How we are approaching a full year of my daughter being here is mind blowing.
Over the past year, I have chatted about being Dad. There are a lot of you out there that are new Dads or Moms yourself. It’s kinda fun to share what my experience has been like through these past 9 months, but I also understand that everyone’s experience is ENTIRELY different.
- She is the cutest damn thing that has ever existed.
No seriously dude…she smiles non-stop, makes all the sounds, and basically talks to me with a variety of sounds. I can come home from a stressful day at work or something, and the moment I see her…my whole demeanor just changes. At first I put on the happy face, but after about 2 minutes of her crawling around and seeing her do her SUPER excited bouncing cause she sees dad? I just f*&*in’ melt.
- Kids sizes in cloths feel more like minutes than months.
Newborn, 3M, 6M, and 9M…hell she even kinda fits into some 12 month stuff, brand dependent of course. Her 9M stuff is already starting to feel tight, so we are currently in that 9M-12M. Then I guess we start hitting the T’s…which mind blowing and devastating at the same time. If she could stay the age she is? That’d be juuuuuust fine.
- Those first few months of Dad? Were a struggle.
Some parents just get it right? Kid pops out and it’s ALL SET TO GO! My wife as I have mentioned before was ‘Insta-Mom.’ Me on the other hand….didn’t get it. The transition from Dude to Dad is a tough one. My whole life I have only known about RUNNING forward for whatever gain I need…do the job, make the money, be over excelling at whatever it is. But now? It’s not really that anymore. I look back on those first few months and just go…’Whew, that was kinda rough.’ These days though, I’m in a MUCH different place…but I still look forward to naps.
- Finding time for anything else is pretty difficult.
Go on a date? See a movie? Video games? Sometimes is impossible to do. Katie and I work a variety of hours. I get roughly home at 7pm, she gets home around 6…leaving us a VERY small amount of time to do anything recreationally. The only times we MAY get is the weekends…but you know, I can’t take a baby to an R-rated film you know? Those weekends usually though are full of prep for the next weekend, and sometimes she has to work on weekends! I have also had to step away from things like Waterloo Blackhawks music, concerts, streaming twice a week, etc. That’s life, and it may not be the way it used to be…but oddly? I wouldn’t trade her for it. I will also note that we have no blood family here, so I can’t just drop her off for a few hours like so many are able to do.
- She can scream like a banshee.
Good lord you’d think the house was coming down on her. She’ll sit in her high chair and eat food, but when she is done? The ear piercing scream unleashes, signaling she wants out of the chair. I have had to use ‘Dad Voice’ multiple times to try to teach her to use a different way to get my attention, but…like any Dad knows….gotta be patient. Meanwhile, she continues to be louder than a Motorhead show.
We’ll talk again at the 1 year stage.
