14 months and counting!

I can't believe it has taken me almost 10 months to write again! I would love to write more but you are keeping me insanely busy! First let me fill you in on your past few months! Last time I blogged you were just starting to sit up and scoot along the floor (army crawling).  Within about 3 weeks or so you starting really crawling and almost immediately (within a day) were pulling up on everything and walking along furniture. Your Aunt Casey and cousin Landon moved in with us from the time you were 6 months to about 9. You advanced SO quickly having your big cousin to keep up with. You took your first steps at about 8 1/2 months and in a month or so you were walking around everywhere!! I remember the first time you took more than your usual 5 or 6 steps. I was walking to the kitchen and you were in the living room and no sooner did I reach the fridge when I heard something. I turned around and there you were! You were walking like a little zombie! For the first week you walked with your arms straight out like a mini monster! It was adorable! Especially when you would do your infamous growling! Yes, don't worry I have that on video! Once you started walking you really started to come out of your shell. I don't know if it was the new found confidence that walking brought you or if that is normal for 9 months but you were so full of personality! Your Uncle Chris joing the military when you were about 6 months old and we went to visit him several times when he was away. He loves spending time with you! Your Uncle Chris and I would always have dinner every Friday when I was pregnant with you and after you were born I was afraid to take you anywhere. I got really depressed and didn't want to do much. He was so great to encourage me to get out and do stuff! So we started our dinners up again and without fail we meet every Friday to have dinner! When he was away for the Army, your sweet Aunt Lindsay took over Friday nights and we had a blast! We would have cook outs or go out and sometimes just hang out! Without them encouraging me to keep getting out and doing things, there is no telling how much the depression would have continued to take over my life. Fortunately, that is no longer much of an issue! Now your Uncle Chris is back home and we still meet every Friday! We've been doing this for almost 2 years now. We also went on your first beach trip this summer to Ocean Isle Beach! We went with Grandma and Grandpa and your cousin Landon! We had a great time and you loved the ocean! I can't wait til next year! You are going to have even more fun! I have to mention your first birthday party too! It was HUGE! There were like 100+ people there! It took me forever to plan and seemed to go by so quickly, but we had a great time! You didn't really care for birthday cake. We expected you to make a huge mess and  you could really care less about the cake! We did a beach themed birthday! You had both sides of the family there. They sang happy birthday to you in spanish and it made me cry! It was so beautiful and really showed me how lucky you are to have two strong cultures to grow up with!
You started trying to say some real words around 10-11 months HOWEVER your FIRST word was MAMA!!! You were 7(almost 8) months old and we were playing over at Stephanie and Brayden's and she was holding you. You started to cry and reach out for me. Stephanie encouraged you to say Mama and sure enough you did!! My heart melted and the next morning instead of your usual crying, all I heard was that precious sweet "mama!"  Your next word was definitely BALL! It is still one of your favorite words! You can also say cat, dog, light, cup, up, dada,look, papi, that, papaw, bubba(banana), bebe (blanket)  and just recently starting saying "pweez" when you want something. You can say a couple spanish words too like aya, lota, and aqua. It is funny because I kept hearing you say "aya aya" every time you would point or throw something and it sounds a bit like a karate chop "aaaaya!" so I thought you had just picked that up somewhere. It wasn't until I was watching you play with your dad that I realized you were speaking spanish! He would point and say "aya!" directing you to throw the ball in a specific place. It's funny, I never imagined having a child that would speak spanish like this, and I guess I was thining to listen for them! Either way I am incredibly proud of your language comprehension now! You understand just about everything I ask you to do! I can ask you to go into your room and get your "banana book" and you go in there and get the right book and bring it back. If I say "Let's Go!" you bring me your shoes! You like to help me unload the dishwasher and cook and you absolutely LOVE to vacuum! You try to ride on the vacuum!
