little black journal

Oh, baby.  Baby, baby, baby.  Fourteen months old and definitely verging on toddler-hood, though clinging to a few vestiges of his younger days.  Like the bottle.  Buddy loves his bottle (and won’t turn down a chance to nurse, either, though I’m afraid I don’t have much left to offer anymore).  His pediatrician recommended moving from bottle to sippy cup, and we’ll get there soon, but right now he’s not ready (ok, Mama’s not ready!).

I mean, the only waking time that he’s mellow enough for a snuggle session is with a bottle in hand.  Juliette takes full advantage.

Isaac also sleeps more like a baby than a toddler, still waking once (maybe twice) in the night and always nuzzling in deep for a chair nap when Shane and I are feeling soft.

He’s gotten a bit better about going to sleep on his own at bedtime without copious amounts of rocking, but sometimes I throw him a little bone…

Wakeup time!  Still a ray of sunshine.

Kiddo was sick a lot in September, and I can see it here in his flushed cheeks and crusty eyelashes.  Gosh, that was a tough few weeks.  These photos are a little deceiving – I mean sure, he still flashed his contagious smiles, but the sick kid / working parents juggling act is no joke.

This is the doctor’s visit where he was diagnosed with a double ear infection after four straight days of fever.  You’re a good sport, Isaac.

Feeling better!  And playing cars, which continue to be his favorite toys.

He loves the book Little Blue Truck and there’s a line in it that reads,  “Honk!” yelled a dump truck!  “Coming through!  I’ve big important things to do!”  That’s Isaac to a T.

He still darts into Juliette’s room when left to his own devices so that he can bang on her keyboard.

Her daily practice is like a siren song – he can’t help himself!

I bought this rocking pony at the neighborhood consignment store and it was very popular for a couple of weeks, until he stood up on it and flipped over the front, landing on his head.  Make better choices, Isaac.

He’s not really into TV and pays very little attention when it’s on, except when he hears the theme song for Bluey, at which point he drops whatever he’s doing, starts clapping excitedly, and then tries to scale the credenza.

He’s opting more and more for ordinary objects over his bucket of toys and loves brushing his hair and pointing an old unfunctioning remote at the TV.  There was a week when he hardly let go of our thermometer, toting it with him everywhere and occasionally swiping it over his forehead.  Toys are for chumps, huh, Buddy?

And oh, the kitchen cabinet carnage.  Eighty percent of the fun seems to be in just pulling things out of drawers and throwing them on the floor.  The remaining twenty percent of the fun is found in stirring an empty bowl with a plastic spoon.  Whatever keeps him occupied, I guess?

He loves playing with doors and once I got over my extreme fear of him pinching his fingers, I just let him go for it.  It makes for a pretty sweet game of peek-a-boo.

He still doesn’t say much – there’s a lot of nonsensical chatter, but no real words yet.  Lots of pointing at random objects and exclaiming / questioning, “Dah?!  Dah?!”

Most notably, Isaac is walking!  A few weeks ago, on a quiet Friday at home together, Isaac let go of the edge of the couch where he was cruising, turned to me with his arms outstretched, and toddled right to me, stumbling into my chest.  I squealed in delight, wrapping him in the tightest of hugs as I shouted to Shane, who was working downstairs, “HE JUST WALKED!  Isaac just walked!”  I pulled him away from me for a moment to look at his face, and oh, the pride.  Parenting a baby can be exceedingly tedious, but gosh, the bursts of excitement…  He stumbled through a couple of steps at a time for a couple of weeks, and then in mid-October it really clicked.  He came home from daycare one afternoon and suddenly was spending way more time on his feet than on his hands and knees.

Today I don’t know that I saw him crawl at all!  Courting toddler status, I tell you…

Finally, a heavy dose of brother-sister love…

Isaac generally prefers my lap when looking for a place to sit, but no one is funnier than his sister.  Once Juliette gets him going, she’ll stop at nothing to keep the giggle train running.

More sweet and simple moments at home…

The extended summer temps were a Godsend when we were cooped up with fevers but just needed a backyard dose of Vitamin D.

 

And that’s a wrap!  Get your rest, Isaac.  You’ve got more walkin’ to do tomorrow.

I took the morning shift on Sunday and popped Isaac in the car for a drive into town – Mama needed coffee.

We walked along Walker’s mini Main Street and then went down to the waterfront.

Isaac likes lake life as much as I do!

Back at the cabin, the kids cozied up while Shane and I pulled our things together for a day out on the boat.

Sometimes, when you’re trying to get things done, you just gotta put the baby in a basket.

We eventually pulled ourselves together, stopped by the lodge where Aunt Tiff treated Juliette to a sweet new hat, and got settled on the pontoon.  Make yourselves at home, girls!

