72 Weeks

How old? 16 Months 19 Days
Weight: 25ish lbs
Sleep: Better, much better.  Hooray for normality!  It has been pretty warm this week and we had to cave and turn on the air conditioning and yet somehow it is still warm in Linc's room.  His vent is wide open, we leave his door open at night, and we put his ceiling fan on but it remains warm.  However, he seems quite comfortable sleeping in his little dino shorts & t-shirt jammies so that's what matters. 
Food: Lincoln enjoyed his schwarma from Israeli Fest last weekend & he also really liked the pita and hummus that we got there too!  I think he practically licked his little hummus cup clean.  Monday he ate almost half of my shrimp dish I ordered from Pei Wei and a good 1/4 of my brown rice.  Tuesday he had yummy homemade shepherds pie made with ground chicken instead of beef in an effort for it to be more healthy, he was a big fan of the mashed potato part asking for "more more".  Then there was the night where he was apparently all shepherds pie'd out and would only eat white rice & peaches...that's my kid folks!  Thursday we had a celebratory dinner out at Macaroni Grill for Linc's "straight A's" (see Best Moment below) and he scarfed down his spaghetti and meatballs and the manager even got him a bowl of vanilla gelato for dessert.
Word List: Mama, Dada, Daa-dee, banana, uhoh, bye bye, touchdown, all done, book, night night, hi, thank you, yes, ball, more, dog, no, please, out, baby, bubbles, uhoh spaghetti-O's (it really sounds like uhoh spagheheheg-ooooo, but it's super cute), beep beep, car, boom (he says this when he gives you a high five)

Signs: more, milk, eat, all done, please, banana, water, puppies, cheese, outside, bed, help, meat/chicken
**Learning signs: car, lets go, stop, love
Best Moment This Week:  We had our Parent/Teacher Conference with Lincoln's caregiver this week.  She had nothing but glowing things to say, she kept saying how intelligent he is and how he studies the older children to learn how to do things he does not know how to do yet and then he mimics them.  He is doing excellent in the way of milestones; mentally, physically, socially.  His only vice if she had to say was sharing - shocker - an only child that is not great with sharing...but really she said most of the kids in his class have a problem with that and with time he'll start to understand and get better at sharing toys.  She said he is very determined and strong, if he wants something he will get it!  Also that he is very patient and that if another child is bothering him he will not lash out or cry, but rather sit there calmly tell them no.  She said that he is an excellent eater and that he absolutely loves rice, pasta, bananas, and any other fruit, that particular day she said that he asked three times for more green beans (I kinda wanna know what their trick is because he never asks for more green beans at home, lol)!
She also gave us a portfolio of Lincoln's art projects, one picture from each month that he's been there and the folder was decorated with pictures that they had taken of him from the school year.  

After our wonderful meeting we took Lincoln out to dinner to celebrate "getting all A's" (to Macaroni Grill as mentioned above) and he had a great time coloring on the table and slurping up his spaghetti.  
And then we walked to the Barnes and Nobel next door to look at some books and play for a little bit before it was time to head back home and get ready for bed.  We got Linc an awesome book that teaches animals & counting, Old Macdonald's Farm: Poke-a-dot.  He LOVES it!

Worst Moment This Week: Linc's got a bit of a cold this week and his eyes have been kinda yucky, so daycare thought it might be pink eye but we had to explain to them that it was just a cold.  We went through this with them a month ago and went to the Dr. for it and they told us no pink eye just a cold, and they gave us eye drops then that we could use when this happened again.  So we started him on the drops and he is doing much better, we weren't about to make an unneeded trip to the Dr. for nothing.  He is fine and no more yucky eyes.  

What We're Looking Forward To:

Good weather & trips to the zoo & farmers markets, OH MY!

Moving up to the 16-22mo class at Gymboree
Father's Day preparations are underway
Trips back to Cleveland and Indiana in the coming summer months
Booking a Girls Trip to Mexico for November!  Hello beaches & unlimited drinks!
Movement: Always
Milestones:  Beginning discipline; You may be wondering when to step in and discipline your child for a particular misbehavior. Your toddler is beginning to develop a sense of what's okay and what's not. Much of her "naughty" behavior is not intentional defiance. She's testing your limits to better understand what they are.
Sometimes it's simply curiosity: "Mommy said not to play with the DVD drawer – did she really mean it?" Or "I'm not allowed to throw peas off the highchair, but what about crackers? What about milk?"

