Thomas the Train

Both watching intently as Gordon and James fall off the bridge and into the water.

Isaac has never been one to watch TV, he will watch about 20 seconds and then be off playing again. Well lately he and Luke have both developed a love for Thomas the Train. It is one episode in particular for Isaac, Luke will watch any of it. The attention span is still short, but they watch for a few minutes, which sometimes is much appreciated down time for me. ;-)

Pool Time!

Luke is getting more and more comfortable in the pool. He has started to really enjoy the shelf area and the bubblers. He doesn't like to spend too much time in his float, he wants his freedom. I love watching him play and giggle in the water with buckets, bubblers, and of course cars. :-) Yes, we even have cars that go in the pool.

Isaac is our fish! We can hardly get him to wear a floatie of any kind, he wants to be a big boy and swim. He loves to jump in and swim to the step...his swimming is improving daily and we are so proud of him!

Swimming

One of his first times to jump off of the board!

Luke "jumping" off of the rock to Daddy.

Brothers

This weekend was a fun, but yucky weekend. Unforuntately, I only got more sick, lost my voice on Saturday and ended up with pink eye by Saturday evening. Ugh, it feels like it's never ending! Thankfully, we have extra eyedrops from the boys, so I started those immediately and I can already see a huge improvement.

Since I could not swim, Carl and Isaac spent a lot of one on one time in the pool. This was great for them both, they had so much fun together and Carl got Isaac doing so many things I haven't been able to get him to do. He started jumping off of the diving board...over and over again, now! He opens his eyes under water (which we've been working on in swim lessons), and he will swim with the goggles on. I'm so proud of him, my little fish!

Luke got in on the swimming fun today, too. He had a great time in his float, swimming with Daddy, walking to Daddy on the tanning shelf, and sitting on the rocks.

I'm so thankful to have a great husband that will drop everything and spend his weekend playing with his boys, so I can rest and watch from the sidelines. I love you, Carl!

Communicating

CARS!

Luke has really started to communicate with us, in his own little way. Maybe it's more that we are finally understanding what he's trying to tell us. These pictures were taken this weekend; there were a bunch of cars parked in the street in front of the house, and he saw them as he crawled that way. He pointed and said, "Aaa." I looked and asked him what he saw, I looked out, saw the cars, and knew exactly what he was talking about. I said, "Cars...Luke do you see the cars?" He pointed and said it again, this time with a big smile because I understood, "Aaa." He was so excited that we understood him, all four of us looked out together and talked about the cars. Luke is definitely following in Daddy and Isaac's footsteps with his adoration of cars.

This evening as I was trying to get dinner ready, he was telling me over and over, "eT." I told him I understood, I was trying to get dinner ready. I walked in the pantry holding him, he saw the bag of cheerios on the shelf, pointed, and said, "eT!" Okay, I obeyed, got the bag, put him in his chair with the cheerios, and he ate and ate them! We were both happy to have understood each other.

These are just two examples of his communication growing, I am so proud of him and love watching him light up when we understand him. Unfortunately, his version of eat and out are very similar, so sometimes those get confused, but we're working it. The boy loves to be outside, so out is one of his favortie words. =) He also says thank you and yes, on a pretty regular basis...okay nobody but us can understand his thank you, but I promise he's saying it.

Swim Lessons

Jumping in..."Isaac be nimble, Isaac be quick, Isaac jump over the noodlestick!"

Going under after jumping in.

Swimming with his face in the water to the steps...this was last week, she had to force his head in, now he does it by himself!

Waiting their turn together.

Practicing his kicks!

Isaac has been in swim lessons this week and last week, and I cannot brag enough on him. He started last week with a fear of the water, a fear of going under, and a lack of confidence in himself in the water. Well, after just two days last week I saw a HUGE improvement! This week he has improved even more and is so brave! He goes underwater all by himself, he kicks and uses his arms to swim, he will jump from the step to swim to his teacher, and he will put his face in the water while picking rings up from the steps. His self confidence is soaring, and I could not be more proud of him! It's been awesome watching him learn and grow in his swimming abilities. Of course, he couldn't do this without his BFF, Taylor, they are becoming little fish together! I love that we get to make these memories with her!

P.S. His swim teacher is the wife of my high school track coach...so fun to see my son being taught by her and her kids.

2 weeks of illness

Tuesday morning - round 2 of pink eye

Wednesday morning - the eye drops are amazing!!!

We've had over two weeks of illness around here, it's been off and on, but it's been too much! In the past we were a very healthy house, Isaac did not get his first ear infection until he was 3, and had really only been sick 2 or 3 times. Well, things have changed lately, I feel like we're constantly at the doctor. =(

About 2.5 weeks ago, Isaac came down with pink eye and an ear infection in both ears! Where in the world did he pick those up? Thankfully, the pink eye cleared up quickly, and he wasn't too effected by it. We cleaned everything over and over to make sure nobody else would get it, after a week we thought we were in the clear. Then this past Friday Luke started having some dirty/STINKY diapers. He didn't want to eat Thursday or Friday, and after dinner on Friday he threw up a little...that's when we knew it was more than just some dirty diapers. Saturday morning after two more dirty/STINKY diapers and a little more throw up after breakfast we knew he had to go to the doctor. Rotavirus! Ugh! There wasn't anything to do for him, just wait it out. =( Everything I read online said it could last 3-9 days, not fun! Praise God, he cleared up and by Sunday he was back to normal (on all ends). Whew, finally we could breath easy and we thought we'd be healthy now, it's all gone, it has to be! Wrong! Monday evening before putting Luke in bed he got fussy, and had a little mucus out of his right eye. Oh no! Sure enough, as you can see in the picture above, it was full blown pink eye by Tuesday morning. Back to the doctor we went...which if I can mention, is not a fun trip with Luke. He does NOT like small rooms or strangers touching him, and going to the doctor involves both. Our sweet peanut has some serious lungs!!! Oh, and not only did we walk away with eye drops for pink eye, but also medicine for an ear infection, yeah, another ear infection, too. My poor boy! Once again, the medicine has worked wondefully, his eyes look perfect again and he is getting his appetite back. Now if we can only figure out where the pink eye is coming from...

One more thing, yesterday I came down with a sore throat and just feeling blah...it's no wonder after the couple of weeks we've had, but it sure is tough being a sick mama.

Our prayer is that we all wake up tomorrow feeling 100% and that all illnesses stay away!

Why me...

"Mama, why did you pick me out?"

Wow, what a question! Isaac asked me that today, and at first I thought I wasn't understanding his question, so I asked him, "What do you mean?" He responded, "Why did you pick me out?" I said, "You mean, why did I pick you out at the store to bring home?" "Yes."

"Oh Isaac, I didn't pick you out, God gave you to us, He made you just for us."

"Why?" asked Isaac.

"Because we're perfect for each other," I responded.

Obviously, we cannot pick out our children, but I believe God molds our children into the perfect children for us, and He truly gives us a gift when He gives us a child. If I had been able to pick a boy for us, I would have picked Isaac and Luke, they are everything I could ask for in a son. I love how Isaac's mind works and I love hearing his thoughts. He is such a deep thinker, he analyzes everything, and asks so many questions. I love that boy!