Oh, Isaac.  While sister contentedly stretched out in the sun, Isaac crawled circles around us all.  We should have brought that laundry basket…

Shane and I did our best to manage his mayhem, but that kid is just uncontainable sometimes.  Snack, Ergo, drive the boat, snack, Ergo…

…and SLEEP!  Finally.

We pulled into the Marina to hop out for a bit and grab some goodies at the general store.

Juliette picked up a book of Mad Libs which made for some afternoon silliness…

So easily entertained – I love her!

And now look who’s awake…

We docked again at a small stretch of beach so the kids (kid, really) could swim.  Get it, Jules!

Isaac seemed undecided about getting in the water, but eventually I stripped him down and let him just go for it.

Water?  Two thumbs up.  Sandy hands?  Not a fan.

Once Juliette got her swim fix, we all hopped back in the boat and motored over to another beach to do some exploring.

I know, Isaac, I KNOW!  Lake life, right?!

By the time we pulled ashore, Buddy was ready for another doze.  I put him in the Ergo and quietly sang You Are My Sunshine about 80 times while the water lapped at my feet.  Naps are hard-fought sometimes, but the effort involved isn’t always so bad.

While I worked on naptime, Shane worked on frog-catching.  When he was kid, he and a friend caught 100 frogs in a single afternoon, put them in a bucket, and put up a sign on the street corner hoping to sell them to passing fishermen.  100 frogs!  A sympathetic old soul stopped by and gave them five bucks for the lot.  Juliette and I have heard this story several times and figured Shane could easily snag a critter for Juliette to hold.  It took a few minutes, but finally he delivered, in the form of a little brown toad.

Juliette wasn’t so sure she wanted to hold it after all, but since Shane went to all that effort…  Check out the play-by-play!

A little green frog, though?  He somehow seemed much less icky.

The frog was set free and we decided we’d had our fill of water and sun and would head back to the cabin.  But…wait!  One more dip.  These girls can’t stop, won’t stop!

We did make it back eventually, Isaac still snoozing as we disembarked.  Don’t mind if I grab a few Z’s of my own…

We gathered that evening at Grandma and Grandpa’s for a late first birthday celebration for Isaac and an early ninth for Juliette.

Hayden was heading back home that evening and we hated to see her go!  Such a fun couple of days with this girl.

Know what goes well with birthday cake?  MARGARITAS.

Isaac loved the ice cream cake so much that he bit a tine off his plastic fork!  Making a mental note to use real silverware next time this kid gets dessert.

Juliette got over her toad aversion…

And then Shanay taught her the Boot Scootin’ Boogie.  All in a day’s work!

There were some Funky Chicken lessons…

And gifts for the luckiest kids in all the land.  What a perfect Minnesotan day…

We laid pretty low on Monday.  Shane went out in the side-by-side with his dad while the kids and I bopped around camp.  Isaac had been eying the small playground and sandbox on our walks to and from Denny and Pat’s and finally I caved – get dirty, kid!

Meanwhile, my clean kid…

Can I still hold her on my hip?  Why, yes I can!

We went to dinner in Dorset that evening, making a quick pitstop in Akeley to say hello to Paul Bunyan.  If this isn’t midwestern, I don’t know what is!

We said goodbye to Tiff and Shanay after dinner, as they needed to get home for work.  Tiff had taken such good care of us that week, stocking our cabin with groceries and cooking us breakfast each morning and goodness, the way she and Shanay loved on our kids…  We missed them the moment they pulled away.

Back at camp, we settled back into the porch and tried to snag a family pic.  Look this way, Isaac!

Or…don’t.

Denny offered to take Juliette and me out for a sunset fishing session that evening and we jumped at the chance.  It seemed a perfect way to round out a week on the lake.

Juliette quickly got the hang of watching her bobber and reeling in any slack on her line.

Success!  One sweet little perch.  He was tiny, but I hooted and hollered like she’d just snagged a 10-pound bass.

And then a second one to boot.  It was thrilling, really.

We motored back to camp as the sun dipped below the horizon, Juliette’s hair whipping in the wind, Denny smiling ear to ear with his favorite first mate at his side.

The best dockside welcome wagon!

I took Isaac in for bed while Juliette drove her Grandpa back to his camper.  Peas in a pod, these two.

Tuesday was go-day, which meant one last round of grandparent snaps and then some drawn-out, tearful good-byes.

Oh, good-byes are hard.  Like, really hard.

And the long trek home…again, Isaac reveled in the thrill of take-off, turning back to Shane with a grin like, “Can you even believe this, Dad?”  But the thrill quickly wore off and we did a lot of baby-juggling the rest of the flight.

Meanwhile, Juliette had a window seat in the row behind us and lived her best life, with unlimited iPad time and double Sprites.  You deserve it, Kiddo.

It felt awfully good to walk in our front door, but it wasn’t without a tinge of those post-vaycay blues.  We’re holding close a boatload of special family memories in that Minnesotan wonderland.

