Tickle Me Isaiah

Isaiah now has four teeth which you can see in some adorable pictures we have taken. It's amazing how so few teeth can change his face so dramatically. One of his favorite pastimes is feeling his new teeth with his fingers or his tongue or his cheeks. He will suck his cheeks in like a fish and look all around, wondering why I am laughing so hard. He is also figuring out how to use them to eat some very soft foods, like cantaloupe or Daddy's fingers. Actually, he doesn't bite much at all. Usually he only does it when he's very excited and forgets to be gentle.

I am amazed at how deliberate his actions are these days. Just today he was playing with Michael on the bed, and Michael had a ball balanced on the bridge of his nose. Isaiah knocked it off, and then he picked it up and tried to put it back on again. He has also began handing me things he think I will enjoy playing with, such as soft little toy sheep or shiny beads or dirty socks. He must have watched me doing laundry and reached the wrong conclusion. Nevertheless, I am always smitten by the fact that he wants to give me something, so I take the dirty socks happily.

Isaiah is also getting very proficient in moving around. He doesn't crawl on his hands and knees yet, but he's up on his elbows and knees. To be honest, I don't think he needs to be moving any faster than he already is. I have enough trouble keeping up with his. We have removed all the objects from every bottom shelf in the house and replaced them with stuffed toys. I have had to put cabinet locks on and have double-checked all of the sockets to make sure they are baby-proofed. Our home isn't going to get mistaken for a bachelor pad anytime soon.

I got called out the other day by Michael because of something I was doing without even realizing it. Every time Isaiah would get hurt or very upset and Michael was holding him and comforting him, I would take him out of Michael's arms to do it myself. Oops. Here I have one of the sweetest best husbands and dads in the world, and I pull a move like that. It's amazing how strong the urge to hold Isaiah is, though, when he is crying. If I hear or see him crying and he's not in my arms, I get fidgity and upset right along with him. I honestly didn't even realize how much I was taking Isaiah away from Michael until he gently pointed it out. It's like I become a mom-zombie (a mombie?) and I can't think until my baby is happy again.

Isaiah is doing so many new things everyday. About a week ago he began to think it was really funny when Michael or I would purse our lips together and make a 'camel spitting' sound. Then the other day, he did it himself, and he looked to us to see if we would laugh. He also gives more hugs and is mimicking our words. As we crawled into bed one night, Michael said, "Having Isaiah is like having a new toy everyday."

We broke out the warm clothing for Isaiah a few days ago and were surprised to find he still fit into his snowsuit. We bought the snowsuit from an auction while I was still pregnant thinking it would fit early on since it was labeled as "up to 3 months." Well, Isaiah is eight months old, and not exactly a small baby, so I'm not entirely sure what the manufacturers were thinking. I'm just happy we can get some use out if it because Isaiah + Snowsuit = Pretty Darn Adorable.