Today was Lachlan's 2nd birthday. It is so hard to believe that this is the little guy that was born two years ago in New Haven. As a newborn, he cozily napped in his Baby Bjorn as Rick and I walked in the crisp 2005 fall weather, having our first serious discussion as to whether we would even consider moving to Australia if the chance arose. He spent 6 weeks camped out in a pack-n-play in his nursery, after our furniture was shipped out. He has managed 3 trans-Pacific flights in 9 months, and will take 2 more this January. He says "ta" instead of "thanks," and wakes up in the far too early morning hours to the calls of tropical birds. He's seen lots of adventure in his first two years, and his sunshine, laughter, silly faces and easy-going nature have been a joy during our transition.
We named him Lachlan because we decided to have a third child during our first time here in Australia in 2004. When we discovered we were pregnant, we emailed Rick's colleague Kent to find out good Australian baby names. Lachlan turned out to be in the top 10 most popular Australian baby names, but it is very rare in the US. Once we discovered that we were having a boy, we knew Lachlan was his name- despite the fact that we had promised one another, when we first started having children, that we would not name our children names that they would have to spell for everyone they met. We just knew that was his name, and when he was born, we had lots of quizzical "And how do you spell that?" comments, followed by "Oh, that's interesting," a pause, and then, again "Now, how do you spell that?"
But here in Australia, there are Lachlans on every playground, in every school, on every beach. Lachlan Macquarie was a former governor of New South Wales who arrived in Australia in 1809 and is giant in the history of Australia. He appears to have gotten a thrill out of naming things after himself, so among other things, there is an island, a river, a lake, a port, many streets, and even a nearby shopping centre, named Macquarie. Our Lachlan can find, among other things, streets, a city council and a river bearing his name. When we named him, we had no idea that he would someday live in a culture where he would seem so, well, familiar.
Now that we are here, he is no longer my "fall" baby, but my "spring" baby. Instead of a birthday season identified with cooler temperatures, falling leaves, cornstalks, mums and pumpkins, we celebrate his birthday amidst fragrant flowers, hot dry winds, school holidays and water balloon games. And when we sing "Happy Birthday", we add in three "Hip, Hip, Hoorays" at the end, just as we have learned to do for Australian friends in the past 9 months.
We named him Lachlan because we decided to have a third child during our first time here in Australia in 2004. When we discovered we were pregnant, we emailed Rick's colleague Kent to find out good Australian baby names. Lachlan turned out to be in the top 10 most popular Australian baby names, but it is very rare in the US. Once we discovered that we were having a boy, we knew Lachlan was his name- despite the fact that we had promised one another, when we first started having children, that we would not name our children names that they would have to spell for everyone they met. We just knew that was his name, and when he was born, we had lots of quizzical "And how do you spell that?" comments, followed by "Oh, that's interesting," a pause, and then, again "Now, how do you spell that?"
But here in Australia, there are Lachlans on every playground, in every school, on every beach. Lachlan Macquarie was a former governor of New South Wales who arrived in Australia in 1809 and is giant in the history of Australia. He appears to have gotten a thrill out of naming things after himself, so among other things, there is an island, a river, a lake, a port, many streets, and even a nearby shopping centre, named Macquarie. Our Lachlan can find, among other things, streets, a city council and a river bearing his name. When we named him, we had no idea that he would someday live in a culture where he would seem so, well, familiar.
Now that we are here, he is no longer my "fall" baby, but my "spring" baby. Instead of a birthday season identified with cooler temperatures, falling leaves, cornstalks, mums and pumpkins, we celebrate his birthday amidst fragrant flowers, hot dry winds, school holidays and water balloon games. And when we sing "Happy Birthday", we add in three "Hip, Hip, Hoorays" at the end, just as we have learned to do for Australian friends in the past 9 months.
He's a great little mate.
Love, Anne
The day begins with our madhatter.
Love, Anne
The day begins with our madhatter.
When he saw his cake, he cried "cars", and then, immediately- please????!!!!!, because he wanted to grab hold of them.
Presents!!!!
Water balloons with sisters.
1 comment:
Happy birthday, Lachlan! (see, even us North-siders can spell his name... :-> ) It's wonderful to see how he's grown over these topsy-turvy three seasons.
Blessings to all.
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