Last night, I noticed this tweet from Richard Garriott:

Dressing up for my birthday in Austin… While I am in NYC… Awaiting Baby Kinga… facebook.com/photo.php?fbid…

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) June 26, 2012

…which links to a picture of Garriott’s virtual presence device (Garriott can be seen on its screen) dressed up in a party hat and other decorations. That’s cool and all…but it also made clear that Garriott was using the virtual presence device to attend his birthday party in Austin (presumably at Portalarium) while he himself awaited the arrival of “baby Kinga” in New York City, which is where he and his wife live.

His most recent tweet as of this posting:

With a new baby one day old, I took a short run I just finished a 6.82 mi run with a pace of 9’37″/mi with Nike+ GPS. #nikeplus #makeitcount

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) July 2, 2012

…in which he talks about having a “one day old”. Though to his credit, he still found the time and energy to go for a lengthy run. Not every new parent can manage that!

And yes, he is in fact a new parent. Via Portalarium, the Ultima Codex was given this statement from the happy couple announcing the event:

Richard Garriott de Cayeux & his wife Laetitia have welcomed their first child into the world. The little girl, Kinga 水龍 Garriott de Cayeux, was born on June 30, 2012. The name Kinga is a Hungarian / Polish name meaning Brave Warrior. 水龍 (spelled “Shuilong” in English), is the Chinese word for Water Dragon, which was her namesake before they knew she was a girl, as this is the auspicious Chinese year of the Water Dragon.

Both mother and baby are doing great. Richard & Laetitia are expecting to return Kinga to their home tomorrow July 4th to great national fanfare. The fourth also happens to be Richard’s birthday. Richard has shared this photo of Kinga and her mother Laetitia.

(Professional photos will be available in a few days.)

– Richard & Laetitia

But while we wait for professional photos, Richard and Laetitia were kind enough to send along this photo of mom & baby via David Swofford:

Kinga and Laetitia

Baby Kinga will, I expect, have the epic mother of all playhouses. Lucky!

The First Age of Update: Richard Garriott has posted an official announcement and picture of Kinga, along with Laetitia and himself, to his Facebook page:

The happy family!