- Dear Hunter Jayne,
on the 12th of September, 2019,
we first found out about you.
- Oh my god!
- And even though we hadn't met you yet.
Little did we know
that you would completely change our lives forever.
As we fast forward nine months later in our story,
on the first Tuesday of June,
your mother and I were eagerly awaiting your arrival
like a kid on Christmas Eve, we prepared your bed.
First little outfit to go into.
Shared stories of who we think
you'll look like whilst we listened to Jack Johnson.
"We can be friends" still tears up your mom to this day.
So, as the clock nestled above your mother's head just
crossed 7:44 in the evening, you came into the world.
- [Jessica] I know,
it's a bit cold without a blanket isn't it?
- [Jessica] Hello, welcome to the world.
(piano)
- [Stephen] We don't always remember the days,
but we remember the moments together.
And though your first week on earth
was doing some checkups in the hospital.
It just made bringing you home even more special.
Welcome home Hunter.
One week being a parent and-
- Already matching.
- Already got our matching, family pajamas.
As there were some people very eager to meet you.
- Awe!
- Cleo!
(crying)
- Oh my gosh, look at that.
- [Stephen] Your first week was filled with naps,
and more naps,
and even more naps.
So, we decided it was probably time we all went outside
for the very first time,
and honestly reminded us that if we all want to swim
with dolphins together, one day,
we should probably get you used to water.
In the early months, we slowly learned who you are.
Kind of like a best buddy you just met,
but you know you're going to be lifelong friends.
As you slowly worked out, what in the world was going on.
Our goal as parents were trying to figure out
how to get a good ol' gummy smile from you.
- [Jessica] Hi!
(laughing)
Hello!
- [Stephen] And you haven't stopped smiling since.
Okay. Now, I don't know if you know this yet,
but mum and dad's first love was travel,
and we needed to introduce you to her.
So, a passport photo was needed.
You ready to see the photograph,
that's going to be in your passport for the next five years?
Okay. We promise we'll get you a new one come 2025,
but in the meantime,
we at least took you down south to Bunker Bay
for your first beach time,
and then caught a flight all the way up to Broom.
Here, we just knew we'd struck gold as parents with you,
as you were not only easy to travel with,
but made travel so much more enjoyable.
Then this kind of led us to the crazy realization
that we should, as a family, buy a van and move into it-
- First family shot, in our home.
- but we will come back to that.
We can't believe how fast you're growing up.
As before we knew it, I was turning 30.
So, your mom surprised us all with a little trip
in a big orange caravan up to Exmouth.
There, we swam with some whale sharks,
and don't worry, we will take you when you're older.
So, before we get back to the whole
moving into an empty van thing,
first, let's just appreciate the many,
many, Halloween outfits mum popped in.
She just couldn't decide what was her favorite.
So, up until this point,
we're all kind of living through a global pandemic,
which I will tell you all about when you're older,
but unfortunately meant we had to wait many months before
you could meet your memaw and granddaddo,
as they live all the way on the other side of Australia,
and they cherished every moment they had with you.
You could kind of say it was a little early Christmas.
Oh, speaking of Christmas, I may have said a porky pie.
Your mom's first love is actually Christmas and December,
maybe late November's
are gonna be a very joyous time in our family.
We try to teach you all our traditions,
from putting up the tree,
to leaving a little snack out for Santa.
So, as a brand new year began
and you turned seven months old,
you finally realized what all the fuss about food was,
and ever since then,
we just can't seem to give you enough of it.
Oh, and also you've started crawling.
Which has already led us to chase you around the house,
many times.
Mum and Dad continued their hard work
building our little van into our new home.
And yes, of course we appreciated you helping out so much
that we thought we'd squeeze in a little family getaway
down south again during our beautiful RV summer.
(laughing)
Okay. We know the Outback is our favorite.
Okay? Okay.
So, we all know that this was not the only trip
we squeezed in during your first year,
as delays moving into our van,
kept us on our toes.
We all popped on a plane to south Australia,
where we charted our first Cessna,
and we think you loved it.
So, from tiny planes to tiny homes, nine months crossed by,
and you would never guess it.
Mum got you another cute outfit.
I'll let you try and guess what holiday it was for.
Oh, wait, did somebody say holiday? All right.
We kind of popped over for your very first international
flight to New Zealand,
a place very special to your mum and dad,
as it was once our very first trip overseas together.
There, we explored the beautiful countryside,
but all you wanted to do was go for a swim
in each and every spot we stayed in.
You were also amazing helping with mum's first mother's day,
cooking breakfast,
but I will kind of say that you did get distracted
from the birds on her birthday set up.
Also, I think you're a bit of an adrenaline junkie
like your dad.
So, as year one on this little floating rock
slowly came to an end.
We closed the door on your first family house
that we brought you home to, and as we waved goodbye,
we were all eager to start a brand new chapter,
as we take you on an epic adventure around Australia.
Let's bring on year two.
♪ Fall is here, hear the yell ♪
♪ Back to school, ring the bell ♪
♪ Brand new shoes, walking blues ♪
♪ Climb the fence, books and pens ♪
♪ I can tell that we are gonna be friends ♪
♪ Walk with me, Hunter Jayne ♪
♪ Through the park and by the plane ♪
♪ We will rest upon the ground ♪
♪ And look at all the bugs we found ♪
♪ Safely walk to school without a sound ♪
(laughing)
♪ Here we are, no one else ♪
♪ We walked to school all by ourselves ♪
♪ There's dirt on our uniforms ♪
♪ From chasing all the ants and worms ♪
♪ We clean up and now it's time to learn ♪
♪ I can tell that we are gonna be friends ♪