Happy Father's Day, Daddy!!

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father's Day! Last month you helped me write a special Mother's Day message to mama, and I've really been looking forward to celebrating your first Father's Day with you! I want you to know how much I love you and how happy I am that you're my daddy. Ever since I was born, people have been telling me how much I look like you. I think this is pretty great, and I hope I can be just like you when I grow up.

Thank you for being so patient with me and for patting me to sleep when I wake up in the night. Sometimes mama can get kind of worked up, so it sure is nice to have you around to calm us both down. I love our early evening walks around the neighborhood, and I even like taking a bottle from you now! I'm also starting to really enjoy having you read to me. Oh, and how could I forget how fun it is when you play peek-a-boo with me now (especially since you've been waiting for me to find this fun since I came home from the hospital!)

You make me smile and laugh in a way that no one else can, and it is becoming pretty clear that I am a daddy's boy for sure. I am so excited to grow up with such a special guy as my daddy!

Love,

Wade

Dear Mama:

For the last 3 and half months you have made me feel very special every day. You have fed me, bathed me, changed me and given me lots of hugs and kisses. You have made the world a very fun place for me to be. Now it is your special day and I want to say "thank you!" Thank you for being patient with me and loving me every day right when I get up in the morning. Thank you for being there when I get up night. It is nice to have someone to cuddle me when I can't sleep. Thank you for picking out nice clothes for me to wear and pushing me in the stroller. I'm sorry that I sometimes get fussy - it's not your fault.

I knew ever since the day I was born that you would be the best mama in the world. I came out so quick because I could not wait to meet you! Soon I will be able to say your name and give you big hugs and kisses. Until then I want to say I love you very much and I look forward to waking up every day to spend the day with mama.

Happy Mother's Day!

Love,

Wader Tater

A thought on carriers

Hi. Philip here. Recently I have become a baby carrier enthusiast. It seems logical that this happened only recently because prior to that I did not have a baby. The genius of the carrier lies in its ability to allow me to live the leisurely life to which I have become accustomed, while still bonding with Wade at the same time. Who said parenting would involve sacrifices?

Of particular utility has been the ability to eat while keeping Wade on our person. This feature has become particular as we've discovered that Wade, though blessed with a boundless collection ofminiature seats and other Wade-holding contraptions, hates to be put down. His responses to this insult range from bewilderment to indignity. All hope of a pleasant dinner appeared lost for the next 18 years, until we implemented the carrier.

Despite its benefits, however, the carrier has not been without its negative externalities to our offspring. On a recent evening, Anne and I sat in the living room enjoying sushi and an episode of Alias. As I casually glanced down at Wade's head protruding from the carrier, a dark blemish caught my eye. Parting the tufts of light brown hair with my fingers, I could see what appeared to be a large mole on his three-week-old scalp. No, not one, but two moles, and they big and dark and irregular. The precise kind you'd read about in a pamphlet while waiting at the dermatologist's office. Sweet mercy - Wade had skin cancer! How could this be - his squamous cells had mutated overnight despite never encountering UV radiation! How? Why? I looked closer and this time touched one of the spots gently, fearing he would recoil in agony.

Soy sauce.

Since that time, Wade's head has tasted cereal, scrambled eggs and some orange juice that I coughed up when it went down the wrong tube. To spare him further indecency, I have begun to put a napkin over his head. I think he appreciates it.

The image below is a dramatization