Poor Sean. He really got the shaft this year. We basically didn’t celebrate Fathers Day. I was in the early stages of pregnancy (read: nauseated and stupid tired), Maya had been sick, and we were planning a big summer trip to visit family in Missouri and Tennessee. As wrong as it is, Dad wound up getting lost in the shuffle.

Watching fish from the pier

Sean and I were somehow both completely convinced that Fathers Day was on June 22nd. I couldn’t tell you where either of us got this idea, but it was there nonetheless. From June 13th through June 21st, we were traveling to Missouri and Tennessee to see our families. I had half-planned, half-daydreamed that on that following Sunday, Maya and I would make Sean some dessert and we’d have a nice dinner together somewhere, and it would all work out fine. We still owe him that dessert.

Daddy’s not letting Maya fall in the pond

It dawned on us that something was off when we traveled that first day. I was wrangling Maya and Sean was hauling the car seat through various escalators at the airport and a very nice man stepped aside to let us stay together. In doing so, he also wished Sean a happy Fathers Day. We didn’t think a great deal of it till we got to Missouri and there was again mention of the holiday. It seemed strange that everyone was so early, so one of us (probably Sean) looked it up. Yup, sure enough, we were a week off.

Something’s funny over there

Luckily, Dad and Carol have a nice pond on their property and there’s a little pier built out into it. We tried to use that as the backdrop for Fathers Day photos. Maya was a little out of sorts from all the traveling and our scheduling was a off. The sun was at an unfriendly angle, and I am not the most adept photographer. I think we still managed a few good photos of Maya and Daddy.

D’awwww

Now’s a good time to mention that “Dada” was Maya’s first word and to this day continues to be one of her favorites. We let her put herself to sleep at night and often that means she’ll lay in her crib for several minutes talking to herself. Nearly always at some point we’ll hear something like, “Da? Da? Dada? Dadadadadada … Da-deeeeee …” It’s hilarious. I try not to take it personally.