Isaac vs. Oatmeal

Well folks, tonight was a big night here in the Trance home. I was pretty ampted up about it too. I would like to think that perhaps some of my over excitement rubbed off on the baby, perhaps. Okay, I'll just keep telling myself that it did.

Isaac has always been a very, VERY good eater, but lately I've been feeling that he just isn't being fully satisfied with what I can and have been giving him. So I did a little research, asked a few close friends who are also moms, and checked in with my pals at Gerber, and decided that it may be a fantastic time to try a little oatmeal. No need to worry yourselves, I got the organic kind.

So tonight, after a little bit of bottle was in his adorable belly, Michael and I helped him try his very first bowl of oatmeal. And of course, being the overly obsessive photographer mom that I am, I was sure to document this moment! I mean, of course I HAD to, this is a big deal! Someday when he's older and munching away at some greasy spoon, he'll thank me. Hmm, maybe not, but I'll be sure to remind him to! Ha.

Well, all in all I'd say he did pretty good for his first attempt at some real food. He got a good three or four spoonfulls in there!

I absoultely love the "ack, what the eff is this stuff" face!

Isaac's Big Accomplishment!

So, this morning as I was taking Isaac's picture, while he was enjoying his new activity mat, he ROLLED HIMSELF OVER!! I got so excited that I startled him! Poor little guy. I didn't capture the moment itself, because I was just too excited!

But no worries, I'm sure I will!

Christmas

Well, I think that all in all Christmas was a huge success for our family this year! We were truly blessed to be able to spend the holiday together. Ian spent Christmas Eve at his mom's house, so that he could wake up with his brother Henry. This was the first year that's been able to happen,m and since chances are, Isaac wouldn't be as much fun, we thought Ian would have a better, more memorable time over there.

Isaac gave me the greatest gift of all, and slept until after 8:00am! Which in itself was simply amazing.

Once Ian and Henry had their Christmas morning together, he and his mom headed over to our house for breakfast. It was really nice having us all together, I mean isn't that what the holidays are all about?

Alecia stayed and helped Isaac open his stocking, which was adorable and fun. After that we headed in to the living room, and let the present opening commence! We had no doubts that Ian would make out like a bandit, Santa must have him on the tippity top of his nice list. I'd like to think that our homemade holiday goodies helped do the trick, those candy cane brownies were clutch!

After a few naps, and a few dozen new toys were opened and played with, we headed over t my parents. My brother had been waiting for us very patiently I must say.

By the end of the day Isaac pretty much grasped the concept of opening a present. He'd grab hold of a little tear on the package, then start flapping his arms! Hilarious approach, but incredibly efective!

It was really a wonderful Christmas.

Creating a lil' Holiday Magic

Because of the upcoming Christmas holiday, Ian an an early dismissal today, which worked out fantastic for my master holiday baking extravaganza plan! I had never made any sort of gingerbread house before and I saw a way to make them out of graham crackers instead. It looked pretty simple, and I'm usually incredibly crafty, so I thought that we'd give it a go.

My mom had seen a kit to make them out of rice krispie treats, and snagged that one for Michael. We all had a blast making them!

I think that Ian's turned out to be the best of them all. Mine had quite a bit of "structural damage" as I was calling it.

Im almost certain that Ian ended up eating just as much candy as he used for his house! (Thus the blank stare in the picture!)

After the houses were finished, and Michael and Isaac were down for a snooze, I went baker bananas! I made candy cane brownies, peanut butter cookies with hersheys hugs, and three batches of sugar cookies, all decked out with cinnamon dots and colored sugars of course.

Since I'm still at war with my baby weight, I will be giving, sending, throwing these goodies at anyone who comes close enough. . . watch out!

monumental Moments!

So over these past few days, Isaac has had two major accomplishments! Firstly, I put together his baby einstein activity center from his grandparents, so I could do a few things around the house. At first I only put a few of the toys on it, so he wouldn't be too overwhelmed. Well, he just LOVED it! I was worried that he would get frustrated with it, but he did really well with it!

Also on the mommy brag list, Isaac sat up by himself in his tub two nights ago! I couldn't believe it! He's been trying to sit up for a while, and he got so proud of himself when he finally did it! Ugh, I'm so proud!

Videos of today

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/fa641fa56ad7bced8028bf314f85fd38/video/8174029

http://sharing.theflip.com/session/babe100255aa369205f27c7d3187fc23/video/8173997

**The Island's First Snow**

So far, Isaac and I are surviving the big "Blizzard of '09"! It started to snow around 9pm last night, and was dropping a little over an inch an hour! It was so windy it kept waking Isaac up, poor little guy. . .

Our power went out for about 5 hours which made changing diapers a bit more difficult than usual, but we made it work! We got up around 8:30-9:00am, and found that our yard was under a thick blanket of snow! We had a rather hard time seeing out of the windows at first.

My brother, sister in law, and nephew came to our rescue a little later on, since I don't have a 4WD car, I'd be pretty much stuck here. They couldn't quite make it up the driveway at first. A huge tree fell completely across it. Which of course was no match for my brother.

I didn't even know they were here, until I heard someone shoveling out my front walkway. Thank goodness they did that, because with Michael away, I don't think I would have been able to!

We all bundled up the baby, I think he had five or six layers on him, not including hat(s)! And then we set out for the golf course! Poor Jacob tried walking through to the middle of the green, and found a snow-filled sand trap, or maybe IT found him!

