Birthday Boy!

Remember your first taste of gluten free brownie?  No?  Well, Isaac is not likely to remember his either, but I have pictures of it.  I have pictures because that was the dessert of (my) choice for his first birthday.  Lucky boy, no?

Uncle Doug, Dave, Steph, Sabrina and Ezra came down to celebrate with us.  His birthday was earlier in the week, but Jason was out of town so we waited until this weekend.  Of course, we are in the process of getting ready for a big move, so the house is all helter-skelter and people were coming and going as we are selling some of our furniture.  In all the chaos, we managed to have delicious food (thanks, Steph!) and brownies and ice cream.

Isaac was pretty excited at first at the prospect of brownies. 

Then he wasn't so sure.

Then he got his fingers in it.

Next some examination of the gooey goodness.

And in the mouth (like pretty much everything else) it goes!

There was some eating and even more throwing of the brownies, but he seemed to have a good time.  Everyone else just ate theirs.

Happy 1st Birthday, Isaac!

A Balmy Winter's Day

Welcome to North Carolina!  Summer in December!  The A/C broke on the van last month and I thought, no problem, we won't need the A/C this winter.  

I was wrong.

But really, the weather has been lovely.  Like "throw the boys outside as often as is possible" lovely.  Usually, I stay inside with Isaac and recover from the craziness that is four boys.  Which basically means that Isaac misses out on all that vitamin D action.  He has, however, seen more episodes of Friends than most babies.  Lucky kid, huh?

Today I decided to break out of the routine and let Isaac experience the backyard.  By the time we came back inside, he had eaten a lot of it and was wearing the rest.  I've read that the problem with kids these days is that they don't eat enough dirt, so I let him eat away.  (Partly kidding)

I thought a warm, cloudy day would be ideal for practicing taking pictures of him, but he was completely engrossed by either the dirt or his brothers that I didn't get a lot of good shots.  Also, I took some pictures for a Christmas letter that I may or may not end up writing and sending out this year.  What I did get is below:    

Here's to more gorgeous days and boosting Isaac's immune system!

Christmas Trees

Due to circumstances completely out of our control (Isaac), we've decided not to put up a Christmas tree this year.  Somehow the thought of spending 25 days protecting the tree/ornaments from our resident Dr. Destructo did not seem conducive to my sanity holiday cheer.  The older boys were a little bit disappointed, but the promise of a tree at Oma and Opa's house seemed to help.  

And then I thought of an activity which might sugar...I mean soften the blow.  Ice cream cone Christmas trees.  Any activity that starts with lots of green icing is pretty much guaranteed to be a success.  

Josh and Michael got right down to business.

We invited this girl to join us because she is cute and spunky.

Ben was hesitant at first to get too involved in activity that is messy.  Not to worry.  His desire to eat sugar won the day.

While they were at work, there was plenty of quality control tasting of the ingredients going on.

Some of the candy and decorations made it on the trees.

Finished products:

Sadly, this forest of trees did not survive the day.

Ben and Michael took the top down approach.

Josh went from the outside in.

And then they proceeded to bounce off the walls and crash race Ben's toys down the hallway for the rest of the afternoon.  So this may be a one-time activity, but it was fun.

Working Hard or Hardly Working

Thanksgiving

You know that one time you came home after a long day and spilled caramel and BBQ sauce in the fridge and the floor and it really wasn't all that upsetting because it meant you had caramel cheesecake and BBQ turkey leftovers?

Yeah, today was a good day.

Doug hosted Thanksgiving this year at the clubhouse at his apartment complex and it worked out wonderfully on many levels:

1. No one had to clean their house before or after.  (I left dirty dishes in the sink all day with nary a concern.)

2. The area was fairly baby-friendly since it was very clean and a shared space.

3. Two words:  pool table

4. So much delicious food.  So much. BBQ bacon turkey.  Twice baked potatoes. Sausage stuffing.  Pumpkin. Etc. 

Josh was introduced to the game of pool.  Jason taught Josh the basics and then Josh challenged everyone to play pool with him.  And the brave ones took on his challenge.

Isaac displayed some more of his cannibalistic tendencies.

He also explored the furniture.

And Daddy found a new way to keep the littlest minion contained.

It was a day of firsts for Isaac.  Despite having some feeding issues with solids, he chowed down on the turkey Dave and Steph brought.  So yummy.  So happy.  Later in the afternoon, we caught him under the table chowing down on another new food: chocolate cake.  And based on the evidence, that was a hit as well.

There is also a lovely outdoor area next to the clubhouse with a fire pit.  We gathered all the kidlets there for some pictures.  Mostly the kids are crazy, but Josh is definitely in the preteen stage where acting crazy with his brothers and cousins is no longer cool.  Well, until I put the camera away and then he got on his hands and knees and chased Sabrina around making growling noises.

And this last picture for fun.  Michael likes to hold Isaac in his arms like this and say, "Look at my bundle of joy!"  Usually Isaac likes it and plays the part of the happy baby.  And sometimes he gives us the "save me" look.

It was a lovely day.  We have so much for which to be grateful, not the least of which is wonderful family.

Oh, and leftovers.

11 months

Say "HELLO" to our happy boy!  He's coming up on a year and is convinced that he is somewhere between 6 and 11 years old.  Weird, right?  

It's not all fun and games, though.

Okay, maybe it is.

Isaac really is a happy kid...mostly.  Except when he is experiencing baby rage and his body shakes with anger.  Ben then starts laughing and says, "Baby SMASH!" But, back to the happy stuff.  His latest trick is playing fetch with himself.  He manages to keep himself entertained by throwing toys and then crawling after them.  And repeat.  He isn't walking unassisted yet, but he does like to use objects like his toy house or a laundry basket as a walker.  He is currently battling the demons constipation and teething at the same time, so that makes our life hell at times.  And he seems pretty uncomfortable, too.

He really enjoys babbling and sometimes it even sounds like he's singing, but no words yet.  With three older brothers at his beck and call, I think there is a good chance he will never talk.  They continue to dote on him; however, his increased mobility and reaching range has started to irritate them.  He actually managed to get a hold of some Legos and we found him sucking on part of one of the boys' creation.  That was not a particularly popular move on his part.

Of all of the boys, he is the most responsive to music.  He already has several dance moves and gets just as excited about primary songs as Maroon 5.  His all-time favorite is "I like to move it" by Will.I.Am.  I am not sure if this is related or not, but his favorite TV show is Phineas and Ferb.  Jason is trying to get him hooked on the old school Sesame Street and I have shown him The Backyardigans, but his brothers love Phineas and Ferb so Phineas and Ferb it is.  And yes, we are big fans of telenanny here, so I tell you the favorite shows of my 11-month-old with no shame.

I am not going to lie, this has been a very long year.  And when I see people with itty bitty babies, I am not at all sad that we are past that stage.  The first year is so hard.  (I say that like years 2 and 3 will be a piece of cake - HA!)  To make life more interesting, Isaac is likely to need allergy testing soon and he has some eating issues, both of which are pretty much guaranteed to give us some heartache (you see, we have been down those roads before).

We love him and he brings a great deal of laughter in our home (sometimes with him, sometimes at him).  His laughter is such an intense experience that I think we chose his name wisely.

11 down, 1 to go.

Veterans Park

With lovely weather today, it was clearly time to check out some more of the area.  In light of yesterday being Veterans Day, I thought we should head over to Veterans Park.  Having learned my lesson, I just told the boys that we were going somewhere "interesting".  Being vague meant that their complaints also had to remain vague.  The worst they could come up with was accusing me of always using antonyms.  

So proud of my little nerds!

On the way home, Michael told me that I wasn't using antonyms after all!