Two Toddlers

We officially have two toddlers!

Our Isaac evidently decided the night before his birthday that he was ready to get off his hands and knees and start walking. He just took off, making laps all around the house! If he toppled, he just pushed himself right back up and kept going. It was so surprising for me to see him headed my direction, and rather than diving into my legs and clinging there, he just kept on going. By the end of the evening, walking in itself was no longer enough of a novelty or challenge, so he proudly began carrying items around with him, swiping my dust pan and carting it all over the house!

The day after his actual birthday, we had a wonderful group of family and friends come celebrate with us at a jungle-themed party. Isaac seemed to enjoy having everyone singing to him!

And he was definitely interested in the cake! Although we'd practiced blowing out candles the week or so before, there was too much else going on to distract him and he was more interested in trying to touch the flame than extinguish it, so we helped him out a bit.

Although the candle was a bit of a challenge, Isaac definitely had no hesitation with eating his cake. He knew exactly what to do and very quickly had only a sticky mound of crumbs and icing left on his high chair tray.

Oh, and there were a few crumbs on his sweet little face, too!

Caedmon has been asking for months for someone to have a birthday, as he's evidently figured out that birthdays mean cake for everyone! He was excited for Isaac's celebration and ready to dive in to his treat, as well!

Isaac did really well when we opened his gifts and although he didn't do much unwrapping himself, was very attentive and seemed to enjoy watching us help him open all the packages.

We loved the time we were able to spend with our dear family and friends and thank the Lord for both our precious boys. How blessed we are!

Gardening

When we started preparing our soil for our garden early this spring, the only thing Caedmon really could relate to it was from his "Peter Rabbit" book, so he often referred to our little plot as "Mr. McGregor's garden." How much he's learned this spring! We've gone from trying to eat the green beans straight out of the seed packet to carefully harvesting the fresh green beans for our supper.

It delights me to see his enthusiasm; he's always ready to go check on the plants in the garden and I'll never forget the look on his face the day the tomatoes finally, finally ripened. I called him to come look at them, and his eyes got so wide as his jaw dropped. I'd been trying to convince him to wait to pick the little tomatoes until they turned red, and when he saw the transformation, he was fascinated. Now he's so careful to wait and only select those tomatoes that are nice and ripe, and gets aggravated when Isaac harvests them early. Isaac is enthusiastic too, but isn't as particular about the color of the tomatoes he eagerly pops into his mouth!

Speaking of putting things in his mouth, our Isaac is really honing his self-feeding skills. He'll usually let me spoon-feed him a few bites of oatmeal (or anything messy) but is then ready to take over and do it himself. He's doing pretty well!

Isaac is also starting to take steps on his own, sometimes walking across the entire room by himself, and if he falls he is able to stand up without holding onto anything. He has discovered giving "fives," and is very excited to have any opportunity to do so. He also enjoys throwing balls (as he says, "ba-ows") and then chasing them to throw them again. Rather that just reading books and touching them with his hands, he also tends to try to rub them with his feet (we have one touch-and-feel book that is made for tiny feet to touch the pages, so he thinks all books need to be rubbed with his toes!) Our little one also has a propensity for getting his hands and arms stuck in cabinets and drawers, and holding it that way with the other hand. Frequently, while making supper in the kitchen, I'll hear the typical sounds of his playing in the cabinets interrupted by his frustrated and frightened shrieks, and will turn to see one hand still in the cabinet, with the other one holding the door closed. Poor little guy! But not that little anymore - we can't believe that he'll be a year old in just a few days!

Caedmon has officially had his first day of school. He started a little summer program this week, and although I didn't get a good picture on his first day (it was a little crazy trying to get both boys out the door on time!) I plan to take one next week when he has his new digger backpack and lunch box. He didn't even look back once he entered his classroom and was enthusiastic about going back again, although the only thing I could gather from him that they did during the five hours of our separation was play on the playground. He probably would have been totally content if that actually had been the only thing they had done!

He is amazing us right now with his sharp little mind. We got out some little jigsaw puzzles (with diggers on them, of course) and he's getting close to being able to complete them all by himself, which is the only way he really wants to do anything these days. And he's able to correctly count objects, especially up to 10.

Watching our little boys learn and grow in these amazing ways is such a humbling reminder of the great love and care that our Heavenly Father has for us all. What a precious gift to be allowed the responsibility and pleasure of raising these dear ones!