Habits

Isaac has habits - some new, some old. Some endearing, some frustrating, some hilarious. He's a creature of habit, so there are DOZENS upon DOZENs, but here are a couple of my favorite.

The before and after - same habit, different chairs, photos taken 9 months apart.


Popcorn. This has become a major habit for Isaac. When he's grumpy, and all else fails, we ask him if he wants to make popcorn. We have an air popper, and just give it to him plain (I know, some say don't feed kids popcorn because of the kernals but guess what? We do.) He is ravenous for popcorn! He'll eat it in a boat with a goat, in a house with a mouse, or in a box with a fox. Isaac woke up at an ungodly hour the other night after Dave and I hadn't gone to bed until after midnight. He was very sad and whiny and we were trying everything to get him back to sleep, so that we could sleep too! After trying all of our usual tricks, Dave asked Isaac in a very sleep deprived voice "are you hungry? Do you want some nuts? Do you want popcorn?" Isaac BOLTED up and practically sprinted toward the bedroom door yelling "popk popk!" He must have the route memorized, because it was still pitch black in our room. I couldn't help but laugh as Dave dragged himself out of bed and headed to the kitchen. A minute later I heard the popcorn popper going. 15 minutes later they were back in bed and Isaac was ready to sleep again. The best part was all Dave said when they returned was "I buttered the popcorn, but I haven't salted it yet." HAHA! I thought it was hilarious that despite it being the weeeeeeeee hours of the morning, that Dave melted butter, poured some on the popcorn before coming back to bed. Popcorn may be one of Isaac's favorite habits, but I hope midnight popcorn snacks do not become habit!
Here is Isaac with a bowl of popcorn, cuddling with one of his favorite blankets, and some good old Sesame Street. Ah, bliss.

Firsts

I present: a Photo Blog of More Halloween firsts (and seconds, in some cases - stubborn little boy!)

First time to Gardner Village to see the witches display. He loved it...loved seeing all the kids, loved patting the pumpkins, and loved to point out the witches' boots and hats. He was pretty fond of it, except that he wouldn't stand/sit still for photos.


Except for this photo. He only sat still because he thought that the miniature steps that he was able to sit/climb on were the coolest thing ever. It was an empty brochure stand at Gardner Village. Go figure.
First time trick-or-treating. These were out trick or treat peeps. The three on the left are some of the Congolese family that my mom has been helping since they arrived in the country almost two years ago. Julie and Tim came to help with the kids, too. We stopped at a house on our street for soup and scones, and to keep dry. Once the rain stopped, these kids experienced the right of passage called Trick or Treat!

This was not Isaac's FIRST time being a turtle. Oh no, it was his SECOND year being a turtle. He's two for two. He would not wear the dragon because it had long sleeves, and that really pissed him off. I think that they thought it was magical that you could knock on a door and people would open the door bearing gifts of candy. I hope they understood that this is just one night a year! :-)
Our sweet neighbors are part of a local Presbyterian church. They invited us to the Halloween carnival at their church on Sunday, which was nice because we got to do something Halloween-y on HALLOWEEN! Isaac LOVED watching all the kids, dancing, bouncing in the bouncy house, and playing with Natalilly and Izzy. This is Natalilly above. She loves Isaac and vice versa. She is only in third grade, but we've already established that she is our future babysitter. She's a sweetheart and a half.
Isaac getting help from one of the kids at the carnival with the apple peeling/cutting machine thingy.
And it was fun to eat. Their version of dessert was a great idea. Everyone got an apple, and they had things like yogurt, peanut butter and raisins to put in your bowl. I liked this idea especially because kids already got enough candy the night before. This would be a fun project to do at school on Halloween with my students next year :) Anyone have 5 apple peel/cut things laying around?
First time wearing this hat. Okay, that was a stretch. I just included this photo because I like it. It makes him look like a little boy, no more baby face - awwwww......