Rylynn

For the reader's sake, I won't write a thousand words in this blog post...but this picture's definitely worth a thousand smiles! Rylynn Grace-Cadence Tracy came on December 20th, and let me tell you, life has been a whirlwind of new emotions since then. The emotions that blindside you as a new parent - being smitten-in-love with this little girl, a new sense of responsibility, giddy joy, feeling honored to be trusted with this angel. Just to name a few. It's a lot to process, and they do, they really blindside you. In a good way.

I'm ready for the journey. Jodi and I are so ready. I knew from way back in our engagement days that Jodi would make a stellar mom someday. She's got that knack, all the tangible love and intangible wisdom and discretion that makes for the perfect mother. It's going to be so fun to be Rylynn's mommy and daddy. She's 9 weeks old now and sharper than ever. The pediatrician said way back at her first appointment that she "hit the ground running." And she really did - it seems like everything she's done so far has been ahead of schedule. All the little things like lifting her head and sleeping through the night (thanks God). She's easing us into parenthood rather nicely.

My biggest workshop in parenting this little girl through these early stages is going to be my self-interest. Seems like an obvious pursuit, but it's been strangely apparent in these first few weeks...again, in the little things. Setting her down throughout the day to go do something of interest to me instead of holding her or something. Being focused on following my favorite show on Netflix instead of being intentional about creating memories. Given, she's still too young to be interacting with us, playing with toys or valuing a good-night story, but still. Eh, I know I'm over-thinking, over-analyzing. That's good though, in the sense that she'll always get my best effort as her father. I will always be a better father than I give myself credit for.