Mother and Child Reunion

It was very, very difficult to be away from Isaac this weekend.  But we managed to stay in touch via the phone.  Look how attentively he listens to Mama!

Isaac also expresses his love through mouthing the phone--maybe trying to absorb Mama through osmosis?

But at last we were reunited and it felt so good!  Who cares about spit-up in your hair when you have this baby?

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

I went to Miami this weekend for a memorial service for Zack Bowen--the kindest, most compassionate, and generous man I know.  I really hope that Isaac grows up to be like him.  However, going to Miami to honor his memory also meant being separated  for Isaac for two full days.  I hated to be away from both my guys.  Can you blame me?  Look at them!

Of course, most of the time Isaac was very good for Daddy--sleeping easily through the night and being an all around angel baby.

But occasionally the demon pig baby also made an appearance.  Look at those red eyes!

If At First You Don't Succeed...

We took Isaac to the park again and he enjoyed it much better than last time.   The swings were successful again, and he also liked a new thing (I have no idea what it's called but it makes a good backdrop for photos!):

On the way back we stopped to take care of our friends' dogs.  Isaac hadn't really interacted with any dogs since we were in Texas and I was curious to see what he thought.  He quickly became distraught because the dogs weren't close enough to him.  He seemed to like Walter (the greyhound) the best and lunged for him (almost falling off my lap in the process).

We're going to have to get this boy a dog pretty soon; he loved petting and kissing Walter.  But dogs' mouths are supposedly cleaner than humans, right?

Practice Makes Perfect

We've been very busy here at la casa Gillota: between attending convocation, hosting a departmental bbq, and packing for Miami, I haven't had much time to post.  Isaac hasn't been doing too many new activities, but he's shown some additional prowess in what he already does.  In addition to being extremely vocal now (does ghee count as his first word?  He says it all the time, and it's an integral component in Indian cooking), he's also sleeping longer at night (close to twelve hours!).  He also now flips to his belly every time he's on his back.  This morning we found him on his stomach in the crib like a little turtle, just grinning away.

Isaac's also liking cereal more, though eating solids is still a messy process--mostly because Isaac now gives us a big, open-mouthed smile he gets a mouthful. 

Of course, now he also bangs his hands on the high chair and verbally demands food between every bite.  You can see him "hooting" above.

He's also liking the Exersaucer for longer periods of time because he's figured out how to eat the various components of it.

He particularly likes to press the buttons with his tongue.

The Wheels on the Bus...

Here's a game that Isaac and I like to play.  He normally looks at me and giggles when we do it, but this time he's busy staring at the camera (like a shark watching its prey).

And yes, I know that the wheels of a bus don't actually go in and out or up and down, but it's fun!  We'll worry about the dynamics of mechanical engineering later.

Office Hours

Today we tried out actually playing in the pack&play.  Isaac remains skeptical.

The horror, the horror!

 Anne Lamont refers to this as "office hours" in her memoir Operating Instructors (although Dr. Sears, the guru of attachment parenting, would probably call it cruel and unusual punishment since he likens a crib to a prison cell).  But the fact remains that even though both David and I are off, we can't keep up with household chores half the time--which is worrying since school is starting so soon.  So I decided to round-up some of Isaac's favorite toys to keep him occupied while Mama picked up around the house.

I don't know if this will work--he only lasted about ten minutes in there today--but we'll keep on working at it!

Big Brother is Watching

Isaac has become fascinated with Senor lately. 

Sadly the feeling isn't mutual.  Senor likes to keep his distance, unless he decides to sh*t on Isaac's blanket.  I'm not including a photo of that.

Swingers

This week we've discovered a new park with a larger playground than the one by our house.  The first we took Isaac there, he loved it but unfortunately we forgot our camera.  The next time we were dealing with some grumpiness due to sleep issues (see previous post), and we only really tried out the swings.

Of course, Isaac's main interest was in eating the metal chains.  Very hygienic.

Maybe next time we'll get some better shots--if Isaac can get some better sleep!

Captain Wiggles

Sorry I've been remiss in posting this week.  We've been very busy, in part because David and I are trying to get ready for the semester and in part because Isaac seems to become a bit more--if not mobile, then wiggly.  For instance, Isaac has discovered the joys of splashing his feet during bathtime (which he often does while trying to eat the faucet).  It is completely adorable, but it also makes him much more slippery.

He's also starting to army crawl--you know, on his belly.  This is an "after" picture: he started on the middle of the boppy (that U-shaped pillow) facing the mirror.  Here's where he ended up five minutes later:

  And we might have to give up the bouncy seat now that Isaac tries to suck on his toes while in it.  It's an accident waiting to happen.

