She squeals with excitement when she hears the front door open at the end of his work day. She strains to see him when he leaves a room, and lights up when he comes back. She giggles like mad when he (carefully) tosses her into the air, and clings to his shoulder when he carries her upstairs to bed.
Thea loves her Daddy. I love that she loves her Daddy, but even more, I love that Luke is a man worthy of that adoration.
He is the father who plays endless rounds of peek-a-boo at the change table every night, just to see his daughter smile.
He is the father who carefully watches his daughter after she tastes a new food, in case she has an allergic reaction.
He is the father whose favourite time of the week is prepping for Bath Night, when his daughter stands in front of the mirror in the bathroom and screams with naked glee as he comes in and out of the room, gathering towels and toys.
He is the father who, when his daughter is crying inconsolably in the middle of the night, swoops in to relieve her mother and has the patience to rock and soothe the baby for as long as it takes to put her to sleep.
He is the father who was so busy caring for his daughter’s mother during labour and delivery, that he actually made himself sick from dehydration shortly after the birth.
He is the father who, on the night his 1-day old daughter came home from the hospital, spent an hour Googling S.I.D.S., scaring himself half to death, and then got up multiple times that night (and countless nights since) just to make sure she was still okay.
He is the father who hesitates to ever take an evening out for himself, because it means time away from his daughter.
He is the father who hates mornings, but still chooses to get up early on weekends because his daughter is at her most cheerful at that time of day.
He is the father who messages his daughter’s mother every workday during each of his breaks, just to ask, “And, how are my girls doing?”.
He is the father who lets his daughter do this, just because it makes her giggle:
He is the father who glows with pride as he brags about his daughter’s most recent accomplishment to friends, family members, and strangers. This most recently includes standing all on her own, mastering her “pincer grip”, and waving bye-bye.
He is the father who arrives home from a long day of work and immediately gets down on his hands and knees to join his daughter as she plays.
He is the father who worries about everything because he just wants his daughter to be safe and to be happy.
I never knew I could love Luke any more than I already did…Until I saw him love our daughter.
Happy Father’s Day, Husband. Thank you.
Love,
Me
That made me well up – beautiful.