Daddy Time

I just want to take this opportunity to brag about Kevin... He's such an awesome daddy, and I love him so much!

Earlier this week they spent an afternoon at the park together, hanging out in the shade, exploring the playground...

... playing in the dirt ...
... and watching a soccer game. I was stuck at work when I got this picture mail. I was so jealous!

And then on Friday they had a military event at Kevin's work where an Apache helicopter landed on their driving range.

Isaac got a little spooked by the landing, but then he got to get close and check it all out.

Who's that cute pilot?

I don't know, does he look excited? He didn't have any fun at all... :)

Perfect kind of "guy stuff" to do with Daddy.

Sunday at the Fountain

The other kids were big enough to climb over the bench to play in the water, and Isaac watched them for a while with curiosity. But finally it got the best of him, and he wanted a try!
He leaned against the stone bench and reached with all of his might but just wasn’t quite tall enough. He lifted one leg in an attempt to scale this obstacle, but with nothing to grab onto this effort was in vain. Alas, he stood there staring at the mesmerizing water as it flowed and gurgled.

After witnessing his good effort, I scooped him up and perched him onto the bench so he could reach. He was thoroughly delighted when his fingers touched the cool water! He smiled and laughed as he started to splash. Oh the simple joys in life… my heart melts for him every time.

Ba-Ba Walmart

Isaac has learned the art of saying bye-bye, and loves to practice it at every opportunity. He'll say "ba-ba" to the water when it goes down the drain. "Ba-ba" to Mommy or Daddy when they walk away. And "ba-ba" to Wal-mart as well.

As we were leaving Wal-mart tonight, Isaac started waving and saying "Ba-ba" to no one in particular. Just announcing to everyone that we were leaving, I suppose. And then, to top it off, Isaac began to blow kisses!

The Selfs are leaving the building, everyone! Not to worry, we'll be back eventually. "Ba-ba" for now!

Go! Go!

I think Isaac really enjoys facing forward in the car now because he gets to see where we are going and watch everything whiz by out the window. He loves to point out all of the "kucks" (ie. trucks) and smile at Mommy in the rearview mirror. (I always have it trained on him so I can see him).

Well, the other day I was driving Isaac home from Mindy's, and from the back seat I heard him chirp, "Go! Go!" It was too funny! So now I'll repeat it back to him, and we'll chime together, "Go! Go!" as we drive along down the road. He gets such a kick out of it, it's just too much fun! It doesn't matter how long my day was or how tired I am from work, he just brightens my day with the simplest of things.

Favorites of the Day: Sticks, Puddles, & Oreos

The weather has been so nice!! We're so happy that it's getting cooler and we are well on our way to Fall. This means.... ... we're going outside!!!!

While the SUN is still out!!

It's a whole new world!! There's so much to see - come on!

Wowee, a collection of branches! We must sit to examine them and select the perfect walking stick...

... Got it!

Walking is so much more fun with a stick in hand. Every boy needs one, really.

And puddles are a must too...

There are always souveniers of our adventures.

And the perfect ending, lunch followed by an Oreo. "YUMMMM!"

Whenever Isaac really likes a particular food, it receives applause (this brings particular satisfaction to Mommy when it's dinner!). Apparently, he's a fan of Oreos. Good, that makes three of us!

We HEART The Marings!

Our long lost Marings came for a visit this week. It was so great to see them again! Our dear friends Ann & Eric were among our very first friends in Arizona, and we enjoyed a few years together before they moved back to Michigan. It's been a couple of years since then, so we've missed them very much. Since they moved, they had a little boy too. Josiah is only three weeks younger than Isaac, so it was really fun to meet each other's boys and watch them play together.

Ann, Eric, Mark, Autumn, & us at P.F. Changs. It's been a really long time since we've had that much fun out on the town! The girls...

... and the boyz

This is handsome Josiah.

These two were such busy bees, it was funny to watch them interact. They have such different personalities - Josiah the quiet and reserved one, Isaac the talkative and extroverted one. Both adorable and so much fun!

We're so glad we got to see you again! It was such a fun time!

He’s So Smart!

It is not nearly as fun writing about this as it would be if I could have caught this on video, but I want to tell you about it anyway. Last night as we were hanging out at home, we asked our energetic smarty pants the following questions –

Us: “Hey Isaac, what does the dog say?”
Isaac: “Oof! Oof! Oof!” (We were rolling with laughter at this because he was imitating the yappy dogs next door with their high-pitched incessancy. If that doesn’t tell you all about our neighbor dogs, I don’t know what else does!)

Us: “Isaac, what does the cat say?”
Isaac: “Mew.” (soft and sweet)

Us: “What does the cow say?”
Isaac: “Moooo.” (louder)

Us: “And what does the duck say?”
Isaac: “Cack, cack.”

Then we proceeded to ask him about the parts of his body, and – to my proud glee and Kevin’s surprise – Isaac knows where to find his head, nose, mouth, tummy, and arms! (We’re working on learning eyes, ears, legs, and feet. Bathtime is a great time for these lessons.)

What a smart kid!! I tried to recreate this magical experience on film, but you know how that goes…. Maybe I’ll be able to capture it some other time…. You know I’ll try!

Lately...

We've just been hanging out....

... eating snacks and growing a bunch...

... double fisting it with juice and strawberry milk...

... so he can get big and strong like Daddy, of course ...

... and laughing together... he's such a goof.

... and graduating from the baby nursery to the Discovery Cove nursery for "confident walkers." Isaac looooovvvves it in there. He gives us a good show of tears as we leave, of course. But we've been told that as soon as we're gone, he's on the go and playing with all the toys.

And the biggest news of all from the weekend.... For the first time, Isaac told me what he wanted by communicating to me with words rather than screams or cries!! Although others might think this is rather inconsequential, I considered it to be VERY EXCITING!! It happened at church yesterday as I gathered Isaac from Discovery Cove. I was carrying him as I walked back to meet up with Kevin and our friends. Isaac started to squirm (meaning he wanted down), but instead of crying, he said, “WALK! WALK!!” It was so COOL!! I stopped and responded, “You want to walk, Isaac? Okay, here you go.” As soon as I put him down, he took off. He was happy, and I was gloating. Did anyone hear that?? How satisfying it is that he is beginning to “use his words” to communicate!

Lasagna and Bananas

He's such a ham. :) The video is poor quality because of the camera, but you can still enjoy!! The only thing I have to feed him anymore is his yogurt... everything else he is pleased to help himself with. It's great!

Yes, English!

Isaac and I had our first verbal exchange in English today! What a hoot, short as it was.

Isaac loves dogs. Every time he sees one or even just hears one, he perks up and chimes “Goggie!” (or oggie, or doggie, depending on his pronunciation skills that day). You see, thanks to what we annoyingly – I mean, affectionately – refer to as our welcoming committee (ie. the incessant yappy dogs next door who bark at such trivial things as the ants crawling by orthe leaves blowing in the wind overhead), Isaac learned early on what a dog is and what it sounds like. So there have been a few weeks of responding to Isaac with, “Yes, it’s a doggie! What does the doggie say? [pause… but no reply] Woof, woof! Can you say, ‘Woof’?” [blank or quizzical stare received from the child]

Well this morning, Isaac heard our welcoming committee outside his window, and the following exchange took place:

Isaac looked up at me and said: “Doggie!”
Me: “Yes, and what does the doggie say?”
Isaac: “Oof!”

Hooray, my child knows English, and thus confirms that he does understand what we are saying to him! No more excuses when we tell him no he cannot play with the garbage in the trash can, or eat rocks outside, or throw his food on the floor. Now to get him to mind…. That’s another topic.