Good Morning!

Unlike his mom, Richie is definitely a morning person. In the first few moments after waking from sleep, Richie is at his most charming. It's enough to almost make you forget about how little sleep mom and dad are operating on.

Win a trip to NZ!

Yep, it's strange but true. For all those who have wanted to visit but haven't yet had the chance, this is for you. By clicking on the below You Tube link, you could win an expenses paid trip for two to New Zealand!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VB24JazI7JQ

And if that weren't motivation enough, you'll get to see a clip of Paul and me with our new baby Richie when he was just 3 weeks old in August.

As you know, we liked Napier, NZ so much we decided to live here, and the folks here have asked us to help promote what a great place it is to live back in our homeland. So they put us in front of a camera with bright lights that scared the heck out of little Richie, who had been a cutie pie right up until the camera started rolling. The end result is a video intro with a crying baby and two sleep-deprived looking parents, which if you ask me isn't all that enticing for their campaign, but it's worth a laugh and the video in between shows you what you're missing here in NZ and why we stayed.

To win the free trip for two of our friends, we have to have the most views of our clip on You Tube from our home country. That's where you come in. Forward this link to all your friends, post it on your web site, circulate it around your office, put it on your Facebook page, whatever will get it the most clicks possible. It looks like we're up against some stiff competition from a Russian family who already has nearly 10,000 page views, so start clicking!

Thanks and enjoy the video.
Cheers,
Jen, Paul and Richie

Smiles 'R Us

Since you've seen "Prelude to a smile," I figured I better post some of the real thing, or at least as close as I could capture on film. He's what the Kiwis would call a "cheeky wee fellow."

Back at the clubhouse

This weekend Paul competed in the final round of his club championship. He made it there after winning many rounds against seasoned golfers with much lower handicaps. We think Richie was his good luck charm so he caught up with Daddy at the clubhouse on Sunday afternoon. Of course it won't be long before Richie will be caddying for Dad but in the meantime, I think he's already starting to look more and more like Dad every day.

Lest we forget...

There was another cute little boy before Richie showed up, the cat Banderas. Since Richie arrived, he's gone through various phases: exiling himself to his chair by the fire and refusing to join us upstairs in the living room, cautiously checking out Richie in his bassinet, trying to impress us with his hunting prowess by bringing in all manner of wildlife (both dead and alive), staring blanking at us while Richie cries with a "and he gets cuddles for that?!" expression on his face, waking us up at 4am on the first night Richie slept through his usual 3am feed, etc.

Now he appears to be trying to remind us that he can be cute and cuddly to. Not to mention helpful around the house. Just look at him helping me with the dishes yesterday. Later that same day I caught him lapping water out of Richie's bath. I wonder what's next. I'll keep the diaper bucket under lock and key in the meantime!

The waiting game

In the last few days, Richie's repertoire of expressions has really expanded. Tonight he assumed a particularly Rodin-like pose while waiting for Dad to get his bath ready.

Got Thumb?

After weeks of ferociously putting his entire hand or at least a few fingers in his mouth, today Richie finally found his thumb and gave it a good suck. He's actually beginning to prefer it over his pacifier or one of our fingers now.