Our early-September trip to Minnesota already feels like a distant memory, but I’ve still got the warm family fuzzies from our few days there.  The Schnell love is strong!  Totally worth the four-plus hours on the plane and the four hours in the car.

Isaac did alright with the travel, though not without plenty of effort from Shane and I to keep him entertained.  He was thrilled by the sound and speed of take-off and quickly settled in for an hour-long nap, but at wake-up we were left with at least half the flight to fill.

Bring on the snacks.  And more snacks.  Sit in Dad’s lap.  Sit in Sister’s lap.  Play with the ice left over from my ginger ale.  Play with the thermometer I tucked into the diaper bag.  JUST BE STILL!

Juliette, on the other hand, was an A+ seat buddy.

When the flight attendant asked us to prepare for landing, I thought, “what do you think I’ve been doing for the last two hours?!”.

This year we opted to stay in a cabin at the lakefront resort where Shane’s parents and sister have campers rather than staying at their house in Alexandria.  Shane’s dad was at the main road waiting for us to arrive and Juliette was opening her car door to get to him before we’d even rolled to a stop.  See what I said about the Schnell love?!

We settled into our cabin that afternoon and spent the evening hanging out on Denny and Pat’s porch drinking hard-earned beer while Isaac pushed trucks around underfoot.

I walked Isaac back to our cabin around sunset, enjoying the warm evening and the pastel sky.

This was going to do just fine.

Isaac was up early and Friday (and also half the night on Thursday, little rascal…), so Shane took him out for a long morning run while Juliette and I grabbed extra Z’s.  BUDDY.  You can be something of a monster in the night, but in the light of day, you’re so forgivable.

We quickly settled into the week’s routine, convening at Tiff’s porch for hot coffee and home-cooked breakfast.

Isaac did some very sweet lap-sitting, but more often than not, he was diving out of our arms so that he could go play on the stairs or tip over chairs or make other sorts of mischief.  Never a dull moment.

Juliette became a Skipbo Queen…

While Pat introduced Isaac to all the sweet old neighbor ladies.

By noon on our second day there, Juliette had taken over the driver’s seat in Grandpa’s golf cart.  She wasn’t quite ready for the gas pedal, but her steering game was strong.

Afternoon swimming…

And a pre-dinner Corn Hole tournament.

There was so much room to roam – Isaac covered a lot of ground on this wide-open lawn!

Beverage break.

And back at it.  Gosh, this boy loves to climb.

Denny fried several pounds of fresh-caught Walleye for dinner and some neighbors sauntered over to partake.  There was a quick trip out on Grandpa’s boat, a moonrise stroll with Buddy, a little time around the campfire, and we were spent.  I wish I could say we slept like logs that night, but ISAAAAAC!!!

We were up and at it early again on Saturday.  There was a bottle in bed, another father-son morning walk, and a few quiet minutes out on the dock to enjoy the glassy water.

Time for breakfast at Auntie Tiff’s!

Things Juliette is thankful for:  1) Uncles that run to the neighborhood store to buy her a jump rope so that she can show off her new tricks.  2) Cousins that can braid!

After breakfast, Juliette and I joined Denny and some of his buddies for a trail ride.  I’d never been in a side-by-side, but when in Minnesota!

We climbed through birch groves and a grouse skittered across the path in front of us.  Grandpa reached out the window and picked wild violets for Juliette.  We bumped slowly through mud puddles and Juliette thought it was thrilling when we went through a puddle so deep that mud covered the side-by-side’s floor.

We rolled back into the resort and were greeted by the friendliest little welcome wagon.  Next year, Isaac, your turn!

You know what’s perfect after a dusty morning in the woods?  POOL TIME!

We joined most the neighborhood that night for a potluck at the main shelter.  Jello salads of every color in the rainbow!  It was sweet, the feeling of community among the crowded rows of picnic tables.

My word, these cousins.

That evening brought more Corn Hole (played one-handed as I struggled to keep Isaac from nose-diving off the stairs…),

More Skipbo…

And some Hayden-Jules shenanigans as they dropped acorns near where Denny sat down at the firepit.  He didn’t notice a thing.

S’mores!

And a sunset to boot.

Nighty-night…

A few August snapshots that should move from a folder on my desktop into the blogosphere, because first of all…

HAMILTON.  We bought tickets to the show several months ago when we heard it would be in Seattle and surprised Juliette in early August, and my goodness…HAMILTON.  It’s been a long time since we got dressed up and went…anywhere, really, and from the moment we turned onto Pine Street and spotted the billboard, we were swept up in the magic of it all.  Juliette oohed and ahhed over the lobby chandelier and held her dress pinched between thumb and forefinger like a princess making a ballroom entrance as she walked down the Paramount’s stairs to the restroom.  

