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As any parent knows, when a newborn slumbers and gives you a small but precious window of opportunity to go do some grocery shopping, you just seize it! I was granted one of these by Ernesto a few weeks ago, so I ran out the door with him (giving Ingrid a chance to nap) and raced around Richmond’s shops like an F1 driver. As I came out of the last shop I was pleased that Ernie was still snoring away snugly in the Baby Björn. Smugly, I thought I’d go get his passport photo taken at the post office machine. Ernie's reaction?  I hoped this might just make it past Her Majesty’s Passport Office. You see, in UK passports infants don’t even need to have their eyes open. Alas, friend, cycling buddy and photo counter-signatory Nina pointed out two things. Firstly, everyone, young or old, needs to have a ‘neutral expression’. It’d be difficult to explain to the passport office that this was, in fact, Ernie’s current neutral expression—an expression that reflected the general mood of the Casasbuenas York household at the time. Ingrid and I now laugh and cry about our initial fears regarding the physical challenge of giving birth. That, of course, turned out to be the easy part. Now we were overwhelmed with exhaustion, the substitution of cycling climbs with nappy changes and lingering worries about my first post-chemo brain scan as we waited for the doctor’s assessment. Secondly, Nina said it ‘won't be long 'til he learns how to smile :)’. I’m not sure I believed her, but sure enough she was right. A few days later we saw his first smile. I don't remember anything about it except that it was the most divine thing. Of course there’s still a lot of crying, but more and more he’s chilling out, calmly exploring the world, giving his parents little windows of opportunity to do stuff like write blog entries and... go on a date! Appropriately, our first one was a dramatic venture into Central London to see an operatic rendition of ‘The Importance of being Earnest’. On a similar note, my last scan report was full of good news. In simple English: the tumour itself has taken on even more of a neutral expression. Quieter than ever, it's giving me a window of opportunity to relish the most precious moments of my life with Ernie and Ingie. I’m also enjoying the usual mix of cycling, running, and swimming. I’ll let my Kona Quest blog tell that story: www.swoopanddivebomb.com. And Ernie? I think, even if just for a brief moment, he found his very own 'neutral expression'. I expect her Majesty's Passport Office will be proud.  Comments are closed.
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