Tonight, Isaac and I were playing right before bath time. He and I were wrestling on the floor in our bedroom. I moved in for a good belly raspberry when all of a sudden, BAM!, he connected with my nose. He was just swinging his little chubby arms around and it was totally on accident, but he hit me just right. It felt like a tiny water balloon had burst in my nose and in a few seconds a drop of red blood dripped down on the back of my hand. A few tissues later we were all good, but it was quite interesting. This kid has got one heck of a left handed hook.

LL Cool J would be proud.

After Isaac (his code name being N1P, or Number 1 Priority) does a good job eating dinner he gets a cookie. It is really only a vague approximation of a cookie, all healthy and organic. I am not sure he even likes them all that much. He will eat them, but not like he eats yogurt or his new favorite almond butter and banana (no peanuts yet, they are a super bad allergy potential, so we're waiting). But what he really likes, more than the cookie is the accompanying song. Here is a video of the little post-dinner ritual:

On Sunday Isaac, Bianca, and I went to Amber Hupp's baby shower, hosted by Sarah and Jim. Amber is one of Bianca's friends and coworkers in the Chemistry Department at Holy Cross. She and her husband Chris are expecting a baby around Isaac's one year old birthday, though they do not know what they are having (hence the cake saying: "Its a Hupp.").

The Chemistry department is, like my office, though to a lesser extent, flush with kids. All told there were six kids present, other than Isaac, and three were missing (the Farrel Boys, who sound like a gang from the Old West). Caroline and Delaney Quinn are right in the "baby doll" stage and thus were in love with Isaac Anthony. They would remark on his chubby checks and both girls did great holding him. I was, surreptitiously, interviewing Caroline for babysitting duties. She passed with flying colors.

Here was the test:

1. Can you make a hot dog in the microwave? Yes. CHECK
2. Can you dial 911? Yes. CHECK
3. Can you change a diaper? Yes. CHECK

Caroline, as you can see, did very well. She told me that she learned how to change a diaper, not from her little sister, but from Baby Alive. Apparently Baby Alive is just one step away from being a little baby sized Data from Star Trek. It can babble, poop, pee, and bounce. It even eats food (sold separately) and requires real diapers (of course, sold separately).

We also learned that Isaac is BY FAR the loudest kid around. He was in an extra screechy mood, but that just meant more screeches, not louder screeches. People coming of Sarah and Jim's treacherous driveway (seriously, it is the like Laguna Seca Race Way on a 45 degree incline) they said they could hear Isaac, who was inside at the time, screeching his head off. Use your words Isaac.

Here are a few pictures from the past few days:

Here we are outside at Sarah and Jim's:



Isaac and Mom admiring the flowers (or more correctly: Mom admiring Isaac admiring the flowers):



And this one was over the weekend, Isaac was fascinated by the pavers in the backyard. He was so quiet and contemplative, I think this is best known as "Zen Isaac":



And finally, here is Isaac's focus face, which, apparently, he inherited from me: