When Mia was born, I was really thankful that Chris was by my side. He wasn’t the most experienced when it comes to babies, in fact he has no experience at all! LOL. But I witnessed how he tried his best.

For a person who grew up in a house with helpers, I certainly could not imagine him cleaning up baby poop. Sure there was that uneasy look on his face when he first changed Mia’s diaper in the hospital, but he cleaned her well without complaints. Well… he did question why it was greenish black and motor oil like, but that was pretty much it. Haha

During the first 2 months, we couldn’t keep up with the unpredictable schedule of newborns. It was terribly hard to get up every 2 hours to feed, burp, change, or console our crying baby. We were totally sleep deprived. We would rather have long hours of being up with the baby than to sleep and wake up cranky every 2 hours. So at some point, we did a shifting sched and he took the night shift.

I would pump milk in between breastfeeding sessions during the day, so he’ll have enough milk to feed Mia at night, and he would try to get some work done every time Mia naps. That way I get at least 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep at night (8 if I’m lucky) and he’ll get the same uninterrupted sleep during the day (well, sort of).

I remember being like a tag team where he’ll tap my shoulder to wake me up and immediately doze off without a word. That was how tired he was.

I would do the same to him. I’d be too tired at the end of my shift; I would tap his back, hand Mia over without a word and doze off. More like: Your turn, can’t take it anymore, figure out what she needs, Zzzzzzzz.

I probably couldn’t have survived that phase if it weren’t for this set-up.

There were also many times when Daddy fed me whenever we dine out. Yes, you read that right – me. Because Mia would often nap on my chest and it would be quite difficult to eat in a reclined position with one hand supporting her, Daddyow was my spoon and fork.hehe

When Mia got bigger and started moving around, we decided to put the mattress on the floor and Daddyow designed a fence to border Mia’s play area. This is how it looked like . 🙂

It was pretty cool and it was just made of cloth and net (that we asked Nanay Dolor to sew), tied to pipes that Daddyow and his assistant put together. This gave Mia more space to sit, crawl, stand, and walk as compared to being confined in a crib.

And because our mattress is within the borders too, she can immediately play by herself when she wakes up and I sometimes get a few more minutes of sleep because I don’t always have to get up with her (anything for sleep talaga haha). It’s one of the best things we had.

On top of this, he also sang and danced to our daughter, walked with her on the park, played pots and pans with her, rocked her to sleep, and showered her with love and kisses everyday.

It was heaven to my eyes to see him do all these things.

Up to now, he cares about every single thing she does, wears, says, learns – everything.

He adores her from head to toe and boasts about her all the time. He is just very proud.

And I am just truly thankful.

So Kudos to you Daddyow and all fathers who love their kids like you do. Here’s a short Father’s Day video that will throw you back in your first 3 years of fatherhood.

Happy Father’s Day my lab 🙂