Jan 21 - a beautiful warm day

Isaac enjoying the sunshine and wearing his new shirt. Thanks Dee-Da!

Witnessing History

And after witnessing history, it was time to go eat some bread alone on the front steps...

Last-minute gathering at a neighborhood mom's house - a few babies and little kids, four moms and a bottle of champagne...We did make an exception to the TV rule for this very special occasion.

Jan 18 - Sunday Afternoon in Boulder

Isaac slept in on Sunday, so we decided to ignore the nap schedule and go to Boulder for lunch and a hike. Snarf's is our favorite lunch spot there, but since Isaac doesn't usually like sandwiches, I made him a peanut butter & jelly.
He was enjoying his sandwich until he noticed that Adam and I were eating something very different - rotisserie chicken on homemade bread with cheese and other toppings.
Isaac pointed to my sandwich and said "Um?" which means, "Can I have...?"
Isaac hates chicken, but I let him try a bite, thinking that would be the end of it.
Instead, "Mmmmmm."
And then again, "Um?"
So Isaac now likes chicken. Even the sliced onion didn't deter him. For the rest of lunch, he alternated between bites of my sandwich and his, with a few of Adam's. I think a third of mine went to Isaac, and he ate all of his too. And chugged his milk and most of his water bottle. We're expecting him to grow three inches this week...
He's really developed a sense of self lately, and all through lunch, he was pointing at each sandwich in turning, saying "Mama...Dada...I-la (Isaac)" And we said, "Yeah, that's Mama's sandwich....Yes, that's Dada's sandwich...And that's Isaac's sandwich. We all have a sandwich!"
Such is conversation with a one-year-old at the table. I love it.

What? I'm growing...




Insisting on more "doo-bah" (sandwich?).

Isaac is trying to walk in mid-air like the guy behind him...Okay, it's a tightrope, but the guys were pretty impressive. You never know what you'll find in a Boulder park on a beautiful day.

The park is Chatauqua - probably my favorite hiking spot in Boulder. Soccer ball series...




Exploring

It was close to 70 that day.



Chasing after a snowball Dada threw.

Got it.

Adam showing Isaac how to make his own.


Throwing it.


Trying on Adam's hat - finally hiking but not so sure about the bright sun.

Sleepyhead...it's going to be a short hike.

Headed home...

Jan 16 - Friday night dinner out

Can't get the picture to upload - it's a dark cell phone shot - so here's just the story...

Tonight, after a week of all-nighters and crazy work, Adam came home at a pretty normal time. Isaac had been watching at the window for 20 minutes, calling Da-Daaaaa...Da-Daaaa! Then when he still didn't come, sobbing quietly, "Da...Da..."

Once Adam came home, all was forgiven. Isaac was exuberant, to say the least...full of smiles, chatter, songs, rolling on the floor and laughing. Adam and I were both exhausted, so we went out for dinner. There's an Italian place called Patsy's that I'd been wanting to try - on our side of the neighborhood, a North Denver institution that's been there for decades, serving this neighborhood's large population of Italian-American families and the many other fans of homestyle Italian cooking. We drove down the little commercial strip on Navajo, run-down but artsy and cool at night, and saw candlelit tables and windows, burgundy tablecloths, dim lights, and lots of little people sitting with their parents. How perfect...

Isaac was gleeful, silly, crazy, and starving...He ate the pieces of apple I'd stuck in his bib pocket, then 2 enormous pieces of bread, and as that ran out, I began dropping pieces of our yummy fried calamari in front of him. I didn't think our self-imposed vegetarian would take more than a sniff before handing them back, but we noticed that they were disappearing. I kept adding more bites of calamari, and they kept disappearing...Isaac likes calamari! It's the first animal protein dish I've ever seen him eat, and the first fried food he's liked too...

Our salad and soup came, and Isaac even sampled the shredded carrots, zucchini, and the cooked carrot from my soup disappeared instantly. When he started lifting up the tablecloth to see what was underneath, then playing peekaboo with us and grinning his biggest, cheesiest, squint-eyed grin at the ceiling, we thought he might be slowing down. But then the entrees came.

The pasta must have been made in-house, it was so good and the texture so much doughier and fresher than what I'm used to. Yum...Isaac started stuffing in spaghetti by the handful, long strands hanging down his chin and chest. He alternated huge bites with stirring practice ("turr"), mashing down his spaghetti with the big spoon and stirring it right off the plate. We always try to leave extra tip...

