Lab Rat

Isaac was in a research study recently to understand how infants distinguish human faces. He was not such a huge fan of the cap he had to wear, especially since it was lunch time. Unfortunately the cheerios were not powerful enough to make him totally happy. But he still did exceptionally well.

Rocket Man

These are from this morning. Isaac LOVES getting thrown in the air.

Here's the windup...

...and take-off.

Very happy guys afterward.

Catch up time

I am a bit behind on the blog. Perhaps in part because I have been juggling too much work with everything else.

It has been a very eventful month in Isaac's life. Some of the exciting things going on are:

Discovering a love of cheerios.

A continued love of food. Somehow, though, at his nine month appointment he managed to drop down the percentiles on his weight. He sure looks chubby to us.



Isaac got his first two teeth this month, as well. It conveniently coincided with getting a cold. He was not a very happy camper for a few days, but now he has some cute teeth to show for it.

Isaac has also learned to crawl!! He is also pulling up on things and taking a few timid steps. It is really fun to watch him cruise around and explore. He loves our recycling bin more than anything else (he is playing over there right now and found a lid!). He also loves pulling up on the bags of flour and sugar that I have not put away, yet.

He had a fun Thanksgiving in Ithaca with his grandparents and Aunt Elise and Uncle Dave. He met their dogs there (Lucy and Cleo) and enjoyed getting licked on the head by them. Unfortunately we never caught one of those moments on camera. He also liked skyping with Uncle Mike and Aunt Jessica and their girls.



His Grandma gave him a fun tiger toy that he loves!



This week he also transitioned into the big baby room at day care. His "girlfriend" works in that room so he gets to see more of her. He had so much fun his first day that he hardly slept and fell asleep on the walk home with Aleks.

With his new mobility, changing Isaac has become even more fun. Here he is after bath time in the really cute towel that his Aunt Elizabeth got him.

Isaac has also developed a love for being on Aleks' shoulders. He particularly loves to pull his hair from up there.

He loves to play with Aleks, a lot.

Another sleeping shot...I loved that bum poking up. It is amazing to me that he can sleep so well that way.

A little creepy (almost) crawly

Here's the Halloween post...Isaac was a spider. His costume was obviously homemade, but it worked and he certainly did not know the difference. Mostly he liked to play with the legs. They were detachable so h did not have to wear them all day.

A little post-eating face.


Bath time has become very popular with the little man. He really likes his toys.

Aleks took a risk taking this one. Thankfully the flash did not wake him up. He likes to sleep on his belly and pokes his bum up in the air. It looks pretty cute.

The race

Sharon and I decided to run the Tufts 10k on Columbus Day. It is a race for women only. The race was great-it was my first since getting pregnant, so it was really nice to get out racing again. I have really missed it. The best parts for me were:

1. outsprinting a girl at the end.
2. all the free food and goodies after the race.
3. running along memorial drive and through the back bay without any traffic.
4. Not running with the jogging stroller.

Isaac and Aleks seemed to have a nice time watching, though Aleks almost missed me going by because he was trying to feed Isaac his carrots (mmmm...).

Here is Isaac enjoying his pre-race play time on the grass.

He really likes his Uncle Mike. I can't wait to see the other photo being taken here.

Sharon and I before the start. I had my lucky stars and stripes shorts on (Go USA!).


Isaac needed a little snack before I left to run and I needed to lose some unnecessary weight. Adventures in breastfeeding in weird places continues. I think that Aleks was trying to act like he was not taking a picture of us when he took this one-very discrete.



This is Isaac and his friend getting ready for the start of the race.

I guess that we did not take any photos during or after the race. Use your imagination...

Weekend in review

We are finishing up a nice weekend. Isaac had fun. One of the best parts was when Aleks and I took really long naps during Isaac's morning nap yesterday. Ahhh....

So, Isaac is getting stronger and more wiggly, making the diaper change a bit more challenging. I finally won when I put the package of wipes on his chest. It took him a while to decide to roll away from that one. He really wanted to play* with the wipes.

This afternoon we took advantage of the great weather and after church and lunch headed to the river to enjoy the sunshine. I fear that our nice sunny days are limited. Isaac really likes to be outside and thinks that grass and rotting leaves are pretty fun to play* with. The photos by the river make it look deceptively nice-you can't really make out all of the garbage and pollution in the river. I hear that there are plans to someday make it possible to swim in the river again without having to get a lot of shots afterward. That would be cool. I am not holding my breath, though.

Isaac also celebrated his eight month birthday today. He is really excelling in all of his baby stuff and has learned a lot, for instance: spitting up, drooling, eating pureed solid foods, sort of eating cheerios, making noises, learning how to get our attention by crying, smiling, laughing, hitting things, putting everything in his mouth, kicking his legs like a tadpole, sitting up, crawling backwards, charming people, lunging at toys in front of him, drinking from a sippy cup (sort of), turning on the ceiling fan, playing the piano with his dad, closing books, covering no small portion of the surface area of our Moroccan carpet with spit up, pulling the breastfeeding cover off (only sometimes embarrassing), giggling, eating paper, and scratching himself, to name a few. It has been an eventful eight months for this kid, No wonder he has to sleep so much!

Isaac's fun was topped of with a bath. Today he got to play* with the bath sponges that his grandma Forsberg got him. He thought that they were tasty.

* play=put in mouth and slobber a lot.

Roaming around

So, it's been a while since the last post. Isaac has been getting better and better at moving around, though still no forward crawling. We are enjoying the last little while where we can safely leave him without fear of him destroying anything.

Isaac really likes the cord to the ceiling fan. He has figured out that when he pulls it the fan turns on. Great entertainment for him.

Isaac was helping Aleks fold the laundry recently.

It is nice that he enjoys playing sitting up on the floor. I can actually cook dinner and have him be happily entertained.

Bath time has also become much more enjoyable now that he can sit up and play with toys. We are attempting to preserve his modesty and future in this one.

Making apple sauce

Last weekend some friends invited us out to the Berkshires to make applesauce with some fresh picked local apples. We had a great time. Isaac loved all of the attention and new sights.

Isaac finally had a breakthrough with eating solid foods. As we were making the applesauce, we gave him some of it and he really liked it.

We made a delicious pie. Sharon is putting the finishing touches on it here.