Katherine’s first birthday…

Last Friday (June 5th) was my daughter’s first birthday. After being a dad of just boys for sixteen years, I’m still getting used to saying that; my daughter. It’s been a new experience since Katherine came into my life, and I can honestly say she’s made the last twelve months better than I thought they could ever be. Having a little girl is new territory for me, and just being around her and helping out as much as I can has made me feel more young and vibrant than I have in many, many years. A new fire has been lit under my arse, and I can clearly say that has been a good thing for yours truly.

Because of the whole pandemic/Covid crap, we couldn’t do anything huge for Kat’s big day, so we broke things up into small events and spread the love for everyone to pay a visit before and on the big day. My visit was the day before her birthday but it was very special as I brought my brother Chris along, and this was the first time he got to meet his niece and it was cool to see my bro hang out with my new kid. We had some treats, opened a few presents and fun was had by all for almost two hours. But all good things came to an end and that was that. I got to see Kat again on her actual birthday cause there was a change in plans and I got some extra time.

Funny thing is our girl is growing like a damn weed, and that’s no joke. When we were at the park earlier this week, we bumped into another couple that was walking with their kid. Both kids were the same height, but there was one big difference; the other kid was 2 years old. Double of Kat’s age and she was bigger than the other kid. Seriously people, I gotta get Kat a basketball net and start training her early because if she keeps growing like this… she’s going to be a starting center for Duke or Kansas when she’s ready for college.

Don’t believe me? Then check out this photo which was taken last Thursday:

You see what I mean… look at her! She’s only a year old!!

For the record I’m not worried about Kat’s weight because Ethan and Jonathan were chubby babies too, and they both thinned out before they hit kindergarten. I showed the baby photos of the boys when they were 1 and 2 and how chunky they were, and that seemed to ease worries. Kat will have a few growth spurts and when that happens, she’ll thin right up like her brothers did.

So we had a fun day with Kat and her Mom, and this weekend I have Ethan so we’re going to meet at the park again so Ethan can hang with his sister. He really likes have a new sibling and has been rather supportive of it, which is rather mature for a teenager. I’ve been very proud of how Ethan has handled the news and gone with the flow. He’s been a very good brother for Jon, so I have no doubt he’s going to be a kickass older brother for Kat.

Sorry I haven’t been too active here, but I’ve been rather busy. With comic books, novels and other projects to do, combined with co-parenting two teenagers and the new baby… I’ve been stretched a little thin. I am going to try to make an better effort going forward.

A preview of things to come:

I’ve started writing short stories for a website that posts weekly contests. I’ve enjoyed participating in them and intend to start posting those stories here for your reading pleasure.
I’ve gone back to the Masterclass website. A few years ago, I did the Aaron Sorkin Screenwriting Masterclass and it was amazing. I not only learned a lot about writing screenplays, but it inspired a lot of great writing in my novels and comics too. This coming week I’m going to start Neil Gaiman’s “The Art of Storytelling” course. I’m really looking forward to that, and might post the assignments from the class here for your reading pleasure as well. We’ll have to see how things go. I plan to take even more classes after I finish Gaiman’s course… and there are many writing classes to pick from. I am also going take Gordon Ramsey’s cooking classes as well, and that will make the summer a bit more fun.
There will be more Kat updates and lots of pictures as we enjoy the upcoming summer months… especially when the covid thing lifts and I can then start introducing her to more family members, like cousins and grandpa.

So that’s my plan moving forward, and I’ll do my best to keep my word this time. So that’s the latest update, I hope everyone is alive and doing well during the tail end of this pandemic. Until next time, take care everyone!

Peter