Top 10: Daniel Isaac....

While I could never condense all the many wonderful things about my boys accurately into a blog list...or even a whole novel for that matter, below are my "Top 10" on Daniel Isaac (in no particular order...)

10. Smiles with his eyes...Daniel Isaac has had a captivating smile from the first few weeks of his life! His entire face lights up, especially his eyes. His dimples burst with joy, and the twinkle in his eye is nearly blinding! He smiles a lot, so we get to enjoy this wonderful feature of him quite often. This is the one trait that Daniel, Noah David and Daniel Isaac all have in common and look so similar doing....smiling with their eyes! They are dreamy!

9. Touchy...Daniel Isaac, even as independent as he is, loves to be held, hugged, kissed, etc. and even more so, he loves to give physical affection. I still hear "hold me, Mama" or "here's a big hug for you!" He greets Daniel with a HUGE hug every evening and the BEST part of bed time with Daniel Isaac is whoever gets the honor of lying down with him and how affectionate he is. He loves to be snuggled up next to us. When Noah David was a tiny baby and I'd be nursing him while lying down with DI to help him fall asleep, Daniel Isaac would rub his brother's soft head until he fell asleep...and just last night, he fell asleep holding Noah David's foot. When I lie down with him for bed, he usually holds my face to fall asleep, whispering "I love you so much, Mommy." He does the same for Daniel, except he reports that Daddy's face isn't soft like Mommy's. :) He holds Baby Noah often and loves hugging on him. His sweet Grandmama still rocks him to sleep for his nap where he sleeps in her lap, which he just loves. He is a "touch" boy for sure, and we loooove this about him!

8. Verbal...Daniel Isaac has had a lot to say for most of his life. He started talking really early and has not slowed down, even in his sleep. This is a wonderful quality (most of the time...hehehe) that has been a gift to him and us! He says the most hilarious things on a daily basis, and he is so verbally affectionate! He tells us and his grandparents when they're caring for him "I love you" probably 20 times a day. Talk about melt a mama's heart! In church on Sunday, Pops was telling him something before the service started and he said, "Say it don't spray it, Pops." ??? We have NO idea where he learned this. He is getting really good at verbalizing his feelings, too, which is a tremendous gift. He'll say, "Mommy, I am so frustrated. So so frustrated." OR in the car when Noah David is protesting his car seat, "Mommy, Noah David's crying disturbs me." He tells wonderful stories to us, and can ask at least 27,000 questions per hour. :) I wouldn't trade his words and ability to use them for the moon!

7. His stories! Daniel Isaac makes up and tells the BEST stories! I am determined to write children's books with him. He loves Daniel and I to tell him stories about when we were growing up and stories just made up, and he has started making up his own to share with us. What a fun gift to our family!

6. His love for people and being with family and friends...in Daniel Isaac's world, the more family and friends around, the better. The most complicated part about family meals is keeping him from going person to person saying "Are you done yet? Will you play with me?" He is devastated to leave family events and sobs for a minimum of 5 minutes of utter dramatic sadness. He asks me regularly, "Mommy, lets go to the Cannons!" "Can we go to Grandmama's house?" "Will you bring me to Nana's house?" He truly loves people, and loves his family and friends. What a blessing!

5. In the moment...Daniel Isaac truly lives in each moment. He uses every second of his waking hours to fill with play, conversation, and LIFE! This has made transitions sometimes complicated. He absorbs so much of his environment and surroundings with this quality. He radiates life and love and energizes this home and whatever atmosphere he's in. I have much to learn from my 3 year old's precious ability to truly live and not waste a moment of life!

4. His imagination...Daniel Isaac's imagination has been fascinating to watch develop! He is rarely "Daniel Isaac". The first week of school at FUMC's Sonshine Preschool (which we LOVE), he walked in and his teachers (who are so wonderful, sweet, patient and understanding!!!) said, "Good morning, Daniel Isaac!" And he replied, "No, I'm not Daniel Isaac. I'm Benny the Jet Rodriguez." Thankfully, his teachers agree to call him by whatever character he is "being" that day. He varies from Spiderman, Superman, Benny, Super Why, Steve (from Blues Clues), Dare Devil...and many others I can't think of right now. He stays "in character" all day and corrects anyone who does not call him by his name for the day. He has vivid dreams and recaps them so clearly and then re-inacts them for us. He loves throwing all the pillows on our living room floor, getting in his "boat" (a diaper box), and floating through the ocean. He replays stories and acts out different adventures and scenes. Daniel Isaac has the heart of a warrior, which I believe wholeheartedly was placed in him by our God who fights for us (Ex. 14:14). As parents, we're working very hard to get this "warrior" directed in the right direction. To learn about the most valuable armor of all, Ephesians 6: 13-17, is our hearts desire for him. His imagination is bursting with color and flare, and I cannot wait to see how our Lord uses this tremendous gift of creativity!

