For the past 4 months, Isaac has been miserable to be around. He would cry and whine all the time, following me around to be held and then want down when I picked him up. I missed my cheerful little guy so much, especially since he always helped pick my spirits up when the other two were fighting or crying. Was it teething, a cold, the flu, alergies, early Terrible Twos, a phase? I was losing control of my emotions more and more because all three kids were behaving like tyrants. The only solace I had was that the kids finally learned how to allow Mom a time-out. Then I used it excessively, hiding in my room every half hour or more because I couldn't handle it anymore.
When Rex went to San Antonio last week, I think I handled things pretty well, but the kids certainly pushed me as far as I could go. Of course that was probably because James was bored during that week of Spring Break and playing with him and taking him places didn't do much good. The saving grace was that my sweet, smiley Isaac returned!
I don't know what triggered the change and it really doesn't matter -- if it lasts. It is so much easier to handle the rest of the whining, crying, and fighting that goes on when I can simply smile at my baby and get a giant smile back. He is playful again and his cheerfulness is contageous. He reminds me so much of the way James was at that age. I hope it lasts, unlike James who turned sour at his second birthday.
I truly believe the Terrible Twos won't be so terrible with Isaac. Maybe it's just my need for hope. But if the Screaming Years with James were due to lack of communication, this will not be so with Isaac. He is following closely behind Megan. She is a little chatterbox. Isaac may only say one or two words together (and a few 3-word phrases), but he can sure say a lot of them! I have been trying to write down his new words, but when he adds 1 to 5 new words a day to his vocabulary, I've started to lose track. He's not quite 18 months yet!
I cannot express just how much easier he is to figure out than James was. And he doesn't have the sassy, manipulative attitude Megan has. How convenient it is when he tells me he wants a hotdog or milk or water or cracker or peanut butter! How nice it is that he can tell me when he's poopy! How amazing it is all the things he can identify or share his excitement for by name! How stunned I am when he picks up new phrases from his siblings like he's been saying them forever!
Here are just a few: drank-it-all, all-done, food-store (grocery store), eew-gross!, help-you, dropped-it, broken, I-want..., Strawberry-Shortcake, Mermaid, Thomas, Dora, Calliou, gorilla (that one is especially cute), park, kite, boom-boom (balloon), move! (when blocking TV), go! (when mom is stopped at a red light), I-gotta-sticker, Doggy-where-are-you, put-back.
He does the cutest things! I love that he loves to play peek-a-boo, chase (especially with siblings), wrestle, tickle, and prentending to be kitties. I especially love that he can play by himself, pushing around cars and manipulating toys, flipping through books, exploring everything, climbing fearlessly (even eagerly chasing after large dogs), digging in sand or collecting rocks and sticks like his brother. And I really love that, like his sister, he loves to clean up and help mom with everything. These little helpers make my jobs a lot more time-consuming and frustrating, but I try really hard not to get impatient. What a tragedy it would be to stomp out their enthusiasm for helping. (If only I could get James interested in participating!)
The best part overall is that charming smile. Could I really have TWO charismatic boys? Lucky me!
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