one year portraits

Isaiah is one year and one week old! He is growing so much and changing every day. He isn't really walking--he takes a few steps here and there. He does best when he doesn't think about what he's doing. I maintain that he's hard enough to keep up with anyway (think of the speed-crawling I mentioned before), so it's really fine if he takes a while to learn to walk.

He continues to have a voracious appetite. It is really amazing how much food he puts away. His current favorites are broccoli and cherry tomatoes. He likes grapes a lot too.

His new favorite activity is pushing the toy cars we got him for Christmas all around the family room. He is really starting to play by himself more, which is something we are thankful for!

Story time

It's time to start telling stories about Isaiah. Now that he is (almost) walking, he is all over the house. Whenever I open the door to go down the hallway, I can hear the "pitter patter" of little hands and knees speed crawling behind me. (If you haven't seen him crawl, you cannot understand that it truly is speed crawling!) I have to close the door to the bathroom quickly or he gets into his two favorite places: the toilet and the toilet paper. For some reason, our toilet is really fascinating to him, and he loves to put both hands on the sides and stick his head down and gaze into the pool of water inside. Thank goodness for antibacterial gel that kills 99.9% of germs, right? When I close the lid to the toilet, he gets a very determined look on his face that involves the pursing of his lips. It looks something like the picture I've added here. He proceeds to unroll the toilet paper as fast as he can. Speaking of that, I need to go to the store this afternoon before we run out of toilet paper!

My Red Wagon

Isaiah got a red wagon for Christmas from his Nana and Papa. Looks like fun, doesn't it? His cousin Anna liked it too, or maybe it was Uncle Miles who liked it so much.

Noteworthy firsts

First birthday!
Isaiah turned one year old yesterday. We had a fun, low-key day together as a family. We went out to breakfast, went to Square Books, Jr. to play, took naps, and hung out with some friends. It was a good day!

First fall!
Isaiah fell and bumped his head today. He has his very first bruise smack in the middle of his forehead. We were all a little traumatized by the incident, but we have recovered and moved on.

First steps!
Isaiah took his first steps today. He was pretty excited about it. He took four or five steps in between D. and I several times! He would not take any steps to show off at church tonight, but he was tired, so we're okay with it! We did get some on video and will try to post that soon.

We have SO MANY pictures from Christmas and his birthday party... we haven't posted any because it is a bit overwhelming, but we will get some more pictures up soon.

C'mon everybody... to Santa Claus' Party

O Christmas Tree...

Here we are choosing a Christmas Tree. I have to say that ours is one of the most beautiful trees... ever.
Decorating pictures will come later.

By the way, this was several weeks ago, but we are just now updating the blog.

Mohawk Baby

a trip to Mema and Pop's park

Mema and Pop live within walking distance of a great park, so two weeks ago while we were visiting for Thanksgiving, we took a walk down there, of course! Isaiah is a big fan of playing at the park, as you can see.

Isaiah's Funny Faces

Turn up the volume for this one. Isaiah has figured out how to make sounds with his mouth. It's pretty cute.


Isaiah's Sounds and Faces from D. Merricks on Vimeo.

10 months old

It's hard to believe that we're parents of a 10-month-old!

Currently, Isaiah is learning how to walk. His favorite foods are butternut squash, peas, and cheese. He loves his stuffed animals, and he is quite a comedian.

first halloween

We did not do too much for Isaiah's first Halloween...
He can't have candy, and we didn't want to eat all the candy! He does have a T-shirt on that says "mummy loves me" though.

We went to a community Halloween party just so he could see all the kids in costume, but as you can see, this crunchy leaf was his favorite part!

After the party, we went to the ENT doctor for his one month checkup, and he said his tubes look fine and everything is working.

Learning to walk

We bought this new toy for Isaiah a few weeks ago. Normally, he would sit on his bottom as soon as it started to roll, but last night and this morning we taught him how to walk behind it. As you can see, he is very proud of himself!


learning to walk from D. Merricks on Vimeo.

Isaiah's Adventures at 9 mos

Isaiah's Adventures (9 mos) from D. Merricks on Vimeo.

happy fall

It doesn't feel too much like fall here yet, but I'm from Florida, so it doesn't make that much of a difference to me!

As you can see, we had fun visiting the pumpkin patch on the square today.

Isaiah had outpatient surgery on Wednesday to have tubes inserted in his ears. It was scary for us (mom and dad) but it didn't seem to bother him too much. After a good nap, he was back in full force crawling all over the house. His appetite has improved a lot, and he really seems to be feeling better. We are thankful.

exploring the grass

Here's a picture of Isaiah exploring our yard this week. He enjoys grabbing and feeling everything in his path... we're okay as long as he doesn't put it in his mouth!

Isaiah has been sick a lot recently... he's had 3 ear infections since we started school in August, and this weekend he has a virus. Please pray for us this week as we visit an ear, nose, and throat doctor on Tuesday.

We are thankful that he is happy and lots of fun... even when he's sick!

Recently

This video shows two of Isaiah's favorite activities. The first is standing. He likes to stand on anything sturdy enough to hold him up (crib, toy bin, window sills, etc). The second is playing with the musical noise-maker. In the video, he's especially proud of the way he can make it play music by spinning the thingabob on his right.



Isaiah Stands and Plays from D. Merricks on Vimeo.

first trip to the park

We took Isaiah to the park today. He loved swinging in the swing, going down the slide (with assistance) and climbing back and forth through the tunnel. He also enjoyed watching the other "big" kids play!

8 months old

Isaiah will be 8 months old on Wednesday. Here are a few pictures we took today at Rowan Oak.

that's entertainment

Watching the rain and checking out the air conditioning vent... two very entertaining things to do around our house.

standing tall

About two weeks ago, I went to get Isaiah up from a nap, and this is what he looked like when I opened the door! (These photos are not of the actual event; this is a dramatic reenactment.) After just a few weeks, he stands up now whenever he possibly can and he DOES NOT want anyone to try to stop him! He started cruising around (walking while holding onto furniture) this weekend. It's hard to believe how fast he moves from one milestone to another.

What a Wonderful World!

new face

Isaiah has been making a new face... he scrunches up his nose and breathes through his two teeth. It is hilarious! He's making it in the first photo here.

We are all starting school on Monday, so say a prayer for us next week as we have another transition to make!

2 teeth

Look closely... can you see those two bottom teeth? They're pretty cute! If you notice, rubber ducky and the water going down the drain are really quite interesting as well. We are glad the teeth are in and that Isaiah is back to his normal sleeping habits now!

Almost Crawling

Here, Isaiah is almost crawling. He's very mobile, but using mostly arms.



Isaiah Crawling from D. Merricks and Vimeo.

First Beach Trip

We were at the beach with D.'s fam last week in North Carolina. Isaiah enjoys both the beach (especially the sand) and the pool. We definitely have a future swimmer on our hands. In the 2nd picture is D.'s cousin Beau, who also enjoys the pool. Here, he can be seen preparing for a Noodle Fight! This trip made us sad that it's only three weeks to the start of the new school year here in Mississippi.

19 1/2 pounds, 28 inches!

Isaiah is 6 months old, and as we learned at our doctor's visit today in the 95th percentile for height and the 85th for weight. That translates into... he is a big boy!

As you can see, peekaboo is one of his favorite activites. It is ranked up there with eating and laughing.