Isaac is ONE!

Everyone always says babyhood is gone in the blink of an eye, but it's so hard to believe when you're in the thick of things and waking multiple times a night and having nursing issues and scraping mashed banana off the floor and changing the tenth diaper of the day. But it has happened, our "baby" is now one year old and officially a toddler.

Below is a snapshot of who Isaac is right now, what he's doing, what he's not doing, what he's eating and not eating, so you might want to skip it if you're not Isaac's blood relative. :)

Just in time for his first birthday, Isaac has decided to finally sleep through the night!! The trend began a couple weeks ago, and now Isaac reliably sleeps 12-13 hours straight at night. Hallelujah! (If only the almost-3-year-old in our house would sleep through the night again... but that's another post.) He is still napping twice a day (at 9am and 1pm) for 1-2.5 hours, and it seems like he likes and needs sleep more than his sister does. He goes to sleep with the assistance of his thumb, a lovey blanket or two, and his cotton sleep sack.


Isaac is really nowhere near walking unassisted right now, but his newest joy is walking behind his Radio Flyer walker wagon. It provides just enough resistance so his feet can keep up with his arms and body. And Isaac and Amelia both love it when Isaac pushes and Amelia rides! Isaac is doing just a tiny bit of cruising on furniture, but he mostly still prefers to speed crawl to his desired destination and then pull up again. He is definitely spending more and more time playing while standing up.


Our fabulous eater is just recently starting to show the signs of a picky toddler on the horizon. Things that used to be favorites (like sweet potatoes) now are lucky if they are ignored on his tray -- they are more likely to get thrown on the floor immediately! However, Isaac is eager to try new foods and seems happier when his diet is varied. You can't blame him for getting burnt-out on sweet potatoes every single night! These days he eats pretty much whatever everyone else eats (eggs, toast, fruit, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles for breakfast; cut-up sandwich and fruit for lunch; cut-up meat, veggies, fruit for dinner). One old favorite food, the avocado, has retained favored status, and Isaac continues to eat one to two avocados a week. He definitely inherited this love from his mom. Yum!


At home, Isaac's favorite place is the bathroom. If you turn your back on him for a second, he is crawling as fast as he can to see if the bathroom door was left open. If it was, you'll probably find him at edge of the tub trying to reach for the faucet. One time, he fell head-first right into the (empty) tub! I was standing right there when it happened, so I quickly scooped him out and he seemed completely unfazed. In fact, he went right back to reaching into the tub again. At bathtime, Isaac is a wild man. He kicks and splashes and crawls around and attempts to pull up on everything. Luke has the honor of bathing the kids at night, and he can tell you that keeping Isaac from bumping his head or ending up face-first in the water is a job that requires all of his attention.

Overall, Isaac's temperament seems a little more relaxed and easy-going than Amelia's, although it's a little hard to remember what she was like at this age. He certainly has his fussy times (he's generally not a morning person), but he spends a lot of his time happily going along for the ride to Amelia's activities, to the grocery store, to the playground, to Target, etc. Such is the life of a second child, I suppose! In the car, as long as he has a blanket with him, he will happily suck his thumb and gaze out the window peacefully. Isaac also loves to laugh, just like everyone else in his family. He and Amelia have a little game they play where Amelia blows a raspberry or makes another funny sound and Isaac either repeats it back to her or just laughs hysterically, which in turn makes Amelia laugh. It is so cute. Seeing your children playing together and making each other laugh is one of the most wonderful things to experience as a parent.

Isaac still adores music and will start bouncing away in the grocery cart, in the Ergo, on his feet, on or on his hands and knees whenever he hears music playing. Sometimes his dancing is accompanied by hand waving or "conducting" or clapping. I will be shocked if this boy doesn't grow up to be some sort of musician. Turning on music is still our "sure thing" when he's having trouble falling asleep or settling down -- soothes him every time.

Happy Birthday, Isaac! We all love you so much and feel so thankful for the love and joy and snuggles you bring to our family.