February Memories

A few photos of Isaac in action.....

A Letter to Isaac: 8 Months Old

Dear Isaac,

You are officially 8 months old buddy! I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed at how much you grow and develop from one month to the next. With each passing day you continued to stretch yourself a little further with playfulness and determination.  Earlier in the month I started to question if you had been taken and transformed into a screaming banshee.  For some reason you were no longer interested in babbles.  No, instead you were fascinated with screaming.  Not just any scream either, you were very dedicated in perfecting a specific ear piercing, high octave, cover your ears scream.  And then....you would giggle.  I suppose this was a form of discovery and self entertainment.  I love you dearly son, but I'm so happy this phase didn't last too long.

We shared a lot of laughs over meals and I hope this is a tradition we can establish that will continue for many many years.

Swings and Slides

It was a beautiful sunny day, the air was fresh and crisp and just slightly cool but begged to be enjoyed.  An adventure was in order but what to do.  We loaded up and headed out to locate a nearby park with some swings!  That sounded like great fun and would be a first for little man.  The first park we came too was packed and all the swings were taken so we continued on....  The next location....perfect!

There were only a couple of other little ones near by and the swings were open.  I loaded Isaac into the swing and he grabbed onto the handles instantly as if he had done this before.  However, when I started to push the swing his expression said it all.  He was not certain about this!  We did a few pushes and then he disclosed his objections.  Since I wanted this to be a fun experience I didn't want to over do it so we moved over to the slides.  

Obviously he's a bit to small to climb the steps himself. :)  He needed a pretty big boost to get to the top of the slide.  I held his hands and he held on tight, not sure of what was to come next.  I assisted him down the slide and his smile emerged.  That was fun!

After a few trips down the slide we decided to give the swings another try.....

Take two....was much better.  He was still a little unsure at first but once he got the hang of it he appeared to enjoy it.

It was a great afternoon of some outdoor fun in the sun.  We didn't stay too long, just enough for an initial introduction but's definitely something we must do again.....

Papa Returns from Oz

Papa left for Australia on February 14th and Isaac gave lots of hugs to Papa before he left.

For a little boy....... eight days seems like eternity. To ease the transition, Papa left an old t-shirt behind in Isaac's crib to cozy up with during naps and bedtime.  Isaac was fine for the first couple of days but as each day passed Isaac's demeanor changed every evening when Papa didn't come home.  There were a couple of days when he was super clingy

Sunshine Fun-shine!

The weather has been cold, damp and miserable lately but today it was a different story.  It was beautiful!  And what better way to take advantage of such great weather in February than to load up and go for a walk.

Bonding with Grandpa John

With Papa in Australia Isaac and I ventured out for the evening to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Strickling.  Grandpa John was in Atlanta for a conference with the Masonic Lodge so we seized the opportunity to venture into Atlanta.

Since Isaac was in a new space it took him a bit of time to warm up to the different environment.  He had a good time on the floor playing with his toys and then Grandpa John decided to join him.  Well, this of course was intriguing to Isaac.  Isaac is always interested in watches which can keep his attention for an extended period of time if allowed.  He's also extremely interested in eye glasses.  If I'm not careful he'll have grabbed mine and have them off my face in a split second.  I'm growing accustomed to little smudges on the lenses.....

This time something new caught his attention

Caution: Toy Zone Ahead

The thought of adding safety signs in our home had never occurred to me as a potential necessity until Isaac was mobile.  I can barely remember the last time Isaac was stationary.  Had I known then it would be the last time he would remain in one position until someone moved him I would have cherished it a bit longer.  No looking back now, those days are long gone.

Taking a Stand

It's amazing how much gear a baby can accumulate in such a short amount of time.  The number of items marketed for babies is overwhelming at times especially when so many items only last a short period of time. Pacifiers have a limited life according to the packaging from 0-3 months, 3-6 months and 6 months +.  The same applied for the nipples on his bottles.  Isaac has already outgrown the infant car carrier and he's yet to wear out any of his clothes.  There are just some items that are outgrown so quickly with no way to be re-purposed.  The mamaRoo however, is a different story.

My Valentine

This was a super special Valentine's day since I had not one...but TWO Valentines! I'm one lucky gal!  With lots of love to go around Papa arrived the night before with two beautiful bouquets of flowers.  Papa is already training Isaac very well with such good taste in flowers.  I also helped Isaac pick out a very special card for Papa.  The Tasmanian devil

Must Wear Shoes

Today we started early and Isaac had me on my toes all day.  He was a bundle of energy and explored every square inch he could reach.  Papa had to work this weekend which is very unusual so Isaac and I followed our normal routine.  Today however I had a few recipes I wanted to try so I spent a good part of the day in the kitchen.  Isaac decided he would help me out and keep me company in the kitchen too.

Hanging in my Crib

After diaper changes we usually put Isaac in his crib to give him a safe place to hang out while we clean up.  Today was no different.  I placed Isaac in his crib so he could play for a few minutes while I threw out the old diaper and washed my hands.  When I returned.....to my surprise....

Isaac Does Toast

We're at a fun stage......encouraging Isaac to play with his food.  Gasp!  I need to remember this when he's older and we're out in public at a restaurant and he decides to pick up a handful of food and throw it.  I won't be able to say...."where did he learn to play with his food"??

Fashion Critic

Frazer received a catalog in the mail the other day.  This wasn't special by any means, just a catalog of men's business casual attire.  Well, this particular catalog was left on the coffee table at the perfect height for the shortest member of our family and Isaac interpreted this as an opportunity to assist his papa by reviewing the catalog himself.  Isaac took this task seriously and made sure he reviewed each and every single page.....

Pantry Helper

It was just a typical afternoon and I was puttering around in the flow of the day.  I decided I needed to make a grocery list and one of the quickest ways is to view the existing contents of the pantry and assess the contents for additional ingredients that would be needed for the upcoming week.  I started this task with the same approach as each time before by opening the doors to the pantry.  Hmmm......something was different this time.  

Redneck Baby Gate

Last Saturday Isaac expanded his field of exploration from the family room into the hallway and a quick turn just inside the kitchen.  The other night he was on a mission to increase his endurance and build his little muscles by taking the same path from the family room, hallway and into the kitchen wiggling his little legs, belly on the floor and smacks of each hand hitting the floor, pulling and wiggling himself a little further.  I listened to him making his way for awhile as I observed from the family room.  I knew instantly when he reached the kitchen for his first stop of exploration as I heard the cabinet banging slightly from Isaac pulling on the recycling bags. After that was no longer of interest he made his way a little further and I heard smacking hands against the oven.  He was intrigued by the noise of his hands against the metal for a little while and then I heard him wiggle a little further and then he stopped.   And then, the most unusual sounds

Where Has The Time Gone??

The other night I decided to make a few layout changes to the blog and it led me to revisit some of the earlier posts.  Then of course I went down a path of scrolling through the various posts looking at all of the pictures and little moments that have been captured.  I don't know if this is something that all new mothers experience, I would imagine they do, but at least for me I truly am amazed how quickly the time has gone by.  In someways it seems like yesterday that I was pregnant and in other ways it seems like forever ago.  I guess you could say I woke up in the middle of an active moment with a level of awareness of where I am in my life and was witnessing myself as though I was watching a movie.  Talk about an "aha" moment!