A country for Oliver (Part 1 of many)

Australia does not offer citizenship by birth, so at six months of age, Oliver Akash is still officially stateless. He has potential claims to citizenship of three countries: India through his dad, the United States through his mum, and Australia through birth and residence (though he must be ordinarily resident here on his tenth birthday, whatever that means). But he has more pressing matters to deal with: learning to swallow, keeping his food down, smiling through appointments with his physical therapist, pediatrician, surgeon, opthalmologist, neurologist, gastroenterologist, ...

So we started his US passport application this week. Of course there's paperwork, down to listing every day his parents have ever spent outside the US. But a bigger challenge was getting a passport photo that meets the exacting specs of the State department. Meghan quickly realized that we were better off with him lying flat on a white sheet rather than trying to hold him upright. And we were off! Ollie was quite a good sport through the process - we didn't get a single pouty face, although we did get quite a variety of other expressions.

Six months

Oliver Akash is six months old already! Sometimes it feels like a few days, and sometimes it feels like six years...

Here he is, dressed in his NASA suit (a hand-me-down from Finn, Laura Beth, and Bryan) and sitting in his Special Tomato chair (on loan from our occupational therapist to help support him upright). And below, a little video clip where he attempts to talk up a storm. Good moments like this are a rare pleasure.