Early Christmas

We decided to give Isaac his presents from us early since he will probably be getting plenty more when we get to Texas.  His first present was a car ramp thing.  He is very serious when he plays with it.

Then we added some wooden blocks

On a side note, Isaac loves to bite his Mama.

First Snow

We finally had our first snow here, and Isaac got to out and play.  He must be a real Wisconsinite because the cold doesn't really seem to bother him.

Worth a Thousands Words

Friends

Like lots of academics, we've had to migrate away from family in order to stay in our profession.   Two weeks after our wedding, we moved to Miami to attend our doctoral program; four years after that, we moved to Wisconsin for our jobs.  B.I.  (that's before Isaac), we always thought of the academic lifestyle as a grand adventure: we could lead a romantic, nomadic existence across the country.

But as everyone annoyingly tells you, things change after you have a kid.  I've never missed our families more than the week Isaac was born.  I desperately wanted Isaac to feel a part of a collective bigger than our family of three.

Since Isaac was born, we've been lucky to build a community of friends here.

First up, our friend Amy--one of the kindest most compassionate souls I know and one of the best friends I've ever had.  I am so fortunate to have her in my life--but this isn't about me, it's about Isaac.  And Isaac looooves Amy; he has since he first met her when he was just days old.  At this point, I think he really believes that he owns her: he demands that she read him books, share his toys, and give him food (a privilege previously reserved only for Mama and Daddy). 
 

For instance, Isaac (in 100% cuteness mode--more about him in the dinosaur costume later) insisted that Amy rake leaves so he could sit in them.  I'm so glad he has another adult figure here whom he trusts and loves so much.

One of our colleagues' kids has taken an interest in Isaac since he was only a few months old.  Yuri has been incredibly patient and gentle with Isaac, even when Isaac is being a bit bratty.  It's only recently that Yuri's really seemed to get anything in return: Isaac now says his name and wants to play with him, and even runs after him when Yuri heads home.

Clearly Yuri's going to be someone Isaac looks up to, and he's a great role model.

Isaac also has friends his own age, of course.  His closest is Eleanor.  I love the story how we met: when Isaac was six months old, I was walking to the consignment store  with him in a baby bjorn; Lee had Eleanor in a baby carrier too and was walking in the opposite direction (towards us)  to the same store.  We've been having playdates on an almost weekly basis since them, and it's been so amazing to watch the two of them grow develop together.

They play really well together--especially considering that they're toddlers.  Here they were playing hide-and-seek with each other in the curtain.  Occasionally they would get irritated with Lee and I for watching them.   I can totally see the teenagers they'll be in the this photo.

More recently, we've joined a larger playgroup, and it's been amazing to get talk with other moms and see Isaac interact with other kids.  Here's everyone dressed up to go trick-or-treating on Main St. this Saturday.  Eleanor and Isaac were going to get candy together, so we were meeting her and Lee there; the others came in by happy accident. 

It was delightfully choatic and a complete joy to watch the kids racing up and down the ramp and their general excitement  over candy and costumes.

When I think back to that impossible first week of Isaac's life, I wish I could have known then that we would find a community here--a family of sorts of our own making.

Visit with Ida

Grandma Ferne--otherwise known as "Ida," the name that Isaac uses for all female relatives--came visit us last weekend.  We were lucky to have beautiful autumnal weather, which we took advantage of by going to the park. 
 

Isaac loves collecting leaves and acorns and we love watching him. 

Afterward, we headed to a nearby small town to walk around its adorable main street (whose style David describes as "manufactured nostalgia").  I picked up some great vintage cookie cutters that will got lots of use this holiday season.  Isaac  took time to stop and smell the--lilacs? peonies?  I don't know, but you get the drift.

The bear has learned the word "pretty," and he kept on saying "flower, pretty, flower."  Which was completely adorable--even taking into account that he often confuses pretty with dirty. 

We also enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a local restaurant, though Isaac was ready to leave before the rest of us.  Even crayons and various toys could not keep him well-behaved.  Apparently we decided to "punish" him by  taking him out for ice cream.  Isaac and I shared a scoop of maple nut.  It was like eating fall.

