sorry it's been a while...

Looking after Isaac takes up quite a bit of time so the blog (along with a lot of other things) has suffered from neglect of late...anyway, here's a few recent pictures to sate your appetites. The first one is Isaac in his bouncer -- a little blurred but this was the only one where you could even make out a shape.
Isaac with his godparents (aunty amy, uncle michael, jackson and sarah) after his dedication (9/9/07). Wearing the colours with pride. Trying to crawl...this has been an ongoing saga...usually ending with Isaac sprawled flat on his face. We try to encourage him by moving his toys away but in the end it becomes cruel...he'll get there in the end. Note his mother's wild hair coming out.

Family photos

Further adventures in sitting upright

Another milestone; Isaac has been learning to sit up. It was fairly wobbly to start with but he found his center of gravity, first by grabbing his ankles, and now can sit up like he's been doing it all his life. Although he does still ocasionally find himself heading southwards all of a sudden. Never mind, there's usually something down there to chew on.

His feet are still a good substitute for hands when grabbing stuff (depending on which are closer). So much so, we're thinking of renaming him 'the chimp.'

Action baby

Isaac has been having adventures since our last post, and conquering the elements one by one.

Here he is swimming underwater (the instructor is just about to let go!), and taking his first flight (to Dublin in April). Very cool and calm in both instances -- in fact, the ambient noise on the plane seemed to send him back to the womb...

First solid food

Last Saturday (April 14th, for those who want to know), Isaac had his first meal of solid(ish) food -- breast milk mixed with baby rice was on the menu, and he absolutely hoovered it up. Any fears we had about adapting were scotched in the time it took for his eager little mouth to suck down a spoonful. Given that, for the last few weeks, he has been staring longingly at us as we've been eating, like Homer Simpson at a pile of doughnuts, we felt now was the right time. From the way his little hands trembled at the sight of the food, we were spot on. He even wants to suck the spoon at the end.

We think he has inherited his mother's appetite.












'C'mon, give it here...'


'ah, just give me the spoon!! I can do it better myself.'

Other things from March and April...

Things I have been doing
swimming

















reading (I prefer the Russian novelists)















enjoying my bath












shootin' the breeze with my homies














and hanging out with mammy!!

First holiday (Cornwall)!

Wow, time can really pass quickly when so much is changing. It seems like at the minute there is something new that Isaac is noticing or doing every other day -- it's fascinating and amazing and so much fun all the time, but leaves not much time for updating blogsites (once you've also got all the other little things out the way, like going to work...).

Cornwall
Over Easter we had our first holiday as a family (not counting visits to see family), to St Agnes in Cornwall. We stayed in a great big house with 14 of Rachel's family - not so peaceful, but lots of fun, and we had beautiful weather. I think it was very good for Isaac to spend a week around other people, as he's shown signs of being a rather sensitive little flower. All the attention really brought him out of himself. In fact he's become a lot more open to the world around him of late, which has lead to a lot more smiling and laughing, as befits his name (if you don't know, go and look it up). It must sound drippy, but it really is the best feeling in the world when your child smiles at you.

The beach!!



















Because it's what you do in Cornwall, we spent a lot of time at various beaches -- athough he wasn't too keen on the sun shining in his eyes (see hat) Isaac did very well on the beach. Not quite up to surfing, like his cousin Ben and Aunty Amy, but there's time...


Above is Isaac with his Granny, on Chapel Porth beach for a sunset BBQ.



In fact, it all got quite tiring...

Another hello from Isaac

Hi everyone!!

I thought I'd give you another update on how things are here in Leicester....






...hang on.....


Ah, all better!!

Where was I?

My Granma has come to stay this week, which has been great -- I've never had so much attention, at least not since the last the last time she came to see me!

She's been very impressed with what I can do now -- I'm beginning to put things in my mouth if I can reach them, and today my head control was so good I spent 5 minutes in my bouncing swing before I got fed up and had a cry!
I now weigh a whole 14 pounds, and have grown so long that I've had to move out of my moses basket and into my cot. So all's pretty good and on schedule, or so they tell me. I'm enjoying myself, anyway!

February 2007

Hello everyone!!

I'm now 3 1/2 months old, and can do the following with various amounts of ease:

- put my fist in my mouth

- hit things (although my sense of perspective needs to develop)

- hold my head up for up to 5 seconds unsupported!!

I also dribble a lot, and enjoy lucid (gurgling) conversations with my mam and dad. My favourite songs are 'somewhere over the rainbow', 'supercalifagilisticexpialidotious', and NUFC football chants.

I can also type with two fingers, and spell 'supercalifragilisticexpialidotious' without a spellcheck.

mountain climbing (sort of)!!

Isaac's granny and grandad came to stay last weeknd (3/4 feb) and we were joined as well his great-uncle Anton and great-aunty Pam -- here is the family group having scaled Leicestershire's highest peak.

further developments....

Being a winter baby, Isaac knows full well the importance of being properly wrapped up when venturing outside. So when he goes out in his pram he dresses as a blue bear (or rabbit-- we're not sure). He's definately waking up to the outside world more and more, and is more interested in the world going past.
But this new-found adventurousness isn't limited to the outdoors! There are plenty of new discoveries to be made in the house, even when you're entirely immobile. Another new development is Isaac's greater awarenss of his hands, previously documented on this blog and now sufficiently advanced to encompass batting things (see above -- witness the look of intense, almost cross-eyed concentration) and even the occasional bit of fist-sucking.

Tha' boyz in tha' cribz

Here is Isaac with his cheerful little buddy Kaleb, who is a few weeks older and the son of our good friends Helen and Tim.

There's nothing these two like better after a hard day of staring and gurgling than to rock back in their bouncers and chew over life.

Kaleb's hair grows in a natural mohican.