Every night before I fall asleep, Josh talks to the baby. Sometimes he jokes around with him (okay, okay, me), saying things like, “I promise I won’t let your mom be too paranoid around you,” or updating him on random events he’s got no idea about, “Today your mom and I went to a newborn preparation class.”

A lot of the times he’ll rub my belly and tell him how much we are both anticipating and longing for his arrival (not now, in a few weeks, because Mom has too much at work to do quite yet), about how much love both of us have for him. He’ll tell the baby how amazing it is to him that he can love someone as much as he loves the baby without even having met him yet, only by feeling him kick and press me from within.

When I envision our lives in a few weeks, after the baby arrives, visions of firsts dance in my head. I am looking forward to the first time we see the baby smile, the first time he laughs - and when I ask Josh the same question, he muses about sharing his love of baseball with the baby, reading to him all of his favorite books (I am anticipating a long, long run of the Lord of the Rings books to the poor, immobile child), and listening to his favorite music.

From time to time, Josh will caress my belly and ask, “Are you excited about meeting the baby?” to which I answer, “Yes!” This child is coming into our home already well-loved - and not just by me, but by Josh. The changes I see in him bring tears to my eyes - he was talking on the phone to his parents a few weeks ago and mentioned how baby and family things affect him a lot differently now. He has taken on a lot of the household chores in the house, as we wind down the last few weeks of baby preparation, in time for our new arrival.

I can’t imagine going into the journey of parenthood with any other partner. Happy Father’s Day, Josh. Our baby is a lucky boy to have you as his daddy.