We all wanted to fly at some point.  Even those of us who do fly do so by leveraging the magic and engineering talent of others.

This shot wasn't planned, it was just play and the photographer captured something I'm now inspired to continue.  I've always related to the phrase "standing on the shoulders of giants" from the perspective of the one doing the standing, but as a new parent I'm really inspired to be one of the giants.  When this picture was taken, Liam didn't yet know how to walk, but here you see him getting climb and fall and be caught without any consequence, thanks to a little support from some friendly giants.

It didn't occur to him that this was anything but fun.  Wouldn't it be cool to have his whole life be like that?  Not to insulate him from failure or adversity, but to free him to thrive and play in the face of both.  After all, the process of learning to walk is to play in the face of constant failure and adversity.
 As he grows and develops the capacity to roll and fall and handle the bigger and fancier conundrums he'll get into, we won't need to literally catch him like this.  For now, (at the time this photo was taken, he was still crawling) and going forward, the game will be to provide the level of support to allow him to go beyond the limitations of himself.

Obviously, he'll stumble.  He'll fall down.  He'll get his heart broken.  That part of life is compulsory- part of the process of growing and expanding what's possible for you inolves pushing your limits, and it also means failing at some of the things you try.  What's optional is being all serious about it.

Thus, the mission: be his giants, until he becomes one himself- and be like him, by pushing our own limits and standing on the shoulders of those who came before us.

Liam loves to wear my shoes.

Later we'll work on the part about getting them on the right feet and all.

This is Liam at 12 months.

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