How do you like being a dad?

I get asked this question a lot. I think it's kind of a dumb question (sorry to those who have asked me) but it's true. It ranks up there with:

1. Hot enough for ya?
   
2. Cold enough for ya?
   
3. Why you going to the airport, flying somewhere?

Being a dad is the best thing I've ever done. It's the best job I've ever had. I'm 5 months in and I think I'm pretty good at it. Yes it's true, I've made him cry a few times. (6 times to be exact) But I've stopped him from crying many more times than that (more than 6, but not really too many times...he is such a happy baby)

If you just want to hear good, great, amazing (or my default answer) awesome, ask "how do you like being a dad." If you want more than a one word answer, ask "What does it feel like to be a dad?" Even if you already have kids and know what it feels like, I think it's a better question, that will prompt different answers from everyone you ask.

I came up with the question and I'm not even sure how to answer it. Do I talk about how it felt the first day, the first month or how it feels now, 5 months in. I could talk about it all day. I can't remember what Allison told me is for dinner tonight, but I can tell you all about giving Ben his bottle last Thursday night. I can go into Navin R Johnson detail with it:

"I know we've only known each other four weeks and three days, but to me it seems like nine weeks and five days. The first day seemed like a week and the second day seemed like five days. And the third day seemed like a week again and the fourth day seemed like eight days. And the fifth day you went to see your mother and that seemed just like a day, and then you came back and later on the sixth day, in the evening, when we saw each other, that started seeming like two days, so in the evening it seemed like two days spilling over into the next day and that started seeming like four days, so at the end of the sixth day on into the seventh day, it seemed like a total of five days. And the sixth day seemed like a week and a half. I have it written down, but I can show it to you tomorrow if you want to see it."
Sorry, back to being a dad. I'm trying to describe what having a kid is like. Combine your favorite toy with your favorite pet and multiply it by 5, that's what it's like. I can be angry one minute, I look at him and I'm smiling again. He's awesome. Look at him, how can you be mad about anything when he smiles at you like that?
He's sitting up on his own like a champ and playing with his toys. I think he'll be crawling by next week. He can get up on his hands and he can get up on his knees, but he can't do them both at the same time. He's been close a few times. It's time to start baby proofing the house and get some baby gates.
There have been some funny parenting moments. We've taken his diaper off before he was finished going #1 and #2. Another time, somehow, his overalls got put on backwards. (I didn't do it)
We fixed it, but it was pretty funny. I'm not sure how funny he'll think it was when he hears about it and sees the pictures when he gets older, but for now...it's funny.
He's also decided that even when he's not in his bouncer, it's time to bounce. We'll hold him on our laps and he'll just start bouncing away. We'll feed him his late night bottle and instead of eating it, he'll just sit there smiling at us. He eventually eats, but not until he's smiled for a few.

He likes to show off for his parents. When I pick him up from my in-laws house he is really happy to see me. Last Tuesday he was in his Fisher-Price Jumperoo. When I got there he started jumping like crazy. If I stopped looking at him to talk with my mother-in-law, he would start making noise until I looked at him again...then he would resume jumping like crazy.

I think he's very smart. I make funny sounds to make him laugh. When I do it I make crazy eyes and take a deep breath. Now when I make crazy eyes and take a deep breath, he already starts to giggle. I stop and say "I didn't even do anything yet! don't laugh yet" but then I make the sounds and he laughs.

I feel like this is all over the place, but at least it's a post. I had to bang it out on my lunch break (and maybe a little over it) It feels good writing again. I'll keep it up. Ben's first baseball game is this week. We're taking him to see the Braves at Disney. It's pretty cool because this is my first spring training game too. I'll have pix and a post on that by the end of the week.