Well... sorry... I dropped the ball. Fumble at the 1 yard line. I will do my best to get you up to date.

Dane has continued to be a wonderful blessing! Sick or not, he is always smiling and happy. On Monday, he had a 102 degree temperature, but he was smiling and interacting like nothing was wrong. The tough times for him have been at night when it's hard for him to get comfortable.

Here he is at 7 months, eating more solid food, and can actually pick up his sippy cup and drink out of it. At this rate, he'll be easily weened at his first birthday. It may be more difficult for Renee to be weened. I think she is going to miss the closeness and dependence on her.

It really amazes me that Dane is so excited to see me when I get home in the evenings. I guess I understand how easy it would be for an infant to be so close to it's mother. Renee is the most constant thing in his world. But for him to actually know my voice, look for me when he hears my voice on speakerphone, that is truly amazing. It wonderful when I walk into the room where Renee is feeding him and he stops when he hears me, turns to look for me and then when he spots me, starts grinning and cooing. It make a Daddy turn into baby himself, with all the funny noises and baby talk.

I have also been thinking lately (probably because of the increase in gas prices and the general shape the world is in) about the world Dane is going to inherit. What is his life going to be like? Is it going to be so much harder for him to succeed because of the ever increasing competitiveness of our society. It scares me to think of what he's going to face out there. I'm sure it's no different than what any father ponders. Father's before me were probably wondering how the world was going to look with the spread of communism, much like my concern over the spread of terrorism. Yet, I've succeeded in this world, which is far more competitive than it was in my father's day.

That's about it for now. Hopefully there won't be as long of a delay to the next blog.