Ean, Melissa and I trudged on to the next tee, and slid down the hill a few times, which was hilarious in itself, I must say.

By the end of our expedition, Jacob had an icy brow, Ean an icy beard, and little Isaac was snuggling into my coat trying to hibernate!

Isaac's first trip off the island

Yesterday we had planned to take Isaac to the Cape for some holiday shopping. Unfortunately, Michael had a death in his family, and had to go home to Troy, NY.

Our good friend Joel came along with us, which really put me at ease. It was so much easier just having another pair of hands, and eyes with the wee-one!

I really wanted to get his portraits taken this year, so we headed to Sears. The photographer was so terrific with him, she got a ton of really amazing shots! True, I may have gone a teeny bit overboard, but there were just soo many to choose from!

Luckily, I managed to get almost everything on all three of my lists, which is almost unheard of. Poor Isaac was pretty jam-packed in the back of my car as we headed back to the ferry! (Now I would haven 1,000 times more pictures, but alas my camera died on the ferry on the way to the mainland. Thank goodness Joel had his!)

It's Beginning to Look allot like Christmas

Last week we went to a local farm, and while in the dark, each of us tried our hardest to find a good, Christmas worthy tree. We each had a few possibilities, but it was Ian who found this one. And I have to say, it's absolutely perfect!

My mom and I spent WAY too long replacing burned out bulbs on the strings of white lights, so I was forced to use these. True, the tree has been referred to as an Irish flag, and a rocket pop, but I think it's growing on me.

Tonight we turned on some holiday music, and all hung up the ornaments. Despite my efforts, it was impossible to take a picture of Isaac without him moving around. I have not given up entirely, just for tonight!

Christmas in Edgartown

Yesterday was the kick off of Christmas in Edgartown. Although it was a frigid 21 degrees out Isaac and I braved the cold and went to the annual parade. And I have to say it was pretty sweet! There were so many adorable floats, and even a few rather creative ones. . .

When the parade was over, we searched high and low and finally found the very elusive Santa! And since I'm a little nutty, we had about 20 pictures taken, and THEN had a wardrobe change, and had about 30 more! The first outfit was a dark green, velvet elf outfit, and the second, a mini Santa outfit. (And yes, I purposely gave him a green pacifier for the day)

It was so fun, Isaac was doing great! Laughing and smiling at everyone in the room, except the photographer of course. He was so adorable and so engaging that I forgot to snap any pictures for myself! I didn't even realize it until we were almost back to the car. I can't believe it.

Hopefully we'll run into Santa again soon, so I can post some! The photographer said that her pictures should be ready to be picked up by next weekend, so I will hopefully be posting those soon!

Angel Face

Need I say more?

Yes, our baby is a genius!

Last week I decided that I would hang some link-a-doos from the arm of Isaac's car seat. I figured that he was probably a bit bored riding in the car, with nothing to look at but the back of the car seat. So far, it's been working like a charm! He's way less fussy in the car, which keeps him pretty content, and makes car trips much easier for me!

Since then, Isaac has discovered that he can reach out and grab things! It takes him a few minutes to get it down, and then a few tries to get it right, but great scott, I think he's got it!

Little Bubble Boy

A few days ago, Isaac discovered his feet! It was very exciting! Although he has yet to figure out how to actual attack them. But he's trying! He first saw them in the tub, half emerged in the suds, and kept trying to get them. He'd lean further and further and further towards them, until he came very close to putting his face under the water! I wasn't so comfortable with THAT, so hopefully he'll just keep trying to catch those bad boys on land!

Needless to say I didn't snap any pictures of that moment, since I was more focused on not letting my child drown in the whale tub! But a few days earlier I managed to take a couple adorable ones. Bath time is now one of his all time favorite times of the day! He loves to splash with each of his limbs! And man, it's pretty hard to not laugh at that little guy when he gets going!

I have had to be on high alert when he really gets going, I caught him falling asleep in there a few times! He gives himself such an intense workout. Whew

Thanksgiving has come and gone. . .

Hmm, Thanksgiving! Somehow I managed to make it home without ANY leftovers! Except for the things I made, apple pie, and sweet potato casserole. Neither of which I like at all. Typical.

This year, I opted out of the cooking portion, due to the fact I have a little tyke at home. I have to say that during a 4am feeding, I realized that I could have been putting in a turkey then, but was VERY happy that I didn't have to this year!

We had the turkey dinner at my uncle Rick's house this year, and everything was beyond wonderful! Isaac did just terrific!

It was fun to have the whole family together, with no drama!

It was great to see some friends that were here for the holiday weekend as well! I was lucky enough to spend a little time with the Bernier girls, who Isaac very quickly adored, and I can't say that I blame him! They're some of the best!

Third Grade, Already?!

I can't believe that Ian is already well into his year as a third grader! It seems like just moments ago, he and Michael were in the bathroom giving each other mohawks for his first day of kindergarden. . . Man, doesn't it go by in a flash?

So far, he's doing tremendously well, we wouldn't expect any less!

He's still playing hockey three-four times a week, with games almost every weekend, and loving every second of it!

We couldn't be more proud of him!

Vineyard Golf Club

We are tremendously lucky to live on such a gorgeous island such as this. True, I can't say that I remember living anywhere else, nor would I want to, especially when I see these amazing views out my back window every day!

Our back yard rests on the edge of The Vineyard Golf Club, which makes for some interesting entertainment from time to time I must say!