My email response to your first email!

Here is my response to your first email, sent Sept. 25, 2012. I'm publishing it here just in case you do not receive it.

Hi Kieran,

It was so wonderful to hear from you after all of these months. I’ve missed you every day that we’ve been apart.

I chuckled when you said the email was long – I suppose it was for an email, but we’ve been apart for a long time and have lots of catching up to do. I write and edit books for a living, so whipping off an email that long was pretty easy for me!

I’m so glad you like kindergarten and school. Other than your family, there’s nothing more important than your education. Even when school may seem boring or difficult, always do your best, and in the end you’ll be a very happy person.

I’d love to hear about your school. Do you go to kindergarten all day? When I went to kindergarten, I only went half a day, in the morning, and got to eat lunch at home with my mom and little brother. What kind of crafts have you made in kindergarten? Who are some of your friends that you play with? What is your teacher like?

I’m so proud of you that you’re learning to ride a bicycle! You might remember that before you left California we went to a few shops and looked at bicycles for you, and you were very excited about getting one. Pushing the pedals was very difficult, but now that you’re older and stronger, I’m sure it’s a lot easier. What color is your bicycle? Do you have any fun do-dads on it? When I was your age, we used to put streamers on our handlebars, and some of the kids even had horns! A few of us boys put a playing card in our wheel spokes so that it’d make this cool thwap! thwap! sound when we cruised around.

You might recall the book “Lizzie’s Do’s and Don’ts” that we got from the library (“Don’t climb high in trees. Don’t put 10 band-aids on your knees!”). One of the don’ts was that Lizzie’s mom got upset at her when she took a card from the playing deck and put it in her bicycle wheel!

Have you read any good books lately? I bet your kindergarten teacher reads books to you at story time. I just read “Click, Clack, Moo, Cows That Type.” It’s about these cows that find an old typewriter in the barn, so they type a letter to Farmer Brown asking for electric blankets. When he doesn’t give them any electric blankets, they go on strike and tell him, “No electric blankets, no milk!”

You said you have several pictures of me. I am glad to hear that. Where did you get the pictures? I don’t recall you having a photo album. I’d love to look at the pictures with you; I probably can tell you lots of fun stories about what was happening when the picture was taken.
Well, that is all for now. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Love,

Dad

A year ago today we went to Viking Fest

Kieran the Viking

A year ago today we attended Viking Fest in Vista, Calif., a suburb of San Diego. At first you weren't too excited about going, mainly because you didn't quite know what a "Viking" was, but once we got there you sure had a blast! When the time came for us to leave, you even begged me to let you stay longer!

We got to see people dressed up as Vikings engage in mock battles and sword fights with one another. Then you got to paint and decorate your very own shield and sword. And I finally let you get a face painting like you always wanted - you chose to be a pirate!

You are, of course, Norwegian on your mother's side of the family. I'm all English and German with a smattering of Dutch.

Here are a whole bunch of pictures of you at Viking Fest.

Your first email to me!

Received your first email from you! This is the first time that I've "heard" from you since May 9 - more than four months now. Of course, someone else had to write it for you. I've published it here so that when you're older and able to read it, you can tell me if it really came from you ... I have my suspicions about that as the email makes a concerted effort to show how your current situation is perfect and didn't answer a number of questions or respond to a number of topics I wrote in my email. In addition, the wording isn;t entirely the way you speak, not matching your speaking patterns. Still, I will give everyone the benefit of the doubt for now and presume you really got to hear to first email to you and that these really are your words.

Dad:

I got your e-mail it sure was long.

I like my Kindergarten class and going to school.

I even go to bed early so I can be up to go to school early and play.

I have  a good breakfast every day.

I am learning to ride a 2 wheeler with training wheels and can’t wait for the training wheels come off and Grandpa can teach me to ride a 2 wheeler.

I still have several pictures of you and me.

Gotta go outside to play.  Bye.

Love,

Kieran

'Curious George Learns to Count...'

