Doin' the Michael Keaton thing

And no, I'm not talking about Batman. My days of fighting crime are over for the time being, as today is my first official day being at home and starring in the role of "Mr. Mom." Where I used to be known simply as "Lance," I'm now "Ella's Dad." For the next 10 weeks, I will be fighting dirty diapers, mountains of laundry, and the hunger pangs of my little Ella. But for a few sentencing hearings for trials I just had and a hearing for a defendant to withdraw his guilty plea in which I'm a witness, I won't have any need to wear a suit, tie, or dress shoes until June. All I need now is a collection of flannel shirts and other moms for playing poker for coupons.

For the most part, I'm very excited about this. I've been looking forward to this ever since Ella was born on 1/17/05. When I was 14, I spent my summer taking care of my then 6-month-old sister, Sarah. Here's hoping I didn't lose the memories of how I did that amidst the experiences of high school, college, law school, marriage, etc. I'm anxious to begin really connecting with Ella in the way that her Mom has been able to these past 10 weeks.

Another, though much smaller, part of me is a bit nervous as well. This past week made me think for the first time: "What in the world am I getting myself into?" Ella's going through a stage in which she would only be content when her Mom was holding her. A couple of times I came home from work after a tough day in trial, and found Ella at peace (either awake or asleep) in Amber's arms. As I tried to hold Ella while Amber made dinner, Ella would start to whimper, than cry, than scream, than really get angry. Nothing I tried would calm her down except one thing: returning her to her Mom. Now, starting tomorrow (Amber returns to work on Tuesday), I'm the only one here for Ella. Here's hoping that phase was a quick one.

I have in my mind expectations on how I think this is all going to work. I have plans for things I'd like to get done while I'm home for the next 10 weeks (like writing, both here and at Ragged Edges). However, I'm keenly aware that all those plans are subject to the whims of my darling daughter. It should be interesting to see how this plays out.