When the Man Becomes a Dad

Today, I saw my son or daughter for the first time. It was one of the greatests moments of my life.

Today, I felt more than a man, I finally felt the joy and happiness of being a Dad. I have been waiting for this moment for along time, and it's finally here. Lindsey and I had our first ultrasound today. I never expected to feel so complete. I first got to see baby's tiny little head, than baby's belly. The baby was moving all over the place, but at one point, the nurse took a frame shot and captured his little hand. I immediately found myself counting his little fingers; one..two...three...four..and five. My first fatherly instinct kicked in :)

As i have previously mentioned, I love being a man. My favorite part of being a man is being a husband, at least the best one that i can be for Lindsey. Now i am looking forward to starting my second favorite part of being a man, being a Dad. I've sat and watched my father, my brother, and my best friend all be dads for years now, and it has been one of the greatest blessings of my entire life. Watching them be fathers had told me so much about the man that each of them is. The strenght, courage, dedication and hard work that these men have shown while being fathers has deeply influenced the kind of father I want to be. Thank you Papi, thank you Nando, and thank you Brian for being some of the best men in the world.

Random Note: As i was reading my last paragraph i though, wow, "that's pretty good Orlando. You are totally getting in touch with your feminine side." Than i tought, Do women have a masculine side they need to get in touch with more often? I find it really interesting that i have heard many times the words "you men just need to get in touch more with your feminine side" but i have never really heard anyone ever say to a woman that she needed to get in touch with her masculine side. That's probably a good thing. I hope my wife never get in touch with 'her masculine side' if there is such a thing. That would just be scary, wrong, and it just wouldn't be cool.

So, all i wanted to say to my son or daughter, welcome to the family! You are one lucky child. You are going to have the best mom in the entire world. You are going to be loved more than any child has ever been loved, and your old man is going to be the best father he can be. That is a promise!

Here are the top ten things i am looking forward to doing with you when you are born. (boy or girl)
1. Holding you.
2. Our first halloween together- your mom and i are dressing you up as either Nacho Libre, or Encarnacion. It's going to be legendary!
3. Teaching you everything about sports, specially that Blue runs deep!! Go Cougars!
4. Getting you your first soccer ball.
5. Naming you. For your sake, you should probably be a girl... your mom and i have no trouble coming up with girl names. But if you are a boy, you may or may not be named Optimus Prime, Wolverine, Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, MichaelAngelo, or Chapulin Colorado.
6. Speaking spanish to you. Don't hold me to that one.
7. Having your first pinata! All of your birthdays will have a pinata breaking moment. The only thing i will do diferently then most mexican parents, is that i am actually going to get you a villain pinata to break instead of the traditional princess pinata or favorite superhero pinata. I 've always found it a little odd that we hang our favorite characters by their head and beat them with a stick. I'll probably get you yankee or ute pinatas, that seems a lot more enjoyabe to destroy.
8. Feeding you. Your mom has some awesome ideas about feeding you real food and stuff. I got your back! Don't worry.
9. I look forward to just watching you sleep.
10. last but definitely not least, watching the smile you are going to put on your mother's face everyday.