Update on November 8th, 2021
It's been months since I've written one of these.
Simply put, I'm a daddy now.
Hah. I'm a dad.
He was born premature. 36.5 weeks, just a few days short of term. But even though he was small, he was healthy, and we were able to take him home. No NICU necessary.
He did have jaundice though. We spent about five days in the hospital. None of us really slept.
But I'm a daddy.
His name is Levi, and I promise you, when we picked that name, we didn't know it was going to be the 6th most popular name for a boy in 2021. It just rang better than Leon, which is loosely based off of Larry, my grandpa's name. We would practice saying his name out loud before he was born, and it just felt right. It felt good.
And Levi is adorable. He's so cute. Look, any of you who have a child will nod in agreement, but having a baby takes a lot of your attention.
And he was a premature baby. Needed special diapers. Special clothes. A stricter feeding schedule so that he'd grow. He's become my entire life.
The rest of the team at Zen Monkey Studios really took the helm. Marc in sales. Miranda in fulfillments. James (Dad) overseeing everything. Jeremy designing. Greg talking to the factories for us. Vicki getting items to Amazon and stores.
And I would pop my head in. Maybe have a zoom meeting, not shaven, with clothes spat up on. Forgetting what time it was. What had to be done.
But then as he got older, my "you're a dad now" schedule was forming. How to wake up multiple times at night to feed and change a diaper. How to be there for momma while I check emails. Responding to emails one handed while Levi slept on my shoulder. It's a new life.
Working from home meant I could continue to do my job, just chopped up across the day, and not worry about missing time at an office.
He's my rainbow baby. We lost the one before him last year, in 2020. It was hard.
We never met her, but it felt like a real death in the family. Then Levi was like, "I got this," and came into our lives.
We didn't do any conventions this year, yes because of everything, but also because Levi is so young, that his immune system is still growing overall! I'm not bringing home normal con-flu to an 8 week old baby.
So, sorry about not writing an entry for months. If you did get something from these journal entries. I'm glad! Just, Levi means a million times more. He's my everything.
And as Levi and I grow together, you'll begin seeing what I learn as a father, to incorporate into Zen Monkey.
I'll talk to y'all later. :)