Well, it's official.  My baby has become a little boy.  There are many fun stories of our current days of running around and exploring the world, but well, I'm too tired to transfer them from my brain to the computer.  So here is just a taste of the past few months....

In mid-January at  he started taking steps with a hand:


Then in February, we went to the beach on vacation.  That's when he really started walking on his own about 12 1/2 months old.  Nothing like a huge expanse of soft sand to hone in on his new skill.  We loved watching him take his first unsteady steps and learning how to keep his balance.  He has this great little butt wiggle that is probably the most adorable thing I've ever seen.



  long walks on the beach....


 taking his first steps!

   More practice-- almost into the ocean...



Just a couple weeks later, on the first warm day of March, we let him loose in the backyard.  He has, at this point, perfected his little butt wiggle which is even more adorable as he picks up speed.  It is at this time, he also realizes that he can carry items and walk at the same time-- making him the most dangerous creature on the planet.  We have found our drawers completely emptied, random tupperware in all corners of the house, and pieces of strangled paper (bills?) all over the floor.


Now at 16 months, he is near running.  I have yet to get it on video since he is so fast, he is just a blur of color and drool (well, really, I keep forgetting my camera...)  But when he runs, he still doesn't bend his knees so he does this great butt hyper-wiggle and waddle that just makes us laugh.  And he has now added climbing, squatting, and kicking to his list of skills.  We are out and about every day enjoying the beautiful summer weather and letting him destroy public property instead.  Such as the park....


Walking up steps by himself (under the watchful eye of Gong-gong and Caleb)



A brief pause in playing for the camera.  Doesn't he look like a little boy? 

   Loves swinging high...


... and sliding down!

Note:  Yes, that white object in the picture is, indeed, a bib.  He is a constant drooler soaking through multiple shirts a day (as opposed to the Constant Gardener, that Brit film.. which may also cause drool....)  Some days we fear we will be sending him to college with a bib (though I think when you're an adult, they call them "dickies").  We hope the drooling will stop once he gets all of teeth.  However, he only has 7 right now -- four on top, three on the bottom-- so we've a long way to go.


So that Isaac's chronicle of ambulation!  More adventures to come!

Yes, it is mid-December.  There is a biting chill in the air and the branches are bare of any leaves.   As we're working on our Christmas letter, I figure it is past due to recount our adventure this fall.  I am so behind on actually writing about what is going on.  So imagine a dreamlike fade-out (like  the movies) and let's return back to those warmer days.

FOREST PARK BALLOON RACE-- SEPTEMBER
Every year, St. Louis has a hot air balloon race.  I have gone for at least 6 or 7 years now and I never get tired of watching the balloons fill and take off.  The race is fashioned after greyhound races where the dogs chase a hare.  But here the "hare" is the largest Energizer bunny known to man and the "hounds" are other balloons sponsored by companies.  Everyone gathers in Forest Park to watch them take off, but I've never known where they've landed-- as far as I know, they could just float away into the atmosphere and be lost forever (how romantic and mysterious)....  Anyway, Caleb's company had a tent where the employees could get very close to the balloons.

 
Yes, we got uncomfortably familiar to all sides of this bunny

One way to make popcorn....


Isaac's first balloon race.  He found my necklace more magical than the balloons.but next year, I think he'll love it.

HALLOWEEN
I love to to dress up.  Halloween to me is a great excuse to dress up and I could care less about the gorey, scary stuff.  Our friend has an annual party in which dressing up is encouraged.  I, being cheap, promptly went to a thrift store to find Isaac's first costume.  Apparently, for 4 bucks you can get a costume that kind of looks like a chick and also kind of looks like a duck.  Go figure.  I bought it anyway.  Upon careful examination, I determined he could pass as a chick and so the wheels started to turn for our family costume.  If Isaac is a chick (of the animal variety) and I am a chick (of the female variety)... and Caleb wears a magnet.... Then he's a chick magnet (a title he has never carried to my relief).  One of my friend's mom lent me a duck costume she made, and squint your eyes, hold your breath and try really hard, you can imagine I'm dressed as a chick.   Voila-- here is the result:  
 
In the end, it was a valiant effort though poor execution.  It was fun anyway.  The greatest triumph was getting Caleb to "dress up" which he has refused every year we've been married.  So this year, he voluntarily, without any coercion said he would wear the magnet so our little costume would make sense.  Cheers, mate!

Our little Chick all partied out. 



LAUMEIER SCULPTURE PARK- NOVEMBER
We wanted to take advantage of being outside before all the trees dropped their leaves.  In previous years, Caleb and I take a long hike in a state park, but we didn't get a chance.  However, some friends of ours joined us to walk through the woods in our local sculpture park.  We love this place-- here are huge sculptures, often that you can climb, just set out in the middle of a wooded area.  For example:


On the left are our friends and their son; on the right is Irene.

 
The weather had turned colder and we changed out our wardrobes to include hats and thick coats.  This hat was given to us by Caleb's brother and family.  It was the first time we wore it, but alas it did not make it home.  I believe I must have been holding it in my lap and when I got out of the car, it fell in a parking lot.   I have a feeling this is only a taste of how many hats, mittens, and other articles of clothing that will be lost now that we have a child.  Oh, panda hat, your time with us was too short.  May you rest in peace....

