a couple of firsts

​That's right!  Baby Naomi experienced her first bike ride and her first swim.  These are two things I have been anxiously awaiting, and now that they are done and checked off the list of firsts, I can tell you that they were every bit the magic that I thought they would be.  Naomi handled the bike as if she was ready to drive it herself and her first dip in the pool was met with curiosity and waves to the other children swimming as she entered the pool with me for her first drift in the warm water.  Grandpa Tolik and Grandma Alla were in town to witness the first swim, and Grandpa definitely was eager to join in on the festivities.  We all enjoyed turns with Naomi in the pool as she trustingly let us gently sway her from side to side as we paced the length of the pool.  You could sense her body fall into a slow calm once she understood that this big thing of water was a good and fun thing, and something she can look forward to.  Man, what a feeling it was to carry her in.  I can only imagine what it will be like to take her into the ocean for the first time.  As for the biking, let's just say that she was in perfect form and rode like a champ.  Looking forward to getting out there again with her soon.  Maybe it's time to get that beach cruiser that Mama has been wanting for so long.

These are the days

​I can remember many days in my life that serve as standouts.  The kind of days will carry my most memorable moments.  They echo different parts of my life, from my younger years of climbing trees and playing outside until dark, and to the more recent years of vacations with Nadia.  Throughout all this reflecting of days past, I find myself coming into a very calming realization.... today, in these days that I live in now, these truly are the best days of my life.  Call me sentimental, but becoming a father as I have for Naomi and becoming a husband as I have for Nadia, living in sunshine and living/as well as still pursuing dreams, our little bubble has become filled with nothing but joy and happiness.  I feel as though we personify what love is, in our own special little way. These are the days.  

Fatherhood is a powerful thing.  It's filled with many insecurities that you have no time to prepare for.  Will I be a good father?  Will I be a good provider?  Will I be a good husband?  Many questions that challenge the true nature of what a man is supposed to be.  I never had a true example of this.  I latched on to many male images throughout my life that have served me better than not haven done so at all, but the man I have become, is someone I can be proud of.  I choose each and every day to not take for granted what I have.  I want to be better the next day, because that in turn means I am being better for Naomi and for Nadia.  I still have dreams that I hope to realize, the only difference today from years past is that my motivation is two fold.  It's not just about fulfilling dreams in hopes of creating a better life for myself.  I am already living a wonderful life.  It's now about setting the best possible example that I can for my family, and striving to provide them with the best possible future that I can.  ​

The love of a child has also taught me many things.  Most importantly I've learned that there is truly only one thing in my life that is important.  It's to be happy and enjoy the love that is my little family.  I've come home many times filled with the pressures that my day to day life can challenge me with, sometimes overwhelmed, sometimes discouraged, and many times defeated.  But through all these things, nothing is more inspiring and healing than the excitement and love that Naomi shows me when I walk through the door.  Nothing is more invigorating than to feel the embrace that she gives me.  Nothing is more transcending than to see my wife and daughter just being.  ​

These truly are the days.​

Happy Mother's Day

Dear Nadia,​

Once upon a time, I fell in love with you.  Best decision ever.  Thank you for your patience, your resilience, your strength, your comfort, your undeniable efforts to be the best Mama that you can be.  Both Naomi and I are so madly in love with the woman we get to call Mama and wife.​

love,

Charlie

What's been going on these days?

Okay, okay.  So some of you are probably wondering why there hasn't been many posts these days.  Truth be told, it's has been crazy busy juggling work, home, baby, wife, dogs and a camera :).  It's the best challenge ever, but hard to say the least.  In the first year, baby Naomi was much less mobile and snapping shots or video of her was much simpler and easier to prepare for.  Now, it's a whole different animal trying to chase around a toddler who can literally run from point A to point B in the blink of an eye with a camera in my hand.  I am definitely still capturing some great moments on camera, but I think I may share them a little more sporadically on the blog since my free time is a little more sparse.  But please still visit regularly since you never know when I may have something new to share.  ​

A quick recap from the past few weeks...​

- The biggest and greatest news, which will receive it's own post, Mama is home now!​

- Baby Naomi speaks on the regular!  Her vocabulary?  "Mama", "Papa", "daw" (for doggies), "bah-bah" (pretty much to everything), "bye-bye", and "mailman".  ​

- Baby Naomi started doing sign language.  She knows how to ask for milk and tell us when she's done.​  

- Morning strolls now consist of visiting the park and playing fetch with Olive and Mr. Q and when we have time we squeeze in a swing too.​

​- Naomi's favorite things to eat these days?  Blackberries, strawberries, avocados and cheese, and she get's excited to make toast even though she doesn't eat it afterwards.

- A few bumpy nights from both Naomi being sick and going through some major teething.  Always interesting and never fun.​

- Naomi likes to feed the dogs anything and everything.  In return, the dogs absolutely love her!!​

- Mama and Papa had a date night for Mama's birthday recently.  Burgers, Beer, and Bowling!​

- Papa loves his family more and more each day.​

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