dear poppy-poppy

Aidan recently started calling Michael 'Poppy-Poppy'. As in "Oh my Poppy-Poppy! I LOVE him!" "You want it Poppy-Poppy?" "I do it too, Poppy-Poppy!" It's very cute. Henry sometimes follows suit- but may be more inclined to stick with Pappa. Michael is our touchpoint- a working guy that brings home the bacon and the smiles and love. He's the guy we turn to to change diapers and fix Sunday breakfast. He shows how to use a hammer and reads Henry's Thomas book- EVERY time it comes into play. (Seriously, this could be 100 times a day!) He's an invaluable person to our little pod.
There are a few other fathers we celebrate today... Daniel is Aidan's first father. He was a little hard to get to know when we were initially introduced to Aidan's first family. He was young-in outlook. He was transparent and possibly naive- if that's right? Well, surely he was energetic and so into his kids. He had lots of dreams and it was hard to see so many of those dreams remaining dreams for him. When we had a family visit last summer, he was exceptionally kind to Aidan and Henry too. Kind with his wife and kids and us. Real. Open. Here is a man that gave up his right to parent this boy of 'ours'. He chose us to parent his child. Sometimes thinking about what played out nearly three years ago- just leaves me completely flummoxed.
David is Henry's first father. We don't know him- except through what Carissa shares with us. She sees David's expressions in Henry's face -but prefers to see herself I think:) - which isn't hard! He looks just like Carissa. Its hard to know what David thinks of being a father to our sweet Hen. Hopefully we will know him someday and he too will see himself in this little mirror- and he will share with us all who he is. I found some photos of him online- from when he was 16. Tall and skinny, shooting hoops with a friend or foster brother? Few words. We heard last Christmas that he might be interested in seeing Henry and hope it happens.
My Pops. A funny rock. Slippery and sharp and soft. He loves our boys and us and supports everyone. He is happily ensconced in music after years of teaching other's kids. He is our grandpa, our pop- our Thursday morning recycling celebrator-the guy with the magic in his shirt pocket-and we love him!
Happy Father's Day to you all!
Robert, Jay Jay, Ken, Matthew, Oty, Jerry, Ralph, Tory the illustrious fathers to those in our circle- we salute you!
Michael reading with Aidan and his baby. Aidan is telling the story of the puppies and is saying, "Listen baby!" Michael is helping out by holding baby at attention. Here is Mr Ballionne getting the boys to smile BIG on our recent vacation! He's always good at encouraging the 'crazies' to come out at picture time- especially at roadside attractions! Why he's having them all hold the barbed wire- I just won't ask. No pain no gain, I guess :)