Fatherhood

Well it is a lovely Saturday afternoon at the Vest's, we are watching the beloved Hawkeyes get beat up by Ohio State so I thought I would check in with everyone. It has been a crazy year watching my beautiful daughter grow up. We have seen everything from her first foot steps to the constant NO that keeps being told to all of us.

Addison Riley is truly finding her own personality. She loves to be an artist just like her mother, her main media is crayon and Playdoh but she has dabbled in finger painting and water colors. While she is being the little artist I find myself smiling as she does have a small little engineer inside, she is so curious with how things work and basic mechanics of objects. I really look forward to helping her understand science and how to use her creativity to solve problems.

Addison is starting to learn her letters and numbers quite well for 21 months. We have letters for the bath and Lora and I will call out different letters and Addison will pick them up for us. She will be a very intelligent person. She has also started to blow bubbles in the water as evidenced by the video below.

The other day at work someone asked me what it was like now being a father and I really didn't know how to answer besides it being great. After I thought about it for awhile it really made me realize what living truly is. Every time I look over at my little girl and she gives me the big grin and tilts he head just a little to the side I just melt. It is as if she is telling me she knows she is the most special little girl in the world. It is amazing how a question like that can make you think about the choices you have made and things that almost kept you from the most beautiful thing in the world. It fascinates me to think about the different forks and obstacles that we all have in our lives and how different things could have been had we not taken the turns we did. I am starting to have faith in life and that we will all generally land on our feet. We may be brought to our knees for a short period of time but it is the people we have around us that get us back up. Where was I going with this? Fatherhood, I think Lora and I have had our share of things that have brought us to our knees but the thing I keep coming back to is that I am a Father and that is something that I will ever take for granted. It is the most precious thing in the world and I love it. I only hope that I can show Addison the love that she deserves.

In general i was an excellent year, Lora is doing some great things with photography, as you can all tell from the photos of Addison. Her graphic design is brillilant as always, all the evidence I need is the Christmas card. I received a promotion at work to Project Manager and I am loving the additional responsibility and new challenges that I am facing on a daily basis.