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It’s been a few years since I wrote a personality sketch about Isaac.  I think I hesitated to write last year because he had a tough year and I wasn’t sure how much to write about.  This year has been much better and moving to Utah has been really great for Isaac.

Isaac loves reading books and watching documentaries on Military History.  His favorite is World War II because of the more advanced technology.  Isaac can describe the types of jets and tanks used as well as their strengths and weaknesses.  He knows details about all the battles of World War II.  Isaac refuses to read any fiction, although he does enjoy listening to his Dad read fictional bedtime stories.

Isaac’s favorite TV shows are Battle 360, How It’s Made, Seconds From Disaster, Mythbusters, and Studio C.  The last one is a family friendly comedy sketch show that I introduced him to recently.  He’s such a literal thinker, that he doesn’t always know when someone is being sarcastic or joking with him.  I thought a show like Studio C might help him understand humor a little better.  He claims not to like any movies.  He doesn’t like them because they’re typically fictional.

Isaac does very well academically.  His teacher said that he’s so good at math that he always finishes his work early and she has him help the other kids in the class.  He qualified for the accelerated class before moving to Utah, but the classes were already full so he took the test again in January and qualified again.  He will start the accelerated program next year.  It will mean a lot more homework than he’s used to, but he’s very excited about it.

Isaac participated in the knowledge bowl this year and really enjoyed the experience.  The topic this year was geography and he went to study sessions twice a week in the mornings before school to prepare.  He would study his atlas every night before falling asleep.  His team did really well and won the highest honor awarded which meant that he got a medal and that a plaque with his name and all the names of the kids in his group will hang in the school.

Isaac played soccer again this year and has improved quite a bit from the first year he played.  He’s still not a super athletic kid, but he’s good at keeping his position and has gotten better at kicking and blocking.  We signed him up to try football next year.  He’ll be playing tackle football in a team associated with the high school team.  The practice schedule is intense with practices 4 days a week and a game every week, but we hope it’s a good experience for him.

Isaac became instant friends with our next door neighbor, Evan.  Evan is only a month and a half younger than Isaac and they were lucky enough to be in the same class at school as well.  They have a lot of similar interests and Evan spends lots of time at our house playing with Isaac.  Often during the school year, Evan would come over right after school and stay until almost bedtime.  Now that it’s summer, the boys often spend most of the day together.

It probably helped quite a bit to start out at his new school with a best friend in his class.  Isaac has reported on several occasions that he’s made lots of friends at school.  He’s been to several birthday parties this year and has not complained at all about kids in his class being mean to him.

Isaac still enjoys playing with Legos and it’s nice to see the level of his building improving.  His creations are more complicated and have more useful or interesting features.  He really wants to get a collection of power plus function Legos so he can make motorized creations.

Isaac also loves computer games and tablet games.  We’ve had to put time locks on his computer so that he doesn’t spend all day on there.  In addition to games, he’s been using some online learning tools to teach himself some simple computer programming.  He wants to be able to make money designing computer games, but his idea that he’ll be able to make a profitable game in just a few month’s time isn’t very practical.

Isaac loves having a little brother and enjoys playing with Thomas and reading to him.  I can already see a special bond forming between the two of them.

Isaac has been taking piano lessons this year as well and is doing well.  His teacher reports that he has a good natural hand position.  It is fun to hear him increase the complexity of the music he can play, he has made a lot of progress this year.

He is still a big chicken in a lot of ways, but he is practicing being brave because he really wants to go to Cedar Point on or trip to Ohio.  When we went to Summerfest, he picked out a scary looking ride and rode it all by himself and he has been trying to overcome his fear of water slides at 7 Peaks.