Nearly two years ago, I introduced all two of my regular readers to my daughter, Betty.  Not that either of my regular readers need an introduction to her, but that’s beside the point.   It’s been an amazing couple of years, some of the details of which I’ve already touched on.   New job, new home, new this, new that.  Those aren’t the reasons I’m writing tonight.

Being a father has changed a lot about me, I think.  Yeah, I’m still obsessed with board games, yeah I am still pretty scatterbrained.  But now I think about different things when I make decisions.  I give certain things a bit more consideration.   I worry more about keeping myself healthy.

Betty’s almost two now.  She’s chattering up a storm, she’s putting some words together, and she’s always telling us what’s what.  She’s a wiz with an iPad; she figures out the puzzle apps way too quickly, in my opinion.  She’s gone from “Da-ee” and “Ma-Ma” to “Daddy” and “Mommy”, she can identify many of her extended family from pictures, and I swear she saw the words “Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood” on the channel guide, and said “Daniel!”

Needless to say, I’m a bit smitten.

Our son William Edward (Wil) is due in February.  He’s named for one of my best friends, who left the world nearly 4 years ago at the age of 36.  As we get closer to February, I wonder how my little girl will handle being a big sister.  I never had siblings growing up, so I’m not sure how I would have handled it at her age.  Now, I know she’s still pretty little, and when she’s older, she won’t even remember a time when she didn’t have a little brother, but I still want to be ready for the here and now.

I just hope I can continue to be a good father, and even more important, be a good daddy.