Teething--
Evie broke her first tooth when she was 15 months old. The late break of gums did not prevent her from voraciously gumming down anything we handed to her. She also was spared the extended teething pain so there was no ceaseless crying in the night, no Orajel, no cold stash of teething rings.
Isaac broke his first tooth two weeks ago! At 7.5 months old, the little buddy presented us with his first tooth. And, may I add: our nursing relationship has a whole new dimension that often includes me yelling out "OUCH!" Now, days away from 8 months old, he has two little pearlies pushing through. We also get to experience what teething is like for infants: the biting, me crawling into his room at 1 a.m., 3 a.m., 5 a.m. to shove teething tablets into his mouth and soothe him back to sleep, the biting, the excessive drooling, and yes, the biting.
Eating--
Evie ate everything. EVERYTHING. However, now, she has a few dislikes: brussel sprouts, pepperoni, and olives.
Isaac does NOT eat everything. He has definite preferences. He does not eat everything, and will let you know in a very dramatic way if he hates what you are giving him: his mouth will open like he is about to throw up, he will make a loud gagging sound and his whole body will shudder. So far, hated foods are: avocado, any kind of homemade squash puree, egg yolk, and plain rice cereal. And sometimes green beans, just because.
Growth--
Evie was born at 8 lbs., 10 oz, 20.5 inches long. She was born a big baby, complete with baby fat rolls and chipmunk cheeks but eventually slimmed down fast and stayed that way. She stayed at 27 lbs. for nearly the entire time she was 2 years old. However, her feet had no problem getting bigger, and bigger and bigger. The legacy of the Kung feet.
Isaac was born at 6 lbs., 9 oz. and 20 inches long, a verifiable string bean. His growth rate is opposite of Evie: he was born small but has since put on a lot of weight, mostly muscle and practically no baby fat. At his last weighing a few weeks ago, he was 17 lbs., and 26 and 1/2 inches long. And his feet are really big, of course.
Mobility--
Evie's first crawl was over Labor Day weekend, when she was just over 8 months old. Soon after, she was pulling herself into a standing position and started cruising our furniture. She started walking in time for my birthday when she was 13 months old. And now she likes to run around in circles, screaming like she has lost her mind.
Isaac can put himself on all fours and scoot backwards. He puts in plenty of practice time when he is supposed to be sleeping. I usually discover him on all fours or sitting straight up in his crib, moaning because he can't go to sleep. He can also jump the lights out of any baby jumping contraption. He is getting ready to crawl soon, which is not really any different from Evie's progress. However, what is different is that he has been completely inspired by Evie's screaming solo cross-country races through our house: this dude REALLY WANTS TO WALK. Excuse me, I meant to say this dude REALLY WANTS TO RUN. His favorite activity is for you to hold his hands to balance him while he walks across the room/the field/the road at a steady pace. He is not playing around and he has already let us know: "Mom, Dad, after I figure out this walking thing you can just give me the keys to the car."
Language--
Evie loves to talk and read, there's no denying that. By the time she was 9 months old, she would sit quietly to listen to a book being read, and would help me turn pages. Now, her level of language comprehension is high, and although she isn't reading or spelling yet (very close, though), she is able to put together complex plots complete with character development and "read" a book to you by interpreting pictures or pure recitation. Today, my screaming banshee sat quietly reading books in her room with her door closed for over an hour.
Isaac is babbling a lot, although it's hard to tell whether his level of babbling and Evie's babbling is similar, who knows and who cares?! It's babbling! A whole lot of "d", "t", "b", "g" and even "r" sounds. Nothing that sounds like "mama" yet, though I am waiting. Isaac doesn't prefer to read books as much as he likes to chew them (perhaps that has to do with the teething?). He won't sit quietly for a book because he would rather hold the book, test it's weight by throwing it, taste it, discover the thickness of the spine by chewing it, and find it's resonance by banging it against the floor or other objects. Maybe in the future my kids will be hiding in their rooms to either read a book or to conduct lab experiments with the cat's fur.
And most of all, Isaac is a happy, fun baby! He is very easy-going and content and loves to laugh. Here are some of my favorite pictures of Isaac faces:
The Yoda look. He LOVES bath time, or any time he is in water.
One night in TN, the cousins were preparing for a sleepover (which never really happened because there was too much singing and talking going on) and listening to Lillian read a story. Isaac couldn't get in on the action and has a look of disagreeable uncertainty.
"And tell me again, why am I over here when all my cousins are back there?"
Surprise!
Curious baby.
This is Isaac crying in the bath, not because he didn't like the bath but because he didn't like Evie crying in the bath. Evie was crying because she didn't want a bath. When she realized we were taking pictures of them crying in the bath, she decided to ratchet it up a notch and started screaming in the bath.
Which made Isaac cry even harder.
With all of Isaac's transformations day by day, we (including Evie) revel in the miracle that is this magnificent person. Thank you, God, for the gift that is Isaac!
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