The lights flickered and we found our seats and the whole place was absolutely electric with excitement.  I was captivated from the moment the first notes sounded, but couldn’t help looking over at Juliette every few minutes, wanting to freeze-frame in the my mind the way that she smiled from ear to ear with a little giggle at, “You are the worst, Burr”, the way she bobbed her head along to “Ooh ooh ooh, I do I do I do I doooo” as Eliza entered the stage.  Such glee and sorrow, such heightened feelings as we fed off the energy that comes with being in a room of thousands.  What an experience.

We left Isaac at home for obvious reasons and enjoyed our baby break, but it felt awfully good to be back home with our boy in our arms!

Hamilton is pretty freaking hard to top, but there were also some very sweet evening walks with my two favorites…

Lots of park time…

Evenings walks and park time as we strolled down to Ercolini…

Ercolini can look like a bit of a junkyard, with its collection of discarded riding toys, but it can also be a kid’s treasure trove.  Juliette and Isaac were pumped when this blue truck showed up on a random weeknight.

Is she too big to sit in this thing?  Probably.  But does she look adorable in it, as she radios for backup?  Totally.

There was a Saturday at the Lincoln Park playground…

Followed by one last Sunday at Coleman pool.  This place will forever epitomize for me the pinnacle of Seattle summer goodness.

There were weekend bike rides to the library, where we stumbled upon a concert in the street…

And a visit from my mom and dad for Isaac’s first birthday.

There were also some long, quiet days at home, when Juliette was on her own while Isaac was at daycare and Shane and I worked.  She’s gotten so good at entertaining herself (Covid gave her no choice!).  Her Barbie hair salon was next level.

Also, girl’s got mad puzzle skills – she put this together in an afternoon!

Way to sleep off those pool days, Juliette.  Summering is hard work.

August and early September were chock-full of trips and bustle as we squeezed every last drop of playtime out of summer 2022 (though let’s be honest – traveling anywhere with a baby is equal parts work and play, if you’re lucky).  Our bonanza started small, with a weekend on Bainbridge Island to watch Shane and the Rusts compete in another pickle ball tournament.  I mean, since Shane was playing both mixed doubles and mens doubles and since pickle ball was founded on Bainbridge, and since I found the sweetest little AirBnB on an idyllic farm, I felt like the kids and I should tag along and make a getaway out of it.

Isaac and Juliette liked watching the ferry pull away from the dock, but the real excitement came when Juliette realized Nancy was on the same boat as us.

It was a quick float to Southworth and an hour drive to Bainbridge and then we drove along the prettiest little lane to land at what would be our front yard for the weekend.

We explored the grounds and met the animals and had a picnic dinner on the grass.

This place felt too good to be true when Shane discovered a pickle ball net in the garage to go with the striping that was on the parking pad out front.  He and Nance were able to get a little practice in, though having to maneuver around Casey, the resident dog, complicated the game a bit.

Saturday was game day for mixed doubles; the kids and I joined the gaggle of West Seattle ballers to cheer on Shane and Nance.  There were a couple of handy wins, a couple of defeats, and a couple of hard-fought victories.  They unfortunately landed just a couple of points shy of the medal round, but I was impressed by how much improvement I saw in their game since I last watched them play in June.

Isaac was mosly just impressed by the adjacent playground.

Until he wasn’t impressed at all.

I spent the afternoon back at the AirBnB  with the kids while Shane and Nancy cheered on some of their buddies at the tournament.  Isaac and I both took a much-needed nap (true to form, he took vacation as a cue to party / fuss all night), and then after waking we played a rousing game of How long can we keep Issac in bed?

Not long…

We bopped around the farm before grabbing pizza and ice cream in Winslow.

The owners of the AirBnb were super-friendly and gave Juliette a bunch of carrots to feed the horses.  She loved how popular she immediately became!

But she didn’t love the horse drool.

I had Isaac bathed and jammied by 6 pm, but he was still pretty bright-eyed, so we took another stroll around the farm.  He loved watching the chickens strut around their coop and once he got past the initial surprise of the rooster’s high-pitched crow, he smiled wide at each cock-a-doodle-doo.

Juliette came out to join us and snuggled up with Dusty, the resident cat.  We played a few lawn games and turned in early, while Shane played pickle ball out front with the owners.  He’s insatiable.

Shane got an early start on Sunday to meet up with Jason at the courts for mixed doubles while I took my time getting going with the kids.  Isaac had another hum-dinger of a night, but didn’t seem too sorry about it.

Sleepless nights aside, I was reluctant to leave this place.  The dahlias!  The farm-fresh eggs in our fridge!  The animals…we loved those animals.  Juliette spent a good 20 minutes saying goodbye to the horses, stroking Rose and Willow on their noses while murmuring, “You’re such a sweet girl…”.  No, Juliette – YOU’RE such a sweet girl.

She tried very hard to make sure each horse got equal amounts of love.