I am anxious for you to talk more and more. The doctors have told me that bilingual children often don't talk until almost 3 or 4 years of age, but that when they do start talking, they can speak both languages at or above their age level. The delay is caused by the difference in the facial muscles used in each language. The muscles (including tongue movement) required for English are very different from the muscles used to speak Spanish. We are so sure that our God is good and faithful! We know he has healed you and we know he will help you in language as well. We still pray for you multiple times a day. You have become such an active part of church worship lately too. I sometimes get a little teary eyed watching you clap your hands and raise them up and even try to sing! You are soooooo into worshiping! You love it! It makes me proud and happy to see you already loving church! I see you watching your father neal at the alter, or sitting in between us during the sermon holding your bible and listening. You are just so young to seem so in tuned with worship! I know God is speaking to you. I don't know if you can sense the spirit there or if you are just so sensitive to the spirit, but you get it! At only 14 months, you get it! I am amazed at you every time we go to church, I really am. I CAN NOT WAIT to see the young man you become! You are surely going to do great things. I will never let you forget how special you are and how blessed we are that you are so healthy. I met a young man recently who had the exact same things happen to him at birth. He is almost 3 and still cannot sit up independently. I don't think people realize sometimes just how miraculous you are. By all accounts you should not be doing any of the things you are doing. We believe truly that you were healed by only God himself. You are proof of a modern day miracle!
You are learning new things everyday! We are having so much fun watching you grow up! I almost wish you could stay this age forever! You do some of the silliest things! Whenever we say TOUCHDOWN!! you raise your hands up! We can ask you "What sound does the piggy make?" and you make the most adorable pig noise! You do do turtle lip smacking if we ask "what does the tortuga do?" And my favorite is when daddy says "TORRO TORRO!" and you become a little bull and snort and snarl at us! You can already use a fork and a spoon really well. You still only weigh about 20lbs but you are so active that it is hard to keep the weight on you! You have 12 teeth already! We just have your incisors and then we should have a little break from teething for a bit! You also tell mommy whenever you do #2 in your diaper which is pretty awesome because now I can just ask you and you tell me yes or no. So far you have always been right and then I don't have to wonder if it's just gas or if you really did something. You also go over and lay down and get a diaper when you want to be changed. We have a little potty in the bathroom and you go potty with mommy all day. You even like to use your toilet paper and flush your potty. Now if we can just get you to actual do something on the potty instead of just pretend! Nevertheless I am stoked that you are so interested in going potty! I
I have really enjoyed being a stay at home mom more than I thought I would. I really feel like this is the most important job I've ever had! That being said, it is also the hardest! I never worked this hard at any other job! There are no breaks, no help, no sitting down, nothing! It's go go go 24/7 and I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything. I have cherished these moments with you but I am sad to see your Daddy have to work so hard. He is so good to us! He is working 2 jobs so that I can stay home with you. Somedays, like today, he doesn't even come home in between jobs. He is gone from 5 in the morning til 11 at night or later. But I want you to know the most amazing part of this, he has NEVER, not even once, complained! He loves you so much Isaiah! You are his everything! When he is off, instead of sleeping in he can't wait to get up and spend the day with you. When he is home the two of you are truly inseparable. I know that there may be times when you get frustrated with us or even mad, but please know how much your father has sacrificed for you so that you could have the therapy and the attention that you needed so early on. He has always put us first. Look to him for guidance and listen to him when he tells you something. He is so wise and so strong and he will always have your best interest at heart. I would be so proud if you grew up to be the man that he is! He is the best father I could have ever dreamed for my child. Never think for a second that our love for you is anything less than unconditional. We are here for you no matter what and we will always do our best to be the greatest parents we can! Being a mom, or parent for that matter, is incredibly hard. No one can really prepare you for it. No book or article or post or blog, nothing. It is all different and situational and no matter how hard we try to be perfect parents we are unperfect people and fall short so many times. But we keep on trying, trying hard, and thank God for his great mercies each day!