Stay at Home Dad

It's been a little over a month since I've taken over the helm on the house-front.  Miranda is back working around 28 hours a week, and with this being my last semester, I've been able to arrange a schedule that allows me to be home for most of the day.  It's just me and Max.

Occasionally I will have to go down to school for work in the law clinic.  And Max comes in tow.  Although I'm deathly afraid of him having either 1) a diaper explosion, or 2) a temper explosion, while at school, most of the time he is his well-behaved self.  And to be honest, I think it's worth the risk.  I like being "that guy with the baby."  Today, for example, my clinic partner and I were meeting with our supervisor in one of the front Clinic rooms which, if blinds are open, is visible from the outside hall.  After Max had woken up, I was holding him on my lap, and soon after noticed a couple of Chinese students admiring him from afar.  And it's true, it's not every day that we see babies at law school, but I'd like to think that this baby gets so much attention just because he's ridiculously friggin' cute.

But being a stay at home dad isn't all ponies and twinkies and rainbows.  Also today, before his angelic display for the spectators, he unleashed his inner beast and wailed for a good hour and a half.  For apparently no good reason.  I really can't be sure, though.  As a barometer, to tell whether he's just being cranky or whether he's really uncomfortable, I apply the vacuum test, in which I pit my son up against our vacuum.  You see, babies supposedly are comforted by "white noise" because it simulates womb conditions.  Since I don't have a white noise machine, I just use the vacuum.  So applying the vacuum test today, for example, the vacuum won.  As I turned the vacuum on, he quieted down and even had the audacity to flash a few toothless (but not for long) grin up at me.  The nerve.  And I thought there was something wrong.  Yesterday, however, it was he conquered.  That just means I was doing something wrong.

But for the most part, I love being the one who gets to stay home.  It is probably the only chance I'll have to play this role (as long as I find a darn job) and I will truly admire Miranda that much more for having to do it with not just one, but maybe two, or three, or four at home at the same time.  

Enjoy some video:

So Max is learning slowly to roll over.  We train exhaustively after each feeding.

I took a trip to Louisville last weekend, and came home to find I had been replaced by a tiny stuffed bear.  Either way, it's fun to listen to Max talk.

So you can't see everything in this video (sorry, I can only do so much when it's just me) but I just discovered this game that Max apparently loves.  His laugh kills me.