Prologue from Dad

I'm a Dad. I'll take a minute (mostly for myself) to let that sink in. Everything everyone has ever said about becoming a father/parent is more true than anyone can imagine. It's an incredible, indescribable life changer. It's changed my perspective on my life, my goals, and my views on little things (like driving too fast through neighborhoods) and simply put, it's weird. With what was the equivalent of flicking a light switch, I've gone from being a semi-workaholic "Work from 7:30am until 6pm Daily" to average Joe "Is it 5 yet"... Because even though everyone told me about how you would want to rush home to see your kid, they could never describe the feeling.

I woke up one night, er, morning, at 3:30am to a crying baby. She was already well over the 12 pound threshold that my mother had said would be the special weight at which a baby magically starts to sleep "through the night". It was the 5th (or 6th?) time she had awoken that night crying and at that point it seemed hopeless that I would get any semblance of rest. I rolled out of bed, sifted around for her pacifier, popped it back in her mouth, and returned to bed. I set expectations for another wake up call in 59 minutes. She did not disappoint... but I guess that depends on how you look at it.  In my clouded mental state, stuck somewhere between inception and delirium, it hit me: she wasn't the baby in the book.

For me, my blog posts will be centered around all the things our baby doesn't (or does...) by the book. Hopefully it'll shed some light or offer some sympathy to any other parents who are wondering why their baby isn't the baby in the book either. Happy reading.