It’s been a few months since Isaac has gotten his own post. I know he still features prominently in just about every photo I take these days, but this one’s especially especially for you, baby boy.
He continues to love all things with wheels and as we drive down California Avenue on our way to and from daycare, the backseat is a chorus of “BUS!!!†and “CUCK!!!†(truck) as he looks excitedly out the window. I find matchbox cars in the bathtub, between couch cushions, in the cup holder of his car seat. I was finishing up some work at the kitchen island the other night while Isaac played in the living room when I heard him murmur, mmmmmmmwha! mmmmmmmwha! I kid you not – that boy had his little green sports car pressed against his lips and he was giving it kisses before tucking it safely into his toy school bus and waving, “Bye, Car!” It’s his version of dropping the baby doll off at school, I guess.
It’s a rare treat when we find an off-duty bus parked by the sidewalk. Isaac is minorly frustrated that he can’t get inside, but he’s more than happy just to ogle the reflectors and super-sized tires.
Oh boy, and the garbage truck! It felt like Isaac had quite a few Mondays sick at home this summer, which meant he could sit on the front porch in the morning and watch garbage trucks cruise up and down our street.
(Bye truck!)
His vocabulary is exploding day by day. A couple of months ago we were oohing and ahhing over his enunciation of the word “Ow-el?!†whenever he swiped Juliette’s Hedwig stuffy from her room. But suddenly I’m hearing him exclaim, “Oh Gosh!†and tick off lellow (yellow), boo (blue), wed (red), and PINK as he rummages in the bin of play-dough containers.
(Hedwig isn’t the only thing Isaac swipes from Juliette’s room.)
He loves to stand at our dining room photo wall and do roll call. Mama! Dada! Da-dette! (Formerly Da-jee-ya, so I guess he’s getting closer to saying Juliette?). There’s Ellll and Paw-paw (for grandma and grandpa) and Parper, for Juliette’s buddy Harper. And then Iseeee for sweet little Isaac.
His need for speed lives on, and his sister has the back strength to indulge him in push-car zoomies.
He has an oversized bouncy ball that he loves to flop around on, rolling his body off the top of it and onto the floor with a huge THUD.
It’s all fun and games…
Until someone gets hurt.
He’s still my best little gardener…
And still revels in a few minutes to soak his dirty feet and hands in the bath.
There are few things I love more than a freshly washed baby wrapped in a cozy towel.
(But maybe a freshly washed baby in his sister’s old robe takes the cake?!)
Slicked-back hair Isaac…Â It’s like he knows how handsome he is.
The requisite sister snaps!
(This was was after he fell asleep on the couch as Juliette was singing songs to him late one morning…)
When I just can’t get around to that evening haircut, we resort to a work-around to keep the hair out of his eyes.
I’ll stop now with the sister pics, but gosh, the way he looks at her…
A sampling from the “sweet Isaac” album circa summer 2023…
And then, last week, the Birthday! My kids’ birthdays are always bittersweet – what fun to celebrate, to watch them well up with joy as they tear into gifts and inhale frosting-topped cupcakes! What a beautiful thing it is to stop for a moment and dwell singularly on the magic of their growth. But…oof. The growth. This growing-older business feels awfully hard and all-too-fast sometimes. I can’t help but long for baby days gone by, can’t help my mind ticking through all those lasts I may not have known were final at the time. When did he stop sitting up to nuzzle against my chest after his evening bottle? When did he stop fitting in the Ergo? When did I let all of his onesies shift to the back of the dresser, replaced with 2T and 3T T-shirts?
I spent a couple of minutes perched over his crib the night before his birthday, soaking in the beauty of his soft blonde hair, the sound of his slumbering breath. I prayed for the year to come, gave heaping bounds of thanks for this joyous, affectionate tornado of a human that made his intent to enter the world abundantly clear two years earlier.
But enough with the nostalgia – let’s celebrate! We kept his ‘party’ chill – just backyard pizza and presents with the Rusts. Isaac needed just the littlest bit of help from Juliette to get the unwrapping started, and then he was off to the races.
And the biggie…
Because this kid needed just one more thing with wheels…
Once the bus was unboxed, I sat back for a bit to sip my glass of wine while Isaac just…played.
(Juliette just can’t help herself with the toddler toys sometimes, and I love it.)
The Rusts rolled in and we ate pizza and cranked up the tunes. Isaac really started feeling those part vibes.
More presents! This one from Sis:
And he could not have loved it more.
A couple more…
I suspect there will be an extra amping-up of holiday excitement this year. So fun to see these two get so much joy from giving and receiving.
Finally…SUGAR! Last year, Isaac had to be coaxed into tasting his cupcake. This year, he was reaching for the entire plate the minute Juliette stepped out the door.
GIMMEEEEEE!
We sang happy birthday to our boy, but I’m not sure he even heard us. That cupcake top was licked clean of its frosting in about four seconds.
Oh, Buddy. You’re so good at being life of the party. Also, maybe it’s the button-down, but you’re also so BIG in this pic. Big in the very best way. Big in the “can’t wait to hear what words come out of your mouth next” kind of way.
(Party on, Jules.)
Here’s to an epic year of terrific TWO’s!