3. Honesty...Daniel Isaac is very honest. Whether it be telling on himself or pointing out the large size of a fellow Wal-Mart shoppers' behind and declaring her "Aunt Fanny" from the movie Robots, Daniel Isaac is super honest. When I was pregnant with Noah David, he faithfully informed me of my growing size. He has endearingly let his grandmothers know exactly where their "lines" (wrinkles) are and that they are old. We are now working on when and where to use this honesty, but it's not a characteristic I want leaving him!

2. Black and White...We all know that "Isaac", meaning "laughter", is a great description of Daniel Isaac. Daniel, too, though is a perfect name for him, meaning "God is my judge". Daniel in the Bible was a prophet, and today's "prophets" are those who see things black and white. It's either right or wrong...measured to Scripture, and they aren't afraid to declare God's truth. We see this developing in Daniel Isaac, and it is our prayer that his heart would only seek to please God, his judge, and no one else. He wants things to be correct, to be right. For small things such as his shoe laces, they need to be tied exactly the same on each shoe. For bigger things, he wants everyone to be obeying and doing the right thing. On the Chick-fil-a playground the other day, he defended a little girl he had befriended when 2 brothers weren't playing sweet. He is quick to shoot his pointer finger up along with his eyebrows and explain the rules. We are working on this faithfully applying to himself, too. :) He wants words pronounced correctly; he wants people behaving correctly; he wants to know right from wrong and then enforce it. I believe this is a quality the Lord has equipped Daniel Isaac with for leadership, and combined with his other amazing attributes, this little man is going to be unstoppable for our Lord!!!

1. His mind, specifically his memory...Daniel Isaac's mind keeps our jaws dropped regularly. He can completely recount events that took place when he was 18 months old. He will say, "Remember when we flew my Thomas the Train kite at the beach, Mommy? Can we do that again?" And I usually have to think a while to even know what he's talking about, digging way back into the archives of my brain to remember. He remembers people and places and exactly what he did. He remembers words and facts. Just the other day he was telling me, "Mommy, remember when Pops and me went and looked at the John Deere tractors and all the other equipments?" He and Pops did that in December of 2008! His overactive brain, as I call it, does not shut down. He has vivid dreams, and he talks in his sleep. He wakes up just before or at sunrise every morning ready to energetically begin another day. He has declared that he wants to be a doctor, astronaut, football player and tyrannosaurus rex when he grows up. So watch out future teachers of Daniel Isaac...we will have to keep this brain busy!!!

We are in constant prayer seeking wisdom in how to parent such a wonderful, gifted, loving little boy. He is a tremendous gift and blessing and has saturated our hearts and lives with so much joy. The Lord has such a brilliant plan and future in store for Daniel Isaac, and it is humbling to get to be his Mama and have the opportunity to love on him and be the recipient of so much affection, life and love.

Top 10: Noah David

I'm going to officially "kick off" my top ten series with Noah David. Daniel Isaac's will shortly follow, so stay tuned! Oh.....and these are in NO particular order...I could never narrow that down, nor do they entail all that I adore in Noah David...but it's a good little nut shell glimpse into this precious blessing! :)

10. How he smiles with his eyes...they twinkle and his whole face lights up with his smile, but mostly those eyes smile as big as his toothless grin.

9. How he "sings" himself to sleep. When I'm walking or bouncing him to sleep or when he's falling asleep in the car, he doesn't whine or cry...he softly makes this singing "Ahh Ahh Ahh" sound. It's so sweet and so precious. His eyes are usually closed for this and he does it at a consistent rhythm until he's totally asleep.

8. How he eats...this sweet boy loves his milk and loves his food. When we walk into the kitchen he begins to chomp his mouth up and down if he's hungry and kick his chubby legs toward the counter where I fix his food. It's hard to shovel the food into his mouth fast enough as his tongue flies out in eager anticipation for the next bite. When he drinks his milk, he makes these "mmm mmmm mmmm" sounds as long as he's awake and nursing. When we sit down as a family to eat, his feelings are hurt if he's not offered nibbles, as well. He LOVES to eat and loves his milk. We may see evidence of this in his thunder thighs and belly...and chins....

