The time is coming up fast

So I am going on paternity leave from my work. I will be off for almost a full year with my son. I am really looking forward to the time I will have with him bonding and growing together. I will be off from Oct. 11, 2011 until September 4, 2012. I am actually getting more time off work than my wife did. I am really fortunate that I work somewhere that allows me the freedom to have the chance to spend this time with my son.

Let me back up a stitch and explain life a little. My son Oscar was born on January 19th, 2011 at a healthy 7lb 5oz (3 weeks early). He is a happy little man that is growing nicely and only tends to grumble when there is an issue (poopy diaper, hungry, or tired). He isn't one to just complain to complain and for that I am thankful. I am the youngest of 7 (I am the tender age of 39) and the next closest "child" in the family is almost 10 years older than Oscar, so there is a stretch in the age gap for cousins. My siblings are all in their mid to late forties and some have children that are already in their late teens. My mother is in her early 70s and my mother-in-law is in her late 60s. So needless to say all the people in Oscar's life are older so to speak. My wife is also the youngest in her family of 4 and has been off work since the day Oscar arrived.


Back to now. We have had a number of transitions the last week or so and it has been rather dramatic at the house; Oscar started on real food and it seems to be going well; Oscar has now started sleeping in his crib at night (tonight is night 3 and fingers crossed it seems to be going really good).


Last week I signed us up for activities this fall and winter that Oscar and I can do together on weekday mornings (3 days a week) and we will see how that goes. Some of the things my wife will start and I will finish as they are starting before I go on leave.


My role model for fathering was learned at the knee of a man whose own childhood was not the easiest and with a military background was not always the nicest at times. Don't get me wrong; I loved my father and I wish he was still with us to meet Oscar as I know he would love him very much. I talk to Oscar about my Dad and let him know he is watching him from heaven. As tough at times as my Dad was, I did learn a lot of things from him and I learned how to do a lot of things that come in handy in the real world. Mind you, at the time I was learning them I was sometimes cursing his name in my head, wondering why I needed to be helping some stranger he had just met move wood, but I learned that helping others is a good thing and that someday karma will come back to you.


I am hoping that this time together with Oscar makes me a better father, a better husband, and a better man.