What? or Reflections on fatherhood so far.

I know when YOU are the parent everything YOUR kid says is precious and cute, but this one I just have to share because it reduced my heart to a puddle.

I often get to rock Gullie to sleep as his mother works late at our nearby studio. I normally rock him with his tummy to my left arm with his head resting on top of my shoulder. I do this because we both feel it helps him adjust to his sleeping and it has worked wonders, trust me.

A couple nights a go I decided to hold him, cradled in my arms, as I realized I can't get away with that much longer. So here I am with him scooped in my arms lying horizontally across my chest, and his beginning to fade a little bit, but his eyes are still open. Suddenly I get the compulsion to tell him that I love him. So, I look him in his little eyes staring back at me and I whisper:

"Gullie, I love you"

Then rather unexpectedly he replies in a tiny baby whisper..............

"WhaT?"

(notice the emphasis on the 'T', he is a pro at pronouncing that T.)

I laugh a bit and whisper again, "I LOVE you."

"What?" he says again.

" I love you."

"What?"

This goes on a while and I decide that this brief little conversation just made my day.

Being a dad is above and beyond the most fulfilling thing that has happened to me. The amount of time I spent praying I would be able to have a family someday, seems like time well spent in retrospect. I look forward to many great years reliving my childhood and soaking in each minute I get to be a father.