It was a Happy First Father's Day!

Today was Ryan's first Father's Day! I really wanted to take him out for breakfast, but Little Miss wasn't cooperating. She woke up at 4:50, ate and went right back to sleep. 5:15 is too early to get ready to go out for breakfast so we waited for her to wake up. She slept in until a little after 9. We were both hungry well before that so Ryan cooked us a great breakfast. We decided lunch by the lake would be better anyway. We made the right choice. The weather was perfect, the lake is full-ish and we were able to score an ant-free picnic table in the shade. Little Miss was either sleeping or smiling while we ate our sandwiches. Afterward we did a little shopping before spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing at home.

Probably the best thing about today would be the positive result of our little experiment. In the past Ryan has had a difficult time giving Isabel a bottle. We weren't sure exactly what the problem was, all we knew was she cried and screamed through most of the bottle feeding. My mom, sister and niece have all bottle fed her with little to no problem. It was frustrating both of us that she carried on the way she did when he fed her. It really made me sad because he wants so much to be involved and spend time with her (which almost seems to be a rarity based on the reactions I get from other moms). And, as he pointed out - if he can't bottle feed her I can never leave the house. Unacceptable : )

We bought a different kind of bottle today thinking it looked like it might be a better bottle and easier to work with. The plan was Ryan would take over when she seemed to be settling down and I would leave the house (just in case my presence was the problem). He gave her the ritual Sunday bath, a brief massage (too cold with no clothes on) and settled in to feed her. She cried while she waited for the bottle to heat up. That meant the feeding didn't start out great. She fussed at the beginning of the feeding until he turned her on her side. That's how her body is when she nurses. Once he turned her on her side she was quiet and actually fell asleep on the bottle! The shape of this new bottle is what allowed for all of that to happen. I'm so glad we decided on that bottle (even though I wanted a different bottle because of the color).

Anyway, things went so much better than normal and I think it was a great ending to his first holiday just for Dads. He's been so great to both of us ladies. He's so into Isabel and loves spending time with her. He's been a giant help to me, even still, and I know I can count on him to take her for any reason. It doesn't hurt that she is adorable : )