This is a draft I wrote on June 18, 2009, that I never got around to finishing and publishing.

I’m an uncle again! My brother’s family added a beautiful baby girl, Blythe Emerson, Wednesday afternoon. By 6pm she had already been on TV! This is the third child for hermano and his wife. They’re old pros at this child rearin’ thing now.

And then there’s me. My wife has a natural level of comfort around little people. Me, not so much. I’ve met a few — I’ve even been one — but I have no idea how to relate to them, what their needs are, etc. But I’m going to learn in a hurry, aren’t I. Baby stuff keeps appearing at the house: stroller, play-and-pack thing, a bunch of clothes… and we even walked over a few blocks to check out a Pottery Barn crib for sale.

We start Childbirth 101 classes next month, with the last one (breastfeeding) mere days before the anticipated due date. Cutting it a little close, sure, but we’re old… too soon and we’ll forget everything.

Everyone says you can never really plan how your life will change once the first one comes. This has a calming effect on me… no need working myself up for nothing.

Yep, life has changed! One thing that strikes me is that our strategy for learning about having a child was all wrong. We spent a LOT of time with the child birth process, and very little time with everything that happens AFTER that. It’s silly, since the nurses and doctors walk you through most everything, anyway. Four weeks of childbirth, and an hour to show you how to swaddle, change diapers, give baths, and so on. *shrug*