11 months

This past month has been so much fun. Isaac is really settling into his own and is a blast to be around (which is lucky for me because I get to hang out with him all day)!

After Christmas, Uncle Tony and Aunt Joan stayed in Dallas for a while so Isaac got to play with them a lot. Uncle Tony's nose was particularly interesting.

He has started to smile and interact with new people instead of simply giving them a wide-eyed stare. 9 times out of 10 the first comment made by strangers when they see Isaac are about his baby blues. And they are some beautiful baby blues!

He's also standing on his own multiple times every day, often getting to standing without holding onto anything just raising up out of a squat. He claps and loves praise and encouragement. He's made a great adjustment to his new house and new city and has even made some new baby friends.

With all of the new milestones there are still many constants in Isaac's world:

Like his curiosity and sense of adventure. He loves to explore his new house and happily plays and "talks" to himself most of the day.

So much of his play involves his books (which are all out of boxes and on shelves now!). It's a lot of fun to watch him flip through and "read" them.

Learning to navigate the patio

His playfulness is not without its downside, however. He goes to bed every night with a new bump, bruise or cut. Luckily, he always bounces back quickly from his tumbles like this one, a particularly bad bonk that left him with his first shiner.

Also unchanged is his love of food. Still a big fan of Cheerios (and blueberries, salmon, chicken, turkey, bread, green beans...)

Here, on a recent trip to the store he figured out how to get to the Cheerio stash and went at it full-boar!

 

More evidence of his Cheerio love:

 

With 8 teeth now, he eats three full meals a day and loves sipping out of his big boy cups. He has just started signing "more". He uses it often and with great enthusiasm at the kitchen table.

 

He's always trying to get Rufus' attention and will go an grab what he knows to be Rufus' favorite things (raw hides, chewies, a ball) and take it to him. Rufus will occasionally show his gratitude with reciprocated interaction. 

 

Yelling at Rufus to come back inside.

And then there's the Haba...
My mom got him this for Christmas and he didn't show too much interest in it at first. I don't know if it's all the new space we have or if something just clicked physically, but he squeals with delight and claps his hands when he sees it. He's a walkin' fool on this thing, and I imagine will be walking without it in the very near future.

Always on tip-toes

walkin' and talkin'

He went through his first "Daddy phase" this month. Needless to say I was a little taken aback when he cried and stretched his arms out for Dada to hold him instead of me. Having Joe gone all day has been a big adjustment for all of us, but it's so much fun to see the big smile on Isaac's face when Joe gets home from work and we appreciate our quality time together all the more. Last night, he was already in the bath tub when Joe came home and Isaac started trying his hardest to climb out of the tub to get to his Daddy's arms.

but most of the day he's still a Mama's Boy... for now.

Not sure when my little baby started turning into such a handsome toddler, but we're really enjoying getting to be on the front row to witness all of his discovering, learning and transformations.

 Happy 11 months, Sweet Boy! Onto 1 year!