Bored Of Football wrote:

QUOTE:
I know it may sound stupid but I found the Frank Zappa autobiography very interesting on being a father although I haven't read it since fatherhood

What did it say?

I was under the impression he stayed in his recording studio pretty much 24/7 whenever he wasn't out on tour, and hardly ever saw his kids.

I thought I read somwhere that Moon Unit's appearance on Valley Girl was the result of her coming into the studio to confront him about not giving them any attention. So he thought okay, sure, we can do stuff together. While you're here, there's this song that needs some vocals. Go and make yourself useful.

Fortunately Frau Kannon read loads of books and told me about them or pointed out passages. In the end we followed what felt right for us.

Quick remark - tiny babies make a lot of grunting sounds which can be kind of alarming. Equelly alarming is when they stop making the grunting sounds and are quiet and motionless. No win. The whole thing is amazing.

Gonna stick up for Gina Ford a bit too. I've 3 with 16 months between them all and without a routine you just couldn't do it. Some of her stuff is unrealistic but her basic routines are great and in my experience work a treat. Even when we only had 1 her routines made life a lot more manageable.

I'd also recommend 'What to Expect in the First Year'. A man needs a manual to follow and I found it helpful to know what was normal behaviour and what's coming up next.

Lastly good luck with the pregnancy, if it has indeed happened, and enjoy the wee one(s) as they don't stay wee for long.

Thanks for the advice people.

The missus is due to have her first scan next week or the week after as she's now about 9/10 weeks pregnant.

Congrats young Jason.

Woohoo! Congratulations! Enjoy the scan.

My life is over isn't it?

No, it's lovely. Definitely get a copy of "What to Expect" though. And a copy of "The Baby Book" by William Sears. Oooh, and get the Harvey Karp DVD. And join Attachment Parenting Interational.

See, life isn't over, you've got tons to do. Get cracking.