Some Assembly Required

It's hard to believe, but Jude and I have been home with John Patrick for three days. It seems like longer, mostly because we're having to learn how to care for our son on the fly, often by trial and error. You can read all the books you want, listen to all the advice you receive from friends, family, doctors and nurses and attend all the classes you want, but nothing prepares you for that moment when you carry your child into the house for the first time.

Early, and I mean early, Wednesday morning, sometime after 2 a.m., as Jude and I lay in bed trying to figure out what to do to get John Patrick to stop crying, the predominant thought in my mind was "what in the hell have we done? A baby at our age? What were we thinking?" We were tired, stressed out, confused, intimidated and scared. Yes, all of those things. But, you know what? I wouldn't have it any other way. I just kept recalling what John Boatman, a close friend of mine with an 18-month old son, told us - "enjoy it all, especially the hard times, because he'll grow up so quickly."

It really does feel like Jude and I have gotten on the world's longest roller coaster. One minute, as I hold John Patrick in my arms, sleeping peacefully, I'm on top of the world. "There's nothing to this parenthood thing," I think. Then, a minute later, John Patrick starts crying. I check his diaper and it's clean. He's not hungry, but he keeps crying. "There's no way I can do this," I think. Up, down, up, down. An emotional roller coaster.

Here's the cool part of it, though. Every day, Jude and I are learning, just like John Patrick is learning. We're learning how to be parents and he's learning . . . everything.

We're learning he absolutely hates a wet diaper. We're learning he loves to be held and rocked in a rocking chair. It almost always stops him from crying. We're learning he loves to take long naps in the afternoon. We're also learning that when he takes long naps in the afternoon, he loves to wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. We're learning he hates to take a bath. I mean, he screams, wails, and his face turns bright red. We're learning he loves to stretch his arms and yawn, as he sleeps. He does it again and again and it makes us smile every time.

We've learned these things and more, in just three days! That's part of what's so exciting, for us, I think. We've been blessed, at the ages of 41 and 38 respectively, with the opportunity to learn so much about life and about ourselves. I don't think we can ask for much more than that. I really don't.