Be calm and matter-of-fact as you guide behavior, but don't look the other way when you disapprove. If your expectations are clear and consistent now, your child will grow up more secure, obedient, and happy.

Weekend Round-up: From Farms to Falafel

Just another crazy fun filled weekend in the Isaacs house.  It's not a normal weekend unless it is filled to the brim with activities, I don't think we'd know what to do anymore if we had quiet time!  

Saturday we made it to the Reston Farmer's Market for the first time of the season.  We had a great time walking around checking out all the stands and Lincoln loved the fountain located in the center and the jam band that was set up by all the vendors.  We came out with some fresh salsa, strawberries, a tomato plant for my topsy turvy tomato planter, and a blueberry muffin for snack later that morning.  All in all a successful trip for sure!

After that stop we headed to the Reston Zoo to make good use of our season passes.  Lincoln had a great time seeing all the animals again.  He did refer to all the animals (goats, chickens, turtles, monkeys) as "dog" though...we'll work on that.  It was fun to see all the new babies since we were there a few weeks ago!  

Sunday we did our usual Gymboree class but the focus was climbing and jumping so Lincoln was extra worn out, which did not workout well because we were supposed to stick around and try out the next level class after his normal class to see if we wanted to move up.  Well, Linc was having none of it, he kept saying "no, no" and "all done".  It was clear he was spent.  

So we gave him a sippy of water and a squeezable applesauce and he was out in a matter of minutes once his tush hit his car seat.  Our next stop was to the mall to run a few errands and let him play a little in the kids play area, which was very clean and really nice, so if you ever find yourself in the vicinity of Fair Oaks Mall and you wanna hit up a play area it is pretty sweet and Lincoln approved!  After all of that it was time to hit up the main event of our Sunday...the Israeli Street festival.  We met up with Cyndi and the boys and explored Fairfax Corner and all the kosher fun it had to offer.  

We decorated blue yarmulkes for all the boys at a table setup by Cyndi & Matt's temple and played in a sandbox at the Gesher booth, read books at PJ Library, and we had schwarma for lunch YUMMY!  It was a good time until rain and the threat of a storm ruined our good time, boo.  But the rest of our afternoon was spent hanging out on the balcony at home and playing with our new water table.

71 Weeks

16mo & Then Some

How old? 16 Months 12 Days
Weight: 25ish lbs
Sleep: Yikes, we did a number on our schedule this past weekend that's for sure!  I kinda knew we would given all the events going on and new surroundings...  Friday Linc was up up up late late late.  Little man did not go to bed until after 10pm!  Craziness, just craziness, now Todd and I are by no means schedule people however Lincoln is, so this was a big deal!  But he was having too much fun seeing Grammy Sparks & the whole Isaacs Fam, and being in a hotel that was new and exciting.  Uggg then he woke up like a million times during the night (and so did I, thank you room neighbor who watched TV loudly until 5am) though I am pretty sure he just didn't know where he was.  Finally around 6am I took him into the big bed with me, Todd  had stayed with Andy at his house, so we cuddled and slept off and on from 6am-9am.  Saturday night was better probably because he was so wore out from the excitement of the wedding and his ring bearing duties, being so adorable is extremely exhausting, you know.  But then Sunday was back to being a rough night and Monday morning he was up at 5am and ready to go, Mommy & Daddy not so much!  Thank goodness he slept well during naptime in the car on the way home to DC.  However we were greeted at home with thunderstorms so it was still a bumpy road when it came to bedtime.  He went down good enough but come 3am when another big storm came through he was woken-up (along with Mommy) by a very loud clap of thunder!  We let him soothe himself (even though I wanted to go down there very badly, but it was better to let him deal with it as long as his cries did not turn frantic, maybe he'll stand a chance to not be such a scaredy cat when it comes to storms ::unlike his mother::) and he was back asleep in a few minutes. 
However, the rest of the week he slept like a champ! 
Food: Our last day in Cleveland we went with Grandpa and Uncle Brant to B Spot for lunch before we hit the road.  While not entirely baby friendly in the way of a kids meal menu, we made it work by giving Linc some of our food and man was he all about the french fries.  Let me just say he does not normally get french fries at all, but he was in love so we gave in and let him have a few...I mean they are a vegetable and they were seasoned with rosemary, so that's kinda healthy right?  I will say B Spot would give Five Guys a run for their money if they were out here in DC, YUM!  And now Lola is definitely on my list of places to eat in Cleveland.  Michael Symon is kinda awesome!
Word List: Mama, Dada, Daa-dee, banana, uhoh, bye bye, touchdown, all done, book, night night, hi, thank you, yes, ball, more, dog, no, please, out, baby, bubbles, uhoh spaghetti-O's (it really sounds like uhoh spagheheheg-ooooo, but it's super cute), beep beep, car (ca),

Signs: more, milk, eat, all done, please, banana, water, puppies, cheese, outside, bed,
**Learning signs: car, help, lets go
Best Moment This Week:

We had a wonderful time at Andy & Taryn's wedding (*see the few pics in the previous post) and all the events surrounding it.   I only wish I had gotten more pictures but I had my hands pretty full Lincoln wrangling and then by the time I had a chance to breathe and enjoy myself I was too in the moment to remember to snap some shots that I wish now I had.  Oh well, regardless it was a fabulous time! 


Congrats To The Happy Couple!

Linc got a new toy this week.  We had been looking to get him a water table since he loves water so much and we can barely get him out of the bath tub on bath nights.  We found the perfect one and it happened to be on sale this week at ToysRus, YAY!  So I picked it up Wednesday and since the weather was nice Todd (with Linc's help, sort of) put it together and Linc got to test drive it out on the balcony. 

And in other news I got a fabulous new pendant from my mom for Mother's Day, it is made from Lincoln's actual fingerprint.  She enlisted us to get his little prints on a sheet of paper and asked  us to send it back to her via snail-mail, I had no idea what it was for she didn't say and I figured it was some Grandma thing, lol!  Well it turns out it was for this, and it is just like the coolest thing ever, j'adore!

I also got a new photo app for my phone this week that is completely awesome and so much fun!  It is called Instagram, if you have an iPhone or a iPod Touch seach for it now - yeah, right now - cuz it is cool & it's FREE.  I big pink puffy heart it!  You can use a bunch of cool filters and focus stuff to create even cooler looking pictures (see pic above of Linc w/ water table & 16mo pics). 

Worst Moment This Week: Just a few semi sleepless nights in CLE, but mostly this week was all goodness!  

What We're Looking Forward To:

Good weather & trips to the zoo & farmers markets, OH MY!

Moving up to the 16-22mo class at Gymboree
Father's Day preparations are underway
Trips back to Cleveland and Indiana in the coming summer months
Booking a Girls Trip to Mexico for November!  Hello beaches & unlimited drinks!
Movement: So Lincoln's two favorite things about the hotel this past weekend in order of amusement were as follows:
1. sliding mirrored closet doors (see video below)

2. luggage carts as toddler transportation

Now That's Some Precious Cargo

Milestones:  Gentle bedtime routines; Bedtime will go more smoothly if you establish a routine your child can count on. A good bedtime routine is long enough to ease your child into a relaxed state, but not so long or complicated that it's a chore for you – or impossible for a babysitter to replicate. Twenty to 30 minutes is a good length of time.
Include more or less the same elements in roughly the same order every night. For example: A small snack, a bath or a quick cleaning of hands and face, get into pajamas, brush teeth, read a book or two. A cuddle and a kiss, and you're done. Other options include saying goodnight to a few stuffed animals or singing a lullaby. Ideally, you'll find a routine that works for your child (and for you) – and stick to it.  Skip the roughhousing. Your goal is to gently wind your child down, not rev her up.
**I don't normally put the "parent tips" listed on Baby Center under Milestones in the blog because I usually think they are dumb but this one addresses what is going on with Linc lately and while I personally don't really find it as much a tip as I do validation on perhaps why I think he is doing the same thing... 
PS sure enough he does have another tooth coming in, Todd saw it when he was tickling Linc.
Parent tip

"My daughter only used her pacifier for sleep. Recently she started wanting it while she was awake and actually walked around calling for it, which she had never done before. Sure enough, three molars are coming in! Now it makes sense that she wants her binky more often. I'm going to let her keep it until the teeth come in all the way, and then we'll toss it."

