Crib in the Man Cave

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