Silly Spike

playing with his cabbage patch kid
for some reason, Isaac thinks he should carry the doll around on his head

I don't know what the other soccer players would think of your shades, kiddo.

Spike's new favorite joke: Pants Head

To Tide You Over

I know you will be shocked to hear this, and you may not even believe me, but I had not taken a single picture of Isaac since we went to Minnesota over two weeks ago until today. I mostly chalk it up to an insane amount of reading in the first two weeks of my summer quarter (Uncle Tom's Cabin, The Awakening, Life in the Iron-Mills, Daisy Miller, and now Sister Carrie in two and a half weeks!)

To tide over those grandparents who are missing the little man, here are a few from our adventures today. Not the most spectacular shots, but they should at least quiet clamoring grandmas. playing pattycake

very busy

no qualms about wandering away from mama, especially when there are birds to be chased!

too busy to smile

A little update--Isaac says two words pretty well now: Baby and Ball. Baby usually refers to Kedzie, the cat. He also constantly says "Dewey." I'm not sure if he's referring to the educational philosopher or the librarians' decimal system, but either way, I think he's made a clear choice to go into the field of education.

Bittersweet Freedom

I've been slowly but surely weaning Isaac for almost two months now. At his first birthday he was nursing 4 times a day--in the morning, after nap 1, after nap 2, and before bed. The plan was to drop one feeding per week for 4 weeks.

But then he got sick. and then he got sick again. and then he got sick again.

Mommas of the world understand--you don't want to take something comforting away from a sick baby.

So as of yesterday, Isaac was down to just nursing before bed. I sat down with him at bed time thinking, "This is probably going to be my last time nursing him." I had nursed him for literally 30 seconds when he pushed himself to sitting up and pointed to his mimi. So I gave it to him. Then he pointed to his books. So we read some. Then he went to bed sans tummy-full-of-breastmilk.

Now, I have been ready to have my boobs back to myself for a few weeks now, but I have also very much enjoyed nursing my baby these past 13 months. So when Isaac was fine without that little nightcap last night, I had very mixed emotions about it. "Maybe this is going to be easier than I thought," and "He must be ready," and "I'm free!" on the one hand. "My baby doesn't need me anymore," and "My baby's not a baby anymore," on the other. My eyes brimmed with tears for a moment, but I think the former feelings are winning out.

I've got to say, I'm pretty darn proud of me and my boobs and all we've accomplished this year. I mean, have you seen this kid?

Busy MN Weekend

Last Thursday night, Zach and I loaded Isaac and all of the 13,743 things he requires when traveling in the car and began a 5 hour trip to his parents' house in Rochester, Minnesota. It was the first time we made the drive since Spike was born, and we figured our best bet was to leave around his bed time so he could sleep away the miles. Isaac usually goes to bed at 7:30. Around 10pm he finally fell asleep. OK, we'll roll with the punches.

We got to the Dani's house around 12:30am and Izey woke up. We tried to put him to bed, but he was apparently terrified. It wasn't until after 1am that we were finally able to get him to sleep.

Friday was a wonderful, relaxing day by the pool. Izey swam some, but mostly moved piles of rocks around the yard. Here are a few pics of his adventures.

Look at this face!

"Can you hold this please, Grandpa?"

Radio Flyer

Later that afternoon, Ruby (aka Miracle Baby--she was born at 24 weeks gestation and is basically totally normal!) came over with her Grandma Janet and the babies got to swim together.

Ruby wasn't thrilled about some strange lady holding her in a scary giant bathtub.

Both thoroughly enjoyed the baby pool, though.

Look at that face!

The next day we packed up all of those 13,743 things again and drove the hour to Minneapolis. We visited the Dahls and Izey again moved piles of rocks around their yard with their 18 month old, Zach. Then it was off to Zach's college roommate's wedding. Despite the fact that the dancing started well past Isaac's bed-time, he shook his groove thang with the flower girl. Mostly, though, he chased her around and latched on to her with an overly aggressive "hug" as often as possible. Below is a video of the two when they still had the whole dance floor to themselves. Notice how our handsy son takes advantage of her momentary inability to run away from him.


That night we stayed at a hotel and then visited Zach's aunt, uncle, and cousins. I found out I have some blog fans from that side of the family too! Hi Schreiners!

