First let me say what is on my mind right now: Whoa. Now that I've spoken my mind, let me state just a couple of things that I've learned in my first few days as a father.
1. The crying and other sounds that Kaylynn makes are quite amusing. What?!?! You must be thinking that I've lost my mind (indeed I have!). But this is one of the unexpected parts of fatherhood. Before I was "Dad", I would hear a crying baby and cringe. I would wonder just what was wrong and just what pain the baby was in (actually, I do still ask this question). Now, whenever she makes a sound or starts to cry, I kind of just laugh. Don't think I'm heartless or anything like that. I just know that she's not really in pain. For instance, when we go to feed her, we take off all of her clothes (the doctors say you need to undress the baby to make them uncomfortable so they'll stay awake). When we do so, she makes a few little grunts and then starts screaming like it's the end of the world. But of course, whenever we start feeding her, suddenly things don't seem so bad. Same goes when she wakes up. She starts crying but as soon as we pick her up, the world is balanced again and it's really not so bad. Now, I'm sure that this will wear off (and probably quickly), but for the time being, it is what it is.
2. Being a father is a lot like studying for law school finals. To be honest, I didn't really have a whole lot of time to be thinking about the actual "being a dad" part of the pregnancy. I mean, I knew the baby was coming and that I was going to be a dad, but I didn't really "know" I was going to be a dad. It's one of those things that just kind of hits you when you realize that you are in a hospital room and not a hotel room (seriously, it felt like we were in a hotel - they brought (one of) us meals, they stopped in often to see if there was anything we needed, there was free TV and internet). Not only that, but when you go to check out, you've got an extra person with you. It's really then that you realize that you weren't on vacation and that you were there to collect your package (i.e. the baby).
5. You just never know when Manchester United is going to show up and play a decent game of football. Yep, that's right. Major finals are over and the baby is sleeping. So I'm watching REAL football. Unfortunately, the greatest team in all the land is watching the same game I am. And it sucks. Here's to hoping they pull this one out. (I know this really has nothing to do with fatherhood, but I felt that 4 points would be cheating you guys. I'm always looking out for you!).
1. The crying and other sounds that Kaylynn makes are quite amusing. What?!?! You must be thinking that I've lost my mind (indeed I have!). But this is one of the unexpected parts of fatherhood. Before I was "Dad", I would hear a crying baby and cringe. I would wonder just what was wrong and just what pain the baby was in (actually, I do still ask this question). Now, whenever she makes a sound or starts to cry, I kind of just laugh. Don't think I'm heartless or anything like that. I just know that she's not really in pain. For instance, when we go to feed her, we take off all of her clothes (the doctors say you need to undress the baby to make them uncomfortable so they'll stay awake). When we do so, she makes a few little grunts and then starts screaming like it's the end of the world. But of course, whenever we start feeding her, suddenly things don't seem so bad. Same goes when she wakes up. She starts crying but as soon as we pick her up, the world is balanced again and it's really not so bad. Now, I'm sure that this will wear off (and probably quickly), but for the time being, it is what it is.
2. Being a father is a lot like studying for law school finals. To be honest, I didn't really have a whole lot of time to be thinking about the actual "being a dad" part of the pregnancy. I mean, I knew the baby was coming and that I was going to be a dad, but I didn't really "know" I was going to be a dad. It's one of those things that just kind of hits you when you realize that you are in a hospital room and not a hotel room (seriously, it felt like we were in a hotel - they brought (one of) us meals, they stopped in often to see if there was anything we needed, there was free TV and internet). Not only that, but when you go to check out, you've got an extra person with you. It's really then that you realize that you weren't on vacation and that you were there to collect your package (i.e. the baby).
Even if I did have time to think about the fatherhood part and attempted to prepare for it, I know that I wouldn't have been prepared. This is how fatherhood is like law school. You study and you study and you study and then you find out you're not prepared. Same goes for being a dad. Only failure is NOT an option. And it won't happen because babies, unlike law professors, are not unreasonable. I mean, think about it. Babies want you to feed them, burp them, clothe them, put them to sleep, clean up their shi...mess, and love them. If you do that, you're golden. Law professors want you to feed them, burp them and clean up their mess. Even if you do all of that, they still don't love you.
3. You can do a lot with little or no sleep. I can't say that I know from experience because I just sleep through everything, but I see what Hayley's been doing and now understand just how much one can do on very little sleep. I'm partially kidding. I have not simply been sleeping and letting her do all the work. But I am not joking when I say how amazing she's been. I'm not sure how she is awake and doing all of the stuff she is. She must be Superwoman or something like that. Props to her.
4. Having a baby around can get you out of trouble. At the end of the day, babies are humans too. They do the same things that other humans do. For instance, Kaylynn has been doing her fair share of tooting. Seeing as she didn't get in trouble, I figured it was fair game to do the same. However, after doing so, I got yelled at. In an effort to save my own tail, I blamed it on the baby...and it worked! Thank goodness for babies!
5. You just never know when Manchester United is going to show up and play a decent game of football. Yep, that's right. Major finals are over and the baby is sleeping. So I'm watching REAL football. Unfortunately, the greatest team in all the land is watching the same game I am. And it sucks. Here's to hoping they pull this one out. (I know this really has nothing to do with fatherhood, but I felt that 4 points would be cheating you guys. I'm always looking out for you!).
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