Draw me like one of your french girls Jack...

Howdy gang,

Sorry for the delay the post. I had one heck of a long day yesterday and I managed to take a 14 hour nap. And napping is my segue into today's topic. My daughter Elizabeth sleeps a lot, which is totally normal for infants. Our daddy/daughter naps are easily my favorite part of having an infant and are the highlight of my day. We have also been quite fortunate because somewhere around the 3 week mark we started to get a 4-6 hour straight stretch of sleep from her. Well...I saw fortunate, but if you re-read that last sentence you will find that I said that we get a 4-6 hour stretch, but I never said when that stretch will occur. That is because we have no clue ourselves. Every time she falls asleep it is a dice roll if this will be a 5 min cat nap, a regular 1.5-2 hour nap, or if she is out for the count. That makes it pretty much the opposite of helpful. As I mentioned in a previous post, Elizabeth may be some sort of evil genius (I have a solid theory that she is a Sith Lord actually) and she seems to be able to sense what kind of sleep will be the most inconvenient for Mommy and Daddy.

I also know that I don't have any real grounds to be complaining. My wife, who I still think should be canonized by the Pope for sainthood, is breastfeeding. So she is up pretty much every 2-4 hours with an infant demanding that she whip out her boob and quench my her thirst! (sidenote: I have tried a similar technique where I cry and demand a beer brought to me while my wife is shirtless, so far I would not suggest anyone else try this) Since I have yet to learn how to produce milk, I get to either sit there like a goon while my daughter makes that creepy direct eye contact with me, or continue to sleep. I have done my best to stay helpful, but there is only so much a guy can do. Most days I do the dishes, vacuum, do laundry, etc. My wife says that it has been a huge help, but I really can't wait to help out a little bit more once we start to introduce a bottle in a few weeks.

Elizabeth insists on posing when she falls asleep.

I have done my best not to be too anthropomorphic when it comes to any of Elizabeth's actions. Somethings she does are the beginnings of her personality starting to form, but many are involuntary. But it is while she is sleeping that my imagination runs wild. When she is nodding off, I am convinced that she is trying to stay awake because she is soooooo fascinated with her surroundings. I am also convinced that she loves The Office and listening to Baby Metal. Sometimes when she sleeps she will smile out of nowhere. Infants can dream, but one has to wonder what they dream about. I mean, until a few weeks ago they could barely see and they don't know what anything is anyways. I like to think that they dream of things that they like. So my assumption is that Elizabeth dreams about a river of boobs where the milk never stops flowing and she never has to burp. Daddy is there making goofy faces and Mommy is telling him to stop. Seems legit to me.

Dad also insists on posing. "Draw me like one of your french girls Jack."

The picture to the left was taken a mere few minutes after my wife had taken Elizabeth from my arms. One does have to wonder where Elizabeth learned her poses from, if this is a nature vs. nurture situation? The mind truly boggles at the possibilities. This is also probably the best example of why my beautiful, smart, creative, amazing wife deserves to be a saint. It is also the best example of why I insist that all of our friends and family call or text before they stop by our house. This isn't just because there is a newborn in the house, this is pretty much how it is around our house most of the time. Here is to all of your being able to sleep as well as Elizabeth or myself. Thanks for reading and as always...Cheers!