The day started out normally. Jim woke up feeling warm and content with his arms wrapped around Pam. Correction, Cece had woken up which meant everyone had woken up at the beautiful hour of 6:00am leaving both of them confused and disoriented. Pam had dragged herself into the rocker and started to breastfeed their daughter. Jim slid his cast on and stumped downstairs and made sure the parts for Pam’s breast pump were clean. He’d washed them for her before they’d gone to bed the night before. Yawning to himself he found everything in order on the drying rack. Dutifully he put the pieces together and brought them upstairs. He nudged Pam on the shoulder since she was starting to nod off in the rocker. He was rewarded by her tired but kind smile when she saw the item in his hands. Standing next to his wife and daughter, Jim ran his fingers through Pam’s hair until Cece was finished.

Pam handed Cece to Jim and set up her breast pump. While the machine hummed, Jim set Cece near his shoulder and burped her. Task completed; Jim set her down on the changing table. His pre-natal diaper practice paid off.

“Hoo,” Jim glanced to the side as the smell of a night's worth of full diaper hit him. He smirked back at his daughter. “I don’t know what you’ve been eating Kiddo, but you may want to have a word with the chef.”

“No, keep it up,” Pam said with a raised eyebrow when Jim turned back to her.

“Don’t worry,” Jim turned back to where Cece to finish changing her diaper. She was smiling and waving her arms at him while blowing spit bubbles. “Mommy just needs some tea before she leaves for the day. Come on let’s go make some tea for Mommy.”

Jim turned and waved one of Cece’s hands at her. Pam’s expression softened and she smiled at her husband and daughter. On reaching the kitchen Jim buckled Cece into a reclining bouncy chair and started to make coffee for himself and tea for Pam. While each was brewing, he cut apart an English muffin, put it in the toaster, and got a jar of raspberry jam out of the fridge. The first set of muffins popped out of the toaster replaced by new ones. By the time Pam came downstairs, breakfast was ready.

“Aren’t you supposed to be resting?” She asked as she sat down at the table next to Cece’s chair.

“Just trying to live up to my hype,” Jim told her with a grin. “Isn’t the parent that stays home supposed to cook, clean, and look after the kids?”

“Maybe,” Pam said around a mouthful of muffin. She took a sip of tea to clear her mouth. “But they usually also don’t have a bum leg. How’s it feeling today?”

Jim looked down and lifted his walking cast off the floor a few inches. “Oh fine. Not as sore as last week, so that’s a relief.”

A rattling in the living room caused both of their heads to turn. Eeyore was alternately pawing at his cage and tossing his empty feed bowl around with his teeth.

“I’ll get him,” Pam said with her mouth half-full. Walking over to the cage, she opened it and scooped out some pellets from a bag they kept on top of the cage. She poured in the pellets and added a few handfuls of hay as well. Eeyore dug into his food with gusto. When she came back into the kitchen, she saw Jim eating his own breakfast and bouncing Cece’s chair with his good foot.

“Eeyore’s litter needs changed today,” she said as she picked up her purse after she finished her breakfast.

“No problem.”

“The dishes need to get finished too.”

“I’ll handle it.”

“Your clothes are overflowing the hamper again.”

“Sorry, I’ll get them in there.”

“Also try to keep the rabbit away from Cece’s toys. That binkie he destroyed last night was one of her favorites.”

“Binkies are not for bunnies, got it.”

Pam paused as she heard the almost sing-song tone of voice in Jim’s voice. She’d almost made it to the door. Slowly she turned around. “Why do I get a feeling I’ll be hearing or maybe reading those words later today?”

Jim just flashed her his most charming smile in response.

“Uh huh, that’s what I thought.” Pam crossed back to the table. “Have a good day sweetheart.” She leaned forward and kissed him.

Jim’s smile was more gentle when they broke apart. “You too.”

Pam grinned back at him. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said softly.

With that Pam turned and left for the office. Jim finished his breakfast and set the dishes in the sink to be washed later. Bending over he scooped Cece from her chair and held her over his head. Her excited giggles, which reminded him so much of Pam, had him grinning right back at her.

“So Kiddo, what do want to do?”

Cece beamed back at him and waved her arms in circles.

“Play on the play mat?” Jim brought her down carry her to the family room. “You’re just full of all sorts of good ideas.”

Careful to guard both his daughter and broken leg, Jim lowered himself to the floor once they made it to the family room. He set Cece down on her back on a padded playmat. On one end were multi-colored piano keys set at the right height for her to kick, which would cause them to light up and play music. A plastic arch crossed over the mat with various small stuffed toys hanging from it. Cece spent the next hour batting at the animals while triggering electronic versions of kids songs from her piano key kick board.

Eeyore hopped over to investigate the goings on. Cece caught sight of the movement and tilted her head up to try and see the rabbit. For his part, Eeyore cautiously approached Cece’s head with his nose twitching. Jim reached over and scratched between Eeyore’s ears before stroking the fur between his eyes. Eeyore rewarded the attention paid him by leaning forward and licking Jim’s fingers with rabbit kisses.

Jim smiled as the small creature decided he’d had enough attention and hopped off to rest under the table. Looking down he saw Cece yawn and rub her eyes.

“Uh oh, looks like someone’s getting tuckered.”

Scooping her up, Jim brought her to her crib for a morning nap. She settled down quickly. Knowing she’d only sleep for about an hour, Jim made good use of the time. He turned on one of his favorite playlists stored on is iPod. Music Pam had once prepared for him for a scavenger hunt. The songs helped him focus and soon all the tasks Pam had asked him to complete were done. Heading back to the living room he opened his computer and logged onto his Facebook account.

Journals of a Stay-at-home-Dad. Day 3. I think Small Rabbit may be getting jealous of Small Human. Last night Small Rabbit decided it would be a good idea to scamper off with one of Small Human's pacifiers. Small Rabbit was told clearly binkies are not for bunnies. Another observation, the dirty dishes seemed to continuously multiply. Regardless of how often the dishes are washed the phenomenon persists. There must be a disturbance in the local space-time continuum, it's the only logical explanation. I feel I must design an experiment to test this theory. I'll do that right after lunch. Hot dogs and mac and cheese may be elusive prey, but I have confidence in my ability to ensnare them.