After a lot of bah-buh (pasta), Adam let Isaac taste his leftover tomato sauce with parmesan mixed in...and then that was being shoveled in by the handful too, as much as possible. Isaac loved it, and the furrowed-brow concentration as he opened his mouth wide and stuffed his whole hand in was hilarious. Alternating bites of sauce with bites of pasta, Isaac kept eating long after Adam and I were done, entertaining us with over-the-top grins and constant giggles. At one point, he started doing some sign I've never seen and pointing in every direction, in a circle around the room...I was laughing so hard I was crying...And meanwhile his face was covered in red sauce, not to mention his hair, the tablecloth, and the floor...Finally he saw his water and asked for it, chugged it...Then asked for milk, held one drink clenched in each hand, chugged the milk until it was gone. He grinned at us, saying "Muh! Wa-wa! Muh! Wa-wa!" and holding up each one as he named it. We finally cut him off, as it was well past his bedtime, although I think he would have kept eating.

Isaac sang songs all the way home, imitating the music pretty well. Once home, all we could hear was d-d-d-d-d-d-d- as he ran around the house, from one corner to the next, running, running, playing with all his toys, laughing...We couldn't believe it when he ran into the kitchen and gave us the eat sign...But we opted for bedtime instead. What a round little tummy when we changed his shirt.

Making biscuits

I grew up "helping" my mom make biscuits (doing whatever I could to get a bite of that yummy dough), and I've been looking forward to cooking with Isaac when he's ready. On Saturday, Adam was busy cutting holes in the bathroom wall and installing a pipe, so Isaac and I decided to make biscuits.

Those words you hear all your life, the ones you thought you forgot, do come back to you when you're cooking on your own - make a nest of the dry ingredients, pour in the buttermilk and mix it with a fork until the dough follows it as you stir. Knead it with your hands, but not too much, so you don't toughen the flour...Roll the dough from the middle to get it flat in every direction...

Isaac picked up none of these nuances, however. Standing on his chair at the counter, he was most excited about his own bowl of flour, spoon, and cup of water. I was hoping to at least teach him how the properties of flour change when you get it wet...Maybe he picked up on that, but it was all lost when he started grabbing handfuls of the mix and stuffing them in his mouth. I guess he likes dough.

I added the dry ingredients in the right proportion, then let Isaac stick his hands in and help me stir. He even poured in the buttermilk for me, and once the bottle seemed empty, he threw back his head and chugged the last drips. I guess he likes buttermilk too.

Isaac also loves the rolling pin, so he helped me roll out the dough. Finally, I gave him the cookie cutter and let him make "circles." He cut out a few biscuits for me (they kind of looked like the Olympics logo), and then he only wanted to eat the dough. Just like me.

Above, Isaac running away from the clean-up towel. We made an enormous mess, and that was maybe the best part.

Below, Tiger stalking the little man who smells like buttermilk...

Isaac with one of his biscuits. Still working on the clean-up...

Jan 4 - first outing after being sick

You can see that Isaac's eyes are still a little weak, but he was finally in recovery mode by this point...and delighted that nothing hurt. He sat in his carseat with no toys and grinned all the way to the mall.

Isaac loves Cherry Creek Mall because it's filled with kids, activity, and bright pretty store windows. We wandered into the Gap, which Isaac thought was a new playground...

I followed him into the dressing room, where he was fascinated to find pairs of feet under most every door. He stopped in front of every door, bent down, pointed, and said "Fee!"
I was trying to get a good picture of this pose, but I knew the people belonging to the "fee" might not find him as funny as I did...So we moved on, reluctantly.

Peekaboo in the mirrors was fun too.

Typical Isaac, the locks on the doors were fascinating.

Christmas in Charlotte - Dec 26

I remember using this table and chair set when I was little. I used to love it, and now Isaac is big enough to use it too. He loved sitting here with his DaDa.

Isaac's word of the day was "RAH" and then "Ga-RAH." He loved the garage that came with 3 little cars.

We like to make a good meal on the night after Christmas, when our group is still large and there is plenty of time for relaxing and opening more Christmas wine. Here, my dad is hard at work on the chili.

Isaac with two cars from the ga-RAH.

Silly faces for the camera:


These shelves are full of interesting, breakable things...

Every kid needs a fan club...I don't know what music was blasting, but I know it was a good song. Every time Jane and my parents stopped clapping and dancing, Isaac said "More?" and did the "more" sign too, for emphasis. I love these two pictures...