Meanwhile, Isaac really liked those chickens…

We arrived at the courts mid-morning to find Shane and J on a roll.  They won a handful of games, were immediately humbled when a couple of 60-something guys clobbered them, but ultimately made it to the medal round.

Silver!  Congrats, guys.

Once the medal pics were snapped, we were ready to jet home.  That much pickle ball is exhausting, partly for Shane, who was on the courts for all those hours, but also for me, who ran point on crowd control / baby patrol – Isaac has yet to learn the true art of spectating.  Still, though, so worth the trip, to see Shane play a game he loves with people we love.  And…horses!  Juliette and I are still thinking about those horses.

Welp, he did it.  Baby Boy turned one last month.  I’ll spare you the “he’s growing too fast” spiel, because it’s nothing I haven’t written in my previous 11 months worth of Isaac posts (and in so many posts about baby Jules before that).  I’ll just say…he’s changing at warp speed, and there are things about his early baby days that I miss dearly, but there’s so much joy in this current phase we’re in.  I’m seeing more of his personality shine, understanding better what makes him tick.  And I like who he is a whole, whole lot.

He’s happiest when he’s on the move and continues to favor toys with wheels over anything else.  This rolling red helicopter goes with us everywhere.  

But a Birkenstock will do in a pinch when he needs something with a little more slide-ability than his often-sticky hands.

He’s a climber and has graduated from trying to crawl up onto our low fireplace mantle to trying to climb up onto the couch or the chairs or even onto our beds.  Daily I walk into the living room to find his arms scrabbling to take hold of the couch cushions, his legs kicking wildly in the air as he tries to swing them up.  We generally keep the basement door closed, but if I’m coming in from the garage with him, I’ll set him at the bottom of the stairs and let him crawl up ahead of me – he’s like Spiderman scaling a building, his arms and legs taking each step in ultra-quick succession.  The only problem is his stubborn desire to head back down the stairs after reaching the top, so that he can do it again and again and again.

When he’s not scooting circles around the kitchen with one of his cars our doing his best to summit the couch, he’s often perched at the windowsill, watching the world go by.  He loves watching the sprinklers run; if Shane or Juliette are outside, he’ll bang on the window excitedly before dropping to his knees and crawling to the door, begging to go out.  He’s part puppy, this kid.

Occasionally he’ll sit still, if he’s strapped into his high chair with a tray of food in front of him, or if he’s tucked into the swing on one of our morning playground visits.

Or if he’s snuggled against my chest in…the gray chair!  God bless the gray chair.

He’s still not consistently sleeping through the night, which certainly isn’t ideal, but I don’t mind getting up once with him if it’s short and sweet.  It’s the mornings that he’s up for the day at 5am that really slay me.  TOO EARLY, Bud.  Too early.  If only he understood how much better he feels when he waits to wake until the sun’s fully up!

He’s doing alright in his new daycare, but comes home a little worse for the wear some days – eating and sleeping in the midst of several other babies is an acquired skill.  Sometimes he looks so rough by 5:30 pm that it’s all I can do not to laugh…does he not pose a striking resemblance to Boris Johnson here?

Ah, bath time.  There’s my cute kid. 

On the good days, he’ll get a second wind after bath and play happily till bedtime at 7:00.

He was especially giddy at bedtime on the eve of his birthday, wiggling and giggling as I rocked him.  I reveled in the silliness, laughing at his laughing, which made him laugh more, which made me laugh more, which made Juliette call out, “What’s going on in there?!”, at which point she came in and yukked it up with us for a couple of minutes.

The party was relatively short-lived, though.

Good night, sweet boy.  See you when you’re ONE!

Isaac doesn’t have the luxury of several other baby buddies like his sister did, so his party the next evening was low-key.  My mom and dad were in town and we invited the Rusts over for a back yard dinner.

More wheels!  Yippee!

And hot dogs…his most favorite meal.

And watermelon.  Also a fan favorite, evidenced by the fact that he tray was licked clean before I even snapped a pic!

Isaac was a little befuddled by all the fuss, by the presents and the singing and the cupcakes, but his sister had great fun with it!

Sweet girl – not an ounce of sibling envy in her.

Ok, but seriously, Isaac – can you at least pretend to be interested?

It took a few minutes for him to figure out what to do with his cupcake, but once the buttercream frosting hit his tongue, he got it.

Cupcake remnants wiped from his face, frosting washed from his hair, and freshly jammied, we snapped a few final birthday pics.

It took all night, but finally he was feeling that birthday groove.

We opened the last of his gifts the next morning, bopped around with his birthday balloons, and then started the business of settling into waddler-hood.

Isaac Henry, you’ve brought such light and laughter to this house.  We’ve known for years that we wanted you, but we never imagined just how wonderfully you’d complete our family.  Juliette asked at dinner one night how we would describe you in a single word and while there were several front-runners thrown about, like charming, lovable, rascally, and messy (it was dinner time and the blueberry carnage was intense), none of them fully captured your essence.  I think I’ve got it though, looking at your cheesy grin and chubby thighs.  You are delight, through and through.  

