Apparently, my work is done.

Take a gander here at this review of some recently published research on parenting. The short shrift is basically that moms can sorta nudge kids to become upstanding citizens, but generally only with their daughters, while dads can pretty much put it on autopilot, they ain't doing nothing.

Of course, that's probably brushing it a bit too broadly, my parenting styles are probably more closely shaped to this style. That is to say, I only have two goals for Jack: To become a successful adult in our society, and I hope we all have a lot of fun getting there. I tend to feel I got each of those ideas from one parent. I'll let you guess which.

I figure Nicole and I already did the heavy lifting to much of Jack's success through our shared values, and our pooled wealth and education ought to chip in to that happiness quotient quite nicely. After that, it's really not up to us, which is fine by me.

jack's cake

many months went into dreaming about the perfect cake for my little boy. 3 days to make the cake and 3 pounds of butter, many cups of cocoa and a giant bowl to mix the batter. i surprised myself, how close to my sketch it turned out to be.

one year later

a baby's first birthday is a great celebration for everyone. i take pride in that patrick and i haven't screwed up too much this past year. jack is a thriving, happy little boy with lots of curiosity and creativity. for his first birthday, we celebrated with his first cupcake. it was very cute to see jack at daycare around all his friends (who like to give lots of kisses). he certainly has made a little world for himself there. i am so proud. at first jack just looked at the cupcake. second, a finger slightly touched the frosting. soon, his whole hand grabbed it and ate it. he ate quicker than some of the others. we then went to dinner and jack ate some guacamole.

as i think about the last year, it's all so fantastic. being jack's mom is the best thing. yeah, i've learned a lot about babies, but i've also learned a lot about myself and life itself.

jack has this way about him that just makes me melt. he is a gentle boy who is happy and eager to learn and love. thank you, jack, for the best year of my life.