It's your first birthday as a Daddy. It's like a new beginning in a way. From now on, you will always be a Father. Watching you be a Daddy to our son has made me love you in a whole new way. We are in this together. We share the joy and the struggle. It's taken some adjustment, but you're ready for things to never be the same. There's things we will miss about how we lived before, but it will be nothing against what we have gained in the life we have now.
You get upset if you haven't had a chance to hold him today. You get annoyed if it's been too many days since he napped in the carrier attached to you. You don't seem to mind when your single guy friends tease you for wearing the baby. You love this baby. When you are together, I find you singing to him, playing him oldies music, bouncing with him on the yoga ball, watching videos of other babies laughing, kissing him, tickling his neck, cuddling him tight, tight in your arms.
You look at him the same way I do. Like you never want to let him go. Like you wish you didn't have to stop looking.
You kiss us before we go to bed at night, and you kiss us before you leave in the morning. One of his favorite parts of the day is when you arrive home from work. He lights up. You change poopy diapers without complaint. You bathe him, dress him in pajamas, and read him a Bible story each night before bed.
You greet another birthday today. Another day of discovery. Another marker to say where we have been, to turn our eyes to where we are going. We'll count his birthdays too, and they'll go by so fast ours will get lost in the rush, and we'll wish it could all slow down. I cherish these days. I cherish his sweet face next to yours. I cherish the way you hold him, the way he looks at you.
I love you. I love you more because you love him. I love who you have been. I love who you are becoming. Happy birthday my love.
