I was going to warn you that your wife will be seriously craving adult conversation, just as you are getting home from talking to adults all day long, and are craving some silence.
Maybe mention this to your wife.
I was going to warn you that your wife will be seriously craving adult conversation, just as you are getting home from talking to adults all day long, and are craving some silence.
Maybe mention this to your wife.
This is perhaps the time (after 4 pages of useful advice) to mention a comic from a year or so back (Bizarro, maybe?) that showed a young guy opening his front door to find Death on the doorstep. "No, wait! It's not fair! We just had a baby!!"
"Oh, relax," says Death. "I'm not here for you, I'm just here for your sleep, your privacy, your sex life, and your money."
AngryCorvair said a lot of good stuff about how to talk to your kid. I've always treated my daughter like a short adult (still do) and it appears to have paid off big time. She's still akid, we still joke around (you should have been there this morning for the 'marshmallow arts' silliness) and there's definitely an age gap but she's never really acted like an idiot kid and best of all she will say things that make me realize she considers the consequences of her actions.
"marshmallow arts" silliness? huh? Yeah, now you need to explain... Well kids are sorta short adults, though they're really short adults when they're just born. I need to teach him how to dial 911 before his 3rd birthday, or atleast get the phone for when daddy is stuck under the car when the jack slipped out. Funny that I read that on here someplace happening to someone. Kinda scary I envision it for my future though,
Is it bad I already made a creeper mount for the baby bouncer? So I can watch him and change oil at the same time...
Andrew
Again, Dr. Spock said it best, over 50 years ago. Trust your instincts....
you know more than you think you do.
Everybody's already mentioned sleep, but I'm going to mention it again, because it can't be mentioned enough. I can pick out a new parent in a crowd the moment they speak because that rasp comes out. 
And +eleventy billion (thanks, KND) on enjoying it. My ex-wife's family has a wonderful saying: "They don't stay yours long." And it's true.
The main thing I'd reccommend (that I haven't seen anybody else mention yet) is even though it's your genetics...it's still a different person that will have different interests from yours from time to time. Don't make any sign of disappointment if your kid doesn't like the stuff you do. Strangely enough, I managed to do that when I discovered she doesn't like the car stuff, but kind of failed after discovering she'd inherited her mother's "tin ear". It wasn't quite as bad as "Mr. Holland's Opus", but I panicked a little bit. I was thinking, "..no cars, no music, hell-we've got nothing in common!" I couldn't have been more wrong. We laugh about it now, but she's told me it really bothered her at the time because she felt like she was letting me down. And really, I should have known better..I had one of those "sports fathers", and his reaction after I decided to try something other than American Rules football (after playing in full pads from age 6 to 14) made me so angry that I can't stand the sound of it on TV to this very day. Let the kid be the person they're going to be, resist the temptation to use a kid to be the 2nd chance you wish you had.
You've got a couple of months yet, so be sure to spend some quiet time with mom 2 be. Maybe even a weekend at a B&B if shes up for it. Enjoy your last days a 'couple'.
I can pass on this piece of advice after being a Dad for a couple days.
Seriously though, it's the coolest thing ever. The whole "Nap-when-they-nap" thing is a good idea.Also, you probably are gonna end up with some free stuff when you leave the hospital.We ended up with some formula and a free diaper bag with some goodies.Oh, most hospitals do a "belt check". We brought the car seat in before we left and the nurses checked the seat to see how well the baby was belted in before we left.It's a good idea to get comfortable with how the car seat gets hooked up in the car and how to get it out as well.
We've been doing it (parenting) for....2 weeks, 2 days. It's incredible. Draining. Exhausting. Incredible.
Still learning, and I don't expect that to stop. Don't underestimate the toll it takes on mom. My wife has been doing great, but (for her) the 2 week mark is when lack of sleep, crazy hormones etc started to catch up with her....
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