Remember this fun book, "Curious George Learns to Count from 1 to 100"? You used to look at it all the time. Curious George discovers all kinds of things that are needed for the city's big festival, and each time he finds something, he counts them. You then would count all of the things that George found - nine yellow ties and 24 blueberry pancakes and so on. There also was a neat two-page spread that showed the village Curious George lived in, and you used to marvel over all of the buildings and help George retrace his steps home. Thanks to all of the great pictures and counting opportunities, I always kept it in the car for you to look at on our long drives. I still have your book - it's in fairly good shape - for you to fondly look back on one day (And maybe even to read to your own children!).

A baby picture of you from 2007!

Here's a baby picture of you I found! Though I don't remember the exact date, but it was taken sometime in spring or summer of 2007, the year you were born. It is in the living room at our house in Crescent City, Calif.

You loved sitting and playing in this activity center - it had like a 100+ different toys on it and you could spin around in it so that you could play with different ones.

You were not a big one for the play pen behind it. You just didn't like being in it and would cry when put in, so we almost never used it. You were pefectly content to sit on the rug in the living room and play.

The swing next the play pen also wasn't one of your favorite things. I think you just didn't like to be cooped up!

Baby picture along Pacific Ocean

Stumbled across this great baby picture of you and had to share it! The picture was taken in September 2007 when we lived in Crescent City, Calif. We traveled north into southwestern Oregon and took this in the very early evening while driving by the Pacific Ocean. It's looking south with California behind us. You always had a binkie in your mouth, it seemed - and always demanded that you have one handy! It got to the point where we tied a string to it and clipped it to whatever you wearing so that you could put it in and take it out whenever you liked!

My first email to you

I finally received your email address from your mother and sent ny first email to you. Just in case in don't receive the email, I've included it here for you to read.

Dear Kieran,

I am so glad that we finally are able to talk with one another. First, I want you to know that I love you more than anything in the whole world, that I have always loved you, and that I always will, no matter what. Next, I also want you to know that I miss you very much and think about you every day and all the time. I never wanted us to be apart and cannot wait to see you again. And lastly, that is the good news – we should be able to spend time together very soon, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

The picture I included with the email.

Since we last saw one another four months ago, I have moved out of our condo in Palmdale to Wisconsin. You might remember when we used to go to the library together and looked at the globe of how I would point out where England and California was. I also always pointed out where Minnesota and Wisconsin were, noting that is where your mommy and I grew up. I live very close to you in Wisconsin so we can get together as much as possible.

In a few months, I hope to take you to the farm where I grew up in Wisconsin so you can meet your Grandma and Grandpa, who you used to talk to on the phone. They haven’t seen you since you were a little baby and can’t wait to have fun with you again. Your cousins Bryan and Rebekah and your Uncle Chris and Aunt Susie also can’t wait to see you again. Rebekah is in kindergarten, just like you.

I want you to know that I’m sorry I wasn’t there to see you off on your first day to kindergarten or to find out at the end of the day your thoughts and feelings about this first big day in your new school. You’ll learn a lot in kindergarten, and it’ll be a lot of fun for you, of that I’m sure. You’ll have the opportunity to make new friends, some of whom may last a lifetime. Be sure to get lots of sleep and to always eat a good breakfast before heading off to school – that’ll always make the day go better!

I would love for you to show me your kindergarten classroom and introduce me to your teacher and all of friends soon. There are so many things I can’t wait to talk to you about, fun places I can’t wait to take you, great games I can’t wait to play with you, and great books I can’t wait to read to you.

So tell me a little about your life these past few months. What is your bedroom and house like where you live? What are your new favorite toys to play with? What TV shows do you now like to watch? What is your teacher’s name and the names of your friends? What do you and your friends like to do together for fun? What is your favorite part of kindergarten? What kinds of things are you learning in school? What exciting places have you been to since moving to Minnesota? What would you like to do again when we get together?

I’ve included a picture of us together so that you have a photo of me. It was taken last Easter in Lancaster at the Easter Egg Hunt. I’ll always remember how you offered to share your Easter eggs with another little boy who was only able to pick up a couple of them. I was very proud of you!

I miss you so much, Kieran, and can’t wait to see you again. Hopefully, that will be in just a couple of weeks. When we do get together, I promise we’ll have lots of fun, just we always do whenever we spend together. I can’t wait to hear from you, so write back soon!

Love,

Daddy