[bretthoerner]

This is a great list. I'm going to ride your coat tails with some of my favorites. I'm a father of 3 little ones, FWIW.

- Take all parenting advice with a grain of salt, everyone's sample size is too low.

- (Related) Each kid is very different. It's kind of wild how different they are and mine are still very little.

- By default you're likely to raise your kids as the average of how you and your spouse were raised. If either of you didn't like your upbringing you probably want to consider some kind of outside help to change your course sooner rather than later.

- OP said "It hasn't really sunk in yet" -- I just wanted to say this was the same for me. For all three kids! I was aware my wife was pregnant but it never really clicked until the baby was there.

- Months 1-3 were my least favorite. A tiny infant is a sort of alien, and very fragile. Somewhere around 3-6 months they'll look at you and smile and your heart will melt.

- You'll be fine!

[sansjoe]

^ Take all parenting advice with a grain of salt, everyone's sample size is too low.

100% concur and well said!

^ Months 1-3 were my least favorite. A tiny infant is a sort of alien, and very fragile. Somewhere around 3-6 months they'll look at you and smile and your heart will melt.

Can't remember if it was 3, 6, 9 or 12 months but yeah. I've always told soon-to-be parents not to be surprised that it doesn't feel like a real person on day 1. And that the first 6-12 months are largely janitorial.