well, that's what we call reasonable healing... collin weighs in at 2200grams by now AND gets a massive 20grams of mother's milk every 3 hours! and even - partly - out of the original pack... auto-draft, so to speak... :)




with a little insight on the story and a little phantasy a sympathising reader could imagine, how different it is for us, to change his diaper... stinks like any other baby [ :) ], but beats the alternative any day... in other words: that precisely is the point: like ANY OTHER kid... collin is on his way to normality. cool, no?

our dragon is vaccinated. complete. against everything. or at least almost everything... 21 mischiefs can not come over the dragon anymore: 7 illnesses times 3 heads! a number that calms down. and calls for bulk discount... :)

speakin' of news ticker: ben just came out of his surgery. everything is OK, he is being fondled by mommie now...

so, the dragon is "repaired" after all, just as promised...

everything good, i knew it! :)

the news ticker's ticking sent shivers down my spine today...

just briefly, though, luckily... but as of late i do get a bit jumpy when the phone's displaying certain numbers at certain times - must be bad habit... this time, however, it wasnt negative at all: tomorrow opened up a surgery slot, and benny could have his hernia taken care of. we recall: piece o'cake in comparison...

well, so the dragon will be "repaired" for what should be the last time, after that everything is honky dorey and with just very few wing flappings little dragon will pass another quality gate: home coming...

and inside us farewell melancholy mixes with welcome panic...

and i havent even published the second part of the dragon cave chapter, because the picture hasnt been taken yet, which is due to the cave not being in photographic condition, yet - a result of the "go back to mediterranean ave"- card we drew in the aupair-monopoly game... somebody pushed the button.

long way to go and a short time to get there. but giving up is - WELLKNOWN - not an option! :)

well, after normality has returned at least to a pre-surgery level, i turned the light and color back to "normal", too. we recall: yellow-green, as the 3 headed dragen's room... all pictures are tuned to this, and besides, i like it... :)

finally, the black days are behind us...

benjamin and collin have the same color, too, by now. no, not yellow-green, the same color among each other. vicky grows into her role of sister. it could go on like this, no?

next stop: hernia surgery for benny. but this is really no reason for pussying, now, is it? :-P his little brother will meditate him through this in no time...

time to breathe through for a moment...

from the forum "klein-putz" for assisted conceiving i received the request for one of those cute little tickers telling the duration of events like kids. and because i liked the idea and looks, i went to that website... and gave up. there are virtually millions of them! i simply do not have this kind of time!

but i have a proposal for a compromise: send me your favourite ticker (by comment or personal email), and the winner will receive an exclusive, never nowhere published, private, own, custom, homemade photograph of the dragon! are these stakes for you to jump into the game? :) let's go, girls!

today our three-headed dragon had the first extra-family visitors (although they do kinda belong into the category "family"!): beate with mom and (eldest) daughter have checked our three out from behind the window...

verdict: "well done, mick!" - well, neighborhood approval, what more do i want? :)

well, now each of them won once:

benjamin won the race for birth, collin led the field at the one-kilogram-mark, and victoria is over zwo kilos as of today, first...

the observant reader realizes: behind so much equality can only be a dragon - one with three heads!

so far, the concept of unity seems to work. let's see, how long... :)

this photograph depicts collin right after his surgery.

and he say with it
THANX!
for every single last one crossed finger, each thought, each tear, each word, each touch, each hug,

for every text message, every call, every conviction, every spark of hope,

all the candles and prayers, each look, each smile, every quant of energy, each cut, each stitch, each driven mile, each vision, every modification of the duty schedule...

for everything each one of you all have done for us!

dear surgery team,

at the end of the most gratifying day of my life it is my profoundest joy writing you these lines.

i thank you; for saving my son, for your knowledge, your experience, your craftsmanship, your vision, your patience, your effort, the post-operative meeting. in essence: for the choice of your profession and how you go after it!

i congratulate you to your success; medical as well as humane, to have facilitated a life's new start, to have kept together a family, to have restored it!

i admire your excellence; to regain hope against medical odds, to - based on out-of-your-field argumentation - question points of view, to meet a layman at eye level, to have a - technically not even born yet - child dictate direction and pace! this truly requires remarkable character qualities!

in analogy to sailors wishing for always a few inches of water under their keels, i wish you for less glorious moments than today above all: always one more idea! i wish you from my heart, when you are the first in line, the one everybody looks to for solutions, at the end of it all, may you have always one more brain spark, one that turns it all to the better! for if this story taught me one thing, it is this: never give up!

yours in deep gratitude and very respectfully, also on behalf of my wife
mick s., father.