After lunch, we wrangled Izey into the car one more time and made our way back to Chi-town. When Spike woke up from his afternoon nap, we started to be a little concerned when he lethargically stared out the window for a couple of hours. When we took him out of his car seat for dinner, he had turned into the tell-tale little heater, and we knew he had a fever. We thought his ear infection had come back, but when we took him to the doctor, it turned out his ears were just fine. So now our boy is sick again. Poor pitiful peanut!

Spike's First Art Projects

For Father's Day, his birthday, and our anniversary, I bought Zach a used HDTV from a friend, which he was thrilled with. But as those holidays roll around, it's hard to restrain myself from doing something additional to make the day special. I figured Spike and I could keep things relatively inexpensive by doing some art projects for Father's Day. Here are the outcomes of using crayons and paint with a one-year-old.

He's Not the Only One

Emily and Izey

Isaac and I went to visit my friend Halina and her girl Emily last week. Emily is four months younger than Spike and she's giving him a run for his money, size-wise. I've said it before and I'll say it again: big babies rock.

T-R-O-U-B-L-E

Don't do it, Isaac! (You either, Kedzie.)

I was taking the following video to show you Isaac's favorite game: playing ball on the stairs. What I got instead is this demonstration of overt disobedience. I stopped filming because I was trying not to laugh.

Maybe it runs in the family?

1, 2, 3!

Sam and Nadia pictures by Aunt Carrie

More Murray Lake Pictures

Check out those dimples!

Trying to get that sand out of those crevices!

"I liked it better when I was naked."

Father's Day Weekend

We had a glorious weekend in Michigan, celebrating Sam and Nadia's birthdays and Father's Day. We went to my absolute favorite place in the whole world--my Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Dick's house on Murray Lake. Isaac has been there before, but it was a year ago, so we were all excited to see how he would like swimming and riding in the boat for the first time this summer. By the time we left on Sunday night, Isaac had sand in every crevice--and you know this child has some serious crevices--and a fabulous farmer tan.

Isaac played with the sand on the beach like it was his job. His singleness of purpose far exceeded even mine at the end of last quarter in school. We seriously could not keep him out of the sand.

He didn't love swimming, and clung to Daddy for dear life, but as long as we made happy "Isn't this fun!?" noises, he tolerated it.

Following in the tradition of many a grandkid, Izey made mud pies on the dock.

It's truly amazing that we even got Izey to look up long enough from the sand to take this picture!

Playing in the sand in borrowed pajamas--they actually belong to his four year old cousin.

The lesson we learned from this weekend: we need a sand box, don't you think?

Heirloom

This Father's Day weekend was...heavenly. I'll post more about Isaac's adventures at Murray Lake later, but first...

My Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Dick shocked Zach and me by offering us the beautiful family Bible. We felt so amazingly honored to bring home this cornerstone of our family's history. The copyright date is 1880, and the receipt of purchase, which was tucked in one of the pages, showed that the Bible came into my Grandpa's mom's family in 1896!

There are several corsages pressed between the pages.

The whole Bible is beautifully illustrated. Here is "The Good Samaritan"

The only writing on the family history pages tells who was married, but leaves the dates blank.

The receipt shows they ordered the Bible for $1.90!

Some day soon I'll have to sit down with Grandma to trace our family tree. Grandma is a major history buff and her house contains some amazing treasures. We feel so blessed to have this one passed on to us!

Happy Father's Day, Honey!

Aren't Father's Day cards stupid? Of all the dads in my life--my own, my father-in-law, my baby daddy--there isn't a single one who sits around on the couch drinking beer and wanting to be left alone on Father's Day. And yet that's how the majority of the cards portray these super important men. It's really sad.

Zach is basically the opposite of that stereotype. I am so proud of the father he has been these past 13 months and the father he is becoming.

Zach posses all the qualities that are truly important in a father, the ones that aren't portrayed in greeting cards. Starting from the more mundane and ending with the most important, here are some of the roles that Zach has played as Izey's Daddy:

• Bread winner. We have been really blessed by Zach's flexible and fun workplace this year. Zach is really great at his job and I know RPh on the Go appreciates him. I am thankful that I have had more than a year off of work now and have been freed up to finish my degree and take care of our boy. What an amazing gift!
  
• Partner in Discipline. I know some dads who sit by and make their wives be the mean ones, so I'm grateful that Zach sees himself as an equal authority figure. He totally backs me up on what Spike is allowed or not allowed to do, eat, etc.
  
• Relief for Mom. There are certainly days that Zach comes home from work to me pacing the floor because I need a break. He is so amazing at giving me whatever time and space I need, even if it means we eat dinner super late or throw a frozen pizza in the oven (again).
  
