One of the first things I noticed about Seth was how important his friends and family are to him. On our first "date", we watched a movie with a couple of his friends. I think he wanted to make sure I would get along with them.
Sometimes when I get home from work, I open the door and find Seth and Holden in the kitchen dancing with "Baby Shark" blasting on full volume.
(Luckily, they approved, and today they're my friends too.) Even though we now live far away from most of our family and our friends from school, he makes a point to stay in touch. This is especially true for his siblings and parents; he always sends pictures of our son to our families and loves getting pictures of our nieces and nephews in return.
Seth has a way of putting people at ease, and he's always patient and kind. This is probably why he's so successful at his job as a veterinarian. He probably wouldn't admit it, but it's not uncommon for him to get thank-you letters from clients at work thanking him for taking such good care of their dogs and cats. He gets a lot of phone calls from friends and family asking for pet advice, too, and he always makes time to help them.
Another thing I appreciate is that Seth really keeps me balanced. He makes sure I don't work too hard, and is really thoughtful when I need it most. If I'm stressed at work, he'll get out a jigsaw puzzle and a glass of wine so we can relax for an evening; once he even planned a surprise weekend getaway for us to Washington DC. I love watching him practice his many hobbies, too. On any given evening or weekend, he might spend some time playing the piano for our son, gardening outside, or knitting a scarf or hat for a friend. (His dream is to open up his own yarn shop as a hobby when he finally retires.) He's an excellent self-taught cook too; his homemade bread is the best and is usually gone within a few hours of coming out of the oven.
Seth's a terrific dad to our son. He loves to play games with Holden and make him laugh. Sometimes when I get home from work, I open the door and find the two of them in the kitchen blasting "Baby Shark" and other kids songs and dancing. Or I'll find them sitting on the floor in the living room next to a stack of picture books that Holden wants to read over and over ("more book! more book!"). Of course, being a parent isn't all fun and games, and Seth is so patient even when things aren't easy. He keeps his cool even if it means getting up in the middle of the night to snuggle a crying toddler, or spending the whole evening in the waiting room at urgent care so that our son can see a doctor for a cough. Seth always puts his family first, and I know he'll do the same for our next kid (or kids).