Month six: The Mahoney Boys

Michael just went upstairs to check on Madeus for the third time tonight.
It is his new thing. He is obsessed. I was the nervous one in the first months (see previous post where we all lived in the nursery). It always takes Mike longer to process things so I should have known:)

He is in love. Of course this was clear from the early days, but I think with Madeus responding so much more to us as his parents now he is even harder to resist. When we come in the room he smiles. When I bring him down in the morning and he sees Michael, his whole face lights up - maybe because they look identical so he is actually smiling at himself:) He reaches now for us, he falls asleep in both our arms, and he laughs a lot at us - for the record, he seems to think I am funnier.

Michael lost his grandmother this week, a truly remarkable woman who I will blog about soon. It has been an emotional time and so I thought I would dedicate some space to Michael as a father.

The moment Madeus was in Michael's arms he was completely confident. He had been so nervous since he did not have experience with babies and yet it was instantaneous. In the hospital he changed the first "tar" diaper and the nurse "reprimanded" him for not getting all of it from his bum. It hurt my heart because I thought it would upset his confidence and in actuality it was me who told Mike "that is good enough." on the wiping of the bum. The nurse thought it was a "dad" way to change the diaper when in fact Michael will probably always do things just as good, if not better than me.

But it is Michael - so he still has his quirks. He was obsessed with making sure he looked "left" after the nurse said he needed to work his neck muscles. He timed tummy time each day to get rid of Madeus' flat spot. He hates when I let him near a Coke can or pretty much anything plastic. He looks at me sideways when I put anything I am eating to Madeus' mouth. He changes out the pacifiers every few weeks and is constantly boiling and sanitizing. He usually does all the laundry and folding of Madeus' clothes and yet never gets him dressed. He changes him from sleeper to sleeper but cannot say no to any piece of clothing we are considering buying because "he will look so cute". He plays music every day for him and asked today when we should start reading consistently to him. These are the quirks that make Michael - Michael and at the same time he is completely different with Madeus than I have ever seen him - more relaxed, less efficient, less precise, and more present.

He is really good at this. I mean, I knew he would be a good father because he is so sincere. I have always been excited to raise kids with him, I just thought he would take time to grow into this. Perhaps, the trait that is on my mind the most right now is that he makes sure to kiss me first when he comes in the house. Mike had expressed that this was important to him before we had Madeus. And believe me, I know how hard it must be. When you walk in the door there is me - still in pj's probably, hair a mess, not sure the last time I showered, stressed about school and then there is Madeus - smiling ear to ear and just waiting for Michael to grab him. But he goes to kiss me...