Along with a new facial expression (the Glower), Isaac has developed a new emotion: fear.
I guess as a baby he was startled at times– by a loud noise or a camera’s flash. But I wouldn’t say he was really “afraid” of anything. In fact, on the contrary, his general overall fearlessness kept me awake at night. Would he throw himself down the stairs tomorrow? Attempt to breathe under water? Run out into traffic? These days I don’t worry QUITE as much about this sort of thing. He seems to have a clearer idea of cause and effect, and of what can happen if he does something impulsive. A lot of this learning stems from an incident involving a hot lightbulb that he grabbed. His burned hand actually got blisters on its tiny palm. The memory still stings with him, and if I tell him something will hurt him “like the lightbulb” it really does give him pause. The other day in tumbling class he stopped just at the edge of a high surface and said out loud, “Be careful!” A reminder to himself, an expression of caution, an expression of self-control! Apparently “sense” has finally come in. It’s a great boon to my sanity and his saefty.
But the flip side of this new awareness of his own vulnerability is anxieties running amok in his imagination. He’s afraid of things now, even those that won’t actually hurt him. I date this to a few weeks before Christmas, when we had two dog fights back to back. After three years dog-fight-free! In the first, Ben and Isaac were out for a walk with Lena dog. Lena was playing off leash at the ball field. Another dog and its owner came along, and all was well for a while. Then an altercation broke out about a tennis ball or something like that, and it escalated into a full-fledged fight. Ben was trying to get Lena to let go of the other dog, which she was reluctant to do. Meanwhile, Isaac was standing by himself on the ground. Obviously this was a