This is Isaac

Isaac is the youngest of my living children.  He is also the funniest and the most athletic.  He is our star soccer player and bowler.  He is very familiar with both hat tricks and turkeys.  (A hat trick is 3 soccer goals.  A turkey is 3 strikes in a row in bowling.)

As much as I enjoy watching him on the field, I am most proud of his sportsmanship.  He likes to win.  He likes to work really hard and try his hardest, but he won’t stoop to unsportsmanlike behavior.  He is among the first to lend a helping hand, check on an injured player, or tell the truth even if it’s in the opponents favor.  He always lets other players bowl before him (although he has admitted that he benefits by collecting his thoughts and planning his bowl better by doing that… there’s that honesty again.)

I wish I could take credit.

If my daughter is reading this, NO, you can’t take credit either.  He was born like that.  At 2 years old, he would cheer for his dad when he caught the ball during a game of catch.  Now, I admit that catching a 2-year-olds throws can be quite a feat, but it is still unusual for a toddler to cheer on the parent.

Throwback

When my kids were much smaller, I wrote long, and hopefully fun, newsletters around Christmas.  I recently ran across a portion of one.

Oh my, Oh me!  What am I to do?

My family acts like they live in the zoo.

“What?” you say, “But why? And how?”

Read on.  Read on.  I’ll introduce us now.

First there’s Isaac, our sheep, you see

Tender and gentle as gentle can be

Content to be in the midst of the herd

And, happily, “bye-bye” is his favorite word.

I had a lot of fun doing that.

He was such a laid back baby and toddler but quickly became a hurricane by preschool…  As children like to do.  He has grown into a handsome and eloquent young man.  He is witty, smart, and talented.  I could not be any more proud of him than I am today.

Happy Birthday, Isaac!