fatherhood

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Dear Holly: Look at that Strawberry Blonde Hair Coming Through!

6 months.

Dear Holly: Look at that Strawberry Blonde Hair Coming Through!

When I think of things that motivate me in life, one of them is spending time with you each morning before I take you and your brother to school. I love seeing you in whatever cute little outfit Mommy puts you in.

You have now graduated my world-famous “Cry It Out” program, so now you are sleeping all night, then waking up so happy and refreshed.

I officially realized recently that you are a morning person. That’s part of why I enjoy spending that time with you so early in the day: Because all I have to do is just appear, and you automatically are sincerely happy to see me.

How could anyone see your smile and not want to smile back?

And also with each new morning, I get to see you evolve one step closer to “little girl” from “infant” status. Your personality now is everything I predicted based on the hints I saw in you as a newborn.

It’s always been easy to compare you to a kitten. You are playful and fun and adorable.

You’re also obviously growing physically as well. You’re still around the 80th percentile for height, but are now down to the 18th percentile for weight.

Despite your big appetite and how much Mommy and I constantly feed you, you maintain your tall and slender frame.

When your brother was your age, I called him my baked potato. He was such a sturdy, solid mass. He didn’t really have a neck until he was about two years-old; not to mention, he had a noticeable belly until about that age as well.

As for you, you’re the complete opposite. Though you’re undeniably strong, you’re like my baby ballerina.

It is such a fun thing for me to look forward to- the thought of seeing you grow up.

And look at that hair finally starting to come through. I was starting to think you might not have hair until you were 2 years old.

I actually thought you might end up being a red head, as I clearly could see that being hinted in the pictures below I took of you during the 4th of July.

Dear Holly: Look at that Strawberry Blonde Hair Coming Through!

But just like your brother had when he was very young, you have light blonde hair growing in. But yours, in particularly, appears to be strawberry blonde.

I am so happy to see you grow up just a little every day. You’re such a pretty little girl.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: Look at that Strawberry Blonde Hair Coming Through!

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Dear Jack: You Correctly Spelled “Pack Rat Puppet”… Just Because You Can

5 years, 11 months. (Less than a week away from turning 6!)

Dear Jack: You Correctly Spelled “Pack Rat Puppet”… Just Because You Can

I admit, ever since your Kindergarten teacher provided me with official documentation that you are on a 4th grade reading level, I have been both proud and skeptical. I think it’s great that the assessment test shows you are that intelligent, but at the same time, I just want to be sure these findings are legitimate and accurate.

However, my doubts are starting to fade away. Monday Morning, I was backing out of our garage, with you and your sister in the back seat.

You randomly asked me a question that I wasn’t ready for:

“Daddy, does this spell ‘pack rat puppet’?”

You were holding the tag to a puppet I bought earlier this year for one of my videos on YouTube- though it has yet to be made, since your sister was born in the midst of me planning the video shoot.

I didn’t even realize that tag was even back there. Apparently, it was stuck between the seats and you discovered it.

Quite amazed, I nearly shouted, “You can read that?! You figured that out on your own?!”

Dear Jack: You Correctly Spelled “Pack Rat Puppet”… Just Because You Can

You humbly answered, “Yeah, I just sounded it out…” You yourself almost seemed surprised that I was so surprised that an almost 6 year-old boy could locate an old tag in the back seat, sound out what it said, and correctly read it out loud in the brief process of his Daddy backing the car out of the garage.

I assured you, “Yes, that’s definitely what it says. Wow. You even figured out the word puppet. I am very impressed by what you just did!”

Further fueled by the encouragement of that event, every day since then, you have been finding any opportunity to sound out words and read them to me; like when we are stopped at a red light.

Man, I seriously just can’t get over it. You spelled “pack rat puppet”. On your own. For fun. For the challenge of it. You are one smart kid.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Jack: You Correctly Spelled “Pack Rat Puppet”… Just Because You Can

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Dear Jack: 1st Parent-Teacher Conference- What Made Me Proud

5 years, 11 months.

Dear Jack: 1st Parent-Teacher Conference- What Made Me Proud

Dear Jack,

I don’t exactly know the best wording for this. Is it “your” or “my” first parent-teacher conference? What I am trying to tell you is that last week, I got to attend my very first parent-teacher conference about you.

My preconceived expectations were accurate:

Your teacher was quick to point out you have a “sweet demeanor.” This didn’t surprise me at all, as you were the first boy Student of the Month of her class this year.

She went on to show me the tests and data proving to me that you are on a 4th grade reading level, which is uncommon among your fellow Kindergarten classmates: That figures when your dad has an English degree and is a blogger, right?

