As Isaac grows up our traditions change and one of them, the sacred bath ritual, has been amended. Now, instead of a Dad and Mom thing, it is a Dad only thing and frankly, I love it. In order to entice him away from his Mommy, I have to agree to let him squirt me with one of a dozen squirt bottles, but it is totally worth it because sometimes I get super gem quotes.

Two nights ago we were playing 1 million questions. One segment went like this:

ISAAC: Do you love me?
ME: Yes.
ISAAC: Why?
ME: Well, part of it is because Mommy and I made you.
ISAAC: How? Did you use legos?

Yep, Legos.

I love that kid.

Isaac and Dad typically go out Saturday or Sunday morning to run some errands. We call them missions. Today was no different. Our mission was simple--get some mailers at Staples, grab some ground beef for the Taco Party tonight, and go see some tractors at Home Depot.

At our first stop, Staples, Isaac and Dad were waiting in line when I smelled an awful smell. At first I thought that Isaac had pooped his pants. Every parent of a recently potty trained kid has the same fear--out, poop, no change of clothes So I checked and found nothing, not even a smell. Isaac then began asking "Who stinky? Daddy, who did stinky?"

I realized a few seconds later that it was not Isaac, but the guy in line in front of us. He had ripped one and hoped that everyone would be too polite to say anything. The cashier, even with her nose practically pinched, didn't say anything. But Isaac is persistent.

"Who is stinky? Daddy, you smell the stinky?"

The guy got embarrassed and left. The cashier burst out laughing as soon as the guy was clear of the doors. I did too, as did everyone else in line.

Be careful next time you are around I-man because he will get to the bottom of the dealt it and smelt it mystery.

First you learn to pee in a potty.  That is the first sign, according to Isaac, that you are a big boy.  Its a tough hurdle to cross, but once you do, oh boy are you ready to go.  Then, after that, you get a big boy bed.  You can get out and get in all by yourself.  Its tempting and it might make sleeping a little more difficult, but again, the rewards are numerous.  Then comes the big time, the most important sign that you are getting older--you get a beard.

Isaac has been beard obsessed recently.  After my attempt to get him a kids version of the Beardo at Christmas, seen here:

was thwarted it became clear this kid, one way or another, was going to score some facial hair.  He absolutely, positively loved Poppa Dom's beard and every time he could he would pretend like he had a beard.

On the day of Bianca's birthday I decided it was time to let him get his way.  We stopped off at a Michaels and got some face paint.  Included in the pack was a perfect beard colored black.  They are grease pencils of some sort so I plopped him down in front of me and went to town.  Here were the results:

The results weren't perfect, but they were good enough for Isaac, which means, ironically enough, they were perfect.  He was, as you can see, immensely proud of his especially manly facial hair and wore it all day.  The next day I had to give him a beard again.  Then this past Sunday, early in the morning, he asked for a beard.  I got him all ready to go.  When we went out to the store he insisted on wear it and being a two year old, he looked adorable.  The best beard moment, among many, was when we walked into Trader Joes and there was a guy bagging groceries with a truly opulent, massive beard and Isaac pointed to him and just about freaked out.  Then he pointed to his beard and told me "Same, same."

He has an affinity for moustaches too:

Next step: driving a car (though he has some experience with that already).