a long time coming

Yes, it's been a long time since my last post. Isaac is in a very fun, I love my mommy so much I must touch her at all times phase. This makes it challenging to get anything done. Today I hid in the kitchen and ate my dinner. Isaac was having a happy moment, so I had to take advantage of it.

A couple major developments, before I forget:

-Thursday, May 31, Isaac took two unassisted steps!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-While playing a pattern game with bugs (kind of like teddy bear counters), I asked Isaac to match the appropriate bug to the color block on the card, and he put all five bugs with the corresponding color!

I've been able to tell for a while that Isaac understands "color", but he can't verbalize it, so the bug thing was pretty exciting.

My grandma stayed with us for a few days, and I'm not kidding, I was probably the happiest person on the block for those few days. I love watching my kids with my grandparents. Josh graduated from high school last week, so we had the special treat of both grandmas visiting for a couple days. The kids had a blast, and like I said, I was so happy.

A couple conversations with my grandma:

-Sierra, your hair looks so beautiful.
-Really? I just woke up, grandma. But I'm glad it looks good.
-Yes, it just looks so beautiful, but I could be wearing rose colored glasses, so you never know.
-That's probably more like it.

-What on earth is wrong with Isaac? Why is he so upset?
-I walked away to get something.
-Well, he certainly has you wrapped around his little finger!

-What is Isabella talking about? Did you really work out last night after I went to bed.
-Yeah.
-You mean Isaac doesn't give you enough exercise.

-Grandma, here's a towel and washcloth for you.
-I don't need those. I brought my own.
-You brought your own towel? Why would you do that?
-Well, I don't know, I just have my own.
-That's weird. I promise, we have plenty to go around, so if you need them, they're here.

***************************************************************************

The library has these things called Playaways (basically like a book on tape), and both kids love them. Isaac will even sit and listen for five to ten minutes.

Ballet rehearsal...

The big night. They were wonderful, and beautiful, and I cried.

By this point, Isaac was very angry. He has very little appreciation for ballet. Thanks to Sarah and Michael's iPod, he made it through Isabella's performance and then played in the hall with daddy.

Memorial Day

Tired

"Sierra, come look at your son." Sometimes, you just need to sleep with your pants on your head.

Walter is building a fort/swing set for the kids. Isabella has had a great time "helping".

Walter put us to work staining wood. Originally, grandma was sitting in a chair watching me, pointing out every single spot I missed, then she joined in, and I pointed out every spot she missed.

Singing and clapping with grandma...

At my brother's graduation, a young lady with special needs, walked across the stage and graduated. After the ceremony, when were hunting down my brother in a mass of thousands of people (not kidding, 426 graduates, plus family and friends), I told Walter I had to go to the bathroom, which I really did, but I actually wanted to find that family. I found them, and told this young lady's sister, what an inspiration her sister was to me. I imagined Isabella, well into adulthood, watching Isaac graduate. I told her about Isaac, and that we have no idea if he will be able to graduate, or what his ability will be in the future, but how amazing it was to see that it can be done. It can be done. I don't know if we'll get there, but if we do, there will be one giant celebration.

Isaac isn't like other two year old kids. This becomes more apparent to us by the day. It makes me want to hide in my house so that I'm not tempted to compare. The comparison hurts, a lot. In my angry moments, which usually happen at the grocery store, where another kid is sitting in a cart, and the mom says, "yeah, look at that baby!" I want to yell at her. Because guess what, in all of those situations, Isaac is the older one. Last week I left the grocery store, after a similar scenario, and decided I should have a shirt made for Isaac that reads,

I'm two years old. 

I have delays

But I'M NOT A BABY! 

He's not a baby. Get it. Got it. Good. 

He holds a pen like a two year old. He can sit still and have one book after another read to him. He can point to almost any object in a book. He understands games like hide and seek. When playing catch, he will look at me, and then look away, and purposefully throw the ball away from me and burst out laughing because I have to go get it. Walter was chasing him around the living room, and Isaac would stop and point at the ceiling for a minute, I asked Walter why he was doing that, and he said he was trying to divert his attention, so that he could scoot away really fast. A baby doesn't do that. He knows and understands more signs that most two year old kids. 

I could tell you all of the things he doesn't do. All of the things that make me sad. But I won't do that, because I'm not sure there's a point. 

Anyway, that's my rant. I could go on, but you probably don't want me to. 

Lastly, my conversation with Isabella while in the car today:

-Mommy! Did you see that dog? It was really close to the road.
-No, I didn't see it.
-Did you know, there is such a thing as an Invisible Fence? Really, there is.
-I believe you. That's what Gar and Papa have in their yard for Molli.
-What kind of dog is Stella?
-She's a mutt. That means her mommy and daddy were two different kinds of dogs. Both of Molli's parents were English Cocker Spaniels, so she's an English Cocker Spaniel too.
-Well, what kind of dog was Stella's parents?
-I'm not sure because we adopted her from the Animal Proctection League.
-Wait, you mean that you and daddy were hunters?!
-Um, no. I mean that some nice people rescued Stella from the side of the road and took her to a safe place, and then we got her.
-Oh. What happened to her mommy and daddy?
-I'm not sure.
-They were probably already dead.

And there you have it.