hip hip hooray for father's day!

Before we had Caroline I was pretty nervous about how Bill and I would be as parents. After all, there's no instruction manual with babies, and Bill and I both like to plan and prepare as much as possible. But we've realized this is more of a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-puked-on-pants kind of gig. To my great delight, I think we've done a pretty decent job so far. We make a good team. He walks the baby in the stroller while I cook dinner and eat. Then when they come back, he passes the baby to me and I giver her a bath while he eats dinner and cleans up. We've developed a nice ebb-and-flow pattern between us...when one is stressed out, the other takes over the baby. I cannot imagine doing this alone without the help of the Daddy of the family. He is a natural-born caretaker, and he does everything he can to help out with his little family. In honor of Father's Day, here's my Top 10 Favorite Daddy Moments/Reasons We Love Daddy:


10. Baby's First Car Wreck,  a cherished memory that sits right along side her birth certificate and going-home photo. Getting Caroline dressed and strapped into her carseat was a nerve-wracking ordeal, since we were not well-skilled in either department. Add to that a few nights of sleep deprivation, plus hauling a small mountain of baby gear and luggage into the car, and you've got one frazzled daddy. So frazzled, that when the big moment finally came and we were making the famed trip home from the hospital with our new baby....Daddy backed right into another car parked behind us. No harm done, but inspecting vehicles for signs of damage was not exactly the way we had envisioned bringing home our little bundle of joy.


9. Daddy's guide to swaddling- the "double bag" way. I still giggle every time I think of the night I came home to find poor Petunia mummified in not one, but TWO swaddle blankets. Daddy said she kept busting out, so he nipped that in the bud with the ol' double bag approach. Leave it to Daddies and their fatherly engineering..


8. Daddy diaper duty, otherwise known as 'the first time Bill barfed from a dirty diaper.' There was choking. There was gagging. There was an obscene amount of profanity. There was lysol and baby wipes and hand sanitizer for days. He claims his nose hairs are still burned from the incident and thus he is exempt from changing poopy diapers.


7. "It's a...girl?" What a joyous long-awaited moment in the delivery room. 9 months of wondering, pondering, guessing, dreaming, and anticipating the arrival of our unknown-gender baby. All day long the doctors and nurses were saying they thought we were having a boy, based on the heartrate. The moment of truth finally arrived, and the doctor let Bill make the big announcement. I'll never forget the surprised-and-somewhat-confused sentiment in his voice as he announced her sex. 


6. Always on the Job, multi-tasking and keeping everything rolling even when he's wearing two hats at once. On a few occasions I've needed him to help out at home during the day, due to  my being sick or having a doctor/dentist appointment. Daddy breaks out the teleconference headseat and the baby bjorn and keeps both the Exxon employees and the baby happy. I suspect there might have been a bit of Baby Benadryl involved on one or more occasions, but hey. I don't look a gifthorse in the mouth.

5. Always keeping us safe, even from the swine flu. Even when stricken with a mysterious illness of unidentifiable origins, Daddy dons the face mask and keeps up with his end of the baby duties. 

4. Daddy vs. made-in-china-10,000-unassembled-pieces Ikea furniture. He has successfully assembled and installed every single piece of furniture in her nursery and baby apparatus in our house. I would rather pull out my eyelashes one by one than read through step by step instructions, but Daddy handles it like a pro. And nothing has collapsed yet either! 


3. Daddy-0, Nail Clippers-2.  Baby's first flesh wound was unfortunately parent-inflicted. But I'll give him credit for at least trying. After 2 failed attempts involving a miniscule amount of blood and lots of screaming, we ditched the clippers and went to filing instead. Bravo to Daddy for even trying.


2. Midnight Feedings...and 2 am feedings...and 3:30 feedings...and 5:00 feedings. Daddy has been more than a team player when it comes to all the middle-of-the-night wakings. Even though he has to get up and go to work the next day, he routinely volunteers to get up and feed her when she needs it. Spoiled, yes. Yes I am. But I love him for it.


1. Goodnight Kisses, right before sweet baby goes to bed. Every night he tells her how much he loves her and gives her lots of kisses. Melts my heart every.single.time. 

Happy Father's Day honey!! We love you and appreciate you more than you'll ever know!