"Any man can be a father. It takes someone special to be a dad."

And the vote is in, what we have here is both a father and a dad!

I'm just going to come out and say what we all wondered (well, you all wondered, I checked before I got married)... What kind of a Daddy was the fast paced, cheeky Christopher Perkins going to be? This is the man that told pregnant ladies that they needed a "wide load" sign on their back, and the one who vowed that when his wife was pregnant he would take a two year mission trip and leave her tucked up in a cosy little home somewhere until the trauma was over.

One day I had him up about this and he screwed up his face and replied, "What in the world was I supposed to say? How weird is a single guy running around saying, I can't wait to have a baby!" ... oh yup, point taken.

So today, I want to pay a little tribute to my best friend, my hubby, and the great Daddy he has turned out to be. And you'll find out why this sudden flow of love by the end of the story :-)

First of all, Chris was with me all through the pregnancy. When I had morning sickness and couldn't even sit up in bed he would lift me ever-so-gently, prop me up with pillows and give me lemon-water and crackers. When I woke up at three o'clock in the morning to eat carrots and wanted to share them he was good humored enough to chomp away and listen to the stories about all my vivid dreams. When I was sleepy he would tenderly take me away from my task and bundle me into bed, tuck me in and kiss me, and give me firm instructions that I was not to get up until he came back to wake me. When I was all big and huge Chris would look at me in adoration and tell me how beautiful I was. When I started vomiting at work it was Chris who got on the phone and told my boss I wouldn't be coming in the next day, and I haven't worked a paid job since. When his brother called and wanted to know if I was working I overheard Chris reply, "Oh, she's working, she's just not paid for it."

Then of course there was the birth. I had one coach. Yes, it was Chris. How many men can say that they've been there with their wife through the whole labour? (And no, not a 'let's go to the hospital and get stuck with a needle' labour). With the first contraction he darkened the room, put on the soft music we had planned, and got me hot cloths. He had a complex mathematical formula for timing contractions that I still can't understand. I even have his five pages of two columned figures! It was a full 48 hour labour, starting Tuesday night and going until Thursday night, with strong contractions five minutes apart from the word go. Chris didn't leave me for a moment. He didn't go out to get a snack, he didn't tell me he was too tired to sit with me. When he finally drove me to the birthing centre/hospital he signaled to the other drivers that I was in labour and we got through red lights and people let us through... in Sydney traffic, thank you very much! No mean feat! In the birthing room he tirelessly massaged my back, handed me ice and freezing cloths, and let me groan into his ear when we started pushing. A lady who saw us told me afterwards, with tears in her eyes, that it was so beautiful to see us laboring together, and that we were a real team...and that we had told each other 'I love you' about 37 times. Hehe.

After the birth I had to stay in the centre for a few days because we had some medical issues. I saw other ladies walking their babies, heard them tending to their little ones in the middle of the night, and I was the only one with my husband. Chris found a lazyboy chair, pushed it as close to my bed as he could, and slept with this hand on my arm. The midwives were surprised when they realized that my husband was staying with me. How loved and privileged I felt!

Now he is the best dad a wife could ever want her husband to be. It has been like watching a blossom open, seeing this intelligent, strong man warm to his new role as a Daddy. Manny was three months old the first time he cried when Chris went to work. And you can laugh at that, say in your age old wisdom that this is impossible, well it's not. Now Chris has to creep out the door while Manny is focused on a toy! Nobody can make Manny smile and giggle like his Daddy can. And when I am holding my son he has no problem looking around until he spots Chris and starts chuckling at him over my shoulder. Chris is in charge of bath-time and I will often sit and read or chat to Chris while he takes care of our son. He makes bath-time so fun! Manny gets to enjoy a man-made spa bath, constant warm water poured on him, antics with his rubber duckie and splashing galore! I have been working in another room and overheard their conversations, "Now, Little Bear, I have taught you the stories of Adam and Eve, and Noah and the Ark, and now we are up to a new story..." I have a beautiful photo of Chris sitting in bed reading his Bible to his little three week old son. How precious it is to watch all this!

And now, the reason for my sudden outpouring of love :-)

Manny had his second lot of vaccinations yesterday. The first time I took him in I used these new little pads that you can buy that numb the skin. Those injections went off without a hitch and he wasn't grizzly or anything. This time I decided to see what would happen without the numbing patch. Big mistake. He has been grizzly as anything and couldn't get comfortable feeding. He was up until 4:30ish last night. I paced with him for a few hours in the spare bedroom and then Chris came in and wanted to know why I wasn't in our room. He took Manny and tried to settle him but I said he had alot of wind, so Chris decided to give him a quick hot bath. It was such a huge blessing. I was about to rip my hair out! I needed silence! So Chris bathed Manny and tucked me back into bed, and when Manny was all powdered and dressed and bundled in a pre-warmed toasty blanket (Chris heats them on the heater first!) I fed Manny in bed and off he went to sleep! I think the heat of the bath probably relaxed the injection areas, and Chris gave his belly a massage to help with the wind.

Some of you may be smiling at my wonder but I don't come from a two parent family. At best, my parents had a dysfunctional marriage. All I remember is that Dad would care for the infants in the middle of the night, alone, and when my parents were separated Mum would care for the infant in the night, also alone. I've never seen team work. I've never seen a mother pacing in the night and the father coming in to relieve her. I've never seen a mother sit to feed and the father rush to get her a glass of water and a pillow. I've never seen a mother wake up to find that the father not only got up for work when it was still dark, but he also took the time to change the baby, tuck him in and make sure the heater is on.

It makes me wonder anew at the goodness of the Lord. How did I get here from there? How is it that I come from such madness and yet I have been blessed with a man so wonderful I could not have imagined how good he is to me and how wonderful he is with our son.

So here's my hat off to the best Daddy in the world! A Daddy who already is raising his son in the ways of the Lord, a Daddy who loves his wife enough to work and get up for the baby in the night, a Daddy who makes this time in my life so precious.

To end, there was a big banquet that we were invited to a fortnight ago. I was so excited! I was going to get all dressed up and go out with my hubby and my baby and listen to speakers and meet new people. Well, Chris ended up having to work that night and I couldn't have the car. I had other ways to get there but I knew I wouldn't be able to leave when I needed to get Manny home, and I didn't want to keep him out late on a cold winters night. I was so disappointed! I heard whisperings playing in my mind, "This is your life now, a miserable lonely woman, stuck at home on a Friday night while the rest of the world is dressing up and flirting with their husbands at dinner." Pathetic I know. In the midst of my sorrow, Chris saw how disappointed I was. We were driving somewhere and he suddenly put his hand on my knee and looked me in the eye and said, "Honey, I am so proud of you for putting aside what you want and sacrificing this part of your life for our baby." Well! Ok, that was worth missing any banquet for :-D My husband is proud of me, hehe. I'm sure I was blushing! ;-P What's not to love about a man like that?