Wow, I cannot believe Isaac is almost 2! We are in birthday planning mode. Isaac is officially daytime, pee-pee potty trained! That means, he is going to the potty during the day and when he needs to pee-pee. When he has to go to the potty, he will whisper to me "pee-pee potty." He says it so quietly that it is difficult to even know what he is saying. However, when he is proud and wants to share this news with others, he screams "Pee-pee potty!" Stickers, food, and toys have been good motivators during this whole potty training process. Stickers on his potty chart alone seemed to work for a while. It is so cute when he goes to the potty, because he will place his little index finger to push down his "pee-pee." We are taking a break on the night-time training. He does still have accidents when he has to poo-poo. When Isaac has an accident he says "nasty." Having Isaac daytime potty trained feels like a big accomplishment (especially since he is young and a boy), and has resulted in less diaper expense. We are using pull-ups while sleeping and sometimes when out in public. Potty training has also resulted in Isaac moving up to the 2-year old class at his preschool, so he can be in an environment that focuses on potty training. He has actually transitioned fairly well. He does cry when I first drop him off, but he quickly gets over it. He just asks "Mommy Doe (mommy go?)?" and they tell him I am at work, and goes about his business!
Isaac has had some fun events this month. First of all, his swing set was completed (in time for his birthday party). Isaac has loved going outside each morning to swing, slide, climb the ladders, and play in the sandbox! He loves every inch of it, and has such a great time playing on it. Once he gets older he will see how special that swing set really is because it was built by his Daddy, Grandad, and Grampie. They did a wonderful job!!! I went on a trip to New York City with the women in Adam's family. While I was gone (which was the longest time I have spent away from Isaac ever, 4 days), he got to spend some time with Daddy, Grandad and Mimi, and Grampie. He really did not seem to miss me at all, which was good. Once I returned from the trip, Isaac got to spend some time with Joy and Abby from Texas! He also got to spend some time with the Wallace crew. He had lots of fun playing with them! This month his daycare class went to a dairy farm. Isaac was so excited about it that he talked about it for several days. He told me he saw a farm, tractor, barn, and cows. He also told me he had yellow ice cream (although, his teacher said it was pink...strawberry). Isaac enjoyed telling his grandparents about his trip to the farm. I also got to attend a backyard Bible club this month in our neighborhood, at his friend Julia's house. He got to hear a Bible story (told by his cousin Adam), play on a trampoline and swing set, and play on a slip-n-slide. He loved it! Isaac did take home a good message from one of the Bible stories. When we ask Isaac, "What did Jesus tell us to do?" Isaac moves waves his arm and replies "follow me." While at backyard Bible club, Isaac was getting ready to go down a slide, then turned around and kissed Julia behind him. Since he just recently kissed his buddy Tay at preschool also, we decided to try to just get him to hug people. He gets confused on who he can kiss and who he should not kiss. After we had a talk with him, he would say "no kiss Julia." It was so funny! Another big event this month was celebrating the 4th of July! We went to Grandad and Mimi's house for a cookout with the family, and then watched fireworks! Isaac stayed up for the fireworks, but was worn out from all the excitement! Once we got back home the next day, we had another cookout at cousins Adam and Carrie's house. We also had a chance to do some swimming. We had a great holiday!
