Going on 8 weeks leave today, finally some time with my 3m y.o. son

It's about to start getting fun. I didn't connect with my kid until he was 16 weeks old. After that, it felt much more natural being his dad. I spent a lot of energy around this time trying to help him grow. Looking back, I wish I would have saved my energy. Things start to take off around 6 months and by 11-12 months, it's hard to keep up with all of the leaps.

So my suggestion is work with your wife to make sure you are both well rested and mostly recovered. And make a game plan for sleep training. The older they get, the more difficult it becomes.

I just finished 9 weeks home with my son. He was 3 months when I started and 5 months now. It was a fantastic experience!

My wife was back to work so it was just me and him. The first month was a little slow but I really have gotten to see him wake up to the world over the last 5-6 weeks. The rate at which he has been learning and growing has been incredible!

A few random things that might help, just off the top of my head.

• it won't always be fun. There will be hard times. There will also be amazing times. Don't let the hard times get you down or make you miss the amazing times.
• If you don't have one already, get a baby carrier. It was a huge help. The one I have is an Ergo Baby and I highly recommend it.
• pay attention to his noises before he starts crying. You'll start to learn that he makes different noises for different types of upset.
• there are really only three types of upset at first. Hungry, diaper, and sleepy. In month 4 or so you'll get the fourth type, boredom.
• when you get back to work, let your coworkers know that you are grateful for the opportunity. Many of them, especially older coworkers may not have had the same opportunity.

Good luck, have fun, take naps when he sleeps.

Edit: I just typed this all out, then noticed the post was a month old. I hope it's going well!