Avery's First Smile

Ok, this isn't really her first smile. I didn't catch that one on camera. But she did start smiling for the first time today!

Male Bonding

I'm very fortunate to work at a company that gives paid time off to fathers when they have a new baby. I was able to take Trent down to Tucson to spend a little time with my mom on a Friday. We went to the Tucson zoo for a few hours. The weather was great and we had a lot of fun.




Here's one of Trent recently at the dinner table. When he doesn't get an early nap, you can never tell when sleep will strike...


This is probably one of those photos that can be pulled out when he's a teenager and his female friends come over. I'm sure we'll archive this one for just the right moment.

Over the past year, I've been working with Jake Johnson, another local photographer, to take action photos of kids playing various sports. We've got a deal with the city for all city-sponsored sports. We've done flag football, soccer and basketball. Right now is spring soccer and tackle football season. I've spent about half a day over each of the past four Saturdays taking pictures.



I think baseball is next, then another basketball season, then we start over again. It's been fun, and a little extra money on the side makes it worthwhile.

First Day of School

This is Trent at his new school, Maricopa Elementary. He began on his his birthday at the end of March. He goes to a developmental preschool where half the students are typical kids and half have developmental delays like him. So far he seems to really like it. When I drop him off he just gives me a hug and then holds his teacher's hand as she takes him into the classroom.

Trent was diagnosed with mild Autism a couple of months ago, and has since started in the Jumpstart program at SARRC (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center). It's a four week program that teaches the parents how to use Applied Behavior Analysis principals to help the children progress in communication and in learning other skills. They also work with the kids in a preschool-type setting, demonstrating these techniques while the parents observe. It's a great program and well worth the drive all the way to downtown Phoenix.

So we've been very busy with preschool on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and Jumpstart on Tuesdays and Thursdays (all while trying to get the hang of caring for a newborn). But Trent seems to be doing well and we are so happy that he has all these resources available to help him.