 We had a sleepy little one on our hands by the time we arrived home.  But he didn't want to go to sleep until "Ida" read him a story. 

He still loves to wear his sleep sack; David and I continue to call him a "bag of baby" when he wears it.

It's amazing to think of Ferne's trip a year ago at this time--Isaac was suffering from stranger anxiety and was nowhere near the level of interaction that he is now.  This year, he really loved playing with his grandma--and even now, nearly a week later, he sometimes says, "Ida?  Ida?" in a plaintive tone.  Thankfully modern technology allows them to see each other via Skype.

Blinded by the Light

One negative side effect of our adventure to the corn maze was that the screen on our digital camera  broke: it just showed a blank, white screen.  We ordered a new one (well a used, new-to-us one) but since Grandma Ferne is visiting and it hadn't arrived yet, David and I tried to use the old one anyway.  Which meant we were shootin' blind.

Surprisingly, some of them turned out okay--but there's this golden glow to all the photos we took.

See what I mean?  During our adventure to the Madison Children's Museum, the water room--his favorite!--seemed cathedral-like and holy.  He certainly "baptized"himself--by dunking his whole head in the water.  Luckily, we had a towel in the car.

THE MCM is so cool. Here he is in one of the huts: there were all sorts of drums, tambourines, and such here.  Our annual pass is probably the best investment we made this year (clearly, we're not stockbrokers).

A Hitchcockian shot of him and Daddy going up the stairs.

Isaac and Daddy going through the tunnel.  Since David's afraid of heights--and Isaac looooves them--it might be that Daddy's hand on Isaac's back is as much about reassuring himself as it is for his son's sake. 

Someone was tired afterwards...

I'm glad we got a couple shots worth saving, but I'm even happier that when we returned home, our new camera had arrived.  Let's hope the third one's a charm.

Autumn in the Midwest

You may have heard about some family that got lost in a corn maze last weekend.  It wasn't us because we had a certain toddler to lead the way.

And it wasn't just corn mazes out there.  There was a petting zoo, pumpkin pie, a pumpkin cannon, and some sort of weird tire field.

All in all, it was fun and weird.

Lies My Parents Told Me

One popular model of child development describes birth-18 months as the trust vs. mistrust stage: children learn, through their interactions with their parents, rather to trust others or not.  I was pretty confident until recently that Isaac was on the "trust" side of things.

But ever since our weekend grocery trip, he refuses to believe that the bag o' circular objects is onions.  He insists that they're balls.  Every morning during breakfast, he points to the counter where they are and demands, in increasingly desperate tones, "balls, balls."   Why would his beloved Mama and Daddy withhold such splendors from him?

Hide and Seek

since fall's now here, we've been trying to soak up all the outdoor fun we can--before big bad winter hits.  That means we've been going to Isaac's favorite park three or four times a week.  (Just as an aside--it's not one of the two parks within walking distance; now when we go there, Isaac shakes his head and demands "car" to go to the other park.  Oh, the demands of a toddler.)

This park is probably the biggest in town with three different swing sets, two playgrounds, and other exciting attractions.  But that's not Isaac's favorite part.

He likes to go off the beaten path...

...and head to the wide, open side full of trees and nature.

Yep--our boy just might be a tree-hugger.  I mean that literally.

Look at the adoration and awe on his little face as he gazes up at the tree--though truth be told, he also sometimes gets angry at it for being taller than he is.

I love how he looks like a little chipmunk here.

We also like to run behind trees and play peek-a-boo.  Here Isaac is, marching to find Mama.  He's so excited that he's swinging his arms up and down--you can kinda tell in this photo. 

Another fun things we do is to comb the ground for woodland treasures. 

I know winter will bring its own pleasures, but right now, nothing beats some trees, my son, and a handful of carefully chosen acorns.

A Natural Consequence

of having two English PhDs for your parents is that literary references abound.  When we used to put Isaac in his little nightgowns (which seems so long ago now!), we used to tell him he was in gender trouble.

And look what happens when my poor innocent has his "Old" shirt--bought to celebrate his first birthday--on.  I just couldn't resist: after all, I'm a modernist at heart.

And who doesn't love T.S. Eliot?

I grow old...

I grow old...

I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.