Happy Birthday, Rascal.  You are loved.

Our trip to Idaho was the real star of July, but we had some closer-to-home good times, in between the daycare colds that Isaac so generously shared with the family at 2-week intervals…  When we weren’t coughing, we were summering!

There were Saturday morning walks to the playground, with the babies in tow (one blonde, one furry)…

Lots of time trying out the array of riding toys at Ercolini…

SWINGS, with the sweetest hat…

Family bike rides to Hiawatha, followed by beverages at Good Society…

Evening scoots…

Treks to the new neighborhood donut joint…

And some West Seattle kitsch.

There was a lot of pickle ball, mostly by Shane, but the rest of us joined in on the fun from time to time.  Isaac holds the balls, Juliette coaches me on my form (“Paddle up, Mama!”), and then Isaac crawls across the court with said ball and the game is over.

On the days we weren’t feeling great, there were Rubik’s cube races…

Crowded reading sessions in the gray chair…

More reading, on the couch…

Lots of movies, which held Isaac’s attention for all of two minutes…

And lots of kisses, because when your baby looks up at you as you’re rocking him and he coughs directly into your mouth, you realize that there’s no point in trying to avoid his germs.

On the days we were feeling…medium, not playground-good but not couch-ridden bad, we camped out in the front yard with snacks and bubbles.

Maybe a wagon ride around the block, just to pass the hour till naptime.

The very best days were the water days – there were a couple of weekends that we felt good enough to run through the sprinklers and bust out the kiddie pool.

(I think Sister felt better than Brother, poor kid…)

Lunch al fresco – things are looking up!

The neighbors one-upped us with their water toys, and were kind enough to share.

We really did luck out on the neighbor front…

We tried out the wading pool at Lincoln Park but found it was a bit much for Isaac and not quite enough for Juliette.  Still, it got us out of the house and they were awfully good sports.

And Colman Pool.  Colman Pool.  We zipped down there a couple of times on the e-bikes for an afternoon of water-front swimming.  Talk about Seattle summer magic.  This place has my heart.

Has all of our hearts, actually.

Juliette passed the swim test, making it mid-way across the pool and back on her own, and is now allowed in the deep end.  It took every bit of courage she could muster to tell the lifeguard she was ready for her test, but goodness, the look on her face when she passed.  Such satisfied exhaustion.

Isaac and I cheered her on from the sidelines.

Round 2 at Colman…

The water felt a little chilly that day, but Isaac and I liked dangling our feet in while Juliette did handstands.

We found a few new summer faves and joined friends for a Fish Sticks game – they’re a rec baseball league that plays less than 20 minutes from our house.  The bleachers are fun, the snack bar is pretty good, and the mascot is a total character (I suppose you’ve got to have a sense of humor if you’re sporting a fish stick costume).

Shane won Dad of the Year (eighth year running) when he offered to move the TV outside so that Juliette could have a backyard movie night with a couple of friends.

And after a few days of jump rope camp, Juliette has a newfound hobby.  She didn’t know a single kid heading into this camp and could hardly jump without tripping on the rope on her first day, but by that Friday she was brimming with excitement over her end-of-the-week performance.

Go Jules!

We found a new coffee shop that has the best banana muffins and ample outdoor seating.

And finally, most splendidly, we paddled.  Juliette and I spent an evening in the water near Lowman Beach and sheesh, if this isn’t peak summer goodness, I don’t know what is.

Best first mate.

There were days last month when outside temps ran too hot and Isaac’s temp ran too hot and it was all we could do to just muddle through.  But oh, when you get to watch the sun set over the Sound on a warm July evening, things look up.

Wednesday’s water park adventures left us a little tired, so we took it easy on Thursday.  First things first – morning coffee at Doma!  My mom and I don’t have tons of overlapping interests, but COFFEE.  We get each other when it comes to coffee.

And then some playground time at the park across the street from my mom and dad’s house.  Juliette caught her baby at the bottom of the slide and I spent several minutes swinging with my baby on my lap and I loved how slow it all felt.  Nothin’ to do, nowhere to be – this time to linger with my kids felt extra-special.

By afternoon, though, I of course felt a little antsy, so we packed up our gear and drove over to Honeysuckle Beach in Hayden for some floating and paddling and lakeside lounging.

Isaac loved feeling the lake water lap at his feet.

I feel you, Bud – HOORAY for lake days!

Then he put a fistful of sand in his mouth.  I swear, sometimes it feels like Isaac senses us starting to chill out, let our guard down, and then he decides, “HA!  I’ll teach them not to watch me with eagle eyes!”

While Shane was on the shore swatting rocks out of Isaac’s hands before he could eat them, Juliette and I got out on the SUP.

