One Child at a Time

"I'm building my family tree one child at a time."

I remember making this lighthearted joke, not long after Patrick was born.

I've been working on our family history for several decades. Working on computers for a living (and for fun), I've learned a lot about this type of research. My grandmother got me started ... and encouraged my interest in my family history. With her assistance, I've compiled quite a bit of information about our family tree and quite a few stories about the people on the tree.

Many times, months of research resulted in nothing ... occasionally, some small thread would lead to some larger find. I've researched lines into the American Revolution (my grandmother always wanted to join the DAR). I've traced many lines overseas ... Germany, Italy, Ireland, Poland / Austria, and more.

But, nowhere along the way have I had such an exciting addition to our tree. In all my years of tracking down family members, verifying stories ... researching the lives of my relatives, I never felt the thrill of addition to the tree as I did that day I added Patrick Robert to our family tree.

Maybe that "joke" was more true than I realized at the time!

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Family Time with Shoes

Last night was cool. Patrick was in a playful mood ... dumping food and drinks all over the place, sneaking toys over the back of the couch (then getting upset when I passed them back to him), and climbing over everything. He also got a family game going ... with everyone ready for bed, he had us put his shoes on, then Papa and Mama had to put on their boots. It was all very funny and exciting ... mostly watching his intensity. Then, we had to follow him ... around and around we went. Through the kitchen, into the dining room, through the family room, past the front door and into the kitchen again ... over and over, around and around ... stomping our feet in some sort of family train! Every now and then, Jen or I would fall behind and invariably, Patrick would stop to make sure that we caught back up. We played other games, as well ... but we always seemed to head back to the train ... oh, and don't forget the shoes ...

Getting Involved

This is the second night in a row that we were able to spend time and Grandma and Papap's ... Patrick enjoys it so much! We even had a rousing rendition of "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" with all five of us involved ... yes, Patrick is pitching in now. He runs from person to person, giving a bit to each one of us ... there is never a dull moment. Tonight, he repeated a new activity from last night. Last night, it was getting everyone involved in chasing him around the house ... tonight, we had this activity, but what we saw was that he wanted to play different games and wanted certain people involved. This is when he went to each person that needed to be involved and grabbed a finger, pulling them along. He even checked every now and then to make sure they were still following. Such an amazing child ... knows how to ensure that we sleep well.

Painful Bits

Yesterday was a long work day ... I would have said a long day at work, but I was there, headed home, then had to return in the evening to work with the evening shift. I got home early in the afternoon and basically did nothing. I tried to nap ... to no avail. When Jen got home with Patrick, I basically had time to eat dinner, then head out the door again. The truly painful part was Patrick and Jen standing on the front porch ... with Patrick screaming, reaching for me as I drove off. I heard his screams until I well out of sight. According to Jen, as soon as he realized I was not coming back right away, he stopped yelling ... turned around and started playing with the doorbell and the screen door. His discomfort lasted significantly less than mine did ... I was ready to head home for hours. What focus!

Fatherhood

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