Why I love being a dad

Good evening! My wife has asked me to guest-post on her blog every Sunday (I'm late for my very first appointment... Gah!) , so here it goes! My first blog post (ever, actually, I feel loved!) on why I love being a dad (I'll do my best to keep from getting too sappy here.) To put it simply, I love my son. I love everything he does, I love watching him grow up (Some days I think He's learned more in his one year then I have in my 26!), and I love how much he looks up to and loves me back.

The things he does: It always warms my heart when my little boy does something new. For instance, this week, he starting pointing to everything he says and makes his little grunt that means "what's that dad?" He especially loves lights, and, in his own little ways, asks for them to be turned on (never off, mind you, only on.) He loves to get cuddly, although most of this time is spent with the furry kitty. I like it when he sits on my shoulders, and pulls my hair. I know he's just holding on for deal life, but he grabs my hair (which I have grown out long to keep my head warm this winter) and pulls it as hard as he can while giggling and pointing at everything, I feel like the cook-boy in Ratatouille, if you have seen that movie!

Growing Up: Wow, our little boy is twelve months old. When did that happen? I know everyone says it, but it really doesn't seem like it was that long ago that we brought him home from the hospital. All 7.5 pounds of him. Now look at him! He's learned to communicate with us, he can move around on his own, and it won't be long before he takes his first steps. There are lots of things I can't wait to teach him to do, like building model cars, how to play soccer, and how to shoot of firecrackers in the back yard (OK, so I have quite a while to wait on that last one. A guy can dream, can't he!?) It seems like he learns something new every day. I can only imagine where we will be in another twelve months.

Looking up to Daddy: Wow, I don't even know where to begin with this one, there is so much to say. It seems like everything I'm doing, my little buddy wants to be part of it. He likes to tug on my pant legs when he wants to be picked up (which is always), and he usually fusses when I leave the room. For those of you without kids, I can't imagine a more gratifying feeling than that. Honestly, I think thats about all I can say is wow!

Finally, a few of the things I don't like about being a dad: When my wife was pregnant, the list of things I wasn't looking forward to was kind of long. Things like being woken up in the middle of the night, changing poopy diapers, and being responsible for such a helpless creature. The truth is, I don't mind any of it. He sings to me when I change his diaper, and its fun to cuddle up with him in bed. Actually I love it all (as much as you can love dirty diapers...) Thats why I love being a dad. As Phil Vasser has so elequantly put it, It's "Just Another Day in Paradise!" (lyrics)