A few Easter pictures

Isaac eating his first taste of Easter chocolate. When finished, his first words were "more. choc-lat."

This is what the Easter Bunny left in Isaac's basket: a tick-tock (he loves to wear mine), sunglasses (he loves to wear Adam's), sidewalk chalk (he loves to borrow Ben's, next door), a new shirt, a book called Building a House, and one small chocolate bunny.
The presents were a great success. The book alone would have been enough - we spent the first 10 minutes inspecting each page and discussing what the "man" was doing. When Isaac pulled out the sidewalk chalk, he ran to the door with it, no pants on, and started trying to get outside to play. We had to convince him that it was cold and anyway, there was more in the basket.

Kind of a gloomy Easter day.
Below, Isaac doesn't do much drawing, but he loves chalk. He doesn't draw pictures, only letters. I think he is drawing an I here, but the letters all look the same so far so it's hard to tell.

Mar 26 - 27

I can't really call these blizzard pictures because they are so incomplete. I'd have to include a shot of Isaac and me pushing through a 40-mph wind slamming tiny, sharp snow crystals into our faces, as we walked a block from our car to get some lunch with Megan and Oliver. Isaac was wailing and I was laughing because it was just so unbelievable. I kept thinking of my favorite Little House on the Prairie books and the people who seemed to die or almost die each winter because they got lost between their house and their barn. Now I can understand much better how that could happen. I could still see where we were going, but it was blinding at times. I'd also have to include a picture of Isaac and Ollie running around Chipotle for 2 hours while the wind blew the snow sideways outside, mimicking each other and hanging out side by side against the wall like teenagers. They were hilarious and full of giggles.
Well, instead there is a fuzzy shot of Isaac above in most of his snow gear. He's missing coat, hat, and the mittens that kept falling off, but the snow pants and boots are pretty cute.
And below, 2 pictures of our backyard the day after the blizzard - piles of snow, about 18 inches!

Mar 24 - Morning at the Children's Museum

The Children's Museum is a wonderland of imagination and learning. It is beloved by kids of all ages and happens to be practically in our neighborhood.
If Isaac hears us mention it by name, he immediately starts making siren noises (wah-oh-wah-oh...). Of all the choices of rooms to explore, there is nothing that can compare to the real fire truck parked inside.
Above, Isaac pointing out the imaginary smoke he sees. We do this alot, and he can now spray his imaginary hose and make a shhhh sound to put out the fire.
Below, every kid loves the dalmation. Isaac gets very upset if he sees someone else pick it up. He's loved stuffed animals since he was very little, but they've recently become real to him.

Isaac loves to give the dog hugs and kisses.

And the best part: driving. It's always a struggle to get him out of the driver's seat when it's someone else's turn...

We always have to leave the fire truck eventually because Isaac can't handle the sharing. He's pretty good at sharing most things but is very, very possessive of this fire truck, his favorite toy ever. We find him in his bed in the mornings with his fire truck book open in his lap, drooling over the pictures. As soon as he sees us, he points to the picture and starts making siren noises and saying pleeeease...
Anyway, there are many other rooms to explore and I don't mind the excuse for a change of scenery. Below is the grocery store / restaurant room, with a real checkout line, conveyor belt, pizza oven, etc. Isaac was filling up his basket with produce. Actually he prefered to add to other kids' carts (they seemed kind of perplexed by this) so I was trying to convince him to use his own basket.

It's always important to make sure your chin is clean. Even if all you can find to wipe with is a silicone potholder. My chin was next.

March 21 - Saturday morning at the zoo

We should have known the blizzard was coming because the weekend before was sunny with temperatures in the mid-70's...snow often follows beautiful spring weather like that here.
In any case, it was beautiful so we decided to go to the zoo. Isaac heard us discussing it and started begging, "Deeeeee....do?" (please...zoo)
As soon as we arrived, he said "elephant." So we made sure to see the elephants. Above, Isaac had been trying to rush in the entrance, but I told him that Adam had to buy tickets first. So he walked over to a shady spot and sat down to wait like a big boy. The he spotted Adam well before I did ("Da-Da!") and jumped up to go greet him.
Below, Isaac and his elephants.

It turned out to be a hot day under the Colorado sun, and Isaac was chugging water. By lunchtime, he was one tired boy and ready to go home. What a fun morning though. We all loved our family outing.

Books and Beads

Aaaah, the concentration...Isaac is happy many afternoons to spend half an hour in a big boy chair (or stroller, in this case) with a stack of books. He climbs up by himself, points and says book, and then we are expected to bring him his reading material and then go somewhere else so he can read in private. He goes through each one with great concentration.
The beads...well, for a month he wanted to wear them all day. I think he's temporarily forgotten about them for now.

68 degrees in February!

This afternoon we ended up at a neighborhood park with 3 other baby friends and moms from playgroup. The weather was incredible.

Isaac and one of his favorite friends, Oliver.

Isaac climbed the playset and got to the top of the slide, then sat there for 20 minutes. The picture does not lie; it's a tall slide and quite steep too. Pretty intimidating for a one-year-old. Isaac was scared to go down but determined not to give up. He sat...and sat...cheering on the older kids who leapt past him and slid down (grins and "weeeee!") But still didn't move. He did this last time we were there too, until a friend finally climbed up to give him a friendly push.

Below, joined by Maya. Neither was quite brave enough to go down.

Danielle tried to show them which way to go.

Soon our mini-playgroup was blocking the slide for the other kids. Finally Maya went down, with the help of her mom. Danielle made it down too. I didn't think Isaac would do it, but suddenly he pushed himself forward and took off. I caught him in a hug at the bottom. What a big boy.

And on to other things, like swings.


After the girls left, Isaac and Oliver discovered THE BIKE. A pink and purple princess bike with training wheels, belonging to an older girl. They were fascinated. They approached it slowly, circling. Isaac stroked the screws; Ollie started to spin the wheels. When the boys began to wheel it away from its resting spot, the young owner appeared looking very concerned. She took it to her dad for safe-keeping. Isaac stared after the bike forlornly, waved and said, "Bye - bye..."
Luckily, the dad was very nice and offered to let the boys sit on the bike.

Isaac sat completely still.

He can say "wheel" perfectly and can also name the pedals and seat.

The girl watched suspiciously as Isaac examined her bike and looked for treasures inside the little attached bag.


When the family left to go home and grill burgers, Isaac ran after them, doing the car / drive sign and making driving noises (hands turning a steering wheel, plus "ahhhHHHHH"). Then he cried as he realized they were really leaving.

But then we found the riding toys. Below, he loved the see-saw. They make them so much better these days - no more plummeting to the ground when your thoughtless friend suddenly jumps off...

Note the awesome sweater that our talented friend Megan made for Isaac and brought us today! I showed it to Isaac and told him who made it, and he grabbed it and gave it a hug. Then he said "on" and tried to put it on himself. It was great because the wind was picking up, and I hadn't brought him a jacket. Every time the subject of the sweater came up, all afternoon and until bedtime, Isaac grinned and said "TANK-YU!" He's all boy when it comes to bikes, but he sure did appreciate his new sweater...

Love this shot...

Grandpa's Birthday Videos