Today my son turns 1.

The year slipped away quickly . . . probably because I didn’t sleep for the first 6 months.

He walks well and he laughs a lot (but he is learning how to throw a tantrum . . . who taught him that???).

His words:

Words (and a couple sounds) he says:

• Ball. This is his first word. When he says it, it sounds more like “baaw.” But he knows what it means: he knows what a ball is when he sees one, he knows what the word means if you say it and there isn’t a ball around, and he knows how to ask for his favorite tow.
• Ma-ma-ma-ma-ma. This is is first almost word. He uses it whenever he is upset and in general it means he wants his mom, but not always. Ma-ma is associated with comfort especially Gina.
• Da-da-da-da-da. I think he has a better grasp of da-da, but only because the word has a more limited meaning for him. That is to say, I am not his comforter, and he doesn’t use the word as much.
• Uh-oh. This means “I’ve dropped something and want to play the game were you pick it up for me so I can drop it again.” He only uses this word when something falls. And he usually points to the object while saying uh-oh.
• Isaac. He understands that this is his name, and looks at us when we call him, but he also uses the word to refer to just about everything. He says Isaac about a thousand times a day.
• Lately he has been imitating the sounds we make. He will also say “Tur-tull” “Pool” “Balloon” etc, if we repeat it a couple of times. I don’t think he entirely grasps the meaning of the sounds he’s making, but I think he understands that different objects have different names.
• Grunts. We often grunt when we pick something up, even something light which doesn’t take much effort, and he has begun to do it too. It’s kind of funny and make us feel like we’re old people who strain to lift everything.

Words he understands, but doesn’t’ say:

• Outside/Walk/Shoes/Door. Whenever we say one of those words he gets really excited and points to the front door, because he knows we’re going out for some reason. He loves being outside. I wish we had a yard so he could go out an play more often, but he’ll just have to wait. I don’t really like yard work, but I’d do it for him.
• Book. He loves books too. When I say the word he will go over to the book shelf and pick his favorites for me to read.
• Bath. He loves baths . . . maybe the words he learns first are the words associated with joy . . .

I don’t think he has learned milk yet because we use so many words to describe eating: Baby food, food, milk, bottle, hungry, eat, high chair, etc. We haven’t been consistent enough with that one.

His favorite books

• Noah’s Crew came Two by Two. He like it because the animal faces are 3D. There are wholes through the pages starting with the cover. With every page you turn, one of the sets of animals disappears.
• Baby Faces. I don’t actually know what the name of this book is but he loves to look at other baby faces. Each page has a sound/action associated with it such as “Stinky” “Boo-Hoo” and “Yippee” his favorite - he laughs at the smiling baby face.
• Rain Forest Discovery. This is a big book which lots of animals. I make noises and do motions such as roaring for the alligator and chomping his belly. By the way, does anyone know what sound a giraffe makes? That one stumps me every time.
• He has a couple other books that he gets somewhat regularly. Books with flaps that open, or books that are not square, such as our fireman books which are in the shape of a fireman and a fire engine.

Favorite Toy

• Ball
• A bear which is as big as him. He drags it around the house by the foot and randomly collapses on the bear hugging it, giggling, and trying to eat it - I think he does that because that’s how I play with him - pretending to eat his belly.
• His first favorite toy was a turtle with lights on it that plays steel drum music when you push one of the buttons.

Misc.

• He can eat most foods - he has six teeth and at least two more that are going to pop our soon.
• He sleeps about 10 hrs a night, from 8-6, and usually takes 2 naps a day (30-60 mins each)
• He loves people. I think he knows how to be cute. Sometimes he’ll just smile and look at you until you notice him.

I could go on, but that’s good enough for now.

Here are two shots of Isaac walking. He is 11 months old.

That last post reminded me of something that happened this weekend. My wife went to Notre Dame with her sister, so it was just me and Isaac hanging out together. Saturday night I was lying on the living room floor reading when Isaac crawled over my book and handed me a book about baby faces. Then he turned, backed into my shoulder and sat down so our faces could be side by side while I read him his book . . .

:’ )