Father's Day

Happy Dad's Day to the fabulous fathers in my life. 

Most notably, to my own father. A man who has been both mother AND father the past decade. I may be 30, but I still believe my daddy knows very nearly everything. I even threaten my husband with phone calls to my dad for help if he doesn't take care of it (correctly) for me. Example #1: When the smoke alarm was beeping the other night, and Alex laid in bed like the neanderthal that he can sometimes be, complaining about the noise and whining "I don't know what to do about it;" I picked up my cell phone to call Al at 4 a.m., but before I could hit the speed-dial, Alex scolded me and jumped out of bed to investigate. 

To my father-in-law Paul, who very obviously set a good example for Alex. I'm glad to bring a baby girl into his masculine world, "the matriarch of the next generation." 

But this year Father's Day is particularly special, as Alex - a devoted husband, a dedicated teacher, a lover of beer, and a seasoned gnarbuckler - can now add "dad" to his resume. It's so fun for me to watch him dote on Francie, and heartwarming to witness his excitement about being her fulltime caregiver this summer (much to my chagrin). Francie's a lucky girl to have the daddy she does, just as I'm a lucky woman to have him as the father of my daughter. Happy Day, my love. Here's to many adventures with your baby girl, that she will recall with total love and admiration -  and an eye roll - like I do with my own Daddy's Girl memories (Boy Scout pine wood derby races, canoe camping, Country Fair, backpacking in Mt. Hood and climbing over 1,000 downed trees, pig butcher parties ...)

Again, thanks to the good daddies out there - your kids need you.

Like many others, I pimp out my kid for the sake of gift giving. Francie had her own little photo shoot, and here are some of the photos that made the final cut. Then again, we bought Alex Photoshop for Father's Day, so maybe he can doctor up these pictures to perfect them for better framing ...

The Instagrammed "daddy" filmstrip we framed for Alex.

The backup Picasa collage, in case the filmstrip was an epic fail.

BDA's collage: he may like Alex's company more, but he'd probably rather stare at his beautiful girls.

Daddy's Girl.

Hartman, Closeman, Close.

Grandfather, father, baby.