You know, between the last post and this one, I did intend to post a couple of other installments - even started one of them - but as the saying goes, life has a way of getting in the way. There's a long road stretching out behind me that leads back to September 12th (the date of my last post) that only I can see, and it seems like a very long time ago - particularly now.
I went back and re-read the beginning of that blog I started. It was going to be about learning:
"I think I'll write about learning. Learning - sometimes also referred to as "growing" - comes in many forms, some good, some not so much. For instance, have you ever seen those lists titled "everything I needed to learn about life I learned from (fill in the blank here)? Every time I'm headed for work and see my dog lying in the sunshine in the front yard wiggling around on her back in the grass and laughing at the tennis ball or stick that she's playing with, I am reminded about the value of learning how to simply enjoy life, and to enjoy life simply. I am also reminded of how infrequently I seem to make time to do just that. My daughter-to-be will learn many things from me. I hope I can teach her some things that I'm not very good at myself. Perhaps she can teach me how to do those things better in return."
I had intended to tell you about the wonderful things Katrice and I had been learning from this pregnancy experience. Things like just how little real estate there can be when trying to share a bed with the bun-in-the-oven, or new words like "polydactyly" (which I'll come back to later).
But see, here's the thing - I can't really remember now what I was going to write about then, and I'm pretty confident in saying that's because my daughter was born six days ago. Suddenly the whole pregnancy period has taken on a blurry, dream-like quality in comparison to this new reality that has finally come tumbling into Katrice's & my life.
My previous posts were all geared towards having a little fun with the events of my life at the time. Maybe try to relieve a little stress and anxiety through humor. At this moment I can't really think of anything funny to say, though.
But that's not because anything bad has happened - quite the opposite. I look into my newborn daughter's face and almost can't help but smile. Here is this tiny little creature with my wife's nose and my widow's peak that at one point not long ago I was - in a sense - almost afraid of. Now I stroke her hair or her cheek and think it's got to be the softest thing I've ever felt. I look at her little hands and they are absolutely fascinating. People had mentioned to me in the past that new parents often spend long periods of time just staring at their newborn, and I would always think "okay, whatever..." I have now become a believer, though. Yes, I've become an official baby-starer.
Oh, and a baby-smeller, too. I was also not so convinced when people would tell me that newborns have a certain smell about them. Well, I can't describe it to you, but it's there. Maybe it's the smell of innocence, who knows. I know full well there are stinky days ahead, but for now I'll sniff my daughter's head every chance I get.
So I guess no jokes for this particular post. My life at the moment is dominated a bit more by a quiet sense of wonder at this new little person that has entered the world. Wonder at the fact that, where there was once no person, now there is.
I just can't top that...
