Walking and Other Tricks

New things Isaac can do: Walk! Spin in circles. Make the sign for "milk." Say "nana" (banana). Wash his own hands (sort of). Open the front door.

Isaac officially began walking on May 4th. One minute he was walking just a few steps between us, and the next he was walking much further. He was still pretty wobbly until just the past week, but now he walks just to walk. I set him down and off he goes. He still falls a lot, and I feel like whenever one bump on his forehead starts to heal, he gets another, but he's a total trooper and generally gets up and keeps going. Last week at Book Babies he walked from parent to parent, smiling until he got a smile in return and then moving on to the next adult he felt he needed to greet. This week, he insisted on dancing at the front of the room where everyone could see him rather than on his carpet square where he should have. A few days ago, I gave him my iPod nano which has decent sound even without headphones. He's obsessed, and with music playing he walks from room to room, grinning and pausing occasionally to briefly dance or spin. He's also figured out how to play one of the games, tipping and turning the nano to move a ball around the screen.

Isaac has always loved to be outside. Even when he was just a few months old, if he was crying all I needed to do was take him out on the front patio and he almost always calmed down immediately. His enjoyment of the outside has turned into a full on obsession. Sometimes, he'll stand by the front door and pound, whine, yell, cry and otherwise demand to be let outside. A couple weeks ago, after quite a bit of trying, he was able to get the door open. We were watching, so no escape, but we're watching even more closely now. Luckily he can't open the patio gate, and he won't get far if he does get the door open again. Our apartment complex has lots of sidewalks and grassy hills, and he loves to walk around outside. We also have lots of kids living in the complex and Isaac tends to walk right up to them and just stand there smiling at them. The kids that live right around us are all really nice and lots have younger siblings, so they're very sweet to him. They know his name and my name, and I'm learning theirs. Living here is as much fun for me as it is for Isaac.

With his new found mobility, he's gotten even better at tucking his (and our) belongings in strange places. All in one day, for example, I found the baby monitor in the laundry basket, a purple plastic ball inside a mixing bowl in a kitchen cabinet, and his green sippy cup, which had been missing for a couple of days, jammed behind the rice steamer on a shelf that is exactly at his eye level, but definitely not at mine.

Isaac's favorite book is Goodnigh Gorilla. He likes to point to the red balloon in Goodnight Moon, and he likes to sit in laps and look through books in general. His favorite food is still black beans, but he also loves pasta, Gerber animal crackers, and any sort of meat we've so far put in front of him. He continues to intensely dislike having his face and hands washed, but he does like to take the washcloth from us and wipe his own hands. His favorite songs are "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider," (both with hand actions which he joins in on occasionally). Often we hear him singing to himself, and sometimes it sounds a lot like "Twinkle Twinkle..." Currently, his soccer ball is probably his favorite toy. While he can't throw it very well, he loves to chase it around when someone else throws it for him. As always, he rocks.

Playing in our backyard.

Enjoying tortilla soup.

Being a big kid.