We have another toddler!

November 4, 2017

Dear Sweet Isaac,

Well, it only took you 10 ½ months, kid… you are walking! And delighted to be doing so, I will add. True to your character, you went through all the prerequisite steps before taking the actual steps – roll over, sit up, army crawl, all-fours crawl, pull to standing, cruise on furniture, stand on own…. And then those first, wobbly, tentative steps, that result in a fall into the arms of someone joyfully receiving you. And with each success along the way, Isaac – you celebrate! You grin and laugh and move your arms about. And you stand up to try again, now feeling a little more secure.

Train ride and pumpkins.
Isaac wanted all the pumpkins.

Now that you have had a couple weeks to practice, you’re getting much more consistent, and much braver in your efforts. You take a few steps, wobble back and forth, focusing your attention on not falling, smiling when you realize you have succeeded at this, then take another step. When you fall, you look up at someone nearby, smile slightly, and work on standing back up.

Honestly, watching you learn to walk has been so dear. Like your learning to come down stairs, this has offered such a beautiful glimpse into your developing personality: your care and attention, your caution, your consideration of a situation, your wanting to do it the right way, your determination, and your joy in celebrating your success. I can’t wait to see how these wonderful traits serve you in your future endeavors.

Meanwhile, you are living it up as a biped. Sometimes you toddle into the kitchen like a drunken sailor, stand and watch me for a while, smile, and then turn around and go back in the living room, carefully stepping over the bottom of the baby gate. You are getting stronger at keeping up with Grace, which makes you very happy. The two of you like to wrestle and roll around on

Halloween!

the ground now. Grace likes to hug you, which you’ll put up with for a while and then push her away. You are more and more adept at climbing the stairs, and will dutifully follow me up, then turn right back around and follow me down as I run around the house doing chores. The up and down doesn’t seem to bother you; you’re just glad to be able to participate in it!

Even as your mobility improves, so does your language. Several times you have said things that sounds like the appropriate word for the situation: “More,” “ow,” “mama,” etc. You have discovered a grumbly part of your voice, which you enjoy, and you also like to shout various syllables, like you are making an important statement everyone needs to hear, then you smile, pleased with yourself. You have also gotten into music lately, trying to dance, or play instruments, or drum on things. Of course I’m pleased about this! You and Grace and I just had our first jam session a couple weeks ago – I played ukulele, Grace and I sang, you laughed, and you and Grace alternated playing drum and maraca. It was pretty great. I hope it is the first of many!

In two days you turn 11 months – amazing! My little boy is so big! What a joyful almost-year it has been with you, my incredible son. I’m grateful for every single day that I get to live with your smile and laughter.

                                                                                                Love you,

                                                                                                Mama