I saw this cute pin about mom and baby portraits on Pinterest the other day. It is so cute and I wanted to imitate, but this is what we ended up with…baby gymnastics?! 
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Daddy’s Diary: Now that You’re Two…
Hello all,
Here is a note from daddy to his now 2 year old daughter.
To my daughter on her second birthday,
It is the rare father that gets this much time with his daughter. You and I, everyday, all day. We have more time than most. You will not realize for many years yet how weird it is for daddy to be around this much. He is always there. Sometimes times he leaves but that is more the exception than the rule.
2 full years of getting to be with you and teach you everything that I could possibly have hoped to pass onto a toddler. You, in learning and growing, have made daddy so proud. To go out and here people tell me how well behaved you are and how much of a daddy’s girl you are makes me smile. As I always say, I have very little to be proud of from my own accomplishments but, as you continue to grow and mature and as you continue on to develop in Christ I can rest satisfied knowing that of all things that could be gained in this life, the things which matter more than the rest are mine already.
Now for requests from daddy to you.
1) Please learn to use the bathroom.
2) Please swallow your food.
3) Please learn to like shows other than elmo’s world.
4) Please stop swearing (admittedly, that is my fault).
5) Please stop waking up early on Saturday.
Daddy loves you.
Daddy’s Diary 9: Letting Them Struggle
They say (I don’t know who exactly, but let’ss assume for the sake if this post that “they” do) that baby chicks need the struggle of breaking through the egg to be able to survive. I don’t know if the baby chick struggle cliche is true but it makes for an appropriate opening in to daddy’s recent thoughts.
Kiko, the young one of the house, has been maturing…a lot. She walks, runs, babbles incoherent nonsense in an attempt to communicate, all kinds of new and exciting aspects of her growth have been bubbling up to the surface. As a proud dad I must say she is doing quite well. She is growing in body, mind and spirit. She is mature beyond her 16 months. But, at the same time, as I watch her grow and accomplish new things I am forced to spend an equal amount of my time watching and allowing her to go into places and situations that I know will cause her pain. Why? It is the only way she can learn.
We all know this don’t we? As people we know that the only way to learn is to work through the process of failure so that we can figure out what to do and what not to do. Certainly not everything requires failure and in a perfect world failure would enter into the equation but as it stands now, a lot of learning comes on building off of past failures, making little steps of progress forward to our goal. That knowledge is fine….for us. We ourselves know that if you fall of the horse you just get back on and keep riding. But, to have watch your kids do it, sucks!
I’ll give you recent scenario:
Andy: Kiko, hold daddies hand here or you’ll fall over.
Kiko: Nya Nya Nya Ba Ba pffffffft = “No, I don’t need to”
Andy: Please sweetie hold daddies hand.
Kiko: Screw that! I’m going to run…….I fell over and smashed my face on the cement……WAHHHHH!!!!
It’s terrible to watch your kids put themselves in physical danger and we all know that scenario as parents. The more frightening ones happen on stairs or on busy roads or other such places of danger. As parents, disciples teachers and Instructors we have to allow for our children to learn (within reason at this age) how actions have consequences. The more you put them in situations like this the quicker they start to learn. When you are lucky they heed your instructions before putting themselves in harms way.
I’ve had nightmares about Kiko on the stairs or Kiko diving skull first off the couch while I’m not paying attention. I, probably for the rest of life, worry about Kiko’s capacity to calculate risk and and choose actions accordingly. But as a father, an extremely limited father, I have to make a conscious effort to allow my child to go through the physical and emotional struggles that come with this life so that she may be better prepared and better Abe to handle the life she is given and the world she encounters.
Soon, the emotional dangers and the dangers posed by other people will become a necessary topic of Daddy-Daughter training time, but for now I’ll just try and keep her from knocking herself unconscious jumping off the loft in my bedroom.
Related posts:
Daddy’s Diary 8: Go Screw
Daddy’s Diary 7: The More The Merrier!?!?
Daddy’s Diary 6: A Year That Felt Like a Day
Mommy’s Diary 32 (Daddy’s Diary 5)
Mommy’s Diary 29 (Daddy’s Diary 4)
Mommy’s Diary 22 (Daddy’s Diary 3)
Mommy’s Diary (Daddy’s Diary 2) 14
Mommy’s (Daddy’s) diary 7
