Of fatherhood and daddies...

David was made to be a daddy. We have been married for nearly 6 years, and almost since the beginning, he has wanted to have children. In fact, for the past 4 years or so, he has been on a relentless campaign for us to have babies, and I did all I could to dissuade him. I guess in most relationships it works the other way around with the wife pushing her husband into parenthood, but in ours, he has always been the one to dream of children -- lots and lots of them. I love children, but I was always reluctant to take on the responsibility. Besides David is a great husband, but I wondered how he would take to fatherhood. David has been the perfect daddy. From the moment that Jonathan was born, David has been in love. When I was delivering Jonathan and they lifted Jonathan up for the first time, I could see David tear up and say, "Look at him. He is perfect!" Since then, he has just fallen more enthralled. I catch him picking up little Jonathan from his crib, and I ask him why he is fussing with Jonathan. And David will say, "Can't I just hold him?" I see David posing Jonathan on the blankets and take cute photos of the little guy. David has changed nearly 90% of the diapers without complaint, and he just loves feeding Jonathan. We had to put Jonathan on the bottle with pumped breast milk because of his feeding problems, but I think secretly David is happy he gets to participate in the feedings. David has been up all night walking the living room with Jonathan when he cries from 1am to 4am multiple nights, and he spends a great deal of time with Jonathan on his shoulder to burp him. After 11 days, I am convinced that David is a great daddy. He is loving and giving, and he absolutely adores Jonathan in a way that I never anticipated. My favorite time is when I catch David singing "Be Thou My Vision" to Jonathan. That was the hymn we sang at our wedding and now it is Jonathan's soothing song. Whenever we sing it, our little one quickly calms down and listens. It has been a tough week and a half since we met Jonathan face to face, and I have never see David more tired or more happy. And he has already started lobbying for baby number 2...