The Other Baby Shower

OK, it's not just water, but let me have some delusions. This article gives a whole new meaning to baby shower ... no cakes or presents this time. Although, for all the times when fatherhood seemed challenging, this just makes me laugh.

Patrick was less than an hour old ... one of the nurses was changing him when felt something warm on my chest. He managed to pee on me when I was standing over five feet away!

The nurses were kind enough to offer towels (although there was little odor at the time) and I did manage to get cleaned up.

Since he's been home, we get the random "fountain" that is more humorous than anything else ... and most often, these fountains are for my benefit.

It all started with one of his amazing smiles as I was changing his diaper ... something I'm not totally adverse to anymore. As soon as the diaper was lifted off ... so, the flow began. After several soakings, I've learned to watch for that smile ... with the diaper prepped to be slammed back in place.

Then, I've noticed he watches for me while his mother is giving him a bath ... and it's the fountain again (although it's harder for him to hit me with the distance and angle).

He just managed one today, almost straight up in the air ... with enough volume to soak his backside from his head to his toes. I cleaned the changing pad while Mama dunked him in the bathtub.

Comments

Terror or Anger

Jennifer and I woke about twenty minutes ago to Patrick crying ... nothing unusual. I asked her to get him since I have to start getting ready for work in about three hours (yes, I have to work on a Saturday). Where things became unusual was the loud, sustained crash, and Patrick's cries rising to a hefty scream. Being the concerned parent that I am ... with visions of his changing table collapsed on top of him, I rushed to their aid. "What was that?" I cried. Jennifer, weakly replied, "I fell down the stairs." With Patrick screaming at the top of his lungs, I think I actually asked her to repeat what she said. I found my wife sitting, with her legs out and my son in her arms, at the bottom of the stairs. Asking if she and Patrick were OK was mixed into confused questioning about what happened. Somehow, her feet went out from under her (we suspect a couple of the leaves that Patrick likes to play with were on the steps). While my real concern was i...

Happiness Is ...

Last night was a long night ... Patrick is either sick or having a reaction to something. He has a temperature, is in obvious pain, and has a good rash covering most of his body. We have opted to wait and call his doctor ... rather than a hospital run. They will not do any more than we are with medication for the pain and temperature. But, that is not what I am writing about this morning. What I want to touch on is ... Happiness. Children know something about happiness ... the younger they are the more they show a true understanding of happiness. They are often happy for no reason ... their eyes are open and Mama and Papa are there. I think, in there is something to remember ... sometimes, we need to be happy for no reason. I keep thinking about how easy it is to take the reason that someone is happy. This all came about, not because of Patrick's issues last night, but because of a few blissful minutes when I got back to the bedroom to find my wife and son asleep on t...

"Hello?"

We walked into my parents house ... looking for Papap. "Hello," we called. "'Ello," Patrick mimicked. "Hello," we called again, laughing a bit. "'Ello," Patrick mimicked again, delighted that he could get us laughing that easily. Out in the back yard, he went for the shovel (small blue plastic one I got for him a while back). "Maybe he should go shovel in the sand-box," Papap said ... Off he went to the sand-box, lugging the shovel. Later I asked him if he wanted raisins. Shaking his head no, he headed for the fridge. "Eeze," he said ... Cheese, he intended. His comprehension and vocal capacity is growing by leaps and bounds!

Fatherhood

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