Patrick wishes everyone a Merry Christmas and a peaceful 2009.

Patrick and daddy, at 5 1/2 months. Can you guess who is who?

Thanksgiving

We certainly have much to be thankful for this year... Nanna and Grampy (who Patrick met for the first time) came to visit us for Thanksgiving. Patrick spoke on Skype to Grandma back in Australia and Grandpa in Thailand (where he may be stuck for a while yet), and is enjoying all the attention he can get... and Grandma arrives in person tomorrow!

how time flies...

August 8th and November 27th, 2008

Yes, we can.

Patrick was just over 2 months old when we watched, from Australia, Barack Obama accept the Democratic party's nomination for president. Some of you have seen that photo. Today, I held him in my arms while I voted in this historic election, at the local elementary school where volunteers handed out donuts and hot coffee as we rubbed our hands while waiting in line in the chill and anticipation of an autumn early morning. He rested on my shoulders as, together (for this election was very much about him), we voted for a candidate who reminds us of what the United States of America can be, rather than what it had become these past 8 years. I wanted him there with me, at that moment.

"... that out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope, and where we are met with cynicism, and doubt, and to those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people. Yes We Can."

Trick or Treat?

Hi all,

I'm 4 months old now and I thought I'd send you some photos from the Halloween weekend. No real fancy costumes for me (I'm just too little), but I was in a happy mood. By the way, for those of you who haven't been able to come and visit us here in Denver, that's our house behind daddy.

Holding my head up high...

As you can see Patrick is getting stronger all the time. He started at day care this week where he spends the morning while the afternoons are spent at home with mommy. Yesterday he rolled from front to back for the first time. Nobody was more surprised by what happened than he was.

3 months old!

I'm three months old today. It was a busy month, what with heading off to Australia to see Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Grant, Great Nanna and then taking my first trip to Rocky Mountain National Park.

I'm learning to sleep for 5 or 6 hours in a row now, and getting better at just kinda hangin' out. I've found that I like to hold my hands together and then shove one hand in my mouth, scoot backwards while lying on my back by digging my heels in and pushing, and I have developed a beautiful flirty look away smile that makes mommy teary sometimes.

Check me out!

First visit to Australia

Patrick just returned form his first trip to Australia where he met his Grandma, his Great Nanna and his Uncle Grant (among myriad others), and got to cuddle with Grandpa again.

We tried to turn him into a wine tasting barfly, as you can see, with trips to the Barossa Valley, the Adelaide Hills and next door to David and Kath's house. We will make an oenophile out of him yet, and if not, then, a winee (as opposed to a wino - Uncle Grant filled us in on the difference and gave practical demonstrations each night).


Uncle Grant was not so sure about this baby thing, but Patrick also had breakfast with Uncle Matt; a natural whose obvious comfort with all eyes watching no doubt is borne out of extensive thespian experience in the footwear commercial genre.

Patrick has also been indoctrinated into the mysterious world of Aussie Rules Footy, and Great Nanna stepped up to the plate (to borrow an American metaphor in this mixed up Aussie/American existence we inhabit) with the perfect knitted beannie in requisite red and white stripes. A Sydney Swans fan was born (sadly he'll have to wait for April 2009 to see them play again).

But in all that, Patrick kept an eye on his home in Denver, Colorado by tuning in to Barack Obama's historic speech and hoping very hard with his parents that "Yes We Can".

All in all a great trip, and he so loved it that he's still on Adelaide time and thinks 5am (about 10pm Adelaide time) is the perfect time to finally go to sleep. Daddy still maintains that jet lag is only for the weak, and Patrick is clearly the exception that proves the rule.

2 months old

Hi folks,

I'm now 2 months old and today I had my first immunizations. Not happy about it, I can tell you. The pediatrician asked daddy for a consult while I was there too, which was kind of funny.

However, it's all good because next week I get to meet Grandma, and see Grandpa again. And, as a bonus, I will get to meet my Uncle Grant and my Great Nanna, and she will get to meet her first great grandson. Pretty cool.

