Father's Day... bittersweet

Happy Father's Day! This year, we celebrated DH's first Father's Day. In honor of the big day, I bought DH a bike trailer so he can take Micah on his bike with him to daycare or on errands. He tried it out last week, and both Micah and his daddy seemed to love it.

Before I get into the details of our celebration, I do want to take the time to say what an incredible father DH is. He is such a loving man - he is so gentle with Micah, changes his diapers (whenever possible, I let him change all the dirty ones), feeds him - whatever Micah needs. He has been doing Micah's laundry most of the time the past 6 months. They take naps together, and he makes time to play with him. DH takes him to daycare, shares in the feeding, and they go to synagogue together every Friday night and Saturday morning - their weekly Daddy/son outing. Micah plays "secretary" for Daddy sometimes when he is working. He takes the time to talk to him, and he is very willing to do whatever is needed to care for him. DH comes to every doctor appointment, too - he doesn't miss out on anything! DH makes up songs all the time so he can sing to Micah, and Micah just lights up whenever he sees his Daddy. DH helps put him to bed every night (he takes him upstairs, dresses him for bed, reads him a book, gives him his medicine and then I go upstairs to nurse Micah), and he isn't afraid to be alone with Micah, give him a bath by himself, or put him to bed alone when I go out. It is apparent to anyone who sees the two of them together how much they adore each other. Happy Father's Day!

We decided to celebrate Father's Day with both of our families this year. We drove up to visit DH's family on Friday. Our oldest niece was home from college, and she had not seen Micah since he was 8 days old! We arrived on Friday afternoon, and hung out with our nieces and nephews. Micah was showing off - he rolled over from front to back AND back to front over and over again, and then he sat and played with his gumball machine without falling over! Unfortunately, Micah was not cooperative at bedtime. He cried and cried for almost 1 hour, but I finally got him asleep in the pack-n-play in our nephew's room around 8:30. We had chinese food for dinner, and then the fun began. My nephew has discovered baking, so the two of us decided to run to the store to get a few supplies to make strawberry pie. We whipped up two of those and then called it a night. Here is some video of Micah rolling - pardon the noise - we were planning our trip to the grocery store for the strawberry pie ingredients!



The next morning, Micah woke up at 7 am, but fell back asleep after nursing until 9:30 am. He ate his breakfast, played with his cousins, and then we waited for his other aunt, uncle and cousin to arrive and his grandparents. When everyone arrived, Micah showed off all of his tricks and we gave his Poppy his Father's Day gift...a framed photo of Micah. We all headed out to the mall to have a "cousins" photo taken for Father's Day. The photo was really cute! We went to an Italian restaurant for dinner, then back to the house for cake and pie. Micah had another rough night falling asleep, but he slept until 8:30 Sunday morning. We were out the door by 9:30, and arrived at my brother and SIL's house for brunch. We had blintzes, quiche and strawberry pie for dessert. Micah played with his cousins and showed off his tricks again. We also gave my parents a framed photo of Micah - a trilogy of some close-ups of his face. We headed home around 2:30. What a long (but fun) weekend!

I thought I would also take this time to thank my own father for being a wonderful Daddy. You were always there for me, without hesitation. When I waited until the last minute and you had to run all over creation picking things up and turning things in for me so I didn't miss an important deadline, you did it, without grumbling. You came to my swim meets and dance recitals and gymnastics events. You even came to a mother/daughter event with me once when mom couldn't be there. You took me to see shows and spent time with me. You made me go shopping with you sometimes - I still can't forgive you for that, but I'll let it slide. You drove my carpool, embarassed me in front of my friends, but most importantly, you've always been there to love and support me, without hesitation. I may not tell you often enough, but I love you, and I appreciate the person you are - there are few men in this world who are as good as you are, and you taught me to set the bar high and expect more from men. Thank you, Dad, for all you do for our family.

Despite all the wonderful things we have to celebrate, Father's Day is also bittersweet - one year ago on Father's Day, I entered my 2nd trimester and we sent out a note announcing my pregnancy. The next morning, I sent out a second note to family and friends announcing the death of my grandmother. What a crazy year...we miss you, Grandma, and we think of you often. I'm sorry you never had the chance to meet Micah - I know how time with your family and all the little babies brought you such joy.