I’ve written about this before (link) but I felt compelled to write about it again. This blog is about the daily education of a new father: joys, bumps, tips, and trials. The last time I wrote about my son smiling I was experiencing his first smile directed at me. Recently he’s become even more expressive and responsive. His interactions with his parents have become more controlled. The effect on Dad, also, has increased tenfold or more.
This past week my wife and I attended the funeral of our son’s great-grandfather (my wife’s grandfather). This was obviously a time of sadness but also a time of family gathering. A three month old great-grandchild was a very welcome addition to the events as he was proof of the continued life of that particular family tree. He was also extremely cute.
After all of this attention from other people Dad was feeling kind of left out. The rare moments I had with my son typically involved passing him to the next person or changing a diaper (though many were willing to jump in and change a diaper too). Also, after around 40 hours of driving in 6 days, I was really in a mood to see my son. He sat in the back seat (safely) with mom and mostly slept on our long journey to and from family.
One of the tips from last week involved letting your little one stretch while taking a long trip. This, dear friends, was my moment of time with my son. He would, for the briefest of moments, stand on Dad’s lap and smile. We were finally playing a game together. He was happy because he was not in a car seat but I expect he was also happy because he was recognizing his Dad.
This week has also been filled with little moments of my son intentionally smiling at me. He has grown a great deal in just one week (so fast!) and his smiles are more meaningful now because I know that he intends to smile. It is an intentional gift he gives his Dad. As I sit trying to make up 7 days of work in 1 his smiles give me the energy, happiness, and joy that enables me to complete those daunting tasks. Thanks, son!