Work was very...workish this week. Lots of running around, lots of crazy things that could only happen at a Public Defender. Coming home was an oasis of calm. Bianca and Isaac have really gotten into a nice flow. There is just something about Moms and kids. And Bianca is an exceptional Mom. She was very kind, keeping me afloat with pictures of my boy. Then when I got home I got some smiles from Isaac himself. It was pretty nice.

Here is a great little video of coming home and seeing Isaac for the first time. What a great reception:



Bianca took a ton of pictures over the week and here are some of them:

Here is Isaac with a look of grim determination (or as grim as you can get with such a cute and chubby face) as he did his tummy time head lifting exercise:



Here he is with a King sized quilt:



Actually it is no bigger than three feet across, it just looks huge next to the little guy.

Here he is with a bit of a Han Solo smirk/smile:



Leia just told him: "Han, I love you!" and Isaac, reprising the role of Han Solo in his mind, says: "I know." Great line from SW:ESB, and it was total ad lib by Harrison Ford.

Here is the Bean Bag Buddha deep in contemplation about the existential nature of bliss. Either that, or the existential nature of boobie milk:



Here is a shot with Nutritious:



This is a picture of Isaac looking at his Best Girl:



And here is why we still call him Chubby Bubby:



Some videos are on their way too, as soon as I can get them off Bianca's computer. We uploaded over 60 pictures, so go take a look.

Ugh. Talk about a case of the Mondays. Going back to work after a summer with Bianca and Isaac was really tough. The people at the Public Defender were very welcoming and the court staff in Merrimack was nice as well. Still it is tough. Going from 12 straight hours of Isaac to about 3 is really hard. Now I know how the grandparents feel.

Still when I got home Bianca and Isaac were outside in the Baby Bjorn waiting for me to pull in. Bianca also sent a ton of pictures, which we will post as soon as Bianca learns how to download stuff to Flickr (this weekend). Isaac was good all night. He took his last nap with me putting him down. Unfortunately, this was the first time ever that he just fell asleep for me. I wouldn't have minded some fussing. I took him up for the nap at 6 PM. He was out like a light at 6:04 PM.

After that we took a little walk and then came back and did our night time ritual: Harry Potter, read aloud by Dad (with in-character voices for many characters; I am using the Richard Harris Dumbledore not the Michael Gambon Dumbledore as my inspiration), a top off of boobie milk, and then sleepy time for Isaac. He has adapted to his new schedule (which he started on Saturday) quite well.

It is really nice to be able to come home from work and have a little one AND a cutie pie waiting for me. What a pick me up.

This summer seemed like it passed by the same time it takes to exhale. One minute Bianca and I were walking around the grounds of the St. Bernard baseball fields (very slowly) wondering when the little guy would make his appearance and the next I was taking a shower to go back to the Public Defenders.

It is really impossible to describe how amazing it was to spend the first few months of my son's life with him everyday. Spending these months with my best friend and wife was also a treat. Doing this together was an unsurpassable joy. When I am old and feeble, I will still remember this time vividly. It was so beautiful, so pleasant, and serene it was nothing short of a dream. When I am sad and when I am tired, I will take refuge in the memory of this summer.

The amount of growth I saw in Isaac staggers the mind. Every day, literally, every day he did something new. Whether it was losing his umbilical stump or finding Nutritious and Delicious, he was exploring and discovering at a pace I can only be humbled by. This is little kid is simply amazing. Look how far he has come in just week with his head lifting (World Champion Head Lifter for sure).

This summer was possible because lots of things worked out just right. Some of it was luck, some planning, and other parts were because of the good people in Bianca and I's life. My Mom needs thanks. She gave up most of her June and part of her July to help us with those first tough weeks. The naps we took at 4 in the afternoon saved us when Isaac had yet to discover the joys of sleeping through the night. My Dad also needs thanks. He was very helpful in the first few days as well and he was especially helpful on 4th of July when he came out. Not only did he help us with Isaac and the party, he also made Nanna going home a bit easier for Nanna. I need to thank Dom and Nancy. Not only did they help us with food and visits during the early going, they let us come down to their house one Sunday for a crucial day of R and R. That Sunday seemed to be the turning point in Isaac's sleeping, which made the rest of the summer a positively amazing experience.

I need to send a big bit of gratitude to the people at my work. Public Defenders are a special breed of people--a group of iconoclasts, volunteer fellow travels with the down trodden, and protectors of the little guy. In my 6 years at NHPD I have had chances to meet other public defenders and I realize that the place I work for has created a special breed. Chris Keating and Karen Anderson have made NHPD not just a great place to work and find your passion for social justice, they have also made it perhaps the only Public Defender where you can legitimately raise a family. Being a public defender involves a certain amount of sacrifice, both on my part, but more difficult for me, on the part of my family. They are limited by the choice I have made. But by allowing me to have this time with Isaac, Chris and Karen have made this choice a bit easier on my family. For that, my gratitude knows no limit. But they aren't the only ones from my work that need thanks. Soudie Tahmassebipour, my direct supervisor, made sure that even in tough times, with half of the office out or in Iraq, I still got my time with Isaac. She is a tireless advocate for her clients and for her employees. That is highest praise a manager can be given and she deserves it.

Lastly, I want to thank my superhero--Bianca Rose. She is my best friend, my inspiration, and now the mother of my child. She has made this summer spectacular. She worked through the labor. She powered through breastfeeding difficulties. She got very little sleep in the beginning and she unlocked the mystery of sleeping through the night. I love her, always have and always will.

I am sad to go back to work. But I am grateful for what I got this summer and for the fact that this is just the beginning of a great adventure, the GREATEST adventure.

While the posts will probably slow in number, my hope is the content will remain the same.