Juliette is so good at multi-purposing our board – it’s part SUP, part kayak, part floaty.

I can’t wait to get Isaac out for a paddle, but for now, he’s plenty happy to cheer on his sister from the dock.

Lake smiles!

And an evening country walk to top it all off.

Friday was similarly pretty mellow.  Crawling and coffee, swings and snuggles, a very fancy lunch…

We spent a couple of hours at Tullamore Park – the swings were a hit, but there was some splash pad skepticism.

Is he having fun?  Who’s to say?

Juliette and I seized upon our last night in Idaho as a chance to get out for a hike at Tubbs Hill.  We listened to the Sing 2 soundtrack on the drive to Coeur d’Alene and I looked in the rear view mirror at her belting out the words to Could Have Been Me in the backseat, eyes closed and face scrunched up in so much sweet drama and goodness, eight is great.

We found the path and then lost the path and just as I wondered how we ended up so deep in the woods, we saw a mama deer with her three baby fawns not so far away.  We tip-toed toward them and they galloped away on their sweet skinny legs and then we found our way back to the trail.  We chatted and laughed and oohed and ahhed at glistening Lake Coeur d’Alene and felt the goodness of it being just us two for an evening.

Juliette found a trail of seashells that someone had left along the path and reveled in collecting these little treasures and then hiding them in new places for the next hiker to find.  

We played Kidz Bop on the drive home and hunted for the handful of license plate states we hadn’t yet crossed off our road trip list and damn, did I say eight is great?

We were gone for all of three hours, but still, she was over the moon to be back with her dad.  They spent the rest of the evening updating their license plate checklist and coloring in a map of the states we hadn’t yet spotted.  Again, slow life luxuries…

Isaac gave Bernie a few final pat-pats on Saturday morning, we took a few porch pics, and then we were homeward bound.

It was back to business on Monday, with work and daycare and summer camp, and while there’s always a piece of me that finds comfort in settling back into a routine, by noon I was missing my kids somethin’ fierce.  It was a good week.

Last year’s Fourth of July Idaho spectacle was such a hit that we decided to do a 2022 version, this time with our favorite fourth wheel.   Grandma and Grandpa, here we come!

We hit the road with one baby in a carseat and one baby in Juliette’s arms – she is very attached to her doll as of late and I love it.  There’s my little girl…

We had all kinds of wiggles to get out by the time we got to Post Falls, so there was play-grounding…

And pickle-balling…

And staying up late to watch the fireworks on Independence Day Eve.  This was just the pre-party!

The booms lasted well into the night, but eventually the neighborhood fell quiet and we got some rest.  About 20 minutes worth, at least, and then Isaac woke up ready to party.  Gosh, he slept horribly that first night – I think he was up about every hour, trying to make sense of his new digs.  But the Fourth dawned sunny and breezy and Isaac looked awfully sweet in his red, white, and blue, so after I had my morning cup of coffee, brewed lovingly by my sympathetic mom, all was forgiven.

We ventured over to Falls Park after morning nap to check out the swing situation.  Four thumbs up.

Isaac’s eyelids grew heavy during our evening walk and had very little fight in him when bedtime rolled around.

Which was perfect, because the rest of us had some fireworks to watch!

Everywhere we turned, the sky bloomed with sparkles.

We went inside around 10:30, but I peeked out the window every few minutes when the booms sounded particularly dramatic.  What a show.

We spent Tuesday morning in Coeur d’Alene, playing and picnicking at McEuen Park.

This was Isaac’s first splash pad and he was a little perplexed by it all, but had a good time waving his trusty plastic spoon through the streams of water.

Not so much a fan of being sprayed in the face, though…

My favorite part of the spray park is the post-drying-off diaper time.  Sun’s out, belly’s out!

Isaac, you’re such a wonderful little goober.

And Juliette, you’re so beautiful.

We swung by the lakefront to say hello to Mudgy the Moose and to snap a few pictures, popped over to the the bakery for an iced coffee, and then were back in Post Falls for afternoon nap.  I felt our gears clicking into vacation mode, and it felt good.

We shared the biggest pizza ever for dinner that night, which was great, because we were carbo-loading for the next day’s adventure!

On Wednesday morning we kissed Isaac good-bye and took Juliette to Silverwood for a day of water slides and roller coasters.  We came here last summer and she declared it one of the best days ever, so I was excited to bring her back without a baby in my belly – bring on the whirls and twirls.

We arrived at the park before the gates opened and found ourselves with enough time to grab a hot chocolate at the kitschy Victorian cafe and plan out the day’s route.  So much thought went into which slides to hit first as we evaluated hourly temperatures, likely wait times, and fun factor.  I love a kid with a plan.

We moved through the lines quickly that morning as it seemed most people had opted to begin the day at the amusement park; Avalanche Mountain was a family favorite, though Ricochet Rapids also had us squealing with glee.

