i am a big fan of fathers' day. it is a super holiday. i love the greeting card challenge it poses - the challenge of trying to find the perfect balance of funny (this year i went with a classic: homer simpson) and heartfelt (i got this one covered by tracing my 9 month old son's handprint on the inside). i also love this holiday because i consider myself to be exceptionally lucky in the DAD department. what better reason to celebrate?
here we are, me and dad sharing some of my favorite moments of all time - hammin it up on the dance floor at my wedding reception. we laughed the entire song away.
i will admit there was a time (during my bratty teenage years - "bratty" is an intentional and extreme understatement of what I really was...) when I didn't think he was very cool - but my oh my how that has changed. i don't think it would be possible for me to love and adore this man any more that i do. he is my "go to guy" when I need a garlic bread fix, a fit of laughter (the kind of laughter where you start to think you may actually have drool coming from both corners of your mouth and you might, just might have completed toned abs the next day...), or a non-judgmental partner to "people watch" with (the walmart parking lot is particularly fun for this sport).
he is funny. he is talented. he is handsome. he is generous. he is kind. he is the first man i ever loved. he is perfect and i am so thankful to call him my dad.
NOT ONLY do i have an amazing dad - turns out i am married to one too! ryan and i became parents almost 10 months ago. i am not exaggerating when i say that in the first week of our son's life - i only changed three diapers. ryan was so excited to do every single last thing associated with baby... he just took the reigns and ran with them. so. cute. he continues to be as excited about oliver as he was that first week.
i have kept a journal for oliver since the week i found out i was pregnant. occasionally ryan will sneak it from my bedside table and enter a few words of his own. I discovered the below entry one night after he had already fallen asleep. I laid awake for a long time - a huge smile on my face and feeling like the luckiest girl on earth. here is a snippet:
dear oliver,
you are super awesome. you crawled forward for the first time today. it was so cool. you were just sitting there chewing on a little squirl (yes, he meant squirrel) thing and mommy took it away and you came to get it. you crawled like three feet! you are getting to be such a big boy. i was holding you and feeding you your bottle before bed the other night and you fell asleep. your head was hanging over my left arm and your legs were hanging over my right leg. i realized how big you are getting! its weird to think that you won't be a little infant for much longer. i love you so much oliver. that big smile of yours and that cute little laugh is the best part of my day. i love how you just light up when you see me. i love being your dad.
love,
daddy
i will sign out with a few of my favorite images of ryan's journey through fatherhood so far.
happy fathers' day to all the greats out there and to all of the lucky ones who call them dad. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment