My husband and I are happily expecting our first child in mid-April -- right around the anniversary of our first date. Those events will be quickly followed by Father's Day, his birthday, and our wedding anniversary, so I've been thinking up a ton of special ways to celebrate his new role, as both a father and a husband, and one he's looked forward to for so long. And I was wondering: How have other new parents marked their first Father's Day -- and Mother's Day?

Since our son was born in July, I had almost a whole year before I had to come up with something. I ended up making him a photo album. I talked about how he took good care of me while I was pregnant and all the special things he did to make me comfortable, his role in the birth, and the how rewarding it has been to see him with our son, how the everyday things he does are teaching our son to be a good person, how he sets a good example, etc. Of course I had photos for everything. It sounds kinda corny, but it was a wonderful way for me to tell him what a great father and role model I think he is and how I know he will help raise our son to be a wonderful father as well. It is something he can look at over & over again and also our son will be able to look at too. It was a big hit and there were a lot of tears.
Since your first Father's Day will be relatively soon, maybe you can mark it by taking a special family protrait with just baby and dad or something like that? I truly believe that ALL those days will be special with your new little one, no matter what you chose to do!
Congratulations and best of luck!
~mm

I was thinking I'd go the photo route for Father's Day. Since there won't be much time (and I'm sure I won't have the energy to put much creative effort into it) I'm planning a simple mini-album with a handful of photos so he can brag without boring people (he showed everyone our book of wedding proofs... all 300 of them). We have tix for a baseball game Father's Day, which seems like a good fit too. He dabbles with painting and decorates his office with his abstract canvases; some baby hand- and footprints could result in a bit of "like father, like son? daughter?" artwork.

I'm still working on ideas for all those other gift-giving occasions... Leaning toward a love letter for our anniversary. He writes me a beautiful letter every year; my efforts always seem trite, but if he holds up in the delivery room I can make the effort to find the right words! Thanks for linking to that poem, luci mama -- it is a good one, and I've bookmarked it for inspiration.

Oh, and don't forget to shop for your child -- s/he needs to give Dad a Father's Day card! (It'll get his attention, for sure!)

just ran across a good poem dedicated to dad...
>http://www.mothering.com/poems/primavera.shtml

My daughter has always made her Mother's Day and Father's Day cards. And usually she makes us a special picture. Granted, she didn't do any of that when she was just born!

Last Mother's Day we were away at a soccer tournament (my husband coaches) and we were staying at a Hampton Inn. The daughter and her dad got up before I awoke and went downstairs to make a card out of one of the paper plates.

I'm a sucker for anything with a traced hand on it...