17 Months

Upon our return to Houston, we were greeted by two weeks on nonstop rain. Being accustomed to Summertime drought in Texas, we were happy to have it, but it also made for some crazy days and cabin fever. A variety of indoor games were invented in order to keep outdoorsy Isaac from trying to walk into a monsoon.

There was a haircut, many bubble baths, even more books, a dog kennel that doubled as a fort, lots of vacuuming, snuggling, and many adorable requests to go outside accompanied by a heartfelt "peeeeeaaaase?"

Organize my old clothes? Good luck, Mom!

Stroller races at the mall

Daddy's shadow, especially when he has popcorn.

And when the rain stopped... oh, happy day!

The humidity fogging up the camera lens - only in Houston!

Chowing down on some PB & banana at the splash pad. We've been homeschooling swim lessons and he's making great strides.

Waving to every passing car at Starbucks

Climbed this all by himself on the first try

In general, this month has involved a lot of ups and downs. He's had some of his best moods and some of his worst, one of his best nights of sleep and one of his most wakeful, spent one Sunday being walked around outside for the entirety of mass and sat like a quiet angel the next Sunday. His sixteenth and final baby tooth (at least until his two year molars) just poked its head out yesterday so I'm hopeful that the end of teething will bring with it more stability.

One day, he took a long morning nap and then just rolled around during what was supposed to be his afternoon nap, and that was it. He's been taking one nap ever since. It's freed up our day and made for better sleep at night - a welcome change!

The face of teething

Isaac is really not a fan of strangers right now. It's not so much that he's shy, it's that he's uncomfortable with unfamiliar people or in unfamiliar situations. And yes, I think there's a difference. Many well-meaning fellow grocery shoppers wheel up beside our cart to chat with Isaac and think that he's waving "hello" when actually he's waving his hand back and forth to sign "all done". However, give him half an hour of your time and you'll be his new best friend and probably his designated book reader.

Although strangers are low on the list, the love of shoes and trucks are at an all-time high. He wears shoes, either ours of his, every waking hour of the day. He brings me my shoes and insists that I put them on as though to say "you have the ability to put shoes on anytime you want! Why would you not be wearing shoes?!" Often, the best way to get him to agree to a change of clothes or a diaper (things he typically runs away from) is to promise him the treat of shoes at the end.

The truck obsession is in full swing. He is constantly asking to go out the front door because he knows that there are several trucks we can see if we walk down our street. If we drive somewhere, before I can pull into a parking space, he's already pointing, bouncing in his seat and saying"khaw!" in anticipation of all the trucks in our vicinity.

On a truck-hunting field trip

The new words keep coming and now they're being paired together in great ways like "shoes on" (a very popular one), "hot bread" (what you and I would call toast), and "grapes, please." In general, he loves to ham it up, laugh and play hard all day.

Happy 17 months to our silly, precocious, sweet boy!