Happy Birthday to Joel!

My son, Joel, is one year old today (at exactly 5:18 pm). He is the apple of my eye, and the sweetest child imaginable. I know the blog isn't the place to write lots of personal or family stuff, but Joel has absolutely changed my entire world in the last twelve months; in a variety of amazing ways. He is a jolly baby with an infectious giggle and the trademark tenacity that my wife says marks him as a Muir. He's already run rampant through my office, playing with Qui-Gonn Jinn's light saber, driving the Star Wars van I displayed here a bit ago into a wall, and - this is the cardinal sin - getting his hands on my Space:1999 Mattel 3ft eagle! I got to him as fast as I could, but in no time flat, Joel had disassembled the main engine machinery. No harm done - it's meant to be taken apart.

Since Joel has come into my life, I know without fail that I will have several minutes (if not hours...) of unfettered joy and laughter every single day. Joel and I often sit together and read a talking Star Wars book (from Golden Books). Already, he knows to press the button that shoots the TIE fighters, and the one that sends the Millennium Falcon into hyper drive. Best of all, the other day he looked at my cardboard stand-up of Captain James T. Kirk from Star Trek V and said - to my delight - "Da Da!"