Handsome Hunter

We do everything together...

Uncle J.D.

We love Uncle J.D.! He drops in unannounced a couple times a week just to play with the boys. He taught Fisher how to swing a bat and hit a ball, runs with them, wrestles with them and gives Mommy a few minutes off-duty to make a phone call, finish getting dress, clean the kitchen, you name it. His timing is always perfect.

The boys love when he trows them in the air, rolls around on the grass with them and generally "beats them up". These are cherished moments because he is moving away to Yorba Linda soon. Thank you Uncle J.D. we love you!!!

Father's Day 2008

We spent a leisurely Father's Day weekend onboard Persistence in Mission Bay with Jill's family. Mike helped Fisher reel in his first catch.

Sweet Hunter sat on the back deck watching Aunt Janeen and Fisher hang overboard and call to the fish "HELLO FISHY" at the top of their lungs.
It got really interesting the when Mike gave Fisher a bucket full of dead bait to play with. He was covered with slime and scales from head to toe. If you look closely his fingers are crusted and there are even scales in his hair. Yuck! But what fun he had squeezing the fish, throwing them to the birds and just being a boy.
Hmmm... fishing lessons from Aunt Janeen. She was on the back deck fishing morning til night.
Fishy loves to play with his brother, contstaintly tickling, talking and goofing around with him. They're already best friends.


Fisher has learned well from his father to take his recreation seriously. When he didn't have a rod in his hand he was swabbing the deck or tying a line.
Fisher told mommy "go fast" but didn't like it very much when we did. The salt spray caught him by surprise. He definitely has a my sense of adventure. Uh oh.
Relaxing is what it was all about, and we did plenty of there. Janeen, Dad, J.D., Jill and Fish.
Happy Hunter

The greatest BIG MESS yet

I used to wonder if my son would be the accident prone type; sending us on frequent trips to the emergency room. Or if he’d be fearful, crying at the loud wail of fire engine sirens. Maybe he’d be athletic, impressing adults with his good swing and accurate throw. No, God gave me a tough boy who is a fearless leader and curious explorer.

This morning after talking with Daddy about fishing he quietly went to his room and found his fishing pole. Next thing we hear is a loud slosh and crash, with no cry. Hmmm what could it be. Must not be serious because he’s not crying. I assumed he had dumped out an ice chest we had just unloaded that was still full of ice water. Mike was first on the scene to find Fisher’s fish tank on the floor, crushed beneath his dresser. The fish tank water splashed across his bed to the opposite side of his room, filled the dresser drawer and soaked the carpet. Apparantly he climbed his dresser drawers, using them as steps to be able to reach the fish tank where he was attempting to catch some fish with his fishing pole.

Concerned for the fish, Mike immediately found two of the four and rushed them to kitchen, asking me for a bowl of water. Fisher ran in right behind him carrying his pole, hopped up into a barstool and resumed his “fishing”. Daddy rescued the big goldfish but found him injured and bleeding. Fisher heard as the toilet flushed and we said bye-bye to the gold fish. One is still missing. The part we haven’t figured out yet is how he escaped untouched and completely dry. Ahhhh, just another day at the Saad house.

Keeping Cool

We learned the ducks in our marina are quite friendly and will come right up to the swim step for bread.

The boys have been cooling off in the sprinkler. We found Fisher and his friend Caleb with their swim trunks off taking turns peeing on the sprinkler while it was spraying water.

Household Disaster

Recently while checking email I became suspicious of an extended silence. When I popped my head around the corner into the kitchen I found Fisher had taken a pound of butter out of the freezer, without permission, of course. He looked up at me and quickly justified his mischief by showing me how he could stack the blocks one on top of the other then began counting them "why, chew, chee" to show me how smart he is. He and Bosun both enjoyed eating the butter and by the time they were finished then entire kitchen needed to be de-greased! That was today's BIG MESS.

Split Mountain & Wind Caves

Memorial Day Weekend we drove through Split Mountain, a narrow path between 200 foot walls where two mountain ranges meet and explored the Fish Creek area.
Lunch was a picnic in the shadow of a cliff. Pray there are no eathquakes! After a mile long hike to the wind caves we ducked into one for some rest and refreshment.

View of the badlands in the background.

The recent rains and cool temperature made for a perfect day in the desert with no dust or heat.

All before noon

How much more of this am I going to have to take Mom?

Fisher LOVES helping! Hunter tolerates his big brother feeding him but appreciates Mom's accurate aim with the spoon.

For some reason I thought finger painting with shaving cream might be fun. Fisher thought it was more fun to use the camera flash as a scraper.

Fisher is proficient at dressing himself, ususally backwards. This morning I said "Fisher, your shorts are on backwards." He responded "upside down noh"

Wake up! Nap time's over.

