{"id":3786,"date":"2017-06-16T09:42:18","date_gmt":"2017-06-16T14:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/?p=3786"},"modified":"2017-06-16T09:42:18","modified_gmt":"2017-06-16T14:42:18","slug":"to-my-kids-thank-you-for-making-me-a-dad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stlouisdad.com\/s\/to-my-kids-thank-you-for-making-me-a-dad\/","title":{"rendered":"To My Kids, Thank You for Making Me a Dad"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Six years ago around this time my wife and I were gearing up for the birth of our first child. I am pretty sure we already had the nursery painted and a collection of everything we would need for our baby girl. Physically, we were ready for this kid to make her grand appearance. Mentally, we were no where near ready to become parents. Sure we had some semblance of experience from being an awesome aunt and uncle but being ultimately responsible for our own human, that was something I don’t think we were ever ready for.<\/p>\n

\"Thanks<\/a><\/p>\n

The day finally came for our daughter’s arrival. Our unpreparedness showed as we did not have a “go bag” ready, we forgot our camera, and were just overall not ready. Six hours later, Abby popped her little head out. Being a couple of novices at this whole parenting thing, we got our first scare just a few moments after Abby’s birth. She didn’t start crying immediately like you see on T.V. This scared us, but the nurse told us not to worry, she was OK, except she got a little\u00a0meconium in her and the nurses had to help clear all of that out.<\/p>\n

Cries\u00a0finally filled the area where our beautiful daughter was being cleaned up. Never have I ever fell in love so fast. Before her birth I already knew I loved my daughter, but when you finally have that chance to see your child in real life and not through a ultra-sound screen everything changes. It was at that point that I became a real dad. With the meconium and everything else all cleaned off of my tiny daughter, I took her in my arms and thanked her for making me a daddy.<\/p>\n

\"Abby<\/a><\/p>\n

Watching her grow into a little lady over the years has been filled with joy. Hearing her first word (dada), watching her take her first steps, and taking her to her first baseball game are\u00a0all memories that wouldn’t be possible without her and because of that they will be treasured forever. Listening to Abby sing-a-long to songs and watching her create\u00a0amazing artwork makes me realize just how thankful I am for this little girl. I see her personality growing into a little mini me and it just fills my heart with so much joy. Thank you Abby for making me a dad. I could not have done it without you (and of course mom).<\/p>\n

Pampers, which has always been a big part of my toolkit when it comes to raising my kids, has released a new #ThanksBaby\u00a0video that I think is great and beautifully captures the journey of fatherhood as it begins.<\/p>\n