• Meeter of Needs. When Zach is home, he prepares Isaac's meals, feeds him, changes his diapers, puts him to bed and cleans up after him more than I do. He is also always the one to give Izey his bath. I couldn't survive stay-home parenting without these breaks and Isaac loves doing these special things with his daddy.
  
• Tickler, wrestler, chaser, thrower, giggle-maker. Zach is certainly Isaac's favorite playmate. Every single day after work, Zach gets down on the floor and plays with his boy. And I know they both love it.
  
• Attentive, adoring audience. Zach gets just as excited as I do about watching Izey learn new things. We share our enthusiasm for his love of books, his first steps, his up-coming swimming lesson... And it's usually Zach who suggests we go peek at Isaac every night before we go to bed.
  
• Comforter. Izey's lucky to have a daddy who's not afraid to show his affection--who says "I love you," who gives kisses and hugs, and who scoops him up quickly when he's hurt or sad.
  
• Model of Christ's gentle love. Zach is an amazing model of a myriad of positive traits--integrity, discipline, thoughtfulness, hard work, intelligence--but most importantly, he humbly demonstrates as well as any human can how much our Heavenly Father loves and cares for us.
  

I put together a video of Izey and his daddy, and I think the pictures speak for themselves: Zach is an awesome dad.
(It's 8 minutes long, so if you're not interested in the whole thing, you may still want to see the funny 30 seconds.)

Bookish Boy

I mentioned before that, being a "baby person," I had been dreading this impending toddler phase of childhood. However, I am finding that as Isaac's assertiveness gradually increases, so does his charm.

Zach and I are what his mom refers to as "book people," so any inclination Spike shows toward following in our reading-loving footsteps is warmly encouraged. A couple of weeks ago, instead of simply pulling all of his books off his shelves, he started bringing them to us to read. It is totally and utterly adorable.

The first time it happened, it took me a minute to realize what he wanted. He came crawling over with Good Night Chicago--thanks, Tracy!--in his hand and gave it to me. I said, "thank you" but that was all. Then he sat up in front of me and looked at the book with his "I'm trying to tell you something" eyes. His still-dense momma didn't get it yet, so he reached over and tapped the book and looked at me. "Do you want me to read it?" I said. He looked excited. So I read it to him. A little later I was on the computer, and he crawled across the hallway, book in hand, pulled up on my legs and handed me a book, babbling his usual "Dis?" Like I said, positively charming.

Here's a video from yesterday--not only do you get to see Izey bring me a book, but he's also showing off his ever-increasing walking abilities.


Sometimes he gets a little drunk on the power of controlling what Mom and Dad read, and before we finish a book, he'll grab it, throw it down, and hand us another. He also chooses a favorite for a few days at a time, obsessively rereading it until moving on to a new favorite.

In addition to bringing us books to read, he's also started looking at the books on his own. This new entertainment largely developed from the fact that he can now get his chubby little hands to turn those sticky pages. But oh my goodness. I cannot tell you how my heart melts when I walk into his room and see him sitting on a pile of books, carefully turning the pages of Pat the Bunny--which is upside-down--and babbling away all by himself. This little video is somewhat long for those whose heart isn't made of butter like mine, but I bet there are a couple of grandmas out there who will enjoy it.

Poor Pitiful Peanut (& His Momma)

At Spike's one year appointment, he had his Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine. They told us that 5 to 7 days later, the little tykes often develop a fever from the shot. So when Isaac turned into a little heater last week, we chalked it up to the vaccine.

But then it didn't go away.

It didn't go away and Izey started coughing. Oh, and crying. Crying a lot.

On Saturday I finally called the doctor who said if he didn't get better that night, bring him in to the walk-in hours on Sunday morning.

Isaac did NOT get better. He had never been so sick. He wasn't sleeping well and was crying inconsolably for 15 minute stints even right after his naps. We felt so bad for him!

So we went to the doc and were so glad we finally did--he had a raging ear infection in both ears.

Now, I don't begrudge the little guy for his timing, but it could've been better. I had been cooped up writing and writing to finish my project and was looking forward to my first fun, free weekend with my boys in weeks. Zach planned for us to go to a street festival--one of my favorite things about living in Chicago--and to hang with some of our best friends. But it was not to be. Instead we spent a beautiful 5 days trying to console our kid in the confines of our 4 room condo.

