Ode to Sophie's Daddy

If I had given birth to Sophie in Singapore, I'd not doubt would have had help from our families, a troopload of relatives, and friends. But since we're here and my parents aren't due to arrive for another couple of weeks (like us, they had anticipated that our little peanut was going to be late...), we've pretty much been coping on our own (with the help of delicious and generously prepared meals from so many of our friends- but that's for another post...) But things haven't been as crazy as I had expected and we've actually been coping really well considering the circumstances. For one, Sophie's been a real darling- not really fussy (except when you try pulling a onesie over her head or when she suckles on her hand and realizes that there's no milk there...), and right now, is pretty much just sleeping, nursing, and pooping all the time :)

But more importantly, I have Jude.

He's just been so wonderful in every way possible- father, husband, helper, confinement lady**, grocery-shopper, dish-washer, diaper-changer, all rolled into one. He did a really good job last week of making traditional confinement foods for me from recipes my mom had sent and seemed to really embrace the challenge of buying unfamiliar ingredients and cooking with them. We've had to slow that down this week just because it got a little overwhelming juggling elaborate recipes but he's still doing most of the cooking and I appreciate it so very very much. The nights would have been harrowing if not for him doing the diaper changes and soothing Sophie while I catch up on sleep between feeds. She was feeding incessantly the last two nights and I don't think I would have been able to survive them without Jude by my side. Just all in all, he's been doing everything else around the house on his own while trying to get his dissertation project up and running, AND being the most thoughtful husband, and doting father ever :) My heart melts every time I see him with Sophie, the way he coos at her little chirps and squeaks, and that look on his face when he looks at her... It's an expression that says, "I'm so in love with you that it's going to be physically impossible to say no to you, young lady..."

It's also a look that explains why in 18 years, when Sophie goes on her first date, Jude will be sitting on the porch with a shotgun and a shovel, and in the immortal words of John Ritter, declaring, "I have a shotgun, a shovel, and five acres behind the house. You will not be missed." :)

Every time she blinks,
She strikes somebody blind
Every time she thinks,
Blows her tiny mind

That's my daughter in the water,
Who'd've ever thought her
Who'd've ever thought

That's my daughter in the water,
I lost every time I fought her
Yeah I lost every time.
-Loudon Wainwright III, "Daughter"

**A confinement lady is a woman hired during the immediate postpartum month to take care of the mother and baby. Her responsibilities include cooking special meals for the mother, tending to her recovery needs, and helping her take care of the baby.