Beware 13

Friend and Reader Paige has introduced me to "Thursday 13" and has invited everyone to join her in this endeavor. Please don't examine the calendar closely, as today is not really Thursday.

Thirteen Things I Love about Isaac RIGHT NOW:

1. I love the way he smiles up at me, crunching his nose and squinting his eyes. I realized that I make this same face at him sometimes when flashing a smile his direction. They learn to mimic really early, huh?

2.I love the fact that he is currently sound asleep despite the loud noise of a drill directly outside his window. This is the same child who couldn't sleep anywhere when he was a newborn. Thank goodness we are out of that phase (somewhat!)

3. I love that he is starting to respond to sign language. Although he isn't making the signs yet himself (he is still a bit young), he does recognize the signs for "more," "drink," "eat," and "bath." The "bath" sign gets him incredibly excited.

4. I love how he delicately drinks from a cup with no lid. In the bath I let him practice drinking water (not bath water) out of a cup and he gently puts it to his mouth and sips. Right now it is more like a puppy dog slurping up his water, but Isaac is slowly getting the hang of tilting the cup back rather than putting his face into the cup.

5.I love how he learns something new everyday. Just this week, Isaac figured out how to pull himself into a sitting position from being on his tummy. I witnessed this event the first time he did it and rewarded him with the appropriate amount of cheers and whistles. The next time he did this I had placed him on his blanket with a toy while I stepped five feet away into the kitchen to make a bottle. Bottle making is a thirty second process. When I went back into the living room, Isaac was across the room sitting up playing with a block. I freaked out for a moment, expecting to see a bad guy who had picked up my child and moved him to this new location. No bad guy found. Just a nine month old who is learning to cruise quickly!

6. I love when Isaac shakes his head on command. Come on over. You can sit around with us as we all shake our heads. This is pure comedy to Isaac.

7. I love how Isaac's current fascination is socks. He has this weird rash thing on the back of his leg and he is not supposed to be wearing socks for a few weeks (which drives me crazy!). Despite this, if we go out of the house I do put socks on him and then remove the forbidden objects as soon as we are home. Isaac played with one of his discarded socks for a good thirty minutes last night.

8. I love when Isaac waves. He has two forms of the wave. One is his arm going up and down and the other is him twisting his hand at the wrist repeatedly. Adorable. He does not wave on command everytime and there usually is a pause between someone waving at Isaac and him responding likewise. Cute, nonetheless.

9. I love how Isaac lets me know he is about to play with the gliding ottoman (a "no") by giving out a slight giggle. He will laugh, pause for recognition, and then begin to joyfully glide the ottoman. When I look that direction, he scrunches up his face and smiles as if to say, "What?" He is then reprimanded and redirected.

10. I love how Isaac has realized that I am behind him while we are in the car. He tries so hard to look over his shoulder and the top of his carseat to see me while we are driving down the road. I figure this is good stretching to those old neck muscles and won't cause serious harm.

11. I love how Isaac will randomly kiss me. This doesn't happen too often, as he has much better things to do with his day than shower his parents with affection. However, sometimes when we are playing he will reach up or over, depending on where I am, and pull my hair towards him to plant his open mouth on my face. I have to refrain from jumping in the car and buying out Babies R Us at that moment...

12. I love how Isaac giggles everytime I lay him down to sleep. He is just like his mommy--he experiences sheer joy at the idea of going to sleep!

13. I love how well-behaved Isaac is in public places at this stage in life. Today I had to take him with me to a doctor's appointment. This was a serious clinic and everyone was very quiet in the waiting room (with the exception of the lady crying). Isaac was incredibly quiet, eating his fruit puffs and reading his book as if he were five.

Happy Thursday 13....on Friday!

(The post title is just for you, Paige! For those who don't get the title, don't worry. It is just a sign that I am old and need to get a life.)