I want to take a few minutes to thank my parents, Vickie and Tony. As they have always been, they were great. They flew up the day Isaac was born and my mom stayed with us for three weeks. My dad bookended the three weeks, staying a week in the beginning and a four day weekend at the end. They were both exceedingly generous in all sorts of ways, with their time, with their insights, with everything.

I had imagined the moment, beleaguered, where I would stumble out of the delivery room and tell both of them that Isaac had arrived. It was as amazing as I thought it would be. And that was just the beginning of a great month.

My mom stayed on with us, sleeping in the guest bedroom, for three weeks. She helped around the house, doing dishes, laundry, and making dinner. She helped me rebuild the steps in the front of our house. And most importantly she got to bond with her grandson. My mom is truly great with kids. It is her singular talent, that thing, among things she does well, that she does the best. She also let us take our first tentative steps as parents, giving us reassurance without interfering at all. We were able to get our "sea legs" while she was here. It was perhaps the greatest gift someone could give a set of new parents--help, guidance, and company.

But in another way it was a chance for me and my Mom to bond. Mothers and sons have a special relationship. I can see it with Isaac and Bianca. But as the son grows older, his interests more match the Dad. So those three weeks were a way for me to peek in on my Mom's life and figure out what she likes to do, what her preferences are (beets and lots of water, for those wondering), and see how she is when we are not all running around for the holidays or a quick Ohio visit. It was very nice. I only hope the mother/son exchange was as enlightening for her as it was for me.

I really appreciate my Dad as well. Seeing him go bonkers for a little one is an amazing and hilarious experience. My Dad is many things--giving, hardworking, knowledgeable--but until I caught him with a Winnie the Pooh puppet on his hand playing with Isaac, silly would not have ranked high on the list. He was an invaluable help as well and his return I think cushioned the blow of leaving for my Mom.

So for perhaps the millionth time in my life I am compelled to thank my parents. They were both great. As thanks, I will try to be half as giving to Isaac as you both have been to me.

So Nanna and Grandpa sadly left on Monday after helping out tremendously with the 4th of July Party. We were sad to see them go. Apparently Isaac was as well. After dropping them off at Logan we went to Bertucci's for dinner. It was the first real public feeding and diaper change and Isaac did great.

Carrying him around for burpings was fun too. People approached me like I was a celebrity. What's his name? Oh that is nice. I hope he gets your dimples. How old is he? Natural or C-section? How long was the labor? Everyone just smiled when they saw him, like we did. He just makes you happy.

Until that night. Sensing that Nanna was gone, the little sugarfoot decided to wake up every hour or so. It was 10 for feeding, 12 for feeding, 2 for no reason, 3 for feeding, 4 for diaper/spit up, 6 for feeding and no going to sleep after that. Ugh. And then it was 101 degrees outside. We camped out in the bedrooms with the AC blasting until around 2 when the heat was the worst. We made it out to Target and took a leisurely stroll through the store. Isaac slept the whole time with his neck crooked as a hanger. Hence the new nickname: Noodle Neck Ned.

Last night was much better. Sensing that his rookie parents couldn't handle another crazy night he gave us 4:45 minutes of sleep from 9 until 1:45 AM, which is the most sleep we have gotten in a row since June 7th. Then he gave us another 4:15 minutes sleeping until 6. THEN he gave us another two hours sleeping until 9. It was heavenly. His good behavior will result in a few toys as bribes today.

Actually, we are going to the Burlington Mall to again avoid the near 100 degree heat. Our pool, by the way, broke its all time heat record standing at a toasty 74 degrees yesterday. It could hit 76 today, as the low last night was only 73 (this is the determining factor in how hot the pool gets).

Well, I will post more pictures when the insane heat breaks.

So it was Isaac's first 4th of July and he was a good boy. He slept and ate well despite the hubbub at the house. He visited with all kinds of people--grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, great grandparents. Here is a cute Isaac picture:



He is a patriotic dude.

Ray's pizza was the big surprise hit, at least with me.

In attendance was:

Domenic and Nancy
Poppy
John and Katie
Janet and Margaret
Domenic, Erica, Myles, and Colby
Tony, Lenora, and Little Anthony
Ray and Kelly
Andy and his girlfriend (Shannon, I think)
My Mom and Dad

Pretty good turnout and I think (and hope) that everyone had fun.

Two things. First, Little Anthony is finally at the age where video games are cool. I was thrilled. He and I spent 20 minutes wrecking cars in one of my all time favorite games, Burnout Paradise. It was really awesome to have a cousin under 10 to play video games with. Someday soon I can see Little Anthony, Myles, Colby, and Isaac all having a big sleep over party and playing video games until they need Visine drops to see the next day. I might just pop my head in to the living room during these play sessions and see how things are going.

Second thing, when I was explaining this idea to Myles I told him: "Some day soon, when Isaac is a little older, you guys can all come over, spend the night and play video games for as long as you want. I'll get you guys pizza and popcorn and you can drink all of the soda you want." With a very serious face he turned to me and said: "Soda is for grown ups. Not for kids." So fine, pizza, popcorn, and all the Crystal Light Strawberry Kiwi you want (I LUV Strawberry Kiwi). How's that Mr. Myles?

Hopefully I will still have some hand/eye coordination left by the time the four boys are old enough to do all night video game binges. Either that or I will cheat when we play Nerf wars and buy two EBF-25s so I can dual wield foam dart gatling guns. If that is not awesome enough, I will also have stored away for a surprise the Darth Maul Force FX lightsaber. Seriously, nothing could be AWESOMER.

Finally, one serious note of business. Vote Kevin Youkilis.