Ode to a 2.5 week Daddy

I admit that during pregnancy I was nervous. There were signs. For example, Ben would get positively apoplectic when trapped in a baby store for longer than 10 minutes. He usually grumbled when I asked him to assemble some of the baby gear we got. He was horrible at feigning interest in the gifts we got at our baby shower. And sometimes he complained that having a baby would take away what little was left of his free time ( ok I did this too).

Ben has been a daddy for 2.5 weeks now and he still hates baby stores, baby gear and baby gifts. But there is no doubt in my mind that he loves every minute of being a father. He changes diapers, he watches her sleep, he invents games like baby spaceship and he makes a mean baby burrito. He gets her prescriptions refilled and he recently started compiling a list of questions to ask Susannah's future boyfriends. The first question on the list: Are you aware that Susannah's father is trained in martial arts?

My favorite part of all is how unselfconscious he is about it all. He proudly strolls down the streets of Brooklyn carrying Susannah in the Baby Bjorn. He tells all our friends who come visit all the gory details about Susannah's birth and if you ever have a question about how to be a good birth partner, ask him. He says aloud "she's so cute" at least 15 times a day and he doesn't get flustered or frustrated, not even when she projectile-pees all over the wall in the nursery at 3 a.m.

Sure it bothers me that he doesn't think she needs baths and I thought it was a little too soon when he took her off roading in her stroller at the Botanic Gardens when she was barely two weeks old. But he goes back to work on Tuesday and I get a little weepy just thinking about it.
He's the one that reminds me everyday through his actions that our first job as parents is to enjoy her everyday.

Thank God we are in this together, Ben. I love you. Happy Father's Day.