Here are a few more pictures from graduation--well, they were taken after graduation, but we didn't have the time or weather to get any good shots soon after. In fact, I was anticipating having to pay a $10 late fee for returning my rental gown and hood, but when I took them back to the bookstore, the lady at the counter fell in love with Isaiah when he flashed her his flirtiest smile, and even though I oh-so-scrupulously mentioned that I owed her $10 for the late return, she waived it on the spot. Way to go, Isaiah! Keep up that cuteness and we might just be able to send you to college someday!

Life after graduation has been busier than I thought it would be. Somehow, work keeps me pretty busy, and keeping up with housework, cooking healthy meals, and taking care of him usually eats up most of my day. Speaking of eating, he still eats like a horse, and never seems to get any heavier. He is starting to fill out his pants length-wise, but not so much in the seat. It's a good thing he's not potty-trained, because his diaper helps to keep his pants up right now.

We've been trying to incorporate more and more sign language into his 'vocabulary' and in the last week or two he has really taken to that. Neither of us were really signing (?) people prior to Isaiah, but I try to learn new signs from the internet as needed, and Isaiah has surprised me by learning a lot of them right alongside me, and using them at appropriate times. As a result, I think he's getting pretty good at communicating--he'll tell us when he's tired, hungry, wants to nurse, when he wants to put on shoes (go outside), play on the swing, wants to be picked up, done eating (which somehow evolved into 'the sprinkler' move that white males try to use on the dance floor to woo women of interest), and a few others. He hasn't really said many words yet, and since we're trying to teach him Japanese and English, I'm not really surprised (it sounds like bilingual kids will start talking a few months after their monolingual peers). I'm pretty happy that we can communicate this much with signs, but I must admit I look forward to the day when he actually says 'Mama pick me up!'

Isaiah has been 'helping' a lot lately when I do the dishes. We have a dishwasher across from our sink, but we don't use it to actually wash the dishes (because it's broken)--we just take advantage of it as a drying rack. Isaiah loves being in the kitchen when I'm cooking or doing dishes, and has his own tupperware drawer, which is now filled with other random items such as his books, blocks, and other toys. When I'm cooking, his main concern is to make sure that every square inch of the kitchen floor is covered with the contents of this drawer. When there is still some floor space visible, he moves to plan B, which is to empty the contents of the other cupboards and drawers. That usually covers it.
The thing that cracks me up is to see other items like my hairbrush (which he loves) and his sandals in the dishwasher rack. He puts them in very matter-of-factly, leaves them there, and in the meantime, takes out several spoons and puts them in, for example, the couch. I find lots of 'treasures' hidden all over the house lately.

He is pretty steady on his feet now, and while he still looks a little drunk and will plop down on his rear every now and then, he can walk for a pretty good length of time unassisted. Which is, by the way, his preferred method of getting around. I am working on getting him to hold my hand when we're walking to the store, but he doesn't like that too much. Especially since I only walk in one direction. That does not allow for maximum distance traveled, and by walking in only one direction, I tend to miss the dandelions and other noteworthy sights along the way. Some days I will patiently wait for him to explore the various things along the way, but when I have a 5 lb bag of carrots and 10 lb bag of potatoes in my arms, my patience doesn't last long.

He is really getting the hang of sign language too--well, communication in general, really. He will execute a perfect "pick me up", 'more", "milk", and when he looks at you with those penetratingly blue eyes, you can't refuse him. It's impossible, and he knows it. Yesterday he surprised us by learning 'shoes' in sign language, and brought me my shoe. I asked him where his shoes were, and he promptly went to his new toy cabinet and grabbed his sandal from the top of the cabinet, brought it back to me and did the sign for 'shoe' again. It's exciting to see that kind of cognitive development, and I can't wait for him to start saying more things.