I'm Feeling Hot, Hot, Hot....

Saturday night as I walked through our kitchen after putting Isaac to bed for the night, I noticed a strange noise which I attributed to our neighbor doing yard work after the sun set. Not thinking twice about it, Tobe and I proceeded on with our evening. About 9:30pm I told Tobe it was really hot in the house (which could be a sign of the end of the world as I am usually freezing and covered with a blanket--even in the summer). We quickly discovered that although the air conditioning was running, it was not blowing cool air and was making a strange noise at times. All of the ceiling fans were then turned on high and a call was put into the home warranty company. We were told we were the 300th air conditioning call of the night and someone would get back to us soon. Isaac then woke up crying loudly. His top two teeth are pushing through and have seemed more painful than the others. He was also pretty hot in his PJ's. So we Orajeled him and changed him. After one reading of "Flip Flap Safari" he was ready to return to his cozy bed, directly under a ceiling fan. Tobe and I felt like we were at summer camp as we lay on top of the covers under the fan, trying to go to sleep in the heat.

Tobe's dad arrived early Sunday morning to see if he could fix the air conditioner. He and Tobe were able to get it working after basically hand-cranking it with a screwdriver. By about 9am we were looking a bit on the redneck side with an air conditioning working only with the aid of a screwdriver, a baby in mismatched PJ's (we had removed the coordinating pants and socks for shorts and bare feet the night before) on my hip, and no lights on and no blinds open to conserve the cool air. The air conditioning worked for a few hours but then died again. Once again we called the home warranty company and told that we would be put on an emergency list if the temperatures reached 100 degrees. We contemplated moving to a hotel (I was voting for the Gaylord Texan), but decided it was still bearable (not pleasant) inside the house with all the fans and hopefully the repair man would be calling soon. I left the boys around 1:30pm to attend a baby shower---Isaac was sleeping peacefully with two fans aimed at him and Tobe was trying to move as little as possible. When I returned home Tobe reported the good news that we were officially on the "Emergency List" because we had a baby and because of the temperature outside. Apparently, telling someone they are on such a list means nothing and is simply a way to pacify a customer who is repeatedly calling. Around 6:30pm we were able to start the air-conditioning back up with the trusty screwdriver (who now holds a place of honor on the kitchen table next to the back door). It died again sometime in the middle of the night. I am sure a repairman is getting dressed right now and kissing his wife good-bye for the day as he prepares to head over to our little house and save the day. Or maybe I will just move to The Gaylord....

In Isaac News, he has two new obsessions: Books and Blueberries. I have always read to him and if you have been to our house since his arrival, you know there is a large bookcase in the living room filled with books for him (mostly from my years of teaching). Lately he has really gotten into looking at books by himself and will sit for a long time with a pile of books. Last week I took some of the board books out of the bookshelf and placed them in a basket that he could easily get to. Now we can say, "Isaac go get your books." and he will crawl over to the basket and look through them. I read to him before naps and bedtime and usually keep 2 or 3 books on the table next to the rocking chair. He will pick which one he wants to read ("Flip Flap Safari" is the favorite, with the Cheerios counting book coming in a close second) and say, "That."

Blueberries are also a new craze. He would eat them by the crate if I let him. They are on sale right now at Tom Thumb, so I picked up some for him since he loves purred blueberries in his applesauce. I just slice them in half or in fourths, depending on size, and he gobbles them up. Actual blueberries are a lot less messy then purred ones because they don't tend to stain as easily.

I have also taught Isaac how to give high-fives and he can tell people "bye" now. With the high fives, we can say, "Give me high five" and he holds his little hand up, fingers outstretched and palm open wide. Of course sometimes he grabs onto your hand once you give him the high-five, but he is just 10 months old. As for telling people "bye" it takes him a minute still to remember how to do this, so this farewell greeting is often given after the random person has said "bye" and moved on to better things.

Finally, I will post more recipe's in the future. Hope everyone enjoys the burritos. If you want to know what delicious dinner we feasted on last night, drive to your local Cozeymels and order the quesadillas.