So Isaac has really lived up to his Aunt Jenny's nickname of Captain Wiggles this week.  Even though it's been fun, it's been accompanied by some "rock star" type tantrums, including a refusal to nap and a 2 AM wake-up call this morning.  This refusing to sleep business is supposed to be pretty normal during developmental leaps, so fingers crossed it's just a phase!

Splendor in the Grass

It's finally cooled off some here and we decided to celebrate with a picnic in the yard.  David cooked brats on the grill and I played with Isaac...or at least tried to.  He continues to be more fascinated with his feet than any toys--even Mr. Peacock!

And no baby toys can compete with condiments.

Now a treat--not one but two videos of our Isaac-bear!  Both remind me of those videos on the Discovery channel: you know, the ones where they have someone in a steel cage filming some shark who tries to attack them?  Because Isaac goes after the camera like that.

Hanging Around

We've busted out the baby carrier again this week--David and I had almost forgotten about it, but when Isaac was being fussy and I was running out of ideas, I suddenly remembered it.  And since he has good head control, we can put him in it facing forward.  Doesn't he look cute?

We both really enjoy it: I get to pick up around the house (with both hands!) while we dance around together, and he likes watching everything while sucking on the edge of the babybjorn.

It has continued to be very hot here, so we've spent most of the week camped upstairs where we have A/C.  I've also had the excuse to put Isaac in what might be his cutest outfit yet:

When we took him out in this, everyone who saw him admired him; a little girl couldn't resist grabbing  onto his foot as she passed by in a stroller.  But of course, who could resist this face?

Feats of Flexability

One of the most adorable things that Isaac's been doing lately is sucking on his feet and toes:

And speaking of feats/feets, here's my first attempt to post a video.  My apologies for the poor lighting.

Solids, Take Two

So Isaac has been on rice cereal for about a week now.  At first, we tried feeding him cereal before his bedtime, but contrary to making him sleep longer, it just got him all riled up and hard to put down for sleep.  Exacerbating the problem--he tries to grab the spoon and feed himself, so I end up playing keep away (and mostly losing).  We got out the highchair...

Notice Isaac helping Momma find his mouth.

Somehow it still manages to go mostly on his face.

Uh-oh.  My spidey sense says there's a storm a brewin'

The monster has appeared--the only way to silence him is a bottle.

Father and Son

Sorry I haven't posted the last few days; we haven't been able to take any photos because our memory card's full.  But there's all sorts of upcoming mayhem to enjoy, including some high chair action (thanks, Aunt Jen!)  In the meantime, let's take a look back into Isaac and David's relationship...

Do you think he's going to drop me?

 There's some proper adoration...or are you just admiring my hat?

Finally, I can look you in the eye!

My daddy's so silly, but I love him for it!

Exersaucer

We've pulled out the exersaucer this weekend (thanks Jaime and Travis!). Isaac really likes it for a ten- or fifteen-minute stretch--any longer and he shrieks in frustration about not being able to mouth everything. 

The last photo gives us a preview of Isaac standing!

Isaac at Four Months!

Isaac turned four months this week, and a couple days ago, he had his well child visit.  His measurements are impressive: he continues to have my pinhead (25%) and height (95%) and average weight (60%).  Because he's so long, Isaac's already outgrown most of his 3-6 month clothes--before he's even been able to wear some of them.  So I had to get a picture of him in his jean jacket while he still fit into it.  

Doesn't he look kinda like James Dean (though James Dean probably never had a pillow throne)?

We also got the thumbs up for cereal from the doctor.  It's a good thing too because he's been grabbing everything from hamburgers to wine glasses during dinner.  Here's Isaac's first taste of solid food:

I suspect there's going to be a steep learning curve with solids since most of it ended on his mouth and chin.  Good thing we have lots of bibs!

Revenge on the Road

Isaac has been on several roadtrips this summer—some small, like when we needed to go to Madison and long, like the eight-hour drive to Cleveland and Cincinnati and the fifteen (!) hour drive to Texas. He’s been a champ on the road, which offered more proof of his general awesomeness. In fact, David and I were discussing Isaac’s status as World’s Best Baby on the way back to Wisconsin when we smelled something. Something bad—bad enough that we needed to roll down the windows. We headed to the nearest exit (fittingly called Montezuma), where the only place to stop was an abandoned gas station, the perfect location for a horror movie.

And that’s when we saw it.

Notice the impressive distribution of poop—including the side of his face and the swamp of nastiness pooled in between his legs. Isaac wasn’t the merest bit concerned during the forty-five minutes it took us to clean him and the car seat off, change him and re-diaper; it took us so long not only because the code orange catastrophe but also because we kept bursting into fits of laughter.

Sadly, there were some casualties, including the really cute, new onesie that Grandma Ferne just got him a couple weeks ago, multiple burp clothes, and one of Isaac’s favorite toys. RIP, Mr. Bojangles.