Happy Birthday Hailey

Yep. I don’t really know how it happened, but my daughter turns three years old today and all I can think about is how time flies by. I vividly remember the day she was born and when she came home from the NICU. I remember the sleepless nights and when she was really sick. I remember her first birthday and how she started repeating things shortly after that. We dressed her up as Urlacher, took her to see the Terrible Twos (four times), and had even more sleepless nights. I remember when she turned two years old and sang a Weakerthans song. I remember her first day of daycare from earlier this year. If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time, you’ve read about some of these things too.

Being a father is an exhausting but extremely rewarding challenge. Even now, when Hailey is still newly three years old, I think about how every moment passes by so fast. Sure I get to spend weekends with her, but I see her for 2 or maybe 3 hours every weeknight. She’s so young but I think about how I need to cherish every little bit of time we have together because sooner than I realize she’ll no longer be interested in hanging out and playing games with her dad. I’m already thinking that I only have 15 years until she is out of the house and off to college.

Until those days come, Hailey is still my little girl and she is my pride and joy. Happy Birthday Hailey.