AFTER A FEW DAYS IN THE HOSPITAL, DAD, Ty Barker BROUGHT MOM, Heidi Di Giovanni-Barker, AND ME HOME. WE WERE GREETED BY 2 SOMEWHAT DISTURBED BUT INDIFFERENT CATS AND A DOG WHO IS SLOWLY LEARNING THAT I AM TAKING THE LEADING ROLE IN OUR HOME.
First glimpse
Eyes shut
Opening in curious stare
Jump within sleep
Strange dreams of
Womb-world wonders
Come my loved one
Into our world of
Hostile noises and bright lights
Come into our warmth
And loving arms
Blink away thoughts of returning
And welcome us into your heart
Mom took me on my first Max ride to see Daddy at work.
Funny how everyone stopped working to talk to me. Mom was tired of walking so we had another excuse to sit at Starbucks where I can groove on all the red and yellow lights I see there.
Starbucks
Mommy’s jo, Daddy’s go go go!
Baby’s nesting place
Within sling slung breasts
Taste altered by dark brown beans
Spun over blades of steel and
Heated through steam and water
Latte, latte, with skim or skinny
One more to go
the three generations of proud Barker men
more of my grandmother's musings
What ideas are written within your natal mind?
What words do you come with that will define your life?
Can it be possible that you carry with you knowledge yet to be discovered?
What messages will you speak to change the world from which we come?
What will we learn from your birth, life and walk through this lifetime?
Your language will fill a book – many books.
Your sight will illuminate many canvases.
Your hearing will expand orchestras blending harp strings with drum rolls.
Your sensory touch will teach you the beauty of nature.
These are the gifts you bring to this world.
Shh, shh, shh, shh
Teeth lightly touching tongue raised
To soften the calls for sleep.
Womb voices more familiar than street noise,
More comforting than NPR’s daily numbers
Numbing the parent’s mind.
Whee! Over the speed bumps
Making jolting actions upon cushioned baby butts
Forcing tiny eyelids to momentarily close
Reminding him of what’s to come.
Shh, shh, shh, shh,
Sleep at last.
MY GRAMPA BARKER LIKES TO EMAIL HIS ADVICE
Subject: fathering
Date: sat, 06 Sept 2003
Son,
Every father- new or old- worries some about being "able" to guide and raise a family; most especially the first child. So my words of wisdom that some one dear to me passed on in a like form are these:
Hold him, love him, talk to him as a person, but most of all remember you are not the only one responsible; you are in a "partnership" in this wondrous adventure. You have a kind, loving, gentle, and intelligent partner to help.
The mark of a true craftsperson is being able to hide his mistakes. Let your partner help cover yours and vice versa. Together there won't be any glowing ones for the rest of us to see.
Bless you and your family, Dad
The advice on "fathering" is a blend of my father's seldom given words of wisdom and my own thoughts and remembrances of early fatherhood. So now you have "fatherly advice" from your father too.
Gram and Grandpa Barker came to visit one month after my birth
and both really liked to play with me.
Do we look alike?
Grammy Lori wrote these thoughts as she flew home to Ct. I think she had tears in her eyes at the time.
I was dreaming of sushi until my Grandmother woke me, now I feel like a drunken sailor!
Gee, my Dad sure was little when he was my age!
Aunt Allison came to visit in November and took these photos.
I'm now 10 weeks old and really like this growing thing. I now know what my hands can do!
Mom lets me just 'veg-out'
after filling my belly
Am I better looking in color or black and white?
I think Dad and I have the same hairline. When do I get this fuzzystuff, will it rub off on me?
I thought I was the 'pumpkin'!
Am I round and orange?
Now we can make our
1st pie together. It sure is exhausting!
One afternoon I was dreaming of marvelous new taste treats, only to waken with Dad's newest novel impressed on my face.
This month, I'm told I look like one of Santa's elves
This page was last updated: April 20, 2009
Anticipation is everything, we are really going on an outing, hurrah! Even my Mom and Dad are getting excited
Look what Yoko and Chris sent me from Japan! I love all the little figures printed on my outfit, are they doing Aikido like Dad is teaching me?
I was really a little worried that I'd have to chew my way out of this box, but Dad came through in the nick of time!
We went to Michigan for the holiday gatherings
I loved helping Dad unwrap gifts, but even better was the SNOW on Christmas. We were also surprised by snow in Portland when we got back home.
WARNING:
All you youngsters have to close your eyes
Mom decided to take my first photo spread for Playgirl :)
So this is the famous Pooh Bear. Mom has one tattooed on her shoulder that I've tried to peel off.
So what happened to the box and what are
all these space people doing on my platform.
I thought this excersaucer was a serious training program.
I once saw the dog doing this and it looked like fun, really good for developing my jaw muscles.
