Daddy Siegfred

When Sieg and I were still dating, I was so amused by the fact that my nieces were enamored with him. They would always look for him and shriek in delight every time he's around.  He even had the patience to play with them for as long they liked. I never had that kind of patience with kids. Simply put, my nieces were drawn to him and liked him a lot, and I took that as a sign that he's gonna be a great daddy someday.

Fast forward to today, I'm thankful he turned out to be even more than I expected. I have a husband who's even greater as a daddy. When other dads would just stay on the sideline while the Mommy does the dirty work, Sieg is equally hands-on with Rocco as I am. He is beyond the stereotypical dad who acts only as the provider, but not the caregiver. He is actually both.

 I would not have survived the initial stages of parenthood without him. He took care of Rocco when I got sick after giving birth. He tirelessly encouraged me to breastfeed even if I felt like giving up. Even if his body is aching from basketball, or just too tired from work, he takes his turn to wake up during early mornings to feed and change Rocco's diaper. He willingly gets off the bed even with only a few hours of sleep to stroll with the baby at 6AM. When I'm too sleepy or can't open my eyes anymore to play with the baby at 4AM, he lets me sleep some more while he patiently plays with Rocco. I'm more amused because he's so creative and imaginative with their playtime and can really make the little boy laugh, something which I'm having a hard time doing. Boring Mommy :) When we arrive from work, he would outrun me just so he can carry the baby before me. He is also hands-on with decision-making, even with things as petty as what sippy cup to use, or if we will use a pacifier or not.

He continually exceeds my expectations, and did it again today. Sieg never liked baby poop. He would do everything else except change a poopy diaper. I think he was traumatized when Rocco was still a newborn and I was sick from coughing to be near the baby. A handful of poop oozed out of Rocco's diaper and went straight to his hands, and from then on, he would ask me to do the "dirty" work for him.

But this morning, he finally overcame his dislike for poop. I think he wants to experience changing poopy diapers too. He's amazed at how fast I can do it :) So when Rocco pooped a really good poop from his camote merienda yesterday, Sieg was able to change diapers, without any help from me.

Just last night, while gazing at our son who just fell into deep sleep, Sieg whispered to me, "Sarap ng may baby, ano?" It made my heart melt with joy, knowing that my husband is happy and contented to play the role of a daddy, and a proud one at that.

Rocco is only turning 7 months, and I'm sure there would still be countless parenting experiences, good and bad, that we would share together. But knowing I have Sieg, a superb dad, who has great dreams for his family, I always feel reassured that we will do things right.

Happy Father's Day Siegfred! We love you very much!