come by and I didn't want to risk waking him. But after the nap we took a nice long walk.

I am sad to report that during said walk we popped a tire. More like the used stroller from craigslist had pretty bad tires in the first place and they are showing their threads. One of them did not hold up well. Good times. Now I have to decide if I fix this old stroller or get a different one... I miss our afternoon walks.

Then while mom gets dinner ready, Isaac gets more time to play.

And after dad gets home from work and dinner is had by all, lucky Isaac gets to spend time with dad and the computer.

Isaac is learning how to climb the stairs. Luckily he hasn't really discovered them on his own and only gets to climb them as he heads for his bath.

He totally knows where the bathroom is and heads straight there. He loves his baths!

He also loves brushing his teeth. Well, mostly anyway.

And then it is a few stories, a few songs, a prayer, and off to bed.

Isaac is such a busy and fun 9 month old! He keeps us on our toes for sure. And we love him.

Visit the Family Blog

Just wanted to let you know there are a couple of really adorable videos of Isaac up on our family blog.

I had started to fold up a large sheet and was shaking it out to get ready. Isaac thought it was pretty cool and the rest is history.

Check it out here.

Two Step

Yesterday Isaac took two steps all on his own. He didn't realize he did it and has yet to repeat it. I'm not really encouraging it too much because he's not even 9 months old yet and I am not ready for my baby to be walking. He won't seem like much of a baby at that point I'm afraid.

He is growing up way too fast.

I'll post some pictures later this week when he really is 9 months old. Time flies!

Reflections on Mothering

I'm a mother, that is true. But sometimes I'm not a very good one.

These have been a rough couple of days for me. My patience is low and I haven't been handling myself very well.

Isaac had been sleeping so beautifully for the past couple of weeks that I almost forgot what it's like when he doesn't do so well. He's been crying and fighting his afternoon naps and bedtimes again and I don't tolerate it well. I get so annoyed and tired of the crying and I let it show.

My problem, not his.

He also is proving to be more difficult at feeding times as well. I think he is so frustrated because he wants to feed himself everything but really can't do the baby food from a spoon without assistance. And it's easier for me just to feed him. Well, mostly. Lately he is throwing more of a fit and spitting and just making an all around mess. And again, my tolerance for it is not high. We battle over the spoon and it's really quite ridiculous. And while he's nursing we battle over what he gets to grab or not. He's fascinated with the moles on my neck and grabs at them with his tiny fingers that pinch so easily. And it doesn't feel great for me. So I try to hold his hand and then he gets frustrated and doesn't nurse well. Then my frustration increases and I let it show. It's a bad cycle.

Also my problem, not his.

I find myself taking out my annoyance, frustration and lack of patience on a helpless almost 9 month old baby. And then I feel lousy. He doesn't know any better and I treat him like he should. I become more stern and I'm certain he can feel my disapproval and agitation. And I hate that. I'm not at my finest and my son hasn't even reached "the terrible twos."

So here's hoping for better days to come. Days filled with a more patient, loving mother instead of this current cranky-pants one.

Because let's face, I should know better.

Hopeful

I've been somewhat reluctant to put this in writing because I'm afraid I'll jinx it. But, I'm pretty sure I now have a baby who successfully sleeps through the night!

It's been a long time coming, and he's not entirely perfect at it yet, but I am pleased with the progress Isaac has made. Since returning from Oregon Jacob and I have been a little more strict with our sleep training and I have also started to cut out more of Isaac's nursing during the day. I'm not sure what really prompted the change but he dropped the night feeding on his own and has been doing 10 or more hours of sleep at night. Mostly. He still cries a little some nights but usually puts himself back to sleep relatively quickly. He is waking a little earlier in the morning but I'll take 10 consecutive hours over middle of the night wakings any day!

However, he got a cold and has been pretty sickly sad the past couple of days and last night he woke at 11 or so crying and I'm pretty sure was in pain of some sort. I'm not sure if he has an ear ache or what. Jacob and I both tried to settle him in his crib and finally ended up picking him up and giving him some tylenol. He calmed down about 20 minutes later and I was able to put him back in his crib and he slept the rest of the night. Hopefully he is better tonight...and hopefully I don't have another ear infection to deal with.

He Walks

Well...with a little help from his new-to-us toy. He is pretty excited about it though.

Jacob posted a video on the new family blog...check it out here if you are interested. Let me know if you need the answer to a trivia question to get access to the blog. You can read more about that on Jacob's blog here.

PS- The best thing about the video is Isaac's sound effects. He does this "Ffff" noise with his lower lip tucked in. It's adorable.

Family Pictures in Oregon

Jacob's mom has a really nice camera and was willing to take a few (lots and lots) of fun photos of our little family. I have some big plans for a photo wall and needed some good pictures. Here are a few of my favorites. I could have posted about 100 more but I'm pretty sure you all don't really care THAT much. I mean, obviously you care a little...right?

Oregon

Warning: This is going to be the longest post known to man but promises a lot of photos...

We had a very successful trip to Oregon for Jacob's sister Rachel's wedding. I was a little apprehensive about flying for the first time with Isaac but he did really well on the flight out and pretty well on the way back.

While in Oregon we had an enjoyable time doing fun and new things alike.

There was a wedding,of course. Sadly I don't have nearly as many pictures of the bride and groom as I do of Maxwell and Isaac.

Isaac had his first taste of dirt. It wasn't until after we got home that I realized the potential hazard this could have been as it was from a flowerbed on the temple grounds that very well could have had fertilizer in it. Nice one Mom! Oh well. He survived.

The happy couple at the reception.

The extremely tired baby at the reception.

I love this picture of Maxwell reaching for the food. It was delicious...I don't blame him one bit.

Grandpa was Isaac's new best friend.

On Saturday we took a trip to the Oregon Zoo. Jacob had been talking about how great it was and I must admit, it lived up to the hype. Probably the best zoo I've ever been to and definitely better than the Cheyenne Zoo! (ha ha ha)

The boys after a hot afternoon. Chillin' on a curb at the zoo.

Isaac wasn't cold. I was trying to keep the sun off him as much as possible. Turns out I'm kind of paranoid about him getting sunburned even though I put sunscreen on and everything. This poor kid is going to have to put up with a lot from his crazy mom!

Isaac actually spotted the black bears and was loving them! He was making all kinds of noise and following the bears as they walked back and forth. It was pretty cute.

Before hitting the zoo, Sarah, Kevin, Jacob and I took a short walk through the rose gardens while the grandparents stayed with the grandbabies who were asleep in the van.

Isaac also got to experience his first time swimming. Don't be fooled by these pictures, he actually loved it. Jacob forbid me from posting any of the pictures with Isaac and Jacob swimming together. But those are the pictures that show him having a good time... He still liked being with grandma and Aunt Rachel too.

Isaac discovered cats while at Grandma's house. He has been around Lori's cats but this time he really started interacting with the cats. And by that I mean, Isaac would pull Jumanji's tail. Jumanji would run away faster than Isaac could crawl. Isaac would then cry in frustration.

Jacob and I were also able to take advantage of eager (at least I think they were) babysitters and attend the temple together. We hadn't been in a long while and it was nice. Plus, the Oregon Temple really is beautiful. I've never been in a Temple with a two story Celestial Room. It was also nice to be able to celebrate our 2nd anniversary while in Oregon. It was on Sunday, so we went out to dinner together at the Cheesecake Factory on Monday night. Have I ever mentioned how happy I am to be married to Jacob! Well...it's true. Best decision I ever made.

Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa Brunson for housing us and making our stay so much fun. We look forward to seeing you all again!