Feb. 6, 2000 - Sunday
I'm back home with my son and the reception couldn't have been better. As soon
as I got him out of the car seat - he came with his mother to pick me up at
the airport - and his coat, Harry started smiling and cooing and continued for
several minutes. What more could a father ask for? I can even let myself be
fooled that maybe he was happy to see his dad. And why not? He's happy and I'm
happy. I'll never know if he really missed me, was happy to see me, or ever
knew I was gone, or if his reaction was just his advancing social repartee
(his mother notes a very prolonged smiling and vocalizing episode on Saturday).
And, in large part, I don't really care. I'm happy to be home and to see my
son anew.
Did I miss anything while I was away? It does seem that while Harry was smiling
and vocalizing at me, he was showing signs of imitating my sounds. He wasn't
particularly good at it yet, but he was seemingly trying them out. As I would
cycle through different vowels, he would do something of the same. It seemed
to make him very excited, too (so much for the missing dad part, but this is
just as good).
