Springtime for Isaac and Wisconsin

You may have noticed that i changed the background for our blog in early anticipation of spring.  The weather's been getting into the mid 40s around here, and that's cause enough for celebration.  So for the first time in a long time, we took Isaac to the park.  As always, the swings were a favorite.  You can see his trajectory:

But we had a new favorite activity too--playing the mud.  Did you know that there are sticks, and grass, and pebbles, all just laying around for the taking?  Isaac was very impressed.

Isaac also set to work on making some lovely dirt art, as you can see in the above photo (off to the left).  Clearly he's a Van Gogh or Picasso in the making.

As much as the three of us enjoyed out trip to the park, we're also looking forward to going when spring has actually sprung--you know, when the grass starts growing again, the flowers are blooming, etc.  Until then, we'll just be grateful for our own little spring baby, who's almost a year.

Sibling Rivalry

As he's grown older, Isaac has become more and more fascinated with Senor--especially because he's not allowed to touch him.  Most of the time, it's not an issue because Senor lives in the office downstairs, but mornings are tricky because we put Senor in the dining room at night (the office is unheated), which is Isaac-land.  So sometimes, when I forget he's there, Isaac tries to smack (i.e. pet) the walking rock.  Naturally--and understandably--Senor hates Isaac; it's an unrequited love for our youngest child. 

On this morning, though, there was a genuine dispute between the two.  You see, they both wanted to sit on the heat grate.  Senor was there first, but apparently Isaac believes that might makes right, so he shoved his turtle brother aside.

Somehow, victory is so much sweeter when the vanquished is forced to watch in your triumph.  Notice Senor cowering in terror of the jolly green giant.

Don't be too hard on Isaac though--he just wants to imitate Marilyn Monroe.

Animal House

First of all, apologies for the unplanned hiatus.  Life--or at least, student papers--sometimes gets in the way, but I certainly didin't intend for anyone to shrivel up and die.  Of course, the person who made that comment is currently frolicking in a Caribbean beach as we're praying fervently for spring here in WI, so I don't feel too bad.

Anyway.

As Isaac's first birthday approaches, we're realizing that there are certain skills we probably need to be emphasizing more.  As first-time parents, sometimes it's hard to comprehend all of the things that we are responsible for teaching Isaac-bear.  For instance, he's now a pro feeding himself with his hands; in fact, he's so good that he now attempts to eat all sorts things he finds on the floor.  But it's really just occurred to me that I need to step up and let him figure out how to use a spoon.  After all, I don't want him to be like a little wild animal.  So we've been practicing most mornings.

We're at the beginning of stages of the transition from feral cat* to Martha Stewart dining companion.  As you can see, Isaac's double-fisting his eating utensils: his Gram bought him a double-sided spoon for Christmas, which he greatly enjoys, but obviously we can't expect Isaac to eat from just one spoon.  That would be sheer madness.

He also has trouble figuring out which end of the spoon to put in his mouth.  But even more troubling, he apparently has difficulties figuring out where to put the food.  Perhaps babies absorb nutrition through their toes?

We'll figure this thing out, but in the meantime, breakfast in our household strangely resembles dodgeball.

*We've resumed our weekly  playdate with one of my lovely mom friends, and her adorable fourteen-month-old calls Isaac a cat and tries to pet his head.  Sometimes she gives him suspicious looks, like she confused by his half-baby, half-cat form.  It's completely hilarious--and fairly accurate.