Observations of a New Dad

The months before you have your first child are exciting, frightening, stressful, and a lot of fun all at once. When I found out we were having our first child, I was super excited and a little bit nervous.

The next nine months were a blur. So many doctor appointments, a baby announcement, a gender reveal, selling a house, buying a house, a cross country move…it was a lot in a short amount of time. And that was all before Canyon actually made his appearance. Granted, my wife and I made it a bit harder on ourselves by deciding to move from Chicago to Park City, Utah while she was almost seven months pregnant, but we did it for the right reasons. For the majority of our relationship together, we’ve shared a passion for being in the mountains, and we wanted Canyon to grow up surrounded by snowy peaks.

Putting the crazy cross country move aside, there still felt like there was so much to learn before Canyon was born and far too little time available. Luckily for all you future new dads out there, I’m happy to report that, despite my feeling unprepared, Canyon just recently turned five months old and is a thriving, energetic, and active little guy. I wanted to take some time to share a bit of what I learned on the job in the first five months of being a new dad. Enjoy!

My Observations as a New Dad

Babies are resilient. Though it’s still best practice to avoid dropping them if you can.

Sleeping three hours in a row has roughly the same effect as drinking an entire box of coffee from Dunkin’.

Sleeping six hours in a row is like finding a unicorn hiding amongst the zebras at the zoo — it doesn’t happen.

The world is an amazing place.

Life is much wetter. Drool is the best case scenario.

Boys are always loaded, cover it up or risk an unexpected shower.

A diaper doesn’t always work. Just hope he’s not sitting in your lap when it doesn’t (imagine trying to cover a volcano with a giant tissue).

Dad bods exist.

Poop color is an everyday conversation point.

Mom’s are seriously the most amazing people on the planet. I’m pretty sure I saw my wife remove a cape the other day when she thought I wasn’t looking.

Baby smiles are the only miracle drugs that actually work.

Babies don’t know you had a terrible day at work. They’re just happy to see you. Leave work at work.

People will think you’re crazy when you tell them in amazement that your baby rolled over today.

Literally everything will end up in your baby’s mouth. Everything.

My house used to look like My Lottery Dream Home but now it’s more like the Flop on Flip or Flop.

Physics may say otherwise, but 17 pounds gets heavier the longer you carry it.

Life changes too fast — put down your phone so you can experience and remember these moments.