Well, it's day 6 and I'm pretty sure nobody is actually reading this anymore (I wouldn't), but what the heck - this blog site is free and what kind of a new dad would I be if I didn't waste everyone's time by forcing stories about my newborn son upon them.
The first few days back home felt extremely busy, yet it's difficult to relay any particular events of interest. Basically, it's watching Joey eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, sleep, eat, poop, yeah! It turns out number twos are a good thing, so we're constantly rooting for them despite their olfactory consequences. Don't worry, I'll refrain from describing them in detail. For those of you with kids, you already know. For those of you having kids, you will soon know. And for the rest of you, you don't want to know.
The strangest thing so far has turned out to be this light blanket thing that we have to wrap around Joey because he's jaundice. This thing is straight of Star Trek. Basically, the base looks and sounds like a video projector and there's a tube coming out of it that connects to a blanket/strap thing. This blanket glows neon blue and has to be wrapped around our little guy's torso 24/7 for a few days. For this reason, I've begun calling him "Glowey." The strangest moment came last night when I woke up in the wee hours of the morning. Caught somewhere in the haze between sleep and reality, I looked about the room in utter confusion. There was a loud humming noise, the room was glowing with a neon blue hue, and I had no idea where I was (those of you who know me know that it takes me a while to wake up). I thought that I had somehow gone back in time 3 decades to the time of lava lamps and black light art. After scoping the walls and failing to find felt Led Zeppelin posters, I looked to my left and found that the source of the glow was coming from something under the blankets. I peeled back the covers and saw that a little body was the source. He looked like a hybrid of E.T. and Avatar. I was so out of it, I momentarily forgot that I had a son and I almost screamed. Anyway, the whole contraption is pretty futuristic and pretty cool I think since I'm kind of techie. The future is now folks, and my glowing blue baby is proof positive.
Lindsay is doing unbelievably fantastic. We went straight from the hospital to the Beall's house for a family BBQ. She was cruising around the house playing with her nieces as if nothing had changed. In fact, we later joked around that both of us forgot a few times that we even had a son. Lindsay is the best mother any little critter could ask for. She has to wake up every 2 hours to feed him in the middle of the night, but does so with joy - even telling me that it's like Christmas morning every time she wakes up and sees him snuggled up next to her.
Our dog, Walter, has taken the whole thing unbelievably well. He's taken it upon himself to be Joey's personal protector. Whenever Glowey cries, Walter sprints to him to ensure everything is OK and then lays down right below him. He needs to learn a thing or two about personal space, however. When Joey is on the couch, Walter loves to stick his face right in Joey's and lick his head.
We can't tell you all how much we've appreciated all your support in the forms of visits, calls, texts, notes, dinners...etc. It's such a blessing to have such a loving community and overwhelming support. We thank you all and send our love. When Joey is old enough, I'll make sure he makes it up to you all in one way or another. I'm guessing he'll be pretty tall, but if he's anything like his pops he won't be very adept at manual labor, so maybe he can change out your lightbulbs or something.
As for future posts on this blog, time will tell. If there's something interesting/entertaining to write about, I'll post it. We shall see. I'm pretty sure I've achieved annoying dad status already, but I don't want to push it.