Isaac's return to Goddard School after a week of being pampered by his grandparents was a pretty tough one. First, the teachers said that he was extra curious, pointing at everything. Then unsurprisingly, they said that he was a little more demanding than normal. Hmmm...where did that come from? How about this:



And then they told Bianca that he was hugging all of the other kids, whether they wanted it or not. He was a little hug mugger. See, when he is at home there is no such thing as an unwelcome hug, regardless of the recipient. Too bad the kids in Isaac's class can't just get used to it.

Well, it has been a long time since I have posted, the longest since Peanut's Gallery started. Two things stopped me from getting to the keyboard: a visit from Nanna and G-Daddy and a bizarre incident that sent me to the emergency room for dizziness and loss of speech. It is that second one that scared the crap out of me. But things are better and the dizziness is almost gone. I have words back and I can type, so I thought why not share some Isaac related information? After all, there is no medicine that compares to the power of a Chubby Bubby laugh or two.

The first thing that really is amazing is how great he is at cruising. He has gotten so much better that now he can cruise on rolling objects, which he really likes. For example, here is a video of him pushing his wagon:



It is really funny to watch his Nanna try to hold on to him. He's not having that anytime soon.

He has also gotten much better at learning words. In this video watch him pick out his Duplo animals as I ask for them:



Finally, Isaac learned a new trick. We were watching him last night around the kitchen island. All of a sudden he picked up his leg and started to bounce a little, exactly like a dog peeing. We both roared with laughter and Isaac did it about a half dozen times for his audience. Then, this morning he did it again and I caught it with the camera:



He and his Mama are truly the best medicine out there.

About fifteen years G-Daddy installed his own timer-based sprinkler system in Ohio. To do it he had to dig up most of the yard. This was not the first major excavation project in Ohio. A few years before that, G-Daddy decided to tie into the city sewer system all on his own. It was not as easy at it sounds, and it actually sounds quite difficult, which it was. Using a massive earth mover, G-Daddy, Pap, and Dad dug a 10X10X20 foot hole in the side yard, unfortunately the plans on file with the city were wrong and the sewer tie in was on the other side of the yard. We dug that up too. This all goes back to G-Daddy's childhood when he was perpetually dirty. He would find a patch of dirt and start digging. When Nunni would call for lunch or dinner, he'd dust off before coming inside sending a cloud of fine dust into the air.

We thought we'd start Isaac early on his path towards inheriting the title of Moleman. So, over Dad's initial objection, we got Isaac a sandbox. There are so many options out there from the simple, yet effective pressure treated lumber to the insanely expensive, Cedar Works sandbox. We opted to go with the SandLocks sandbox. It is really well designed, and everything fit together snuggly. The only problem was the enormous amount of sand needed. The box is 5x5. How much sand do you think is necessary? How about 900 pounds? Ugh. We finally got everything ready to go. Here is the pre-sand stage:



And after much lugging, the post-sand stage:



And finally, an introduction video:



He is ready to be Grandson of Moleman. Though I am not sure Mom knew how dirty he'd get.