Advice to a Recent Father

Tonight, I ran across a discussion while I was digging back through mailing list archives to try to see what I've been missing. I haven't had much time lately (even less than usual, thanks to the move).

The basic gist was open-source politics. One respondent really wanted to help, but he has a 4 month old baby. I started this as a PM to him, then changed my mind and decided that it'd make a lot more sense here:

My baby just turned 9 months old. He's starting to have a personality and interact and actually be fun.

I think he had colic from about 2-5 months. I loved him then, but he really was neither interesting nor fun. Then he jumped straight into screaming about his teeth.

I'm pretty sure he started growing molars this week, which is miserable. But...he's turned into a little person who's exploring the world, figuring out ways to do things that we don't want (and laughing about it!), and is

way easier to *like* than that squalling infant who wasn't mobile enough to get into everything we thought was safe.

I'm not saying it's any easier (I'm sure it is, but I've forgotten most of that time frame*). But I started getting positive feedback a month or so ago. And now he's starting to figure out basic mechanical stuff.**

I don't know anything about you or yours, so I really hope that I'm not stepping into something noxious by sending you this out of the blue.

But you should be on the short part of the uphill slope before the ride starts getting enjoyable.

I'm really hoping we're actually past that part, though the past week suggests otherwise.***

Then again, Mal's had a rough week.

* This part was a lie. I vividly remember pacing back and forth our block, with Mal in his carrier, screaming, so Laura could get a shower

** Tonight, he managed to pop the top off his universal straw thing (it lets him hydrate at any angle, but the lid that hides the straw wasn't built very well), put it back on (which, according to Laura, is a first), and then open and close it a few times. Laura's ready for him to stop having these sorts of milestones for a while so they can get some sleep)

*** Moving's tough on everyone! This is the point where I decided to publish here instead of sending a total stranger notes about my parenting (such as it is).