Parenthood Q & A

We had a great time with our friends over the weekend! We all went shopping on Saturday afternoon at Babies "R" Us which was a very different experience having a baby along. My wife & I have been there a handful of times before, but it doesn't prepare you for all the people that notice you because of the baby. Her smile lights up any space she's in and complete strangers melt at the sight of her. Her parents picked up a lot of stuff they needed and, while we looked for us, mostly we wanted to see how she'd respond to the outing.

By the time we hit Olive Garden for dinner she was plenty hungry and downed a bottle of formula faster than I could! We had to wait awhile for a table and everyone in the place was checking out her smile. When we got to the table she tried out a restaurant high chair for the first time and sat up all by herself! She was also quite taken with the waiter as he took our orders, looking at the one of us that was ordering and then looking back to the waiter as he asked questions. It was too funny!

After a rough night for the baby and her parents we all headed to a nearby outlet mall for a day of shopping. I only heard her crying once during the night, but her parents were up a lot as they tried to find out what was wrong. As an expectant father, I think the hardest part would be not knowing what to do in those situations. But by the time we headed out she was her usual self: content and all smiles!

Although I had been to many of the stores we hit I was still overwhelmed with the amount of clothing and supplies available for babies. While some of it is gender neutral, the gender specific items range from your traditional pink and blue to every color in the spectrum. My wife has had a strong feeling for some time that we are having a boy, so I didn't object in the slightest when she picked out a boy's outfit in Osh Kosh Bgosh. How can anyone resist a t-shirt and overalls? We're both very anxious to find out the gender and hopefully they'll be able to tell next Monday. Just think: we could know in another week!

So, after hitting the food court and a few more stores we said our goodbyes and our friends headed home, but I like to think they left behind two prospective parents with some answers...and plenty more questions about what it means to be a parent.