Developmental tidbits

Here's where I use my blog as a baby book to record unremarkable developmental progress. At 13 1/2 months:

• Isaac seems to know when someone has made a joke, and often joins in the laughter -- sometimes he's the first to laugh (and sometimes he is the only one to laugh, depending on the quality of the joke!). These are usually not jokes he could possibly understand, so he must recognize the tone of delivery. I'm always a little surprised that he's following our conversation so closely. It's a different laugh than the chortle he makes when he finds something genuinely funny, so I think it's a fake laugh -- or a social laugh, if you prefer. I guess we learn to go along with the group at a young age!

• This Friday was the first time Isaac showed signs of wanting to walk with our assistance, holding up a hand expectantly. If I ask him, "Do you want help walking?" he'll hold up his hand then too. This is quite a change from his previous policy when we held his hands for walking, which was to bend his knees and refuse to move. Actual unsupported walking continues to be on hiatus.
  

• Isaac can follow directions and seems to have a handle on common prepositions, or else he's good at working with context clues. I'm never sure how much of his conversational understanding is like that of Clever Hans. Here are some examples of things he can do when directed:

• put the block in the bus
• pick up the book
• put the book on the table
• put the shoe on his head (this makes him laugh)
• put the shoe on his foot (well, he puts his foot on top of the shoe)
  
• put his hand through a roll of masking tape

• We're in a honeymoon period for the effectiveness of the word "no." Sometimes saying "no" actually works, and it doesn't yet create a rebellious backlash. It's lovely and I will appreciate it while it lasts! For example, we were playing at the park and Isaac picked up a communal toy shovel. He wanted to chew on it, but I said, "No, not in your mouth." He looked at the shovel, shook his head, and said, "Nah. Nah." And he didn't try to put it in his mouth for at least another minute! When he did show signs of moving it toward his mouth, I simply said, "No," and he again shook his head and said, "Nah." Sometimes I'll see him reminding himself of his own accord that he's been forbidden to do something. When will this end?
  

• He'll say "bye-bye" at the slightest provocation -- cues include cars driving away, people walking away, or someone saying words like "go," "away," "through," or "done." (Now I'd like to teach him to say "hi.") He pants like a dog when he sees a dog, when someone says "dog," or when he sees a picture of a dog (or of a rabbit, for some reason). He likes to sniff flowers, even pictures of flowers. In a related development, he seems to be teaching himself to blow his nose, which can be gross when there's no tissue, but which will be useful in the long run.