First Day Lessons

... After Kelly got to hold him for a little bit they took him back to the nursery to monitor him a little longer. About an hour later he was cleared and they brought him back to the room for keeps.

Today was a long day, but I learned a lot.

I learned how to change a diaper. This isn't as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Probably because the olfactory variable has yet to be factored into the equation. Newborn baby's poop doesn't smell. This might be a genetic human survival trait, because if a newborn's poop stuck they would not be near as adorable. At one point one of his diaper changes was like a nightmare visit to the La Brea tar pits. Once today he waited until his diaper was off to pee and got it all over the blankets, his shirt, and his face. What a nasty little dude. I was trying to explain to one of my friends that new babies poop even when they haven't eaten anything. He said we should send it off for analysis to determine what babies eat in heaven.

I learned how to swaddle a baby. After it was demonstrated to me I thought swaddling was like an origami of blankets that required ambidexterity in no less than 3 hands. After a few tries though, I was able to get a pretty good baby burrito going.

I learned how to breastfeed. Or I should say... I learned the process. Kelly was dreading this but the results of the first couple of tries were really positive. We'll all have to practice a lot more, but meanwhile we're supplementing with formula.

I also learned that there are no words to describe how I feel right now. The full range of human emotion is achieved with one look into my sons eyes, but love overshadows them all.