Mesmorizing

It’s neat watching the kids with the baby.  They were so excited.  Of course, all my daughter wants to do is play with him so it’s interesting explaining to her that it will be a while before the baby can play with her and our oldest.  Thinking back to our first child, this is a bit of a let down for fathers, sometimes, too.  We like response.  It’s why we’re drawn to the people we call friends, it’s why we like when people laugh at our attempts at humor.  I remember being excited to interact with the baby.  But when the baby arrives, it’s not able to really interact yet.  Many of the things we’ll do as fathers to a newborn to get a “response” out of, won’t draw a response at all.  More of just a blank stare.  However, this is equally amazing in it’s own way.   

This time around, as we sat with our newborn in the hospital for two days, I pretty much decided I could stare at a baby for hours and be mesmerized (oddly, I also feel this way about low flying commercial jets)!  And of course it is very attached to mommy and that can be hard for a dad to accept at first too, the attachment to mommy that doesn’t seem to be taking place for the father at first.  So realizing that this is natural and the way it’s supposed to be can be helpful to begin with.  The time for a baby’s response to its loving father’s silly faces and tickles is coming soon enough, and it’s amazing.  But don’t let the delay squelch the amazement of a newborn, it’s tininess, it’s meagerness, it’s reliance upon its mother, and you.  The amazement of how a newborn looks that is so much different than at any point in the human lifecycle.  I always kind of felt it was like a mix of old man and alien... in a cute way, of course!  So, as much as you get the chance just stare… for hours… because soon enough, you won’t be able to.