the sound of green

Thursday mornings are quiet in the office. There’s one or two other guys in here at 7:30am, both of whom are already into their breakfast and internet foraging start to the day. My box of cereal is empty in the cupboard, and a replacement has skipped my mind for the past two days in a row; my best thinking isn’t necessarily done on the 7am drive to work. Thankfully there’s a cafe right next door, that serve fantastic ham, cheese and tomato toasties in the mornings, and my growling stomach will soon be appeased.

With my laptop plugged into the second monitor, and headphones and mouse at the ready, I begin to wade through the tide of my morning online routine. Gush, Gmail, Google Reader, Twitter, Facebook. For the first time since Tuesday, the wave of congratulations has stemmed for the moment, though I’m sure it will continue to flow on as we see people in person for the first time since the news was broken. Tuesday night was crazy though, as we both sat at our computers at one stage, watching notifications appear in real time. By the time we’d read another message, three or four more would be there waiting for us. It was exciting, and a fantastic response from everyone. But life goes on. There’s work to be done, websites to be updated, photos to be taken, estimates to produce.

Our (second) newest housemate turns one today. It’s hard to believe that a year ago, we made the trip to hospital to visit the newborn, and these days he’s getting dangerously close to standing up by himself and walking. He’s having a birthday party this afternoon, where it’s a distinct possibility that his dad and I will be the only males over the age of 3. On top of that, there’s baby gear to decide upon and buy, people to visit and show off ultrasound pictures to, photography estimates to produce, weddings to shoot, full-time work to do, and the general busyness of life.

Life goes on, but things have changed. The excitement is no longer something that I have to hide. I can proudly proclaim it everywhere now, that I’m going to be a Dad! No more checking over my shoulder before googling something baby-related. No more going to an unoccupied part of the office to make a phone call that is about the baby. No more not wanting to see people for fear of blurting the news to them unintentionally. Life goes on, but we can can now share this next part of it with everyone else.