Daddy-Daughter Day ("DDD")

It's Daddy's turn to post something.  Today is one of the "every-other" Saturdays that Dr. Courtney spends healing the sick pets of the greater Roanoke Valley. As she picked up her keys and headed off to work, leaving the child in my hands,  I could see a bit of fear and trepidation in Courtney's eyes.  Elliott and I have done the Daddy-Daughter thing before, and things worked out fine (i.e. she still had all of her fingers and toes when Courtney returned home).  

Today we tried something different for Daddy-Daughter day ("DDD"), breakfast out with Uncle Max and Cousin Millie.  Cousin Millie is 9 months-old, a bit older than Elliott.   She is crawling, climbing, eating solids and beginning to talk. These are skills that Elliott dreams about possessing like I dreamt about driving as a 13 year-old.  Uncle Max and I met at Panera Bread with our little ladies in-tow.  Max pulled up in the minivan, I arrived in the three ton + Yukon. Both cars were chock-full of jungle-themed mirrored headrest covers and other children's amenities.  How times have changed. Gone are the days of cruising around in a BMW 3 series coupe.  Here to stay are car seats, strollers and diaper bags (at least mine is in a cammo pattern).  

We ordered food and (precious) coffee and found a booth. We were approached by a couple of friends with their children.  Everyone, both friends and strangers, marveled at the twin guys hanging with their daughters.   Elliott alternated between sleep and fussing while hanging out in her infant seat.  As Courtney has previously lamented, our seat is very safe, yet heavy as a bag of cement. Because of its size, regrettably, it does not fit in an upside-down restaurant high-chair.  Elliott was therefore relegated to sitting wedged between the table and the back of the bench.  Millie showed-off her "Big Girl" skills, like eating dry cereal and banging on things with her hands.  She was very interested in Elliott, particularly the frilly socks on her feet.  As they grow, I hope our girls will have the opportunity to wrestle, bite and smack each other like their fathers did when we were growing-up.

After saying good-bye, Elliott and Daddy went to the bank.  While standing in line, we discussed various topics related to financial responsibility.   On the drive home, Elliott drifted off to sleep while I told her about Justice Scalia's recent opinion in D.C. v. Heller, and how it establishes a baseline for her 2nd Amendment rights.  Before I got to Justice Breyer's dissent, she was in dreamland.  In all fairness, some Constitutional law topics used to make me nod-off too; no disrespect to Professor McCurdy and his history of modern American law course, but dormant-commerce-clause jurisprudence is a snoozer.

For the moment, all is calm and DDD is going well.   Courtney has taught me a great deal about love over the past six and a half years, however, Elliott has taught me far more about unconditional love in just 11 weeks.  I find myself longing to head home at the end of the day, hoping to spend an hour playing the "can you make this face" game with Elliott.  She is my joy.