Dadness has made me softer and tougher at the same time. Softer because I seem to have a secret personal stash of empathy somewhere (only when it concerns kids, sorry) and tougher because it's not just me anymore. I have to look after one (and soon two) kid(s) and giving in to everything everyone says certainly won't further my cause.

I'll be twice dad before I turn twenty-eight. How about that?

I think elliott's really smart: he amazes me (positively) at least once a day. According to his teacher he's a very imaginative and resourceful little boy, which makes me proud. His memory is like a sponge whereas mine is like a sieve (or a sponge that needs to decide very consciously when coming across something new: 'will I keep this?' Most of the time it just says 'Nah' while his says 'Is that all? I want more!') Fascinating.

New pictures online at last: US3>May 05 + a short video capture on the downloads (zoundz & moves) page.

Elliott escaped when returning from his first school outing (to the children's farm) last week. When OmaZee went to pick him up after school, he wasn't there. Apparently he'd fallen asleep on the bus on the way back. When his teacher woke him up, he probably crawled back on (or under) his seat, after which the bus left. The teacher and principal had to drive to the bus depot to wake him up and take him back. It's standard procedure to count all children when going somewhere, but apparently this time one of the teachers made a calculation error. Nothing to sue the school about, but i'm pretty sure they'll keep a close eye on him in the future...

Annelies is doing alright. In a few weeks we'll be able to see if Geitje is a girl or a boy. Annelies doesn't want to know but I do. Dilemma. I'll just try to figure it out by myself without the gynaecologist helping me. Can't punish someone for bringing a magnifying glass to a doctor's appointment, can they?