Work it, baby!

I had a tough night this week. On Saturday I was trying to get Isaiah to sleep. He had stayed up late on Friday and I didn't want to make it a habit, so I was determined to get him to bed on time. Isaiah, however, had other plans. He fell asleep but woke up again after 10 minutes, completely refreshed from his catnap and ready to nurse. So, we nursed and nursed and nursed and nursed. I was getting so very frustrated because all I wanted to do was get out of bed and spend some time with Michael before it was time for us to go to sleep. Finally, after two hours of laying in the dark with Isaiah nursing and me wishing to get up, a thought ran through my tired, cranky head. I am sick of this. I am sick of getting pinched with tiny, sharp fingernails, sick of having my bladder kicked every morning, and sick of being sucked on by a tiny, albeit cute, milk vampire. But oh, my sweet Isaiah - I will never be sick of you. Your sweet, soft skin, your toothy smile, your eager hugs, your beautiful eyes. No matter how many hours I have to nurse you at night, no matter how many sinks full of your dishes I wash. I will never, never be sick of you. You are my little love, and worth every minute of trial.

Isaiah has begun to develop a rather interesting sense of humor. He thinks it's hilarious if I tickle him under his chin with my nose. It's even more funny, though, if I trick him into looking up so I can get to his unguarded little chubby neck. So, as he sits on the potty every morning to do his daily morning deed (he's astonishingly regular) I snap my fingers above his head or hold up a shiny object. Then, when he least expects it, I nuzzle him and he giggles with delight. Of course, he knows exactly what's going on the whole time he's looking up, and sometimes he gives it away with a premature smile or chuckle. So I'm not sure who's tricking who.

I'm trying to give Isaiah three regular meals a day. The transition from exclusive nursing up till now has been pretty slow and steady. After reading a baby cookbook recently, though, I realized how much he could really eat. Not just fruits and veggies cooked a little too long and pureed to oblivion, but cheese, meat, rice cakes, textures! Oh joy! Honestly, Isaiah's meals are much more exciting for me than for him. It's a good thing he puts up with me. Oh, and his new favorite food is organic yogurt with apples and oat cereal. Mmmmm.

Isaiah's charms were put to the test this week. I went to the Hennepin County District Court Service Center to contest a parking ticket we got for expired tabs. I figured we had half a chance because we had actually purchased new tabs but they were sent to our old address. Unfortunately, I went to the wrong place at first and ended up being a half hour late for my appointment with the clerk. At that point, I assumed there was no chance they would waive the fee for us since I had stood them up. But as soon as I got there, the woman at the help desk saw Isaiah in his cute little overalls and waved me to the front of the line. Then, I got in with the clerk right away who thought Isaiah had the most beautiful eyes and was such a good baby. Isaiah smiled at him and batted his long eyelashes while in my head I cheered, Work it Isaiah, work it! The ticket was cleared before I had even explaining the entire situation. Yes!

Isaiah has been wrinkling up his nose a puckering his lips a lot lately. All at once, he looks very angry and like he has just smelled old fish. I'm not sure if he is doing this because he just learned how to make a new facial expression and wants to practice, or if his nose feels stuffed up, or if he's angry, or if he's is smelling some old fish I can't smell. Whichever the case, he usually thinks it's pretty funny if I make the face back at him and snort a little.

Isaiah's Halloween costume is done, and while I really want to post a picture of him in it, I think I should wait until Halloween so everyone can get the full effect. Just be prepared...it's adorable.