BA's Corner: Mr. Mom

A couple of weeks ago, AA had an intensive class. Now, I would think most classes in law school are pretty intensive, but this class met Thursday night, Friday night, and all day Saturday. You know what this means....Daddy/daughter time!

Seeing as I was the sole person charged with keeping this tiny human being alive until AA came home, I was both excited and a little anxious. After all, when you're having a conversation with a 3 month old, you don't get very far past "How was your day sweetheart?" But I had been trained by the best, so I tried to keep our usual routines.

Truthfully, it's a great investment of time. I mean, of course it's great for Leah to have the personal interaction, but I find that after I spend a few hours with her, she likes me...she recognizes me more easily, she smiles at me more, and (most importantly) I can soothe her more easily. It's very important to make that investment during waking hours so you can reap the benefits during the night! And I'm still competing with AA to have a strong connection with Leah...you know, because of that whole, "I grew her inside of me from scratch" argument.

So AA's dad told me kids are not a big deal...just read to them. (By the way, she seems to like Robert Frost better than Dr. Seuss right now....go figure). So far, the answer seems to be just spend time with them.

We ate dinner together (ok, she ate, then watched me eat). We talked about our days (I talked, she cooed) and rolled around on the floor together (yes, I admit it). I even bathed her by myself! That was the first time either of us had done that. (Definitely tougher to do by yourself...it's really a 2-person job). And I put her in her bassinet to sleep.

But when I walked over to her bassinet 10 minutes later, this is what I saw...

Leah had kicked off the swaddle entirely. She was lying there, staring at the ceiling, entertaining herself. And when she looked at me, she gave me the biggest grin like she was having the best sleepover party ever. Gosh, it just melts your heart, doesn't it?

There was a time when we called this thing "The Baby Waker" or "The Sleep Repeller." If we needed her to wake up to eat, we'd put her in there, and she'd wake up as soon as she hit the pad. So I'm happy to see her entertaining herself in it (and even sleeping in it from time to time).

That Saturday, I shot up out of bed ready to rule the day. We had fun...we watched the Noles play, and I kept her smiling and laughing as much as possible. (Most of that time is spent trying to capture a picture of her smiling). Of course I had to dress her in the daddy outfit!

Of course, when AA walked in that night and asked me how I was, I smiled, sighed, and said...

"I'm exhausted. Don't ever leave me, because I can't do this alone!"