7. How he joins in conversations...often when we're riding in the car and his VERY talkative big brother is talking away, Noah David gleefully and wholeheartedly joins in with his coos and inflected syllables. Even when Daniel and I are having a conversation, he'll often interject his thoughts and opinions with "Goooo...eew...heeey....babaa..." Sometimes when we're all talking or hanging out with friends and talking, he'll make an unhappy fuss sound and all it takes is acknowledging him and mimicking his coos and sounds and then he's happy as a clam. He just likes being included and acknowledged. :) Who doesn't?

6. How he looks for his daddy and brother...and mama on the rare occasion we're not together. Last weekend Daniel and Daniel Isaac were out of town, and when Noah David and I woke up Saturday morning, Noah David kept looking around the house as I was carrying him calling out "Wuh wuh!" "Wuh Wuh!" I realized he's calling Daniel Isaac because we call him "brother". Whenever Daniel Isaac isn't here (especially if he's gone when he wakes up from his nap), he looks around, very concerned calling "Wuh Wuh!". He does the same for Daniel except "Da Da" "Da Da" "Da Da". And when Daniel has gotten him as he's woken up from a nap a few times, he's pushed him away saying "Ama...Ama" for "Mama". I just love that this sweet boy wants us all around him and notices when someone is "missing" and has figured out how to communicate his concern about that.

5. How he rolls around to get to what he wants...Noah David is working on crawling, but for now he has still figured out how to get what he wants. I left him in the middle of the living room floor to go to the kitchen for a moment the other day, and when I came back in the room he had made it all the way to the sofa, reached underneath it and was happily chewing on a piece of paper. He rolls from front to back to front to back until he can get to what he wants. What an adorable rolly polly!

4. He finds his gas and bowel movements to be hilarious already...I suppose this is just part of being a mother of boys, but Noah David already gets a giggle out of his gas and poop. He finds his really messy in-public, outfit-change-with no changing table available-poops the most hilarious. It's like he knows that I need to see that round face light up with dimples and giggles to distract me from his stress-inducing public poop. Bless him. And me.

3. He is so snuggly....he loves to be held, hugged, kissed, tickled, etc. He is so cuddly and snuggly. This works out very well considering the rest of us love loving on him and each other. He is most comfortable on my hip, in the baby carrier on Daniel, and snuggled right up to me to sleep. He and Daniel Isaac snuggle together and he rolls over and grabs his face cooing and grabbing him, and Daniel Isaac is regularly taking play breaks to give "Baby Noah" hugs and kisses. He's like this wonderful, warm stuffed animal that we get to sleep with every night. Bliss!

2. His belly laugh...ooooh, the sounds of this deep chuckle. He gets very tickled over the funniest things. He loves the sound "z" and laughs out loud when I sing "Zippity Doo Da". He is VERY ticklish and it just takes lightly brushing his round thighs to get a chuckle. He also laughs out loud and freely when I brush my hair on his face. Daniel Isaac used to love this, and Noah David does very much, as well. There are not many sounds in the world I'd rather listen to than my baby's laughter!

1. His disposition...oh, what a sweet, content, happy child Noah David is! I took him to the doctor last week because he had fever, and after the doctor examined his two very inflamed infected ears, he leaned back and said, "Wow, this is the happiest child I've ever seen with double ear infections." And at that, Noah David shared his big toothless eye-sparkling grin with him once again. I think if he could speak in sentences already, he'd say, "Just feed me and hold me....that's all I need." Very little upsets him...he just really enjoys life. And we soooo enjoy his sweet life!

Top Ten Preface

TOP 10

I have many "top ten" ideas, and I have many of them written down...it's just the transference from head to paper to blog that takes the longest. When it comes to "top tenning", I generally have way more than ten favorites, but just to consolidate and prevent reader and typer burnout, I'll stick to ten for now. Happy reading!

Photos!

I fully intended to post this blog back in the beginning of December, but life happened and got crazier and I'm just not getting around to it. BUT, Marie Mann Hughes photographed our family for our Christmas cards and did a beautiful job! I'm posting my favorites, but you can go to her blog or her website to view all of the pictures.

www.sarahmariephotos.com

Click on "client proofs" and then "taylor family" and then type the password "taylor" to view all of our pics.

She is wonderful to work with...very sweet and has great ideas and can just "capture" the moment and the life of your family. We highly recommend her!