She also explained that she had to move you in the classroom to a different desk because you were getting too distracted by talking to your friend Duncan.

And she laughed as she explained you have a somewhat involuntary habit of “cheerfully making sounds like a crying baby” while you are conversing with your classmates during activity time.

Dear Jack: 1st Parent-Teacher Conference- What Made Me Proud

Here’s why I’m so proud. And no, it’s not actually the part about you being on a 4th grade reading level.

It’s simply the fact you are a well-balanced boy.

Yes, you’re intelligent; and I’m quite grateful for that. But more importantly, you still get yourself into just enough trouble to even things out.

Maybe I’m being too honest, but I actually I you to get into some trouble. As your teacher put it, “Yes, Jack is certainly all boy.”

For me as your Daddy, it was one of the biggest compliments I could have received- that my son is not only smart, but he’s also not perfectly behaved.

While you do have a “sweet demeanor,” you also get a bit rowdy with the other boys in the class; especially Duncan, who you tell us so much about each day when you get home from school.

So keep being smart. Keep being sweet.

Dear Jack: 1st Parent-Teacher Conference- What Made Me Proud

And keep sneaking in references to passing gas in your classwork, as you recently named your Pirate Pumpkin, “Poody Pop.”

Yep, that’s my boy.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: I Love You, Period

5 months.

Dear Holly: I Love You, Period

Dear Holly,

In the routine of coming home from work each day and playing with you while Mommy makes dinner for our family, one of the things I catch myself saying is, “Daddy loves baby ‘cause baby’s soooo sweeeeet!”

And while it’s true that you are undeniably sweet, and everything I could ever hope for in a baby girl, I began overthinking my catch phrase; in an “if/then” format.

It’s not, I love you because you’re so sweet.

It’s, I love you, period.

While I do my best to love everyone, even those who may be perceived as frenemies, enemies, or people who are simply indifferent towards me, it’s different for you and it always will be.

You are my daughter. I love you in a way that I love no one else in this world. The way I love you is so special.

No one else can make me feel the way I do about you.

I felt it from the moment you were born on April 24th. I will never forget holding you for the first time.

It wasn’t that I simply had another kid now. Instead, it was the instant and euphoric understanding that for the rest of my life, I will be the loving father of a daughter.

I will be responsible for showing you what love looks like. I am honored to be the most influential example of what a man is, in your life.

That’s huge responsibility and I take it very seriously.

You will be loved. You will know every day you are loved. Yet at the same time, I will carefully balance giving you room to grow on your own.

I never realized until this year, 2016, how much I needed a daughter. You have already changed my life forever.

Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: You Slept through the Entire Night for the 1st Time in Your Life, after Day 5 of “The Cry It Out” Method

5 months.

Dear Holly: You Slept through the Entire Night for the 1st Time in Your Life, after Day 5 of “The Cry It Out” Method

Dear Holly,

Last night made the first time in your life in which you slept through the entire night, from 8:20 PM to 5:40 AM, without ever crying or waking up, whatsoever.

If you had, I would have known, since I had the baby monitor right next to me the whole night; as I have the past 4 nights as well. I myself went to bed at 10:30 PM, and was so surprised when my alarm woke me up a 5:20 AM and realized I had been asleep the whole time without having to get out of bed.

That also means Mommy got another great night of sleep, as she went to bed at 9:45 PM. And of course your brother Jack went to sleep the same time as you, and also slept all through the night; as he always has, since I successfully applied “The Cry It Out” Method on him 5 years ago.

Now that your body has officially adapted to remaining solidly asleep for an entire night, I am confident to believe this will be the norm for you from now on. Granted, I am prepared for the next few following days for you to possibly briefly wake up, but then to fall right back asleep.

But really, this should be it. No more of Mommy losing sleep by having to (illegitimately) feed you through the night.

I had been ready for months to go ahead and sleep train you; but between Mommy being psychologically ready (ultimately meaning she hadn’t yet reached to the combination of “fed up and exhausted”), and you getting sick, and us going on vacation for a week in San Diego, then to Alabama last weekend for my grandma’s funeral, the timing just wasn’t right.

But that all came to a head this week.

I very much appreciate Mommy trusting me to take over. I couldn’t have been successful without her agreeing to let me do what I am wired to do, which is what she is not wired to do.

She never once came upstairs to interrupt me in my craft, as you cried it out for up to 20 minutes at a time.

Clearly, Mommy is the feminine nurturer. And clearly, I am the masculine enforcer.

Love,

Daddy