Isaac is doing and saying a lot of funny and cute things these days. As he started last month, he says "kay" for yes. He still says "hands" when he wants to take your hand to pull you along and show you something. He also likes to show his muscles and grunt while doing so. If he is eating something he thinks is really tasty, he will take a bite then nod real big, showing his approval! I love when he does this! One day he put the laundry basket on his head and said "a big hat." It still makes me laugh thinking about it! Isaac will laugh hysterically when I go along with him. As I mentioned last month, he likes to yell out. I have started to act startled when he does this, and he just thinks it is the funniest thing ever! Isaac has also learned some new tricks to do with his mouth. His Grandmama taught him to put his finger inside his cheek, pull it out, and make a pop (like in the song "Lollipop, Lollipop." Every time he does this he laughs and says "Grandmama." One day Isaac and I were just playing around and making faces in the mirror. He discovered that he can put his tongue on the roof of his mouth to make a clicking sound. He also tries to roll his tongue. He is really close to doing it, but not quite. However, I have heard that rolling the tongue is a dominant gene, so if so, he will eventually be able to do it. Even though Isaac is saying more each day, I think his new favorite and most used phrase is "Isaac's turn." Oh how he loves to have his turn! His second most used phrase is "a bear," meaning "up there." He sounds so country when he says this. He may say "book a bear" or "Isaac a bear." It is very funny though! Isaac discovered what a shadow is this month one day while we were on a walk in the neighborhood. He saw Mommy's big shadow and Isaac's little one. He has also gotten a better understanding of the word "hot." He will take one step outside and say "hot outside." Isaac enjoys his baths, so to get him really excited prior to taking one I will say "what time is it?" Isaac then replies "bath time!" Finally, one more funny thing Isaac said this month. We were on our way to see the doctor, and he said "Dr. Frazier ear hurt." I did not tell him the doctors name, but he just remembered it and associated going to the doctor with previous ear infections. Then once we got into the treatment room and were waiting on the doctor, he said "Dr. Frazier bracelet" because the doctor always gives him a teething bracelet. It is amazing how much little ones remember on their own.
Isaac's interests are continuing to grow. He likes to count objects and guess their colors. He is still not a 100% correct with numbers and colors, but he is trying and is enjoying learning them. He also likes to talk about his friends more. He is really growing up! He plays be himself a lot better now too. He used to always want us in his room. Now he will just go into his room and play with his trucks, cars, books, trains, etc, and sometimes I will even hear him talking to himself. It is really precious! He likes to take a blanket inside his tent, and play with his toys on his blanket. One of his favorite things to do is to act like he is driving. As soon as we go to the garage to get in the car, he will open the door and climb in as fast as he can to the driver's seat and start steering and pushing buttons. Thank goodness he does not know how to turn on the car yet (but I'm sure it won't be long). Whenever I am sitting in our computer chair, he likes to climb under the armrest and sit directly behind me, between my back and the backrest of the chair. I am not sure why he loves this, but he does it all the time! Since going to see Thomas the Train last month, Isaac has become more interested in trains. He will sit with Daddy and watch Thomas and Friends on the I-Pad. Isaac loves spending time with his Daddy! He likes to blow his train whistle he got at when he went to visit Thomas the Train. Isaac also enjoys stacking blocks and making "towers." He seems to have really good fine motor skills, and a steady hand. Isaac also loves playing in water, whether it be the bathtub, swimming pool, or slip-n-slide. I am hoping to take him swimming more often, because he really has fun! Even in the bathtub, he gets on his belly, kicks his feet, and says that he is swimming. Isaac still likes going to the ball park, and has started to be okay with wearing baseball caps. He is so cute with his little cap on and he puts it on his head with a huge arm motion. He will sometimes even put it on backwards, which is also very cute!
Okay, so now onto the not so cute thing. Isaac has started to have more temper tantrums lately. I know this comes with the territory of becoming 2, but we are hoping to put a stop to these tantrums quickly by consistent discipline (which is a work in progress and a constant learning process). His tantrums are not awful, we just do not want them to get worse. He just cries and stomps in place with is feet. He gets over them fairly quickly, so I am thankful for that!
Isaac seems to continue to try to push his bedtime back. It could be because his room has a light coming in the windows later into the evening, but it is partly just because he loves to play and socialize. I have a hard time slowing him down now to read books during our bedtime routine. Many nights I will sing "Jesus Loves Me" while trying to get him relaxed. When he hears the first line of the song, he says "Bible" because he knows that the word Bible is in the next line I am going to sing. As soon as I get out of the rocking chair to put him in his bed, he says "Mommy, rocky, rocky" to stall and postpone going to bed. He says it so sweet that it is hard to resist just rocking him for a while. Those are my some of my sweetest moments with him!
Isaac had his birthday party at the end of this month. We actually celebrated it on July 10th. Details will be in a separate blog entry. Not only did Isaac have a great party, but he also took cupcakes to daycare on his actual birthday to celebrate with his teachers and friends. The entire week leading up to his birthday, he say "cupcake party!" He could not wait for the BIG cupcake! What a great month he had!!!! We just love our little fella!!!
