"I obey oh I mynu!"

Spankings are called “reminders” in our house. And we have started using “reminders” as a form of discipline only when needed. It has been a good tool, and Isaac has responded well to it. He is a very smart boy and has always been a quick learner, so it hasn’t taken long for him to catch on. More often than not, all he needs is a warning.

Coupled with reminders, we have been teaching him the word “obey” and what that means. He is connecting the dots and growing a respect and listening ear, and it’s so exciting to watch him develop an obedient spirit.

So it was funny when he announced, “I obey oh I mynu!” (“I obey or I get a reminder!”). Haha, and now he even lets us know when he needs a "mynu!"

“Anku, Mommy.”

Isaac downed the meatloaf, mashed potatoes, a kernel of corn, yogurt, strawberries, and a cookie! And as he ate, he waved at every bite and said, “bye-bye” before stuffing it into his mouth. He had me laughing, so of course he kept it up.

He seemed to enjoy that meal so much, that as I wiped him up, I asked him, “Was that good?” And he said, “YEAH!” So I said, “Say, ‘thank you, Mommy.’”

With the sweetest smile, he looked up at me with his big blue eyes and said, “Anku, Mommy.”

19 Months - What a Blur!

These days are characterized by an ever-expanding vocabulary, all four eye teeth arriving at once, impressive new climbing skills, and maddening temper tantrums.

such a little ham, he keeps us laughing

We went to his 18-mo appointment yesterday (yes, a month late but oh well.) The report is that Isaac is basically the size of an average 27-month-old! He's in the 100th percentile for height at 35.8 inches tall, in the 50th percentile for weight at 27.8 pounds, and the 75th percentile for his head. He's perfectly healthy and has a strong will and a great set of lungs on him. (I think everyone in the office figured that out as soon as we started stripping him down for the stats.)

In the world of words, Isaac is a virtual parrot these days, repeating us, putting together phrases of his own, and actually responding to questions. Such a smarty-pants! And this wonderful world of verbal communication is AWESOME. I'm just hoping that the screaming fits die down as he continues to figure out that he gets better results when he tells us what he wants by using words rather than VOLUME.

he has so many facial expressions to display his mood

In the world of climbing, Isaac is getting very adventurous. The time when he was frightened to step from the sidewalk to the grass are long gone! Now he's on to climbing up into his high chair and onto the table... as I discovered a couple of Saturdays ago when I turned around with Isaac's lunch to find him sitting in his high chair all by himself. "When did you learn to do that?" I asked him with surprise. Isaac responded with a wide grin of satisfaction in his newfound skill.

and 100% boy

Love Love Love

On Valentine's Day we had a sweet dessert date by candlelight after we got the squirt down to bed.... mmmm, yummy butterscotch and chocolate cookie cake. It turned out to be more like a torte, and it was delicious!

This year Kevin and I talked about making a new family tradition for Valentine's Day by having a family picnic... we think it would be the perfect opportunity to focus our family on God's incredible love and celebrating His love for us and our love for each other. I have some great ideas in mind for the coming years. But this year we had our first annual Self Family Valentine's Day Picnic at Joe's Farm Grill... hee hee. We cheated, but only a little bit! We still ate outside...

Isaac and I got to play around while Daddy waited in line and got the food.

Sporting Daddy's "gass"

Can you feel the love? Happy Valentine's Day!

A Random Collection ... Just Hangin' Out Pics

I was looking back at some pictures from the last couple of months, and I thought you'd enjoy seeing these... some of our favorites.

A natural? Look how he's holding that football!

Hmmmm, decisions, decisions...

Having fun with Papa... (and yes, Isaac is wearing one of my headbands. Haha...)

Out for a walk with Uncle Caleb

"Back it up - beep, beep, beep, beep!" Haha, we taught that to Isaac, and now when we say, "Back it up!" He'll back up and say, "Beep beep!"

Our little sous chef.

Cooking with Auntie Linda - making Northwest Mac-n-Cheese.

Thanks for my dapper apron, Auntie Karen! It's perfect.

A fun new pasttime - riding his "big guck!" down the hill.

So much fun! Like having an amusement park ride in our own back yard!

Hugs from Noni!

Isaac likes to wear his "gass" like Mommy.

Unusually warm early January day - perfect for coloring with chalk outside.

And I'll leave you with this one. Such a sweetheart smile! He melts my heart. *Sigh*

More Fun

Has it really been almost three months?? Wow. Well, I know by now this is old news, but it's fun to look back and reminisce. And in this case, we won't disappoint. Here's another fun thing we did with Linda, Brian, and Omi while they were here back in December....

A daytrip to Canyon Lake for a picnic...

...an unexpectedly chilly picnic, that is...

Even the hot sauce couldn't warm us up..

... and Linda got desperate.. er, I mean "creative."

"It's working as a wind blocker, you guys!!"

Brian and Linda

Isaac doing what boys do best... getting dirty.

What? I'm having fun down here... can't you see?

Despite the chill in the air, we had a fun time....

... and enjoyed a good show of old-fashioned sibling rivalry. I'm rooting for Linda!

Yeah, Linda, yeah!!!

You show him.

Sore loser.

After Canyon Lake we visited a replicated 1800's Gold Rush mining town.

Overlooking Superstition Mountains

Isaac enjoyed the horsies.

But the horses didn't reciprocate the excitement too well.

Our attempt at getting a cute family photo... well, close enough! That's a wrap!

Bulldozer Dance Queue

If you have children, you probably have all of the songs from their toys memorized. I know I do... But how can you resist a show like this?

Catching Up From December

What a whirlwind of activity! December was full of F-U-N, and we have the pictures to prove it! Along with the Christmas parties, we had family come for the holidays. It was so refreshing to be home for a vacation instead of being the travelers. We actually got to relax and soak in our time off, which was invaluable and so very enjoyable.


As planned, my family came for Christmas, all but Seth, Amy and the kids (we missed you!). Anna had never seen the Grand Canyon, so Mom, Dad, Caleb & Anna braved the freezing snowy weather to trek up north to see it. While they were gone, we received a phone call from Kevin's sister Linda... She and Naomi had a "now or never" opportunity to get out of town that they had to seize! What about a little extra company for Christmas? Sure! The more, the merrier; come on down!


Well, after hearing that Linda and Omi would be making the road trip south alone, Kevin's mom Lynn preferred that Brian come with them. After all, it's a long drive, and it would be good to have two drivers rather than one. So three days before Christmas, the three of them made their way down from Washington. Destination: Arizona sunshine and warmer weather!



Well, all we can say is that this Christmas and New Years was full of fun and precious family time for both of us. Everything was perfect and certainly blessed by God, for which we are truly so thankful.

Zoolights

The day Caleb & Anna arrived in town, we went to the Phoenix Zoo for their annual Zoolights. This was our first time going, so we were pretty excited to see them. The zoo was filled with trees and cactus covered in Christmas lights and displays made up of animal scenes.

Here's just a tiny glimpse of some of the lights... unfortunately not many of the pictures came out too well.

Mom & Dad with an African animal light display behind them... I guess our camera doesn't do night-time at a distance...

Oh, there's some antelope behind Caleb and Anna!

It was a lot of fun and so cool to see all the lights... but not really the right time of day for Isaac. What was normally his wind down and go to bed time ended up being filled with a crowd of people and lot of loud Christmas music. So ... note to self, wait until he's old enough to appreciate the lights til we go next time.

Not really in the mood for a photo op... Oh well, next time!