Bend it Like Beckham

Scott found a soccer ball in the yard of our vacant neighbor's house, and it is the new love of his life. Before breakfast, even, he asks you to play soccer with him. "Playing Soccer" started out as throwing the ball in the air, evolved into kicking back and forth and has gradually started to look more and more like actual soccer.
We plan on giving Scott opportunity to try lots of sports and activities and choose the one he enjoys most, but for now the "backyard sport of the week" is SOCCER!!

Must Watch TV

I'm not gonna lie. Isaac is a fan of the toob. I'm not sure Scott even knew what a television WAS at this age... guess that comes with the territory of having older siblings. Or a terrible mother. Let's go with the first!

Isaac's love for tv+his curiosity for life=trouble! The ottomans you see are strategically placed so that he cannot reach the volume knob, or the power button.

Couldn't resist catching the moment. Blue's Clues for the win!!

Watch Out: He Bites!

He will be 7 months in a few days, he started crawling all over the house at 6 months and one day old, he grew his first tooth 2 weeks ago, the second one 2 days ago, and he's headed for college in a month... I am constantly amazed with Isaac how fast time is flying. Why aren't scientists working harder on a time-slowing machine?! Aren't there parents who are scientists, they should GET this!!

This video is sideways, I know. Tilt your head or your computer (your choice) but there's nothing I can do about it now. We can only pray I remember next time I'm taking a video with my phone...



Latest news with Isaac: he gets lost. He is FAST and SILENT. His tongue makes it so that he just doesn't say much, but if you look away (or blink) he is gone within seconds and you have to search the house for him. We are currently looking into installing a cowbell...

Two and a Half

It's official, I am mother to the cutest 2.5 year old kid this side of the Mississippi! The other side too, except I just don't know all that many 2.5 year olds on the east coast...

Recently, Scott is a fountain of knowledge. He knows he is 2 years old, and JUST mastered the fingers for it. So now when asked how old he is, he replies "two, like dis!" and shows you. With both hands. We won't tell him that's actually 4, or 22...
He knows his birthday, sings a list of songs on demand (current favorite: 3 little monkeys swinging from a tree, teasing Mr. Alligator... etc), and wants to know what everything is, where everyone is going, and when everything is going to happen. Seben o'clock is breakfast time, when I start to cook dinner he MUST help and immediately pulls up a chair, and he frequently enjoys tackling unsuspecting 7 month olds. Never a dull moment!

I will just add, as a disclaimer: Scott DOES attend time out, and is often seen following me around with the most practiced and expert "whine" you can imagine. It's not all flowers and rainbows... so don't come after me in my sleep. The good just outweighs the bad, and we both learn and grow every day!

The newest member of the family...

You know you are a mom when you use your birthday money to buy this...


It was a fabulous deal, it will be a lawn mowing nightmare for dad, but it IS the source of outdoor entertainment!
Our neighbors on both sides kindly keep large shade trees, so we have shade in the morning, and shade in the afternoons. Only times it is too hot is when we are all napping anyways, and that will end someday soon when the sun decides to have mercy on us here in AZ! When that happens, you can bet we will be out here all the time!!

It's actually been interesting introducing Scott to these swings. He LOVES swings at the park, but these don't form to your butt, and he slides off pretty fast. We will either have to get a replacement, or keep up the training. Either way, they are great for playing tag with the dog!

To Infinity, and BEYOND!!

Scott loves to pretend, and it is so entertaining to watch. Out of the blue, he will stick a fist in the air, say "To the Rescue!" and take off running, apparently on his way to save a friend in distress. He just gets more fun every day! Here he is being an astronaut.

p.s. colanders make great helmets

The Food Network

Food is a big thing in our house. It is a much loved member of the family, in fact! So it has come to us as a great surprise that Isaac just really isn't into it. He'd much rather have a bottle, and get it over with! He makes terrible faces, refuses to open his mouth after the first few bites, and just plain won't look at you when you are trying to come at him with a spoon! We keep trying, and one day it will take, but for now, he's our little Milk Man (who happens to be downing a LOT of bottles to make up for the lack of solids... little stinker!)

