Isaac Anthony has started to shift into high gear with his babble. It is most frequent when he is in his high chair. Instead of the same few simple sounds repeated over and over again, he has started to make much more complex sounds AND string them together with other sounds in sentence length statements. We have no idea what he is saying, but he clearly thinks he is saying SOMETHING.

He will sit there playing with something, usually a Cheerio, and he will look up and give us a long:

Ba Boo Be Da Ma Dwoing Ke EEEEE!

and then stare expectantly at us, as if to say "Did you get that?" "Dwoing" is a new sound he started making yesterday and he loves doing it. Last night during dinner he must have given us about a hundred "DWOING's!" at the top of his lungs. GG Janet, who has a lot of experience with babies (five kids and a labor and delivery nurse for a long time) said on Sunday that he is about to start talking. So while we don't exactly follow him right now I have a feeling we will be sooner rather than later.

I am sure that I am not the first parent to think this, but sitting on the blanket on Saturday with Isaac Anthony while Mom took a shower I began to realize how beautiful the world is for a kid. Isaac rolled over the edge of the blanket and plucked a perfectly purple wildflower. He sat up and for at least ten minutes he stared at it, spinning in his chubby hands and really intently looking at it. He brought it close to his face and then put it at arm's length. He looked at the green stem and the purple flower. He put it against his face.

When was the last time you looked at something, other than a screen or a printed page, for more than ten minutes? When was the last time you used all of your five senses (yes, it eventually went into his mouth) to experience something?

It is as if this world was created, as new, for Isaac and each thing he sees he really sees. He sees it as it is, as an individual unique item--not "purple wildflower" but "THE purple wildflower". Eleven months of beautiful exploration with a wonderful, happy little boy. Bianca and I are very, very lucky.

Happy 11 Month Old Birthday Beautiful Buddha Baby:

Isaac, Mom, and Dad did some rainy day shopping on Saturday only to find out that Mom's phone was stolen. It really stunk, but as we retraced our steps and then made a quick dash to get dinner, Isaac was a great kid. He didn't cry, he didn't get fussy, but he did really like the brick oven at the pizza place. Something tells me he is going to LOVE G-Daddy's brick oven. Every time they'd toss a log on the fire and a troop of dancing sparks went into the air Isaac would give a huge squeal. And when I would get up to move away he would give me the classic Scowlimbrene Scowl. So for about 45 minutes, while Mom dealt with the phone people, Isaac and I sweated it out in front of a roaring hot oven. Get ready G-Daddy.

Sunday was nice as Nanny, Poppa Dom, and GG all came up from Rhode Island. Dad had to go get a replacement lawn mower and a new phone for Mom in the morning, but the afternoon was very nice and relaxing. Mom got some goodies in the morning for her first mother's day, really "mom" type stuff: an electric griddle (I swear this is what she asked for) and a book on Molecular Gastronomy. I couldn't have imagined anything cooler--chemistry and cooking--that is in Bianca's wheel house. My hope is that this will eventually lead to her teaching an elective on Molecular Gastronomy and I will be the tester. How cool would it be to have a foam that tasted exactly like chocolate chip cookies or a dry ice frozen beef patty that is flash cooked to make a perfectly savory burger?

I was very lucky to have downloaded all of the pictures on Bianca's phone before it was stolen. No images of N1P were lost. Here are some really good ones:

Isaac less than thrilled to be dressed up in a novelty T-shirt:



Isaac proud of his standing abilities:



Isaac in the wind tunnel:



And a few videos:

Isaac in a Tornado:



Mom diming Isaac out: