Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, came out of retirement to help Team U.S.A. collect some hardware in Rio, and he hasn’t disappointed. But Phelps has been making news for some unconventional reasons this week, namely by freaking people out with those odd purple spots he’s been sporting and by launching an internet meme with that epic death stare he leveled at that impertinent South African swimmer who dared to pose and preen like a flamingo in front of the greatest swimmer in the history of the world.
But the littlest member of the Phelps family has also been the subject of a lot of buzz this week. It seems the internet just can’t take its collective eyes off of Boomer Phelps, the 3-month-old son of Michael Phelps and Nicole Johnson. After Phelps won his 20th gold medal on Tuesday for the 200-meter butterfly, Twitter lit up with people talking not only about Phelps’ win, but also wondering what little Boomer was up to. He was up to this—truly the most precious thing in Rio this week.
daddy @MichaelPhelps plants a smooch on baby Boomer. pic.twitter.com/LnQ9GqVODe
— Beth Harris (@bethharrisap) August 10, 2016
As it turns out, he looks like he is completely over this Olympics thing:
Boomer Phelps the least impressed person in Rio right now. #parenting #pjparenting pic.twitter.com/Lbh6LTzLeK
— Paula Bolyard (@pbolyard) August 10, 2016
Wearing his now trademark noise-cancelling headphones, Boomer sat in the stands with his mom and grandma, not exactly cheering his dad on, but providing plenty of sweetness for the internet to enjoy.
Michael Phelps kissing Baby Boomer is probably one of #Rio2016 most touching highlights. pic.twitter.com/nTt5IYRL4A — showbiznest (@showbiznest) August 10, 2016
My favorite Olympian is Boomer Phelps — Ais (@AislinnK_) August 10, 2016
Boomer Phelps stole my heart. pic.twitter.com/WmvSkNTY0C — Merzybean (@merzybean) August 10, 2016
The best part of the Olympics is easily Boomer Phelps — caroline laughon (@CarolineLaughon) August 10, 2016
Some Twitter users speculated about what the Phelps family did with all those gold medals:
I wonder if Boomer Phelps uses a gold medal as a teething tablet — Lindsay Kate (@LindsayDime) August 10, 2016
@MichaelPhelps has so many gold medals, Boomer Phelps uses old ones for teething #Rio2016 — CaptAmeriDad (@CaptAmeriDad) August 10, 2016
Someone helpfully did the math for the math-challenged among us:
Haha saw a stat that @MichaelPhelps has a Medal for every 4.57 days his kid Boomer has been alive! #Rio2016 Facts — Brett Hughes (@Brett_Hughes) August 10, 2016
This person summed up our feelings perfectly.
This is what matters more than gold. #Phelps #Love #Boomer #Olympics2016 pic.twitter.com/GO64AsoYdZ — Dabney Porte (@DabneyPorte) August 10, 2016
If you need a regular Boomer fix in your day, you can check out his Instagram feed (yes, Instagram!).
Boomer, @MichaelPhelps‘ son who turned 3 months last week, has 152,000 followers on Instagram pic.twitter.com/R0frFsfMIf — Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) August 10, 2016
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