Cousin Sylvie

Isaac is a pretty independent kid. He's perfectly happy doing his own thing and usually just observes other kids if he pays them any attention at all. Sylvie, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. She loves other kids and is always wanting to play with them. As you can imagine, this causes some friction between the two. Isaac is all about his personal space, while Sylvie likes to give many hugs and kisses. So imagine my surprise when, after a few hours together, she won him over! Initially he would hide from her to preserve his precious personal space (and avoid the kisses), but after a while, her games looked like fun and he joined in. The next thing I knew they were chasing each other all over the house, running and screaming, having the best time. I might have some of it on video, I'll have to check. They were cute as everything and just as I had gotten used to a kid that liked to play with other kids, he shocked me to no end by leaning over and kissing her! Who knew?


Playing the piano together.

And taking a bath together (they are really not going to like these pictures when they're older).

And having a drink (No, there was nothing in the bottle; they were just too cute).

"Hey, wait a second..."

"There's nothing in there!"

What happens when you've had a few too many.

Birthday party with the family

OK, I cannot keep the blog up to date...I'm doing the best I can, but we are somewhat behind. Anyway, back in January we went to see the extended family to celebrate birthdays. We didn't get many pictures of the birthday celebration, but these few where pretty good.


This was Isaac's birthday present from Aunt Janet, Uncle Dan, and cousin Sylvie.



Let's just say "mess" is an understatement!

Notice the pink tint to the brown shirt. Luckily this stuff came out of everything easily (thank goodness, because Oma was not too happy with the mess).

Stairs story

I called Paul and told him an Isaac story, and he said I had to put it on the blog, so here it is...
There is some debate within the Aardema clan as to the best way for a toddler to descend the stairs. We are a fan of the feet first, on the tummy; while they are more for the buns method. Both have their benefits and drawbacks, so the debate goes on. Well, Isaac has been going faster and faster down the stairs and it's making me nervous, so I decided to try the buns method. I showed him how to do it, and he gave it a try. He was plopping on his buns every step and it looked sort of painful as it rattled his head. (He was also grunting as he landed on every step.) When he got about a third the way down the stairs (after a particularly loud grunt), I asked if it hurt. He responded with a vigorous nod, and said "Dess (yes), Mama". He leaned to the side and pointed to his buns and said "Dess hurt". He paused for a minute, then said "I know!" and flipped over and slid the rest of the way down on his stomach. My little problem solver :-).

Random picture. Thank you Arden and Natalie for my birthday present! I love it!

The cousins

Here is the whole crew (at least until May...then we'll have to make a space for the next cousin :-). Aren't they cute? (Sorry to the oldest 2--I won't name names--for calling you cute ;-).

Isaac turns 2!

Since Isaac's birthday was in the middle of the week this year, and we don't have any family in town, we wanted to do something special. So we introduced Isaac to Chuck E Cheese. We have a bunch of video of it (I will try and post some later).

Daddy introducing Isaac to his favorite kind of game--racing.

Isaac's first Whack A Mole game (or in this case, whack a spider).

Taking a little ride with Chuck E.

Daddy really likes the driving games.

Introducing Isaac to my all time favorite game (and Granddaddy's)--Skee ball

Enjoying a messy cupcake.

For some reason, he wouldn't pick up the cupcake...he just went for digging in.

One of his new presents (ironically very similar to something I had when I was little).

Christmas

This Christmas was so much more fun than last year. Since Isaac was almost 2, he got the concept much better this year and had a great time opening everything.

Isaac opening all his stocking goodies. He likes putting stickers on himself.
Kissing the horse that Grandmommy gave him.

His train present...

We didn't want to pack up his train track from us and take it down to Florida, set it up, then pack it up again, so Great Aunt Janice was nice enough to loan us this one while we were down there. Isaac "opened" it on Christmas, and boy did he have a great time! Train table made possible by Granddaddy and Uncle Andrew (thanks guys!)

I got Isaac the train whistle for his stocking...he thought it was a hoot!

Granddaddy showing Isaac how to use the golf clubs he got him for Christmas.

Hanging out with Uncle "Annew"

Opening some of his train cars. (Thank you Lori--he loves them!)

This is the best Christmas present I ever received!

Christmas Card Rejects 2008

So here is a bit of our Christmas 2008 photo shoot. I'm really liking this tradition, but I did learn that it is much harder to photograph an almost 2 year old than it is to photograph a non-walking almost 1 year old. The boy really did not want to sit still! Thanks to Daddy for his VERY hard work at getting Munchkin to laugh, because I just couldn't get him to do anything!

This is the "train tree" that Great Aunt Frances gave Isaac, and boy, does he love it! It sings Christmas carols and the train goes around a track inside the tree. A most fabulous Christmas decoration for a boy that loves trains.

This is Isaac's "Woo-woo" (a.k.a. train) dance. He swings back and forth and says "chuga, chuga chuga...woo-woo!"

I thought this one was pretty cool. I'm not even sure how I did this.

Being goofy and stubborn. He decided he wanted a break.

I'm not sure where he even got this. He taps his finger on his chin and says "hmmm.......I know!" Hence his Sherlock pose.