"Pee-boh!"

Izzy has one favorite hiding place -- in the master bedroom, in the foot-wide gap between the side of the bed and the sliding glass door, usually behind the drape. Throughout the day he will make a run for the bedroom, and by the time I reach its doorway he is across the room, behind the bed, and completely out of sight. This was alarming at first, especially as he holds very still and you have to look closely to see the drape twitching.

He is happy to stand or crouch back there for many minutes on end, which makes it a lot easier for me to get dressed or put away the laundry. Sometimes he laughs quietly to himself, perhaps congratulating himself on his excellent hiding place. Sometimes he forgets he's hiding and when I pull back the drape he is just sitting on the floor, looking out the window. It does make a great toddler-sized fort.

His understanding of what it means to "hide" still seems developmentally babyish, although not quite as extreme as the infant who thinks you can't see her because she's covered her face with a blanket. Actually, Isaac still thinks that's hilarious, although I'm pretty sure he knows it's just a game. I've fallen behind in reading those development charts that tell you what your kid should be doing by now -- when will he really be able to hide? In the meantime, I like to play this little game with him as he hides behind the bed:

Mama: Where's Isaac?

Isaac: Hmm.

Mama: I can't see him anywhere. Is he in the bathroom?

Isaac: No.

Mama: Is he in the dresser drawer?

Isaac: No.

Mama: Is he in the laundry basket?

Isaac: No.

Mama: Is he behind the bed?

Isaac: [silence]

Then, when I finally discover him and pretend to be surprised, he cries out, "Peek-a-boo!" (Or pee-boh, to be exact.)