Poop, Puke and Play

Things you (re)learn with a baby in the house:

• you will never regret time spent holding them. Ever.
• when they start to make those cooing noises? Love.
• their smiles will melt your heart. Many times over.
• when they start to cry with tears it will break your heart.
• your own deep breathing practice will calm them down, too.
• sleep is a gift. I'm not doing nights with the baby anymore but sleep still feels like a gift.
• grateful for hand me downs otherwise you'd go broke buying all those cute baby outfits you see.
• smelling a baby's head is still the best thing ever.
• smelling their formula fed poops ain't. It helps to be out of the line of fire when changing a diaper because there's such a thing as projectile poop. Who knew?
• Singing Pat a Cake, Pat a Cake, Baker's Man is still fun. So is Itsy Bitsy Spider. I smile even if the baby doesn't. 

I went looking for baby memes. Most of them are directed at moms and the ones for dads mostly take a stab at how much a dad doesn't do with their baby. The situation in our home isn't ideal. But it is our reality. Our son is doing a darn good job being a dad under less than ideal, and unplanned for, circumstances. 

We haven't spent this much time with a baby since this son was a baby. Dearest One commented the other day that this is the most time he's spent with any baby, ever. His schedule is much more flexible at the moment and he does the occasional night shift with the baby so he is getting more baby snuggles than he's ever had. Years ago my counselor spoke about how her husband didn't grasp until he was a grandparent how much work parenting is. I think Dearest One would agree. 

Here's to a new month. A new week. A new day. The sun is shining. Life is good.