Overnight..

My career requires that I travel, sometimes it is a day trip and occasionally an overnight trip. I have been very fortunate that I have not had an overnight trip since her birth, 6 weeks ago. The hotel in Minneapolis was now booked and the meeting was unavoidable, I was on my way. Traveling has become second nature since making my career change two years ago, I quickly found myself back in my routine. I have to be honest, I was really looking forward to an uninterrupted night of sleep. That reward quickly faded as I slipped under the covers and my mind wondered what my girls where doing back home. That night of good sleep would have to wait...

I opened the front door to our home with little fan fair, it was quite and dark. Finally a coo from upstairs. Ella had just finished feeding and was smack dab in the middle of getting her diaper changed. I snuck up beside her and began to whisper her name.
As a new dad you are always asking yourself - can she see me? are her eyes okay? can she hear me? how is her hearing? is she breathing? I can not tell you how many times that I have woke her up pressing my ear to her lips or stomach to find a clue that her lungs where functioning. Kind of funny I guess...... I hear this is pretty common with new parents though.

As I called Ella's name she continued to be focused on her mother and the task at hand. Finally after about the fifth time calling her name I once again began to wonder if maybe something was not right with her hearing or maybe she just did not have the ability to recognize me yet. She would prove me wrong as she turned her head, looked right at me and gave me a very rare cheeky smile. Right there she made everything right in my world, if only for a moment.