Ani L'Dodi V'Dodi Li - אני לדודי ודודי לי

Hebrew from the Song of Solomon: I am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine


Here are a few pictures from our wonderful weekend in Cleveland!  We had a great time at Andy & Taryn's wedding & wish them all the best in starting their new life together. 

Mazel Tov!

70 Weeks

How old? 16 Months 5 Days

Weight: 25 lbs

Sleep: Back normal...ish.  Ask me again next week after our travel and jam packed weekend in Cleveland!

Food: Love love lovin' his freeze dried apples, he's got a pack a day habit.  Seriously though he eats one every single day once I pick him up from daycare on the ride home. 
Right now Lincoln will pretty much eat anything and everything we feed him, not sure when the last time it was he full out refused something because he didn't like it. 

Word List: Mama, Dada, Daa-dee, banana, uhoh, bye bye, touchdown, all done, book, night night, hi, thank you, yes, ball, more, dog, NO (yeah, not so excited about that one), please, out, baby
He seems to be mimicing words once when you say them, but  he doesn't really repeat them. 
Signs: more, milk, eat, all done, please, banana, water, puppies, cheese, outside, bed

**Learning signs: car, help, lets go

Best Moment This Week: 
My second Mother's Day was fantastic!  Daddy and Linc brought me an really sweet card that they recorded for me.  And they got me a lovely framed picture of my favorite shot of Lincoln and I from our Little Moon photo session.

This was a wild wild week lots of laundry and packing and running errands.  

On Our Way To Pick Up Linc's Snazzy Tux

We picked up Lincoln's tux from Men's Warehouse for Andy & Taryn's wedding and he looks so cute!  Afterwards we had dinner at Carrabba's where Linc behaved for the most part as long as we let him eat his pasta with a grown-up sized fork.  He managed to use it pretty well, at least he didn't poke an eye out so I guess that's what matters right?!?
Worst Moment This Week: Nothing in particular, just a crazy busy week for all the Isaacs!
What We're Looking Forward To:
Andy & Taryn's wedding!!!!!!!!!! 5/14

Movement: Lincoln is really into opening and closing doors right now.  Or cubboards, or boxes, or pretty much anything you can open and or close.

Milestones:  Tuning in to temperament; You've been picking up clues to your child's temperament from the day he was born. The way your 16-month-old interacts with the world around him will tell you a lot about how he'll probably respond to different situations, people, places, and things as he gets older.

Your child might be flexible and adapt easily to change – or he may need a more predictable schedule and plenty of advance warning before transitions. Pay attention to what works best for him. You know your child better than any book does.

For example, if your child functions best on a solid afternoon nap, try to make sure he gets one. If he's reserved in new situations, give him extra time to warm up rather than insisting that he hug people he meets. He's depending on you to help him feel comfortable. By respecting his needs, you can help him learn to deal with the world.

Sometimes you can modify your child's environment in small ways to help him stay engaged and avoid meltdowns. That said, it's not your job to make life fun and free of frustration. Your child will get upset and dissolve into tears and tantrums. It's all a normal part of how kids learn and grow, so don't take it personally!

Off To The Races

Saturday we (just Mommy & Daddy) enjoyed a beautiful day at the Virginia Gold Cup races.  This was the fourth year that we were able to make it (thank you to our good friend Cortney for introducing us to this awesome tradition) and we had a fabulous time. 

A big reason we were able to enjoy ourselves so much was that we knew that our other friend Mary was taking great care of Lincoln while we were out and about!  Linc had a wonderful time with Mary, and he behaved himself for the most part.  He definitely slept really great that night so we know he played a lot!  (Thank You Mary!!!)

69 Weeks

How old? 15 Months 28 Days

Weight: 25 lbs  

Sleep: Sunday & Monday nights were not pretty.  The little man did not sleep well at all and was all tossy and turny and waking up crying a lot.  Well we got a call from daycare Monday morning telling us that he had a fever of 100.2 and that we needed to come pick him up.  So Daddy headed over that way and got Linc and took him straight to a Dr. appointment to see what was up.  Turns out he has an ear infection so back on antibiotics we go.

Food:  With being sick Linc's appetite has not been quite the norm.  We have been pretty much offering him lots of cheese and turkey and yogurt.  Nothing exciting here.

