Skiing 101

Isaac's first time skiing.

 We spent all weekend at the ski hill.  

It was so cool watching him learn something new and having so much fun.  

 there's a lot of gear involved

 snow babes

 getting the feel of the skis

 little push from dad

 bigger push from dad

 feeling accomplished

time to head to the top of the slope

 gaining speed

Day 2: Harness employed so dad could tow Isaac up the real ski run.  Isaac wasn't ready to try the chair lift, but on their last run, Matt hauled him all the way up to the top of the lift.  Then Isaac skied all the way down.  Maybe next time he'll spare Dad the hike and use the lift.

 Isaac's biggest supporters

 time to break up the ski action with a little sledding

 back to the top

 sheer enjoyment!

Halloween, Finally

For Isaac's first three Halloweens, he either refused to wear a costume or cried and whimpered while doing so.  Not this year!  We got his costume weeks ago, and then it hung in his closet.  He never wanted to try it on or play in it.  He didn't want to take it to school like all the other kids.  Even on Halloween morning, he had no desire to put on the costume.  He kept saying, "I just want to wear it when we go trick-or-treating."  I was skeptical.  I was sure we were going to have another Halloween with no costume.  As he promised, he was finally interested in putting it on when we said it was time to get ready to go.  Suddenly he was INTO his role.   We had a blast being out in town with friends and our little spidey.  And Caden put on a good show for his first Halloween.  Fun times with little ones!

Practicing his spidey moves at home before hitting the town.

Taking a break to cuddle with a cute turtle.

You have to wonder if the wee ones are thinking, 

"I know I look ridiculous.  Why do they do this to me?"

Just another day on the job.

Isaac with his buddy Arlo.

With my little man and our friend Arlo.

Our trick-or-treating crew.  

The Swensons kind of put Matt and me to shame.  We might have to step it up next year.

Cuteness in a shell.

Now that is a face of Halloween satisfaction!

What a cohort.

 

Happy boys!

The Oz Man.

Turtle sighting!

Man, these kids had so much fun playing.  Nothing like a little sugar rush.

Sunday Visitor

A pair of moose, a male and female, decided to spend a couple of hours in our yard Sunday morning.  They enjoyed eating grass, leaves, twigs, and bushes, and then settled in to take it easy for a while.  We've had moose visitors before but never for such an extended period of time.  It still feels pretty crazy to live in a place where it's not uncommon to see moose walking down the sidewalk.

When I Was A Little Boy

Moms are supposed to have a collection of embarrassing photos
to employ upon graduations, dates, weddings, etc., right?
 I'm building my arsenal.

Brothers From The Same Mother

People often ask me if Isaac looked like Caden as a baby.
While they don't look exactly alike, there are definitely some striking similarities. 
For sure, they're both baldies.
And it helps that they wear the same clothes.

                                                   Isaac                                                                           Caden

 

Isaac

Cade

In these pictures,  Isaac is 8 months and Caden is 9.

What do you think? Do they look the same?

Eight for 8

Even though we are rapidly approaching 9 months, I still want to post this 8-month update for Caden because that time was full of milestones for him.  The pictures were taken at 8 months.  At that time, Caden had just learned to wave hi and bye and was eager to show off this new skill any time he heard the words, even if not directed at him.  He had recently learned to clap and loves to do so in play or excitement.  He also likes to clap to cheer on his brother.  He's one of the loudest fans on the sidelines at Isaac's soccer games.  Like Isaac at this age, a loud sustained yell is his most common form of communication.  The only word he says is "uh-oh" and it's really just a sound to him.  I don't think there is any meaning attached to it.  It's pretty cute that he says it a lot because it's the sentiment we often feel when watching him:  "Uh-oh, we're in trouble. He's attempting to pull up; or,  Uh-oh, we're really in trouble now--he's trying to crawl."  Yep, just after turning 8 months, the little bugger decided to become mobile.  Mind you, he still doesn't know how to roll from his tummy to back, but the little guy can motor with no problem.  The full-on crawling to cover ground is a more recent development.  He's really just mastered it over the last few days.  Right after turning 8 months, he figured out how to get from belly up to sitting.  It wasn't long before he started getting his knees up under him when leaning forward on his hands.  Then he began taking one little scoot at a time, leaning forward on arms and using one knee and one foot.  Now, he motors around that way with speed.  The way he crawls is really cute--it's kind of a hybrid crawl/butt scoot.  He just can't quite get that second knee up under himself and instead sticks out his leg to the side and uses the foot.  He is loving exploring the world this way.  He no longer is happy sitting still or being held.  He lurches or twists out of our arms with no warning.  You gotta watch him so he doesn't dive out of your arms while you're standing!  He wants to be down on the ground checking things out.

One day after C turned 8 months old, Gran arrived and spent a week with us.  That's always special.

Caden is a great eater despite the fact that he still does not have a single tooth.  Rather than going the traditional route of introducing food with purees, we adopted an approach called "Baby-led Weaning."  With this method, you skip the purees all together and go straight to real solid foods.  We started with soft foods such as steamed veggies and soft fruits.  Caden is pretty adventurous when it comes to food.  He'll try most anything we put in front of him, including meat. Some of his favorite foods are bananas, toast, squash, carrots, corn on the cob, peaches, pears, cheese, avocado, cucumber, and pasta.

Caden's napping schedule and abilities are a disaster.  I attribute that in part to him being the second child.  We are on the move and try to make his schedule fit ours.  It's not working.  It's really just the mornings that we are not home much. We are home every afternoon during which time Isaac naps beautifully.  I am struggling big time to get Caden to cooperate for a good afternoon nap.  It's maddening.  Some days I think I'm going to have a break down.  But we are trying to figure it out, and we will.  Like everything else, this too shall pass.  So....hopefully I'll have a better update on that subject at a later date.  Caden does pretty well at night.  We usually nurse once during the night and sometimes not at all.  Those nights are bliss.

Caden is a super happy, loveable little guy.  He is inquisitive and curious.  He likes to figure out what things do, like drawers.  He opens and closes them over and over.  He digs sand with a shovel in the sand box and crunches dry leaves.  He loves playing with his brother's toys.  He already "drives" vehicles around while making motor noises (not even kidding).  Like all babies, he chews on everything.  Reading him a book is a challenge because he just wants to eat it.   He gives great hugs and is soooo squishy sweet.  His smile melts my heart every time.  We love our sweet Caden!