When you are about to have your first child there are tons of tidbits of wisdom that people will tell you. I gladly listened to everything people told me making mental notes along the way. Having just made it six months with my new best friend, I feel I am becoming quite accustomed to this new life. Some of the things people told us were about the negative aspects of having a child. I think the big factor in this for us, is how badly we had wanted a child, how long we had been trying, and finally after the cancer/miscarriage/fertility treatments how much we went through before we were successful.
One thing we heard over and over again was how exhausted we would be. Now, I will admit we aren't as well rested as we were six months ago. I can't remember the last time we were able to just sleep in as long as we liked. But I certainly wouldn't call it "exhausted". One thing we have going for us, is our child has been an overnight sleeper since we brought him home from the hospital. I think the shortest he ever slept overnight was maybe four hours when he was first brought home. The other reason I don't think I am tired is I enjoy the time I get to spend with him. Think of something you really enjoyed, like for me going to Walt Disney World, for you it might be reading my blog...if it is something you really had fun doing, you get whatever sleep you can and do it again first chance you get.
The other very cliched comment is that you will never know how much love you will have for the baby. Waiting until forty-one to have my first child, trust me a lot of anticipation and love had built up. I love my little guy a lot, and that love started the day my wife walked out of the bathroom with a pee-soaked stick. What has surprised me is just how much I like being around him. Even from the beginning when all he was doing was laying there and messing diapers, I cherished every second with him. Now I will say this. He seems like a very happy baby and everyone tells us he is a happy baby. That certainly helps. Even when changing a diaper he looks up and smiles and either grabs my arm or if I am careless enough he will grab the clean diaper and play keep away with me, which is apparently very funny when you are six months old.
But then again everything seems to be funny to our six month old. A hand full of someone else's hair is freakin' hilarious! Rubbing bare feet on daddy's head or whiskers is also a great source of amusement. The phrase "peas and apples" is the greatest joke ever told, ranking right up there with "The Aristocrats". I have no idea why "peas and apples" induces uncontrollable laughter, but I think it's pretty obvious that he has his daddy's sophisticated sense of humor.
The other side is, I am probably one of those obsessive and over-protective parents. When you have gone through your own health scare you realize just how precious and fragile life is. Someone told us the other day that kids aren't that fragile at all, all three of theirs rolled off the bed at one point as babies. That led to a conversation after we left that person about how after the first roll off (or at the very least the second roll off) wouldn't you take precautions to prevent future roll offs? This person claimed there was no harm done...but there's one we think the jury is still out on.
I may have given my son his first real electric guitar this week as well (which means I did give him his first electric guitar). Now I know what you are thinking, "He's six months old, he can't play an electric guitar" and you are exactly right, that is why his is half the size of a normal one. And since it is difficult for him to strum and hold down the strings, I even brought out a thing that automatically moves the strings for him, so he can just focus on the fretboard for now. See, doesn't sound near as crazy now, does it?
What I am getting at, is this is the greatest gift I have ever been given. We waited a long time for him and went through a lot to get him. Even when during a diaper change he accidentally peed in his face, which literally scared the crap out of him, all I could do was clean him up and laugh. Being spit up on twice a day, doesn't bother me, I just add the clothes to the huge pile of other garments he finds creative ways to soil. In other words, even the bad times are some of the best times of my life, so you can imagine how great the good times are. And hopefully by next week we will be playing our guitars together...
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