Signing off

Our little guy turns 1 year old this week. This event also marks the end of my journey writing for Pregnancy & Newborn’s Dad’s Eye View blog. I’m thankful for the opportunity to share a bit of my journey in fatherhood with this community. It’s been great, but all good things must come to an end.
It seems fitting to sign off by retracing the arc of the journey our family has been on. My contributions here actually started before our little guy was born. I started writing for P&N when my wife was about six months pregnant. During the remaining three months of pregnancy, I shared thoughts on a variety of topics including discovering baby’s gender, teamwork in pregnancy, getting ready for the new arrival, pondering name options for the baby, and the final date my wife and I enjoyed before the birth.
Then there was that time that we delivered our baby without our midwife (on accident). That event inspired the most popular post I have ever written in which I praised my wife’s beauty. I meant every word of it.
Next came the flood of posts about all that was happening in the life of our new baby. This included stories about all the transitions in a newborn’s life, thoughts about boobs, facial expressions and laughter, what matters most in life, sibling bonds, sickness, toe sucking vs. thumb sucking, parenting philosophy vs. instinct, happiness & thankfulness, and stories about camping trips and bike rides. These are just a few of the highlights that characterized the past year of our life.
Our family shall journey on from here. Perhaps you are just beginning your journey into pregnancy and parenthood. Or, maybe you are already down the road a little ways. Either way, it was a pleasure to share our adventures with you over these past months. I wish all the moms and dads the best. Blessings upon you as you undertake the sacred work of birthing and parenting. I hope you are encouraged by the stories shared here. You are not alone in this work.
P.S. I’m not sure what photo goes along with “sign off” post. I just thought it would be fun to include a silly photo from when I got my new chainsaw last weekend. What this photo doesn’t show is how I later learned to juggle babies and chainsaws. Just kidding. But that would be a good metaphor for fatherhood. If I ever write a book about fatherhood, I might title it “On Juggling Babies and Chainsaws.” It’s sure to be a New York Times Bestseller, don’t you think?