baby steps

all gussied up for a redneck birthday party. there are no words.

trying on dad's sunglasses

practicing his handstands with his auntie.

"my mom thinks i'm rad"

playing peek a boo in his new favorite toy, the plastic slide that sits on the back porch

cleaning the sliding glass door...with his face

dada devouring isaac's hand. he doesn't seem to mind.

enjoying the park with grandma chris

a few fun things going on in the life of the montgomery family lately:

1. on the 19th, annie turned 21 (again) and the celebrations were pleasantly mellow. over the course of a week or so we had brunch with the menconi's, dinner at sammy's with the montgomery's, and dinner out followed by a night to ourselves. it was great to have him stay with somebody else for the night, but it was also kinda weird. our house was much more quiet, creating a distinct gap in our lives. we have become so accostmed to his sounds (the fuzz of the monitor, the banging of toys, and loudly yelled gibberish) that not having those around made us realize his absence. we were glad to be reunited with him.
2. isaac has started "walking". it started with like 2 or 3 steps a month or so ago, and has been slow going up until a few days ago. since then he has been taking progressively more steps everyday, working his way up to a consistent 7 or 8 today. we are sure he will be running before too long , but it may be a few weeks till he masters the triple jump.
   through this process we have been realizing something about his personality: he does not like to do things unless he can do them well. for a long time he would not even attempt to walk, and now all of a sudden he is improving by leaps and bounds. we have known all along that he is a fighter, but apparently he is also a strong competitor.
3. his repitoire of sounds is growing. he makes noises for birds (caw-caw), moon (moo), and the new favorite is the lion (a deep guttural growl with teeth bared and neck scrunched). everytime we cheer for him, he smiles and does it again. such a ham.

ryder will be here in approximately 7 weeks. so crazy. so fun.

"true love" and a pumpkin patch

allison and casey had a housewarming party this past weekend, and isaac was in high heaven. he is such a social kid, and loves to be the center of attention, not to mention to be around copious amounts of food with plenty of people to feed him.

he is wondering where he can get a party cup.


isaac asking for a kiss...

and julianna was more than happy to plant one on him

we also went to bates nut farm on saturday, and isaac was freaking out. he was so excited to be outside, crawling all over the pumpkins. it was like a pumpkin kingdom there, thousands of pumpkins, not to mention the animals and various booths selling things like kettle corn and bratwurst. it was an amazing autumn day, brisk and clear, and a truly enjoyable time.

the "fairytale pumpkin". too bad for isaac it didn't magically turn into a coach to take him to the ball. he didn't have his glass slippers with him anyway so i suppose it was ok.

it was all smiles at the hay bales.

isaac wanted to chew on the stem, and somehow it was ok. perhaps it was the magic of fall or the great pumpkin or something.

how freaking cute is our kid?!

the look...

...the crawl...

...and the bail. we were laughing so hard that it took us a while to get him up.

a super appropriate family picture- "nut farm"

ryder will be here in about 2 months or so, and we are getting ready for him. it is super exciting, but a little scary as well. although isaac crawls and climbs like a madman, he still doesn't walk freestanding, which grants us a little reprieve for now, but it will be a bummer if he is still on all fours when his little brother gets here. for now we will take it one amazing fall day at a time.