Noah David 6 month check up

Noah David saw Dr. Smalley this morning for his 6 month check up. He was a whopping 21 pounds and 1 ounce and is 27 and 5/8 of an inch long! He continues to be over the 95th percentile for weight and 90th for height. He's got a BIG appetite, and he especially enjoys all the new food we've been giving him. He starts smacking his lips when I walk into the kitchen with him and he kicks with glee anytime he sees me preparing food. His favorite is rice and fresh banana. He won't turn anything down, though! He is so much fun to feed as his mouth pops wide open as quickly as he swallows a bite. He often gets frustrated if Mommy is not quick enough with the spoon. He still enjoys Mommy milk frequently, and we're so thankful he is healthy and growing! Dr. Smalley also said that he is sitting really well for his age. I'm going to have to get back into house-proofing mode very soon once he's crawling. He continues to be delightful in personality and smiling and laughing all the time. Still no teeth, but he is certainly working on getting some in. Daniel Isaac continues to be a wonderful big brother, caring for him, snuggling with him, telling him stories, and playing with him. So far, Daniel Isaac has taught Noah David how to jump (in his jumper-roo thing) and roll over, which Noah David is delighted to roll all over the room to get what he's after.

We continue to praise our Lord all throughout each day for the wonderful gifts He's given us in Daniel Isaac and Noah David! They are wonderfully made and are truly wonderful blessings in our life. Words cannot describe.

Too funny to not share....

Daniel Isaac and his very loud robot (thanks Uncle James and Aunt Hilary) came bursting into the bedroom this morning to wake up Noah David and me. He jumped up on the bed, much to Noah David's delight and declared, "I have lots of stories to tell you, Baby Brother, but first I'm going to teach you something!" (He usually tells Noah David and me 2-3 made up stories each morning to start our day...) He then proceeded to explain to Noah David that, "We all have lots of bones in our bodies. All in our bodies. And they are hard. See, touch!" And he wanted Noah David to feel how strong his bowed out chest was. So then, I began to review bone names with him. First I taught him sternum, since that's what he was so proud of. Then I pointed to my collar bone and said, "Do you remember what this one is called?" (He's known "clavicle" for a long time now and corrected a nursery worker once who told him his knee was a "knee cap" saying, "No, it's your patella.") He grinned and said, "Yes, I do remember. It's your uterus." ??????? I BUSTED out laughing. He says the funniest things, but this by far was one of the funniest.

Daniel Isaac amazes us in many ways. He is so so so sweet and loving to Noah David and teaches him things all the time. WOW, I'm so thankful for these 2 boys!!!!

Happy Birthday, Sir Daniel Isaac the 3 year old!

Sir Daniel Isaac, the valiant warrior!

Sir Daniel Isaac and Sir Pops sword fighting...yes Pops is dressed in a full knight costume.

My two handsome prince knights with Princess Mommy! (And yes, I do teach them to call me "Princess Mommy"...I'm hoping it will stick.)

Daniel Isaac, Princess Mommy and his friends about to blow out his candle!

Princess Grandmama and Sir Elijah

Sir Daddy and Sir Noah David

Princess Nana (yes, she, too is in full princess costume) and Sir Noah David

Princess Claire and Princess Anna Gail

Sir Monkey Miles and his Royal Squires, Lee and Kyle ; )

Sir Holt playing with the popular robot toy Sir Uncle James and Princess Aunt Hilary gave Sir Daniel Isaac!

Sir Piercey Pie ever so sneakily getting finger-fulls of icing and gum drops...who could resist those big brown eyes anyway, though??

Sir Daniel Isaac the 3 year old riding his new scooter!

Sir Pierce and Sir Holt in their capes (yes, Heather made one for each child and they were awesome!) getting their royal tattoos.

Princess Caroline...isn't she a beauty?!?

Daniel Isaac's Castle Cake!

Wow, aside from the fact that I am still in denial that my baby is THREE years old, we had a wonderful time celebrating his birthday! He was a delightful host, and was thrilled to see his friends, hug each of them and encourage them to get a tattoo and hat. Pops and Nana (my parents) dressed up as a knight and princess and played the roles...it added so much fun! Several children were slightly terrified of giant Pops dressed in his knight gear swinging Daniel Isaac's sword around, but Daniel Isaac loved it!! Heather made pink fluffy princess capes for all the girls and red capes for all of the little knights. The girls got princess hats and the boys got knight helmets. We had so much fun celebrating the wonderful 3 years of our courageous knight! Daniel and I are so thankful for the incredible opportunity and privilege it is to be Daniel Isaac's parents.