Father's Day Fun

I woke up this morning to the beautiful sound of my daughter calling out my name . . . "gaaa blsssth owwww sssspp ahhh coooo!" At least that's what she calls me when she's got both of her hands in her mouth and is asking about breakfast. I gladly got out of bed, picked up my salivatingly-smiling daughter, changed her 2 pound wet diaper, and gave her a tasty bottle for breakfast. After a quick nap for us both, she (along with Jen) surprised me with my first Father's Day pancake breakfast interspersed with gift opening between bites.

Then it hit me. This is my first Father's Day. It's always been a semi-special day for us sons and daughters - remembering, thanking, and giving extra attention to our dads - but this time it's entirely different for me. Evie June has made me something I wasn't before - a dad.

Of course with that new status comes perks like getting a free candy bar after church if you're a dad, having every mother and grandmother in a 2 mile radius gravitate towards your baby to pinch her cheek and remark how cute she is, talk to other dads in that cool and understood way about poop and pee, and, most importantly, getting to parent an amazing and beautiful child.

Since Evie got me a Frisbee for this special occasion, we decided to christen it first in the backyard and then at the local park. She let Jen do most all of the the throwing and catching.


We just happen to stumble upon the bmx track and Evie wanted to give it a try.


I think she got like three feet of air on that one.


She also let me continue to hone my fathering skills by changing a nasty diaper, giving her more swimming and bathing lessons, and simply hanging out in my arms. It's hard to put into words how much joy, hope, thankfulness, and contentedness comes over me because of my daughter. What seemed like "extra responsibilities" of having a child before I was a dad are now these ripe, abundant opportunities for me to unconditionally love a brand new person, and in doing so, become the kind of man and father I'd hope to be someday - just like my dad.

Frisbees and pancakes aside, the best present by far that I got on this day honoring dads was simply the gift which made me a father myself.


Thanks Evie June,
Dad