Monday morning, I said, "As soon as Izey gets better, we're going to the beach!"

But then Izey shared. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling like I'd been hit by a truck. Zach switched his work-from-home day to Tuesday so I could rest as much as possible.

As of today, Spike seems to really be on the mend and back to his happy self. I am still sick but can't be contained in the condo. Zach said he had a tickle in his throat last night and I told him he is not allowed to be sick. We'll see if he listens to me.

Harper's Graduation

The day I told my students--the ones that I had taught for both their sophomore and junior year--that I would not be back to teach them as seniors, I promised that I would be there on the day they walked across the stage to receive their diplomas. The fact that their graduation was precisely at Isaac's nap time and the fact that he had a cold was not going to stop me from keeping my promise.

Harper's graduation ceremonies are really fun. For a lot of the students, it's the biggest day of their lives. It is a huge accomplishment to make it through high school in the existent culture in that neighborhood, and the families are proud of their graduates.

A couple of my students are still mad at me for leaving, so it was hard to see them and have them not talk to me. But the others were excited I was there. One guy made it all worth while. He is going to college at Grand Valley State University in the town where I grew up! I am so proud of him! And he made it a point to bring his mom over to meet me. He said to her, "Mom, this is my 10th period English teacher--the one I was telling you about." She looked like she didn't know what he was talking about at first, but then he said, "She is that good Christian woman who gave me all that stuff." I'm not exactly sure what he meant by that, but his mom said, "Oh now I remember!" He went on to say, "Actually, she gave me a lot of stuff she doesn't even know about." Awww! Teaching those kids can be so rewarding sometimes. And when the rewards come, they are huge.

Here's a pic of me and the student. You can see that Isaac has just about had it and is ready to fall asleep. The guy behind me with the hat on was in my very first class! He graduated a couple years ago and is college now, so it was cool to see him, too.

Here's Spike about 30 seconds after we left.


Congratulations, class of 2008!

Stylin' Beach Baby

I'm on a little break from school, so you know my blog is going to be just overflowing. Referring to my research paper, I said to Jake the other day, "Who knew I had 65 pages worth of stuff to say about anything?" and his reply was, "Well, I figured you could if it's about Isaac or your hair."

Anyway, the very talented Melissa took some one-year shots of Izey at the beach, and, as always, we couldn't be more thrilled. Every time we've had a photographer take our pics I leave the shoot feeling disappointed because Isaac didn't smile as much as I would have liked, but I'm always surprised by how great the pics turn out anyway! This particular day was the first time in many weeks that Isaac simply would not fall asleep for his morning nap, so he was super crabby. He also fell against a book shelf the day before--hence the scab on his nose. Perfect timing.

Now we're just having a hard time choosing. I could seriously wallpaper my home with pictures of this kid. Which ones do you like best? The first three are the ones I think I'll send to family and friends.

my peanut

our little family

whale rider

favorite perch

interlaced

our little family 2

"you can do it!"

mom's favorite

shy smile

walking supported

our little family 3

boo boo nose

sandy toes

piggies in the water

beach bum

the space between

telling a story

In case you're interested...

At the end of last week I finished my big fat Master's Project! Woo hoo! On Tuesday I finished the 65 page paper and on Thursday I made a presentation to my class on "White Teachers Encouraging Black Students to Develop Positive Racial Identities." In case you're interested, here are the basics of my project:

Even when you correct for things like socioeconomic status and parents' level of education, there is still an achievement gap in our country--i.e. minority students don't score as well on tests as White kids. People really can't figure out why that is or how to fix it.

Some researchers have found that successful minority students point to their ethnic heritage as a source of strength and motivation to do well in school. That is not as true for Black students because they have the unique circumstance of having the worst stereotypes working against them, which they internalize. What that means is that while some minority groups have positive racial identities (meaning they have a positive sense of what it means to be Asian or Hispanic, etc), being Black is still seen as a rather negative concept, even--and research proves this to be true--for Black students themselves.

If students develop a more positive racial identity, research has suggested they will get better grades, score better on tests, be more motivated, be more likely to graduate, have higher career aspirations, and be more likely to go to college. Identity development largely takes place in school and schools have a deep impact on the decisions kids come to about what it means to be Black. Since we're influencing their identities whether we are aware of it or not, and since their conclusions have such a deep impact on their success, I decided to see whether White teachers can encourage Black students to have a more positive racial identity in hopes that it would help them to achieve more academically.

