I love being...Julia's daddy

We go through life with a series of titles, which normally point to our relationship to people that we are tethered to in the mind of someone else.  So, to you, I may be Phil's friend or George's boss or your former employee.  But there are a few titles that I wear as a badge of honor.  Over the few weeks to begin November I am writing about some, which are major identifiers to me.  Today, I delve into the first of those who are my children.  And I decided to start with my youngest, as that is opposite of the way most people would think I would do.

Julia Ruth is the child of ours that was the biggest surprise.  Unfortunately, I must confess, I was probably the least excited to hear that she was coming.  But I can assure you that my excitement level did not remain in the doldrums. Julia is wonderful in so many ways, and I don't think I can do her justice in just a few paragraphs.  The one thing that endeared me to my daughter right away is that she is the child that attached herself to me at the earliest age.  I can remember, as I visited home-bound church members with my good friend Cecil, he hypothesized that Julia would be the child of mine that would let me stay with her when I might, debatably, need to go to an assisted living facility (and the others were ready to put me there).  She made that large of an impact of her affection for me before she was even one year old!

Julia has so many things that don't remind me of myself, but rather many improved characteristics.  She is obedient when told to go to bed.  She doesn't eat very much.  She's very loving and affectionate.  She's very motivated to accomplish things on her own, like buckling her seat belt.  She greets me when I come home every day.  She bids me a kind adieu when I leave every morning.  She'll call me over just to tell me that I'm a good father.  She is able to see pain and empathize.  She is also incredibly strong.

Now, about a year ago, I was watching a show on the Discovery Channel called, "The World's Strongest Three Year Old."  As I am watching this, I realize that my two year old daughter is able to do all the things that they are calling amazing for this "World's Strongest Three Year Old."  Julia has been able to lift her body weight and do a flip for years.  She was able to pull her self above a wall at the age of one.  She is able to beat up her brother and sister, despite being much younger.  She can lift weights while doing an exercise video with her mother.  In short, she is really strong.

In addition, Julia has a phenomenal sense of humor.  At a very young age, she was able to play tricks on us with her tone.  She was able to discern when we thought something was funny just by listening to our tone.  She is able to make people laugh with facial expressions.  I was amazed when at two years old, she was able to look away when I was trying to pin her on a joke someone had played on a friend.  She has tremendous timing when delivering a joke of any sort.  She is quickly able to adapt to a new environment, which we have tested her on a few times lately.  And she never seems like she's being hurried.  No matter what panic is going on around her, you can tell that she recognizes it, but she feels the need to be the calm one.

I find all of these things about my recently turned three year old daughter incredible.  But most of all, she teaches me every day to love better.  I am learning things from her and growing to appreciate some of the new things she brings to the table.  And the fact that God could bring that to my life, after I thought our family was perfectly complete is astounding.  So, if people want to call me Julia's dad (though i hope it remains Julia's daddy for a while longer), and I know that it will happen more and more often as she gets older, I will not correct them (though I may have to chase them away if they are a boy the same age who is unworthy...) and I will proudly answer to such a name!