Scott, on the other hand...
Well, he loves milk too. He's just not quite as exclusive!

And, for the viewing pleasure of the general population... Dude, in an apron, in the kitchen. Probably barefoot too! (with a mountain dew, of course. Someone told him somewhere that if you're gonna cook, do it with a drink. And since we don't keep beer in the house....)

Whoever said that men should stay out of the kitchen doesn't know how badly I hate grating cheese, and how wonderful of a helper I have! Isn't he the cutest thing!?

Fun Friday

I owe a big thank you to Corporate Executive Board for a little thing called "Summer Days". It allowed the employees to leave work at noon on 4 specific Fridays through the summer. Funnily enough, my personal CEB employee was on vacation with me for the first 2. So, today was the first one we were able to officially enjoy. And we DID!!

We headed where any sane Arizonan would on an August day. The ZOO!!

Isaac was in love with being outside, and even more in love with facing forward and seeing everything!

Scott was in love with the ANIMALS! Lots of them were sleeping, some of them were inside and un-seeable, but the elephant... ah the elephant!! she had just been let out as we arrived, and the zoo worker was just leaving. The elephant went straight to a bunch of branches hanging right in front of us, and we got to stand SO CLOSE, and watch, and talk about elephants.

After the zoo, we headed to a nearby splash park to cool off. It takes Scott a few minutes to warm up to things like this. He stands around watching all the kids, deciding if he wants to join in. But once the decision is made, its official, and utterly impossible to pry him away!

Isaac could not get enough of it!! We put him in a shallow area next to a waterfall, and as soon as he was put down he would bee-line it for the waterfall. We would drag him out and restart him, and once again, he would immediately head for the water. He had so much fun, and he quickly had an entourage of 6-10 year old girls who thought he was the cutest of cute and wanted to watch and be involved in everything he did. Life is hard as a cute little boy, what can I say?

Thank you, CEB, for giving our daddy for a day of Friday Fun!

Don't Blink or You'll Miss It

So, I left Saturday morning for an overnight trip and when I returned Sunday evening... Isaac was mobile. He also slept through the night. It must be some kind of daddy magic. Or mommy teasing. Hmm...
It took me a few days to get a good video of it, he is really into army crawling, or only crawling as much as necessary before he can just kind of lunge his body towards the goal and stop putting forth the effort.

So, I finally got the video today, and just after I did... Isaac pulled himself up against a cardboard box in order to get to something up high. Uh... he is BARELY 6 months. What is happening? I feel like I am in the twilight zone. Don't agree? It gets better, wait.

(Scott wanted to be in the video so bad, that I offered to take a picture of him afterwards, and he wanted to crawl like Isaac. So, here you will see the crawling expertise of Mr. Scotty B)

Here's the worst part. All in one day I get a video of Isaac crawling, he gets up to his knees against a box in order to get to something he shouldnt have (surprise surprise), and then this happens. I went to get him from his afternoon nap to find him STANDING in his crib! STANDING!?! I might as well have cried right then and sent him off to college. This is when it all starts happening so fast, I remember with Scott. But somehow, I didn't feel like it was all happening too fast the first time around. This time, I feel like if I look away, I'll miss it. Maybe I feel that way because I did look away and miss it. And I constantly am. Isaac is a speedy learner, stronger than strong, and will unavoidably be the cause of many gray hairs in his parents future.

I love this picture because he was SO SO SO proud of himself, then as soon as I took the picture he fell backwards into his crib. Flat on his back with the most shocked look on his face. "What was THAT?! Let's do it again!!"

A Month Later....

I did it! I completed the "Blog-a-Day" Challenge! With only one little hiccup, I feel very proud of my success, and much more likely to pull my camera out and sit down to blog... so you won't be getting a blog a day, but the blogging world should be seeing a lot more of me and my adorable family!!!

So... stay tuned!