Crib in the Man Cave

Friday, June 03, 2011

If there are a crib and a changing table in your home office, does it still qualify as a man cave? Plumbing the philosophical depths with that question, I announce something that has me both very excited and very nervous: If all goes well, I will be the proud father of a baby girl within the next three weeks. Mrs. Van Horn is about ready to pop, so if I suddenly seem to drop off the face of the Earth at some point during the next few weeks, that's probably why. I want to be fully present to welcome little "Peanut" into the world, so there won't be any tweets or live-blogging coming from me.

I am not sure how much of that part of my life I will decide to share here, but I understand that the first few months of this lifelong journey can be very hectic. That and the fact that I am juggling a couple of other major life changes along with this one mean that I there could be some really big changes in my blogging and writing routines. But since there is lots of information I don't have right now -- like what kind of baby she will be -- I'm going to play that by ear.

More than one person has told me that the experience of fatherhood will change my life in many unexpected and profound ways. I think I experienced that first-hand a few weeks ago during a daycare tour. In case we would need it, I toured a couple of facilities near home. During the first of these tours, I randomly caught the eye of a baby sitting alone on the floor without his parents around. I immediately felt really sorry for him and found myself nursing a big lump in my throat for the rest of the visit. I wasn't sent to daycare myself and I'm not thrilled with the idea, but the intensity of the emotion was surprising. Fortunately, we won't need daycare for at least the first few months. On the more mundane level, I catch myself looking for stroller ramps wherever I go. Having to look out for a little one changes practically everything.

And speaking of changing things, I need to go now and get back to work on shoehorning the newest member of my family into our tiny apartment.

-- CAV

13 comments:

Nicholas Provenzo said...

Best wishes to you and your wife at this exciting time!

Resident Egoist said...

CONGRATULATIONS GUS!

C. August said...

"like what kind of baby she will be"

Well, here's hoping she's human!

Kidding aside, congratulations in advance! I didn't even know you and Mrs. VH were expecting.

Good luck, and enjoy the last few weeks of sleep.

Gus Van Horn said...

Thanks, everyone!

Yes, C., I did pretty much keep things under wraps. This is the kind of thing I don't like to announce early anyway, particularly on the web, where not just friends will see it. But, yeah. I will miss sleeping.

Gideon said...

Congratulations! And yes, it will change your life.

Stephen Bourque said...

Wow, that's great to hear! Congratulations!

The inevitable sleep deprivation will definitely contribute to a sense of delirium, but it all goes by very quickly. Enjoy it!

mtnrunner2 said...

Oh, that kind of crib.

That's really awesome, congratulations to you both!

And here's wishing you both strength to deal with the inevitable overextension of those first few weeks/months :)

Kevin McAllister said...

Congratulations! Best to you and your family.

Don't worry about missing sleep, you won't have time to think at that level.

Brad Harper said...

Get ready to recompile... ;]

You'll make one incredible father.

Realist Theorist said...

Congrats and all the best.

kelleyn said...

Congratulations! I will miss you :)

Gus Van Horn said...

Thanks, but I do hope to remain here, or at least return at some point.

Anonymous said...

congratulations Mr. and Mrs. VH.

c. andrew