Since I don't have my own classroom right now, I went to a school that is about 25% Black in the city and conducted interviews with White teachers, a focus group with Black students, and classroom observations.

Here are a few of my findings:

First of all, my data holds true with the idea that even for the Black students, being Black is still largely seen as a negative construct. The kids and teachers had a hard time defining what it means to be Black, although they could tell me all about the negative stereotypes and what "some people" think it means. Out of 50 words or phrases they used that show their attitudes about what it means to be Black, 70% of them were negative.

Second, while all of the White teachers were prepared and willing to talk about race in the classroom, two of the three didn't really know much specifically about racial identity.

I also looked at the methods used in the classrooms for influencing Black identity. I found that the most often mentioned/observed method was teaching students about the history of oppression. The students also all mentioned that their school did not celebrate Black history month and a couple of them talked about celebrations they had at their old schools. They really missed that. That lead me to wonder: While teaching about the history of oppression and racism is true and important, if we balanced that with celebrating the positive aspects of Black culture--their food, music, family values, holidays, etc--would our students have a more positive sense of being Black?

The second most often mentioned method for influencing Black identity was relationships. I had to ask the students many times and in many different ways, "Can a White teacher help you to figure out what it means to be Black?" before I was able to get honest answers. The conclusion? It depends. There were a lot of nuances to their answers, but the upshot is: it depends on how knowledgeable a teacher is about Black culture, how sensitive, and what kind of relationship she has with her students.

There were a lot of other interesting findings and also a lot of limitations to my little study, but basically what I've learned is that when I have a classroom again, I want to be sure that my students get a chance to celebrate all the cool things about what it means to be Black. Then I can get a clearer picture about whether or not having a positive racial identity can help them to achieve.

What Spike is Like--Communication

In a blatant display of negligent parenting, Zach and I have failed to teach Isaac baby sign language. I know, I know, he's going to be way behind the other kids when he gets to college. He'll probably end up with severe psychological problems.

Luckily, Isaac has come up with an alternative system of communicating with us. Here are a few translations.

• Screaming while standing at the gate to the kitchen: "I'm hungry!"
• Screaming while sitting in high chair: "I dropped/finished the food you gave me and I want more!"
• Screaming while standing at the toy box: "There's a toy in there that I can't get out myself!"

Not all of his forms of communication involve screaming. Although I'm noticing that all my translations do contain exclamation points. I think that's accurate.

• Opening and closing fist: "I want that!"
• Pointing and saying "dis": "Look at this!" or "What is this?"
• Quickly crawling away while looking over his shoulder at us: "I betcha can't catch me!"
• Laughing whenever we laugh: "I get it, too! I'm part of the joke! It's so funny!"
• Dropping his food on the floor: "I'm done. Get this out of my sight!"

As you can see, he's got a lot to say. No baby signs necessary. :)

What Spike is Like at Age 1

We had an eventful trip to the doctor's office yesterday. Miles came with us because his parents are in the process of making him a big brother! (Not the traditional way, hee hee. They pick up his little baby sister this afternoon! Congratulations, Scott and Emily!) It was actually much easier than I thought to have two toddler-babies with us. We put both carseats in our car and the boys thought it was so funny to ride next to each other. The first thing they did was reach across and grab each other's hands. Then they passed toys back and forth, the ever-polite Miles saying, "Please?" and the ever-generous Izey complying graciously.

When we got there, the boys chased each other around the waiting room. Miles got down on all fours to be on Izey's level, which both thought was hilarious. Then they ate their weight in snacks as we waited AN HOUR AND A HALF to be called in.

They continued to entertain each other in the little exam room, making what could have been a lunch time nightmare into a pretty pleasant experience, despite Zach's and my growing impatience. (I think we're going to find another doctor since this is not the first time we've had to wait over an hour.)

So, here's what you've all been waiting for, our still-giant baby's one year stats. Please keep in mind that he is one year and THREE WEEKS old...not that that helps excuse these numbers much.
Height: 31.5 inches....92%
Weight: 28 lbs 14oz...99%
So he's big. NOT as big, however, as his daddy was at his age! Zach hit 30 pounds by one year!

Other than the fact that he's a chubba lubba, our doctor also told us that "scientifically speaking," Isaac is a "beautiful child." Now we know that we are not just biased. :)

To be honest, I had really been dreading Isaac turning one. I am very much a "baby person" and was not looking forward to the toddler phase. Not long ago, I said to a friend who has older children that I wasn't looking forward to toddlerhood. Her response? "I wish I could tell you not to be afraid."

