Sunday, June 17, 2012

Happy Father's Day!

From the first time you held him, I knew that all my dreams of how great of a father you would be had come true. I could see the love in your eyes, the tenderness as you cradled his tiny, scraped head.


As his head healed and he started to grow, I watched your love for him grow too. You guys became quick buddies and started teaming up to make me laugh. I remember him laughing uncontrollably for the first time as you tickled him. I remember watching you nap together, him curled up on your chest, his butt up in the air, and your arms wrapped tightly around him.


Sometimes, I would get a little nervous watching you "rough house" with him. I know that's what daddies are for and you would never hurt him. Plus, those are some of his favorite moments: being swung high in the air, riding on your shoulders and wrestling on the floor.


And then I would see your tender side come out when he would hit his head on something or topple over trying to sit up. You would always scoop him up and pat his back and tell him it was okay. I remember sneaking in his room one night after he was freshly bathed and in pajamas. You were reading him a book and he was mesmerized. I had to capture the precious moment.


I think at Christmas you were just as excited as I was to watch him experience the tree for the first time, and to shop for presents for him. I love that you agreed that we couldn't possibly wait all the way until Christmas for him to open his first present.


I also love how involved you've been in the whole parenting process. You never missed one of my doctor's appointments no matter how busy you were at work. I'm so glad you were there from the first time we heard his heartbeat and cried as we saw him wiggle around on the screen the very first time, and as we changed doctors and were asked countless times if I was a smoker. You squeezed my hand as the ultrasound tech announced that there was a stem on the apple, and you watched daytime TV with me when I was admitted a few times for monitoring. You held me while I cried about the doctor's hateful comments and were mad at him for hurting my feelings. You never left my side at the hospital (except for literally four minutes when I made you go outside to eat lunch). You fed me ice chips every time my mouth opened, and you worried fiercely as nurses from the NICU came in after Paxton was born.


You're so careful with Paxton and his heart. It hurts you so badly when his feelings get hurt or when he hits his head on the Constitution table for the fifth time in ten minutes. When he won't go to sleep at night you always want to let him get back up and play.


You respect my fears for him. You hold him tightly when I ask you to and gracefully help me avoid situations I don't want him in.


You are always up for family activities. You've helped Paxton to experience his first lake trip, his first baseball game, his first time to swim, his first park visit and so much more. You're such a fun daddy. I can't wait until he starts appreciating everything you do for him and gets excited to do things with you. Already he is happiest when he sees you walk in after work. Those are some of his biggest smiles. I love Saturday mornings when I bring him into you and he starts breathing so fast and smiling because he's excited to see you.


You have sacrificed so much for me to be a stay-at-home mom. Even when I question it, you always vehemently refuse for me to get even a part-time job. You willingly give up vacations and expensive toys so that I could be the one to see Paxton's first smile and his first steps. That means everything to me. I can't express how lucky he is to have a daddy that is so willing to do whatever it takes to make sure he has the best of everything. We might never have a beach house in Jamaica but Paxton will never feel neglected.


You are perfectly willing to act silly in public to make Paxton laugh. You sing to him at the store, you make crazy faces at him and you push him super fast in the stroller. Sometimes I feel like I have two kids, but it sure is fun.


Even though he calls you the same thing he calls Scarlett, he still loves you like crazy. You're his second favorite person in the whole world (haha...I'm sure you'll be first in a few months). He always makes sure you're watching before he does his crazy Frankenstein walk across the living room. You guys even have a special ball to play catch with.

You have so much to teach Paxton and so much to share with him. I know that he can always look to you for an example of how to treat people and do the right things. You will instill in him a love of OU football and Thunder basketball, for fairness and good sportsmanship. You will show him how it feels to truly be able to count on someone. You will give him stability and traditions. He's such a lucky little boy. We love you so much.


(and the video where you got down on the floor with him and literally taught him to walk. Pretty cool if you ask me.)

YouTube Video

And Happy Father's Day to another pretty special dad in our lives:


Thanks for treating me like a daughter, and for being such a wonderful example for Jared. He is a great husband and an amazing daddy because of you. Thanks for being such a sweet grandpa to Paxton. He's named after you for a reason! We love you!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

1 comment:

  1. This was such a sweet post!! That is one lucky little boy!

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