This was about our fourth BIG MESS of the morning. The burners were disassembled and filled with table salt. When I instructed "clean it up right now, say yes ma'am". His resoponse "Mama man no, goyle. Dada man. Doo big boy." Translation: Mama, you're not a man. Dada is a man and Fisher is a big boy. Thanks for the clarification Fisher. Now clean it up!

Hunter Six Months

Happy to be a part of our family
Un-phased by his older brother’s antics
Nice and easy going
Teething all the time, gnawing on his fist
Excited by tickles, funny faces and sounds
Rolls over both ways and sits up too

Disneyland

Gee Gee (Grandma Gaddis) took the family to Disneyland and California Adventure.

Fisher's favorites were: riding the carousel with Gee Gee..
"jibing" with Dada...
watching the characters sing and dance in the parade down Main Street...

cruising around with Uncle J.D.

We caught Hunter hanging out of the stroller, teething on the snack tray. No teeth yet.

April

We joined the Opening Day festivities at SDYC to kick off the opening of the boating season.

Fisher can pedal his tricycle all on his own.

He loves the independence and wants to ride all the time.

This was Fisher's first time helping daddy in the engine room. A few weeks later just Daddy and Fish went up to the boat for the day. They worked together in the engine room getting the boat ready for summer. Fisher would leave the engine room, walk inside the cabin, take the socket set out of the cabinet, hop back down into the bilge, climb up Mike's back, over his shoulder then sit right in front of him and start working on whatever Mike was working on. It didn't take long for him to discover the thrill of power tools and quickly master the cordless drill.

After church Fisher, Caleb and Micah play like boys.

They race across the grass, climb the tree and jump off the sign.

Around the House...

• Fisher is potty training. He enjoys wearing underwear all day, even through naps, and is very good at going on the potty when Mom reminds him :).


• Hunter rolls over both from tummy to back and from his back to his tummy. He can sit up on his own too.


• The boys sit side by side in a large shopping cart when we go to Costco. Fisher will put his arm around "B" and hug him really tight. Just as I'm telling him to let go Hunter's playful smile turns into loud laughter. Hunter loves his brother and just laughs at all the crazy things he does.


• At naptime and bedtime the boys sit on Fisher's bed while Mom reads aloud. Fisher will stand up and jump on the bed, just inches from Hunter is laying flat on his back. Just as I warn him to move away from "B" Hunter starts laughing out loud. He likes being bounced and watching Fisher have so much fun.


• Fisher helps bathe "B" by holding the washcloth and giving Mom instructions to not get water in his eyes.


• Fisher's first sentence was "yowd no, B nigh nigh". Back in March while driving in the car he asked me to not play the music too loud because Hunter was sleeping.


• "Mama, may I..." is a new phrase he's using. "Mama may I open drawer please" was his first request.

Mama's Jeep

Jill's new toy is a 1999 Land Rover Discovery outfitted for desert adventures. Aunt Janeen, Jill, Fisher and Hunter trekked into the southern part of Anza Borrego Desert State Park to explore off road tralis and view wildflowers.
Aunt Janeen's semester of wildlife biology really came in handy. She and Fisher spotted animal tracks and droppings, identified various rock formations and practiced saying the colors of the flowers we saw. Fisher always answered "blue" then would correct himself by saying "blue no, red".
We followed S2 north from Ocotillo and hiked back to Mountain Palm Springs, a small oasis of palms in the desert mountins, where Fisher discover his shadow for the first time. He would hop around, wave his arms and spontaneously attempted skipping.
The Palm Spring trail took us to a stagecoach stop at a natural spring. There was a pool of water on the ground and a verdant green oasis of mesquite. Later we drove further north to check out Agua Caliente and were surprised to find a small airstrip. Next time we'll bring swim suits to take a dip in the natural hot springs.
The Culprit! The wildflower bloom is mostly finished due to warm weather and the onslaught of sphinx moth caterpillars. A herd of these caterpillars crossed the dirt road in front us, like the children of Israel following Moses across the desert. At our last stop, Canyon Sin Nombre, we drove in a sandy wash beside steep rock cliffs.

Spring

Easter morning Fisher feasted from the large wagon full of candy from Grandma Sohair. A highlight of the Easter service at church was a special performance of "The Holy City" with Great Aunt Lindsay on piano, Cousin C.J. singing and Uncle J.D. playing his trumpet. We later joined family and friends for lunch and egg hunt at Grandma Rosie's house. Fisher's hunting pace was set by how quickly he ate his finds. When he found a plastic egg the contents were quickly emptied and consumed. Then he'd proceed to look for another. If it was a hard boiled egg he'd squeeze it with one hand until the shell cracked, then bite the top off and enjoy picking it apart.

In March Fisher, Hunter and Mommy visited Grandma Sohair & George. Fisher diligently mowed their lawn with his new mower.

Hunter has quite the "baby toupee". His dark, shiny hair looks thick and full in front, but lifts to reveal large bald patches over his ears and on the back of his head.