Daddy Day Care

Well, it's been a little over a week since I have officially taken over as the day care for Isaac. At first, I was very nervous about the whole idea. I am nervous around babies, although I am getting a lot more comfortable around Isaac, so the thought of being the only one to take care of him all day was a little scary. However, I have to say that it's really not hard at all. We've got a routine now that basically works every day. At around 9 or so he gets a bottle, which he can basically hold on his own now. He can't take it and bring it to his mouth yet, but if you get him there, he'll hold it right. Then, after the bottle, he plays in the jumper or on the floor with his toys for a little while until he gets sleepy. Usually he'll take a nap around 10 until around 11. Then, it's play time and lunch at 12. Basically, the routine is play, bottle, play, nap, play, bottle. In between, we mix in a few diaper changes and before you know it, it's 5:30 and Virginia is home. During his nap times, I have had time to work on my website as well as do other things I enjoy, like reading. So far, it's been an easy summer

In other news, I have been thinking about moving into a banking career and I have an interview at a small new bank about 20 min from the house. We'll see how that goes. If nothing comes of it, i'm still happy to return to teaching. I would just like the opportunity to make some more money, and this job would give me that chance. We'll see. Virginia and I will be heading to Washington DC for Saturday and Sunday so we'll have some pictures posted on Monday. That's about all for now. In the meantime, check out the photo album for some pictures of Jeff and Tonya's visit this summer.

Almost There

Memorial day has come and gone. I actually had to work, which is the first time in my life that has ever happened. It was a teacher work day, so it wasn't too bad. I spent the day grading research papers and listening to music in my classroom. I can't wait until this year is finished. I'm very ready for summer to arrive. It is nice to not have to worry about work for a little while. This summer, I am planning on keeping Isaac and relaxing. After I finished work, we went to my friend Chris's house for a cookout and evening of playing games. It was a good time.

Isaac has been doing well. We were at a friends house on Sunday and he was laying on a blanket on the floor. He was very close to completely turning over to his stomach from his back. He's getting very close so it should be any day now. The older he gets, the more he is developing a personality. Thank goodness it's a good one. We've been very blessed to have such a good baby. He is always so happy. He smiles and even laughs now.

Isaac Update

It's been awhile since we last updated. You know, I always think about how we need to just update each Saturday about what happened that week, but then I get so busy or tired and end up not updating. So, my plan is for that to change. Will it happen? Who knows!!! With that being said, I'll take this time to update on what has been going on in our lives.

For me, the school year is reaching the end. It's been a long year and I am glad we're at the end. I can really use the break for the summer. The plan is to relax, hang out with Isaac, and watch the pathetic Cubs play baseball. I am not sure why I'm still doing the last one, but maybe one day they'll be good. We have about ten days until the end of the year, and it couldn't come fast enough. The one good thing is that over the last six or so days, we are all teaching Mini Courses. Since the End of Grade Tests are finished, we're done teaching our main subjects. In order to keep students interested in school for the last two weeks, we have each come up with some class for the students to sign up for. My class is kickball. It should be the easiest six days of the entire year. Basically, I'll have a planning period in the beginning of the day and then have four classes of kickball. Nice huh?

Virginia has been back to work now for about two months and it seems to be going fine. In the beginning, it was hard because the daycare that he was at was making a lot of stupid mistakes. She got fed up with them and pulled him out when my parents were in town. We put him in a new daycare that has been much better. It's about $25 more a month, but it's been worth it because we haven't had any problems.

My parents came down to visit for a long weekend a few weeks ago. We had a good time visiting. The trip here for them was bad, but it all worked out. Yesterday, Virginia talked with Tonya and she said that her and Jeff and the kids are going to be coming to visit in June, so that should be fun. They've never been down here so it should be a good time for them.

As far as Isaac's development is concerned, he does a lot of things now. He has almost got the hang of sitting up by himself. He can't quite get the balance thing down, but in another week or so, he should be good to go. He can sit up with help if he has something to keep him from falling over to one side. He also laughs now when you're playing with him. He doesn't do it all the time, but when he does, it's pretty funny. He smiles all the time, and has even begun sitting in his high chair at the dinner table while we eat. He's a good baby. We couldn't have asked for better.

That's about it for now. Like I said, I'll try to be consistent with updating, but I make no promises. Pictures will be coming as well.

Busy Weekend

So it's only Saturday evening but already it's been a busy weekend. Yesterday Isaac and I went to an Easter party at Bridget Ketron's house. She had food and an egg hunt for the kids in our home fellowship along with neighbors and children from her daughter's school. We went just to witness the chaos. Joe stayed home and stained the swing. It turned out really well.

