Here are some photos from the month:
On the first weekend of December, we opened the Christmas season with our first trip to the Richmond Christmas Parade. Madeline loved watching the floats and balloons pass by, but the highlight was seeing Santa at the end.
Madeline shows off some of the produce from our backyard garden.
Decorating three trees in our home apparently wasn't enough for Madeline. She jumped at the chance to decorate Grandma and Papa's tree as well.
Madeline knows the protocol for a proper family portrait.
Madeline spend some quality reading time with her cousin Caleb during our annual holiday visit to Roanoke.
There's just something wonderful about cousins, still in their pajamas, playing in the living room on a lazy weekend morning.
Madeline checks out the lights at the "crazy house" - the tackiest place we could find, which just happened to be a couple minutes from our neighborhood. We visited this house on several occasions and she found something new each time.
Madeline and I made our annual trip to the Jefferson Hotel to check out the tree, the gingerbread house and the musicians that play Christmas tunes at noon during the holidays.
Madeline had a blast on Christmas morning. She gave me this look of anticipatory excitement even before she had opened any of her presents. (She had already seen the train and the dollhouse that were her big gifts this year.)
Madeline's 2011 Christmas portrait, taken in our living room with her favorite nutcracker.___________________________
Having a child is an amazing experience. I don't often stop to think about it, between the day-to-day tasks and responsibilities that keep me focused on the moment at hand. But taking a step back I realize what an unbelievably rewarding experience it has been to be Madeline's dad for the past four years.
When you hear the words "your dad," you probably have an immediate and visceral response that is the result of a life's worth of interaction with your own father. Even before you start picturing specific memories of him, there is a feeling - perhaps comfort, happiness, stability - that you associate with those words.
It is immeasurably humbling to realize that I am that person to Madeline. It's an immense responsibility. I'm not just her caretaker or her friend - I'm her father. The memories and relationship that we're building now are what will always stay with her, and bubble to the surface when she hears the words "your dad."
Sure, there are tough times when you're a parent. Whether it's something out of your control - sickness, Madeline's relationships with her peers - that causes you heartache, or the occasional attitude, defiance and frustration that are inevitable as a child discovers their own way in the world, sometimes you just want to throw up your hands and throw in the towel.
But those times are fleeting, and quickly overshadowed by the good. The big moments - when she successfully sings with her preschool class on stage at the holiday pageant, or when she learns a huge new skill. And the small moments - when she gently holds my hand as we walk together, or when she looks at me with unvarnished pride when she places the last piece in the puzzle we've assembled together, and even when she simply calls my name - "Daddy!"
And that's why we're doing it again. In late June, Madeline will become a big sister as we welcome our second child.