Grand daddy arrives!

Grand daddy came to see me yesterday for the first time. One day he will teach me all about the stars with his telescope in the dark skies of the Pacific Northwest. If you are interested in Astronomy, check out his awesome column in the Methow Valley News each month called "Naked Eye" at http://www.methowvalleynews.com/opinion.htm#NAKED%20EYE. Right now, though, he simply likes to talk to me, and as I'm nearly 7 weeks old, I'm getting good at talking back (well, kinda).

The white onesie says it all...

I do like to hang out on my bouncy seat, as long as someone is close by to keep me company. Here are some of my best faces- sometimes I'm pensive, sometimes suspicious, but more and more I'm pulling fun faces when mommy or daddy make funny faces at me. My favourite time of the day is just after we all get up in the morning- that's when I get to play with everyone at home and paying attention to me!

a day in the life...

As you can see, I like to hang out, make a few noises and play, but only for about 10 or 15 minutes. After that, I just want to be snuggled again (who doesn't, right?). Also, each day, mom seems to get on this weird thing that makes a noise- she seems to be working really hard and moving her legs a lot but doesn't go anywhere. That is fine with me- I like to keep her close by all the time.

to an unborn child...

Some of you may know that not long after Christmas, it was recommended to Heather and I that we have an amniocentesis. Patrick's (of course we didn't know his name then, or even that he was a "he") antenatal screen had "flagged". I rationalized that away easily enough because screening tests are just that, for screening and have low specificity; many go on to be negative on formal diagnostic testing.

The amnio went fine, but 2 days later we were called by the genetic counselor and told, though they weren't sure, there was a possible abnormal chromosome result. They said they would have to repeat the test, and they didn't know what to make of it yet but it was "suspicious".

What followed were some long and dark nights as we came to grips with what this might mean, if indeed anything at all, and waited for the lab to run the chromosomal tests again. We contemplated the prospect of having to say goodbye.

Eventually, thankfully, things turned out OK, and we now have something so precious that it still takes my breath away. At Christmas, only 2 weeks or so before all of this occurred, we had given Heather's mother Jocelyn the first ultrasound pictures. She gave me a poem after seeing this fuzzy black and white image, and I kept it and read it over to myself again later when we were waiting to hear the news, to soothe the fear and the shock, and I thought I would share it with you...

Tadpole, it’s not time yet to nag you
about college (though I have some thoughts
on that), baseball (ditto), or abstract
principles. Enjoy your delicious,
soupy womb-warmth, do some rolls and saults
(it’ll be too crowded soon), delight in your early
dreams — which no one will attempt to analyze.
For now: may your toes blossom, your fingers
lengthen, your sexual organs grow (too soon
to tell which yet) sensitive, your teeth
form their buds in their forming jawbone, your already
booming heart expand (literally
now, metaphorically later); O your spine,
eyebrows, nape, knees, fibulae,
lungs, lips… But your soul,
dear child: I don’t see it here, when
does that come in, whence? Perhaps God,
and your mother, and even I — we’ll all contribute
and you’ll learn yourself to coax it
from wherever: your soul, which holds your bones
together and lets you live
on earth. — Fingerling, sidecar, nubbin,
I’m waiting, it’s me, Dad,
I’m out here. You already know
where Mom is. I’ll see you more directly
upon arrival. You’ll recognize
me — I’ll be the tall-seeming, delighted
blond guy, and I’ll have
your nose.

from "The Drowned River" by Thomas Lux

Look how cute I am

I'm nearly 9 pounds now!

I'm a month old now and nearly 9 pounds, which is pretty big, but that bear was freakin' huge! I like to swing in my swing, hang out on mommy's lap, swaddle tightly (I really love that), have daddy pat me on the butt lots so my head jiggles just a little and I fall off to sleep, and I also like to watch my teddy bears flop around on the mobile above my crib.