 THANKSGIVING
This year, Caleb's mom joined us the entire week of Thanksgiving.  It was so helpful to have her show me how to babyproof the house and give me new ideas for the toddler stage.  She always seems to visit at just the right time, when we need the most help as parents-- kind of like Mary Poppins-- just without the carpet bag and the umbrella.  I hope she enjoyed her stay as much as we loved having her here.  For Thanksgiving we had a few friends from church over for a simple and delicious dinner.  People brought their bounties which, in these modern days, were a green bean casserole and a fruit pizza.  We supplied the bird and some additional fixin's.
   
 
Have you ever seen a three-legged turkey?  Well, now you can say you have-- at least on a plate. And there's Caleb carving up our mutant bird.  No, really, we chose to get a large turkey breast and some turkey thighs instead of the whole bird.  After all, no one really cares for the wings and this cooks much faster. A few years ago, we had 6 thighs and it looked like a turkey insect.... 


Our guests-- we're so thankful for all of you.  It was a wonderful evening.

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF....
Isaac is fast approaching 11 months.  It has happened so quickly:  my little baby now a little boy.  Often on this blog, I paint a rosy picture of our life. I am grateful that most of the time, Isaac is easy to raise and the pictures are accurate that he is a happy kid.  However, in the past couple of months he has developed something new-- normal but new to us:  a will.  Yes, he has opinions and likes and dislikes.  It appears it frustrates him that he does not yet have the ability to communicate what he wants except by pointing generically and/or crying.  And if we should refuse for his safety or to discipline him, he bawls like it is the end of the world.  For him, it may very well feel like the world is ending-- poor kid.  Our days are spent picking our battles and learning to discipline but also love him for where he is at.  Everyone reassures me this is toddlerhood and we are standing on the brink of it. On top of this learning experience for us, Isaac is going through the "don't leave me alone" stage and the "I only want mom and dad" stage.   This often results in fits of crying when we walk out of the room for a minute or when we leave him with sitters or at church.  He is learning to calm himself down, but we look forward to when this stage is over.  Plus teething pain, weaning, and his desire to explore everything just exhausts us some days.  We feel like we're on a whole new learning curve and are often unsure of what to do next.  I am sure the the process of figuring out what to do next togeher IS what makes us a family.   We learn together, we love each other unconditionally, we forgive.  As parents, we have become more reliant on God than ever to guide us, and He does-- without fail.    Of course, in all the pictures I have we are all smiling because those are memories we like to keep.  But what makes those smiles genuine is the work put into building our family.  And it is always worth it.

Good morning!  It's another day and Isaac is ready for breakfast.


On this day, you can see one of his many wounds from his "explorations."  This big knot on his forehead was the result of him getting to know the leg of a chair.  My mommy reflexes just weren't quick enough.  And the knot was about an inch wide and stuck out from his forehead.  This was after a week of healing and it looked less graphic.  He is always so good when he hurts himself.  He'll cry briefly, and just shake it off, though this injury he cried for a while so it must have been painful.  No worries, he is all healed up now just in time to hit his head on something else.


Isaac showing off what his new teeth can do!  He as four teeth total-- two on top, two on the bottom.  They came in when he was a little over 10 months accompanied with a few painful nights and lots of drooling.  With his new teeth he pretty much eats anything though cheese (mozzerella to be exact) is a clear favorite.  If you know Caleb or me at all, you know that it maks perfect sense that our son should love cheese.  On another note, Isaac does not like oatmeal-- much like his dad.  I can convince him to eat it if I mix it with cheese-- just like his dad.


Doesn't he look like such a boy in this picture?  My baby is growing up! 



Guess I don't need that coupon anymore...  Everything goes in his mouth.


Grandma Chou bought him this cool new toy for his birthday.  He loves the sounds and songs that it plays.  And Caleb and I find ourselves humming the tunes ourselves without knowing it.  Isaac and I spend most of our days playing.  Right now, he stands and cruises along the furniture and crawls at the speed of light.  My challenge is taking time to just play with him.  I tell myself that there is always laundry to do but he will not always be this age.  And playing is how he learns. He also will enterain himself while I work or cook which is helpful.  His most recent fascination is with babies and other kids.  At church, there are many babies to play with and I'm a part of mom's group where he gets to meet other kids during the week.  He'll watch them, then want to touch them and eventually try to eat them (this is the part where I step in)


Before bedtime, he gets a bath.  As you can see from this pictures, his renowed thighs have not lost any girth even though he is much taller.  They also remain just as yummy to kiss :)


After a bath it is time for bed.  This is his special time with Caleb.  We'll pray together and Caleb sings his bedtime song.  And then it's off to slumberland prett quickly.   Just like his father, he will travel the the utter most corners of his bed before settling down for the night.  Goodnight everyone!  Hope you sleep just like a baby!

Sorry for not updating very regularly.  My time is now spent wrestling inedible objects from my son's mouth, chasing him down as pulls up on everything, and generally trying to keep him alive though he has a strong desire to throw himself off the couch or bed.  There will be a bigger update soon about Isaac (there is a non-Isaac post at the other blog:  xanga.com/renies_sketches).

 But in the meantime, for your viewing pleasure, I offer you a quiz.

As Isaac grows up, his face keeps changing. 
Here is Isaac just a few weeks ago:

Who do you think he looks more like now?  Choose as many as apply:

A)


B)


C)


D)


E)


ANSWER:
If you chose A or D, you think he looks more like Caleb when he was a baby
If you chose B or E, you think he looks like my brother who represents Irene's genetic pool
If you chose C, you think our son looks like a cartoon on the mobile over Isaac's bed.  It's so accurate, it's kind of scary....

Any or all of those combinations are correct!  Isaac is a good blend of both sides and a cartoon!

The only incorrect answer is if you answered B and thought Isaac looks like the girl in the picture...

Your reward....