D's Latest Tricks

David has really taken off this week with his walking (a.k.a. running after big brother) skills. He has been eager on his feet the past several weeks, cruising around anything and everything, but these last few days he's been walking more and more independently and hardly wants to be doing anything else. We've been practicing with a few "push toys" such as this favorite push train of his outside...

But it's really fun to see him take those early steps by himself. I caught a short video tonight of him walking from our living room chair to the front door (where he was watching papa mow the lawn)...

With these new skills, he is certainly keeping all of us on our toes! He catches us by surprise almost daily, like this weekend when I found him "resting" on a new hiding place of his...

What wonderful things the world has in store for a young explorer!

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"Four" Fun!

As many of you know, we celebrated Isaac's 4th Birthday last Saturday (May 12th).

We started our day with pancake and bacon breakfast (birthday boy's choice) then headed to historic Duluth Fitger's on the Lakewalk to see some train exhibits (it was coincidentally "National Train Day!")

The highlight of the day was Isaac receiving (and practicing) his first big boy bike, along with his "Thomas" birthday cake.

He has been telling everyone in sight since last week, friends and strangers alike, that "it was my birthday, and I had a Thomas cake!" (sometimes he also mentions his "Lightning" bike).

Yesterday we capped the birthday experience by celebrating with several of Isaac's friends from preschool, church, and the neighborhood. The kids had a great time running, tumbling, and jumping at the Twin Ports Gymnastics Center. In fact, they were so full of movement it was hard to catch them still. I managed to catch a few highlights:

 The fun of being "4" has just begun!

Uh-Oh!

Caught this short video clip of David copying me in "Uh-Oh!" He has enjoyed using his new word, adding to his growing vocabulary of 3 words now (Mama, All Done and Uh-Oh).



 He's keeping us busy as he is pulling up on everything in sight and starting to cruise around furniture. It won't be long until he's walking/running (chasing) after big brother, I'm sure! I can hardly catch him sitting down anymore...

the Countdown

There is lots of excitement in the Johnson household these days, talking about the big (4th) birthday quickly approaching for Mr. Isaac. Since Isaac keeps asking me how much longer until his birthday and having me show him on the calendar, I thought we'd make a good 'ole fashion paper chain leading up to this birthday. It's been years since I've made one of these...fortunately, the supplies don't change with time...some construction paper, Elmer's glue and scissors is all that is needed to make this craft...

Turns out, this was a perfect idea for our weekly Wednesday project time at home. Isaac has been into cutting paper lately, and has gotten pretty good at it, I must say, so this was a fun project for him to help with (some of you viewing this may notice that he is concentrating really hard while cutting a straight line and as a result is doing something funny with his tongue...a trait he must have inherited from his papa)...

The end result? A paper chain with links of varying colors that we strung over his bedroom doorway...high enough to keep out of little brother's reach...

17 days and counting...

Weekend Fun

We enjoyed a low-key weekend but also managed to squeeze some fun in, too. We got to meet some favorite story characters...

  Exert some energy while managing to get some exercise in and work on our gross motor skills...

Enjoy some silly brother time...

And wound down with story time...

Speaking of winding down...now it's my turn!

9-Month News!

Last week David officially turned 9 months...can't decide if it feels like just yesterday or forever ago that he came into our family. Either way, can't imagine life without him. Here's a pic of the big boy..

...and to commemorate this month's milestone, he decided to finally start crawling...a skill that he has been 'practicing' for several weeks. And oh my, is he busy! Once he realized what he could do, he hasn't stopped! So far his favorite things to go after are anything big brother Isaac has. No matter what interesting things David has surrounding him, whatever Isaac has is far more interesting. Big brother is equally trying to adjust to David's new skill as we are, as he now tries to keep "his" things away from David. And my role, in addition to safety officer, has now officially morphed into that of a referee between the two boys. A role, I think, which is just the beginning...

Here he is on the move (notice the Lightning McQueen backpack in the background...which Isaac has started using to hide "his" things away from David)...

He's discovering all sorts of new things (and places...)

Meanwhile, mama tries to find new and exciting things to keep David busy and still for more than a few minutes...like while I am cooking or working in the kitchen. Good thing a non-childproofed tupperware cupboard is always a good distraction...
(just as it was for Isaac)...


Good times!