I'm a Dad

My daughter, Sydney Colette Menachem, was born 9 days ago. I don't think I'll ever see something more amazing than watching my child be born. I couldn't speak after she came out and I held her in my arms. And watching Carrie push through all those hours of labor has forever changed the way I view my wife. She's awesome.

This has also been the most exhausting experience I've ever had. Carrie and I are struggling to get a few hours of sleep a night, and some days we walk around like zombies. Really cranky zombies. But we're getting the hang of it more and more each day. And if I was ever curious what it would be like to have a child shoot projectile poop on me mid-diaper change, I can now check it off of my list. Unfortunately, I was never curious. Same for the warm, partially digested breast milk that Sydney puked on my chest an hour ago.

I walked over to Frank's yesterday to say Hi. It had been awhile since I've seen him and I wanted to tell him I was now a father. I shouted up to him and he walked out on the balcony. When he came down, he had an envelope in his hand. He had asked his niece to buy a card and then he typed (on a typewriter!) Carrie and my name and address on the front of it. Inside was $100 and Mazel Tov written in shaky Hebrew script. A few minutes later, Abe walked over because he saw me on my way to Frank's. He handed me $50. I tried to give the guys their money back but they refused. Frank said, "It's not for you. It's for the baby." Abe said, "You are not a wealthy man." I gave them each a hug and kiss. And I took the money for Sydney. I'm not a wealthy man but as I read on some very cheesy website I just looked up so I could find a good quote to cap this essay off, "Money might make you wealthy, but friends makes you rich."