Word List:  Mama, Dada, Daa-dee, banana, uhoh, bye bye, touchdown, all done, book, night night, hi, thank you, yes, ball, more, dog, NO (yeah, not so excited about that one), please

Signs: more, milk, eat, all done, please, banana, water, puppies, cheese, outside,
**Learning signs: bed, car, help, lets go

Best Moment This Week: Lincoln got his tux for Uncle Andy & Auntie Taryn's wedding, it just needed the hem adjusted on the pants.  But he looks so super cute, we can't wait to see him in ring bearer action!
Tuesday night Daddy & Linc hung out and played and cuddled while I got to take a trip into the city to meet up with Auntie Cortney at a book signing for one of our favorite authors, Jen Lancaster, at Barnes & Nobel in DC.  It was so fun and Jen even remembered us, how cool is that?!?

I got an early Mother's Day present from Lincoln Friday when I picked him up from daycare.  They helped him make me a very cute bag with a picture one side and a finger paint picture on the other side.  Very cute & I love it!

Worst Moment This Week:  The ear infection takes the cake this week.  We are going to go see a specialist this week and see what they have to say...possibly tubes. :(

What We're Looking Forward To: 
Gold Cup Races (for Mommy & Daddy only) 5/7

Andy & Taryn's wedding!!!!!!!!!! 5/14

Movement:  Lots

Milestones: Scary sounds; Fear of loud noises sometimes surfaces unexpectedly. Your 16-month-old may cower, cry, and act downright terrified at the sound of a vacuum cleaner, a thunderstorm, a siren, fireworks, or a popping balloon.

Offer calm reassurance. A hug and an acknowledgement of his feelings – "Wow, that was a scary surprise, wasn't it?" – may be sufficient. Show your child how he can cover his ears to give him some control. Your toddler will eventually outgrow a fear of noises as he gains an understanding of where they come from and that they're harmless.

Weekend Round-up

I have been feeling like sometimes my weekly blog updates can be a little long winded and I seem to be forgetting about and subsequently leaving out some of the fun stuff that we did at the beginning of our week/weekend.  So I am going to start to do posts recapping our fun & usually busy weekends and we'll see how it goes.


Saturday

The morning was spent at Lincoln's daycare's Spring Carnival.  Todd volunteered to run a booth and he was assigned to man the "Cup Knock Down", where basically he had to stack up cups in a pyramid and then kids got three tries to knock it down by throwing small rubber balls.  It was a pretty popular game, and Todd did a great job!  Lincoln and I helped a little bit with setup and when we were done we went to explore the rest of the carnival.  We watched big kids in the bouncy house, Linc got his face painted (an orange spider on his nose, or a tiger whichever you feel most represents a Lincoln), we played a few of the games that were meant for the super little kids and Linc even won a couple of prizes!  Then we got some snacks and went back to check on Daddy.  

When Daddy was done with his shift we went to check out the police car and then finished out our carnival experience with a try at the cake walk but alas we came up empty handed.  It was beautiful weather and a great time!  

Lincoln definitely had a great time and was super wore out given he took a 4 hr nap!


After naptime and a little snack we hopped in the car and took a trip into the city to a friend's BBQ.   We always have a great time at Tony's!  Lincoln did really well as did Tyler & Zack, all three boys were very well behaved and had lots of admirers!  I think they had a great time hanging out together...

Sunday
We had a play date with one of Lincoln's classmates from daycare and her parents.  Linc and cute little J were so adorable, as soon as they saw each other they were smiling and saying hi and poking each other.  SO CUTE!  We met up at the Reston Zoo and had a great time getting to know each other and exploring the different exhibits with the kids.  

J & Lincoln loved the petting zoo area and were really interested in all the sheep and goats, they did really well feeding them and weren't scared at all.  

We took the kids down by the water where there were ducks and geese, and there were some alligators in a habitat near by that they got to see too.  Then it was on to the birds where we saw a white peacock that was really cool.  Then to the leamers and then monkeys! 

And then it was time for the most exciting part, the wagon safari ride!  We hopped in the wagon and took a trip around the field where all the big animals lived.  We saw antelopes, bison, ostriches, camels, and zebras.  
Todd got up close and personal with Betty the ostrich.

And I had the pleasure of having Mr. camel all up in my face (and hair).  

Lincoln thought both instances were hilarious, and he laughed and laughed.  Silly kid.  

We ended up purchasing season passes because Lincoln (and us too) had such a great time, we look forward to going back for more play dates and weekend visits!