Old people are cool...

I think grandparents are extra special people. Maybe you aren't close to your grandparents or feel like you've never gotten to know them, but I'm pretty partial to mine and we've always been close. Walter and I have found that the nice thing (among others) about having kids when you're young, is that more than likely they'll get to know their great grandparents, and we think that's really cool.

I know it's been quite a while since my last blog post and surprisingly, I don't have very much to write about. I've been functioning on a very low level this past week. Isaac has four teeth coming in and as you know, he doesn't sleep well already and more teeth certainly doesn't help.

And since I haven't had a chance to share, Isaac will have surgery in July to have his adenoids removed and because he has had fluid in his ears for several months, he'll also get tubes in his ears. These are both minor surgeries and we also feel they will really help his sleep. When he sleeps he literally sounds like that straw thing at the dentist that sucks the spit out your mouth. I don't think I'd be able to sleep if I sounded like that either!

Oh, and I lied, he hasn't passed fifteen pounds yet. The weight a couple weeks ago was skewed because of the amount of poop he'd collected. The good thing about my mini-sized thirteen month old is that he fits in all of the clothes I bought for him to wear last summer that never fit. Aside from that, he's learned the hand motions (in his own way) to the Itsy Bitsy Spider, he can identify his head, nose, and mouth, and he's eating on average, eight ounces of food each day and four ounces of milk. Before you freak out because that sounds like a very minimal food intake, that's a huge improvement from the one to five bites he would do in March. But in addition to that, he's still nursing, which I would like to end sooner than later but his liquid intake has to increase before I can actively wean him. Overall, we've made lots of good progress but still have a lot more work to do! He still doesn't like to eat and has recently found new ways to avoid bites. These include, clamping his arm across the pacifier while it's in his mouth so that I have to work extra hard to remove it, and covering his eyes (so that I can't see him...very tricky!).

My grandma's neighbor died and we thought she wouldn't mind if we used her garden as our backdrop...

(Jess! I totally forget to tell Grandma and dad the rule: One arm has to stay out or you look amputated!)

An extra special and extra fun part of last week was that my cousin Nikki, who I only see every one to two years, came for a visit. She stayed at our house overnight and at one point I had to say to Isabella, "Nikki isn't here to play with you." "Yes she is!" We managed to have a few adult conversations in between Isabella telling her whole life story and every important thing that has ever happened to her. Thankfully Nikki didn't mind.

Check out these two love birds...

28. grandma c. singing to Isaac and Isabella

29. grandma h. happy that Isaac doesn't cry when she holds him

30. quiet weekends spent with Walter

31. planting in the garden

32. central air for really hot days

33. a long shower while Nikki watched the kids

34. my photography mentor who is believing in me enough to let me assist with a wedding this summer