There were many, many laps around the lazy river…

And then a couple of rounds down the Riptide Racer.

We headed over to Roller Coaster Alley after lunch which was decidedly not a hit as Juliette sobbed through most of our time on the Timber Terror, so we recalibrated (and possibly over-corrected) with a very mellow spin on the flying elephants.

By early afternoon we were back to the lazy river, wondering why we’d ever left.

Whew!  So much fun, the three of us living large and following our every whim.

So tiring, though.  Sun, water, fun, done.

Back at home, Isaac had the best day with Grandma and Grandpa – seems he hardly noticed we were gone!  We missed you, Buddy.  Kind of.

Up next:  more water, more swings, more happy kids.

Next month is August, which means Isaac’s first birthday is just around the corner.  Which means this is my last pre-waddler post about my little babe!  You know where I find comfort when I feel like he’s growing too fast?  THE GRAY CHAIR.

We’ve hit peak best of times / worst of times with Buddy.  He can be so delightfully silly these days as he tries out new sounds and and gestures and facial expressions.  He had us rolling at the dinner table last week as he worked on his fake laugh, his head thrown back and his eyes squinted shut while he yukked it up like a little ham.  If you say “Yaaaaay!”, he immediately claps his hands together and he’s made his own sign language version of “all done” after mealtime, waving both his arms back and forth like crazy.

But oh, when he’s in a mood…take away a pencil he grabbed when we inadvertently left it laying around or set him down when he wants to be held and he will throw a fit.  Diaper changes are the current bane of my parenting duties.  There’s kicking (by Isaac) and wrangling (by me) and yelling (by both of us).  There were a handful of times I had only gotten as far as getting the diaper off and getting his bum wiped before he broke loose, cheeks to the wind, but a couple of unfortunate puddles on the floor have put a halt to nakey-time.  Diaper-time, though, with the belly out and proud?  I’m all for it!

We made it off the waitlist of our preferred daycare this month and so we said goodbye to his old school and the teachers that had already come to love him in the space of just a few weeks.  I know it’s the right move for our family, but man, we’d just gotten to a zero-tears drop off routine, where he’d dive out of my arms in the morning and wave good bye to me as I headed off to work.  He was really happy there.

But here we go, Isaac!  New space, new teachers, new friends – it’ll be great.

He has laid down his beloved light saber and lately can’t resist anything with wheels.  Trains, cars, trucks – he holds the toy tight in one hand and scoots along the floor while his legs struggle to keep up with whatever he’s wheeling.

He’s hungrier than ever and it sometimes feel like I’m tossing food into a bottomless pit at dinnertime.  He loves cheese and salami and will scarf down peas if in the right mood, but berries are his all-time fave.  The smile on his face when he sucks down a big juicy blackberry is 100% worth the mess it makes.

We’re hitting a pretty major mama phase – Isaac is generally friendly to whoever wants to give him some love, but when I’m around, baby boy is all over me.  Hanging onto my legs when I’m in the kitchen, climbing into my lap when I’m sitting on the floor, bee-lining toward me the minute I walk in the door and impatiently whining mamamamammmmmaaaaaa while I take off my shoes – God forbid I need to use the bathroom before picking him up.  It’s a lot.  Too much, sometimes.

But most the time, I can’t help but keep my hands off him, either.

Hair woes!  I mentioned how challenging diaper changes can be, so you can imagine how hard it is for me to get this boy to sit still for a hair trim.  Eventually though, his wisps start sweeping into his eyes and the little tufts over his ears become unruly and I can’t take it anymore.

And…gah!  I mean, I don’t mind a tousled look, but there’s some volume here that seems not quite right.  I’m at a loss.

I sure do love that naptime mohawk, though.

He’s still all about the piano…

And loves a good game of hide and seek.

Sister pics!  These two spent a lot of time together this month, with Juliette off of school and Isaac home sick a handful of days.  There have been times when he’s been cranky and she’s sauntered off to her room in need of a break, but really, I’m stunned in the very best way by Juliette’s incessant desire to play with her baby bro.  She’s constantly asking if she can check on him at nap time to see if he’s awake and insists on being the one to go in and get him the minute we hear him squawk.  When he reaches up to her and then leans his head on her shoulder as she scoops him up, she gushes and gushes, “Oh BUDDY.  Could you be any sweeter?!”

Juliette, could you be any sweeter?

A match made in heaven, these two.

And on the rare occasion Isaac lays still long enough for Juliette to cuddle him…I’m butter.

Whew…eleven months.  I’m so glad I have these photos of my happy-go-lucky boy to flip through at the end of the day – they’re a reminder that even on the days I feel depleted, exhausted by the extreme attachment and the constant redirecting, there were moments that Isaac’s infectious smile made my heart swell.

So, what else you got up your sleeve, kiddo?