Isaac stayed up from 8:30 until 1:00 so he slept nearly the entire rest of the day. We used that time to power wash the deck to prep it for staining. We rested for a while then at 7:00 we went out to start staining it. Things were going fast and looking really good so we finished the tops of the railings and the entire floor of the deck. Too bad it looks terrible. Maybe we just need another coat or it will come together once the whole thing is finished but at the moment neither Joe or I are happy with it. It's the exact same stain that we used on the swing but let's face it...the swing is nearly brand new and the deck is 8 years old. Oh well. Either way we're stuck with it. The dilema is whether or not to use that same stain on the front porch floor. It's just as old but it's been under a porch and looks nearly new, so it may or may not look as good as the swing- which, by the way, is on the front porch. I'll let you know what we decide.

Since Isaac slept all day yesterday it should come as no surprise that he was up all night long. He woke up every two hours, which he hasn't done since we brought him home the first night. I'm exhausted!

My mom and Amanda, a friend of ours, came over at 1:30. The Easter Bunny (Grandma) brought all sorts of goodies for Isaac. He got a big stuffed bunny, baseball glove, blowup baseball beach ball, a tee ball stand with the ball attached which he will actually be able to play with in a few months, a little ducky and a Blue's Clues bib. She had it all in metal bucket which she proceeded to prop Isaac up in to take his pictures. It was really cute, but he wasn't cooperating well. You can see the few that I got in the photo album along with pictures of the deck progress in the "our house" section.

So Many New Things

First of all, Isaac laughs out loud now. I haven't heard him do it in over a week but he did it the first time for his Granps. One week later he rolled over for the first time. He only rolls from his back to his side and vice versa but it's a start. You can see a video of him doing it for the second, third, fourth- and so on- times. It looks a little like I'm pushing him over but really I'm just trying to get him to stay on his back for long enough to get an obvious roll. You'll still get the point. He has also started genuinely reaching for things. When you lay him down, his legs come straight up and he grabs his feet. I put him in his exersaucer today and he enjoyed it for the first time. When he's gone in it before he has just cried, but today he played with the toys. You can see video of that too.
He's changing so quickly and doing so many different things that I can't keep up with him. It's a blast and I love it! Enjoy the videos and new pictures!!!

Oh How Time Flies

Well, we just finished the second week with me at work at Isaac in daycare. I, believe it or not, have not fallen to pieces, the world has not stopped turning, and Isaac continues to breathe, eat, sleep, and be a happy baby without me by his side. Aside from a few glitches which I dare not go into lest I'll be here all night, things have gone rather well. Isaac developed a mild rash on Monday and his daycare director asked me to have the doctor look at. She said it was likely a reaction from the antibiotic he had been on the week before for his infected ingrown toenail. Then when I picked him up on Tuesday they had just noticed that he had hives all over his neck and cheeks, so I took him to the pediatrician's urgent care. They again told me that it could be a number of things including leftover antibiotic in his system and gave me an antihistamine in case they seemed to make him itch. They went away on their own and haven't been back since.

I'm thrilled to report that Isaac is sleeping through the night as he has been since he was 10 1/2 weeks old- the weekend before I went back to work. Perfect timing- my little angel is too good to me. He's been sleeping a lot the past few days. Aside from waking up just enough to eat, he slept from 5:00 yesterday until 6:30 this morning. I feel like I can't spend any time with him. Even this evening he was awake for a little bit but wasn't his normal playful self. He just seemed like he was staying awake to humor me. I suppose he's just going through a growth spurt and needs his rest.

Well, I really don't have much else to report, but I wanted to at least make a post with the NEW pictures I added. They are all from the past two weeks. There are new pictures of the outside of the house as well in the house set. I finally go around to hanging planters on the porch so it looks like someone actually lives here. Enjoy the pictures!

Been Awhile

I guess, since it's been over a month, it is probably time to update everyone on our lives. We lead pretty boring lives, but I'll share the newsworthy information.

1) Isaac has officially started his time in day care. As of this morning, Virginia went back to work which means Isaac needs to go to daycare. Virginia said this morning that she is doing fine, but i'm sure it hurt a little to leave him. Be praying that she continues to do OK with leaving him each morning.

2) We now have Vonage. In case you have no clue what that is, it allows us to pay $24.95 per month and have unlimited local and long distance AND get rid of our telephone company. The way it works is, we have cable internet. Vonage sends us a phone adapter that connects right to the internet and gives us a dial tone. It's really pretty cool. So, now we'll be able to call people and not have to use a phone card anymore. I'm excited about that.

3) Isaac went to the doctor yesterday because he has an ingrown toe nail on his left big toe. The doctor gave him an antibiotic, which he doesn't like because it tastes bad. Virginia is going to take it to get it flavored today. Be praying that the toe nail heals and doesn't get infected.

4) Opening day for MLB begins today and I am psyched. I am working a half day today so I can head home and watch the Cubs game. I've been doing that for as long as I can remember. It's a tradition for me.