10 months

Happy 10 month-day, Isaac! He now has two teeth and a lot more hair (especially in the back). He waves (sometimes), points, and talks incessantly. His favorite syllable is definitely "da", and we are working to hook that to the identification of a certain person. He has become a cruising expert, and is even experimenting lately with standing unsupported, which completely blows me away. The other night in the most flagrant example, we were playing in the bathroom and he temporarily let go of the toilet lid and stood for a half-second, with his knees bent like a surfer, before falling back onto his little tushy. Along the same vein, he is also working on crawling from an all-fours position (using his feet instead of his knees). Tonight I saw him rock backwards onto his feet for another half-second, pulling his hands away from the floor and supporting his weight entirely with his legs. I think he has been inspired by the walker from Grandma and Grandpa Ross and is totally training himself Rocky-style for bipedalism, no longer limiting himself to using the "official" walker as a walker; anything that can slide is game. This evening alone he used his bedroom door (walking behind it as it swung closed) and our kitchen step-stool (scooting it along the linoleum). It's only a matter of time.

He also loves to read books. He likes flipping through his board books by himself when they are on the floor, but he greatly enjoys being read to from the snuggly comfort of mom's lap, asking for repeats on certain faves. Right now his very favorites are books that do stuff, like Touch and Feel Farm and Morning in the Garden, though he also appreciates books with beautiful illustrations like Owl Babies and I Am a Bunny.

His favorite food, by far, is cheese cubes, which he consumes every night. He eats mostly finger foods, though I am able to sneak some Gerber 3rd Foods dinners in there or some strained veggies and fruits + cereal if his hands are occupied with something tasty. He also likes goldfish (a common theme, I am finding), though he is impatient with them and tries to suck them right down and ends up choking on them more often than not. We don't like that.

A recent and VERY welcome addition to his developmental repertoire is that he is sleeping much better at night. Each night now he goes down for bed with little fussing between 7:30 and 8:30, and wakes up once in the middle of the night, either at midnight or at 2:30. He then wakes up for good brrrrright and early between 5:00 and 6:15. Although I would greatly appreciate changing the whole 5:00 thing, I will not complain since I only have to get up once a night now. It's so rad.

In family news, Dad is working feverishly to find a nice cushy professor job to fulfill our fantasies of Isaac having a full-time mom around. Right now, he is in Murray, Kentucky preparing to interview at Murray State University. We also anticipate that we will hear of a decision from the University of Delaware this week -- an anxious Dad has even given me his voicemail password with instructions to check it frequently for THAT CALL. Of course we here at Isaac's blog will keep you posted, since I am a single mom for the next three nights. Yee-yuck.