Diary of a Third Time Dad

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WEEK THIRTY - SEPTEMBER 2002

Appreciating the big things in life.

The little guy is officially crawling now. The first time was so much fun, with all of us gathered around cheering him on. He was so proud.

I realized today that so many patients have come into the office so excited to tell me that their baby has just started crawling. And as a doctor, my first thought has always been, "Good. Your baby has met a major nine-month milestone and is developing normally." But for these proud parents, this event is so much more than a check-mark under crawling in their medical chart. It's the most life-changing milestone in their baby's life so far. It's the whole new world of discovery that their baby is experiencing. This is what I am experiencing right now, and it's exciting!

So the next time a patient tells me their baby has just learned to crawl, I will have a much greater appreciation for what this means to them.

Where's the baby?

The most common phrase you would hear in our house used to be "can you go check on the baby?" Meaning, go over to where you last left the baby to play and make sure he's all right.

Now, it's "Can you go FIND the baby?" because if we leave him alone for more than a couple minutes, we will find him in a completely different time zone.

Probably the funniest place we've found him so far is behind the couch, with his little feet sticking out to give him away.

Pulling my leg.

I was sitting at the dining room table working, and I feel something grabbing my leg. It scared the heck out of me. I look down, and there's Joshua smiling up at me.

This is so weird. I'm so used to knowing exactly where the baby is. It's just so funny to see him suddenly appear out of nowhere asking to play.

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