But Izey is still Izey and we still think he's pretty fabulous. He is definitely becoming more willful, but just as people told me he would, he's also doing some fun new things every day.

His walking skills are growing. Jake the Manny actually got him to walk all the way down the hallway--from kitchen to stairs! He is beginning to really know what he is doing and be proud of himself when he makes it to his destination. He also has started walking the short distances between furniture on his own, especially when he's motivated to visit Kedzie on the ottoman.

As far as words go, it's debatable. I think he says "This" or "That" when he points to things, as in "What's this?" or "Look at that!" It sounds like "Dis" or "Dat." He also says "mama" and "dada" but I'm not sure if he's using those syllables discriminately. He often makes a "tss" sound when he looks at or points to lights, too--sounds like the end of the word "lights." And he is very interested in lights. He has to point to all of them in the room and whenever we say "lights" he looks up at it. I'll write more about his communication skills in another post.

He's following lots of commands now. He'll give you something if you hold out your hand and ask for it (but he wants it right back!) and he'll find something if you ask him where it is--like "Where is your truck?" If you say "Bang! Bang!" he'll bang his hands on whatever is in front of him, and if you say "Bounce," he will!

My favorite characteristic of Spike right now is that he is a little snuggle buggle. Before or after a nap, I hold him next to his crib and he puts his head on my shoulder and tucks his arms down between our bodies. Whenever I come home and he's been with a babysitter, he gives me sweet kisses. When he mets new people, he smiles and then buries his face in my shoulder. Often if he's playing while I'm reading on the floor, he'll drop what he's doing, climb up in my lap, give me a snuggle and a kiss, and then resume his play. Just wanted to let me know he loves me!

The update on our toddler-baby is becoming hugamondo, so I'm going to start a short series of "What Spike is Like" so that I can post about some of these things in more detail. Here are some previews of upcoming topics:

Perhaps my favorite new development is that Izey just started bringing us books that he wants us to read to him. I hope someday to capture this on film, because he looks so stinkin' cute when he does it. I'll tell the full story in another post.

He loves to wrestle or chase anyone he can engage in these games, especially his daddy. This definitely merits its own post with video.

There will also be more to come on our experiences so far with weaning him--he's now down to nursing only in the morning and before bed.

So that's our little big guy! Here's little demonstration of his bouncing skills--

Cracking Up

And Another Thing!

Yes, this is another rant about my hair.

Saying "What is going on with your hair? It's all brown." is not nice.

And why is it that some people don't even notice the change while others don't recognize me?

By the way, in case you were wondering, and because so many people have asked, here is why I decided to dye it:

It costs over $100 and takes 3 hours of my life every 6 weeks or so for me to stay blond. Zach and I are pinching every penny we can get our hands on because we want a house REAL* bad. It seemed silly for my hair to be consuming such a significant chunk of change. Also, I wasn't keeping up with it well enough to not be embarrassed by my darker outgrowth. So I decided to dye it back to my natural hair color, which I mentioned before is light brown. It ended up darker than I wanted. It has faded some. I don't love it, but it's OK.

Now you know.

*I know this is grammatically incorrect, but it just seemed more expressive that way... Am I a total nerd for not being able to write something purposely incorrect without telling you that I know it's incorrect?

Blueberries on the Beach

Isaac and I just got back from three glorious hours at the beach. We got sick of waiting for "beach weather" so we just went in our hooded sweatshirts and jeans. It was a little cold when we got there at 10:30, but by the time we left, it was nice and warm.
Isaac was unstoppable in the sand. He had to explore everything--the rocks, the wet sand, the dry sand, the grass. He wanted to explore the water, but I kept catching him just in the nick of time.

I also developed a new philosophy of keeping non-food items, like sand, out of his mouth: let him taste it. After catching his hand just before it brought the sand to his mouth 1,465 times in the first ten minutes we were there, he snuck one by me and shoved a fistful in. He made a funny face, spit it out, and then never tried to taste the sand again.

Spike also noticed birds for the first time. He was pretty impressed by the seagulls.

The funniest moment, though, was when Izey noticed a partially buried black plastic bag fluttering in the breeze. He was totally freaked out by it, but that didn't stop him from tentatively exploring it. These pictures basically tell the story:


As you may have guessed by the title, we also had a picnic during which Isaac devoured as many blueberries as I would let him have. It was a great day.

Here's sleepy Spike on our way home.