Fatherhood update
Buh. It's totally awesome. Also buh.
I seem to be adapting to it pretty well. When Julia's upset, one of the best things for calming her down is me picking her up and bouncing her a little and talking to her. I tend to take the "sympathizing" tack when talking to her- she definitely didn't sign up for emerging into the world and while some parts of it are great some appear to not be to her liking.
For instance, breastfeeding, which she has figured out in the last 14 hours or so, is more than acceptable. People with cold stethoscopes are horribly cruel to inflict on unsuspecting babies. Similarly, she has been pretty pleased to discover the whole "lying on and looking at Mom and/or Dad" thing, while having her diaper checked is beneath her dignity.
We seem to have gotten an amazingly well-behaved baby. She is fussy before feeding, when she tries to explain that she's hungry. She then gets fed. She is then alert and happy, with a brief fussy phase while she scrunches her face trying to figure out how to dirty a diaper. Then, she wants to sleep, ideally curled up with one of us. Last night she actually slept for four and then for 6 hours quite happily, though she was pretty hungry when she woke up. The end result is that the first night was very tiring while we tried to figure out how to get her to feed and she screamed about it, and last night we actually got enough rest that both diony and I are feeling fairly perky.
Speaking of diony, she's recovering very quickly. Yesterday was her first day of solid food, and she adjusted well. The IV came out yesterday afternoon, which was a great relief. Yesterday she started being able to walk to the restroom, and at this point she's able to walk around on her own pretty well, though she still moves slowly out of caution. She got enough rest last night that she's actually reading right now, one of the endless series of Angela Thurkell books she picked up from the library.
This morning a marith dropped by and I snuck out briefly to go home and shower and get some decent coffee. The coffee here is the same as at my office, except they only have the worst of the two varieties, and don't have any hot chocolate so I can't make my "officeman's mocha". I ended up running into hasan and decided to grab coffee and a cinnamon roll at a coffee shop to "avoid dirtying any plates". A Stanford football game prevented me from getting back before diony was in a lactation class, but I wouldn't have been allowed into it anyway; they have something against men hanging out with a bunch of bare chested women.
I can already tell I'm going to be one of those obnoxious dads who blathers endlessly about his kids. So, if you're reading this, be warned: My repetoire has expanded beyond games / books and you are officially in for it.
I seem to be adapting to it pretty well. When Julia's upset, one of the best things for calming her down is me picking her up and bouncing her a little and talking to her. I tend to take the "sympathizing" tack when talking to her- she definitely didn't sign up for emerging into the world and while some parts of it are great some appear to not be to her liking.
For instance, breastfeeding, which she has figured out in the last 14 hours or so, is more than acceptable. People with cold stethoscopes are horribly cruel to inflict on unsuspecting babies. Similarly, she has been pretty pleased to discover the whole "lying on and looking at Mom and/or Dad" thing, while having her diaper checked is beneath her dignity.
We seem to have gotten an amazingly well-behaved baby. She is fussy before feeding, when she tries to explain that she's hungry. She then gets fed. She is then alert and happy, with a brief fussy phase while she scrunches her face trying to figure out how to dirty a diaper. Then, she wants to sleep, ideally curled up with one of us. Last night she actually slept for four and then for 6 hours quite happily, though she was pretty hungry when she woke up. The end result is that the first night was very tiring while we tried to figure out how to get her to feed and she screamed about it, and last night we actually got enough rest that both diony and I are feeling fairly perky.
Speaking of diony, she's recovering very quickly. Yesterday was her first day of solid food, and she adjusted well. The IV came out yesterday afternoon, which was a great relief. Yesterday she started being able to walk to the restroom, and at this point she's able to walk around on her own pretty well, though she still moves slowly out of caution. She got enough rest last night that she's actually reading right now, one of the endless series of Angela Thurkell books she picked up from the library.
This morning a marith dropped by and I snuck out briefly to go home and shower and get some decent coffee. The coffee here is the same as at my office, except they only have the worst of the two varieties, and don't have any hot chocolate so I can't make my "officeman's mocha". I ended up running into hasan and decided to grab coffee and a cinnamon roll at a coffee shop to "avoid dirtying any plates". A Stanford football game prevented me from getting back before diony was in a lactation class, but I wouldn't have been allowed into it anyway; they have something against men hanging out with a bunch of bare chested women.
I can already tell I'm going to be one of those obnoxious dads who blathers endlessly about his kids. So, if you're reading this, be warned: My repetoire has expanded beyond games / books and you are officially in for it.