The changes to Dad's brain

My husband is a wonderful father to our son. He is a good playmate, encourages our son to try new things and is very patient. I love him for all of these things. I loved him for the man he was before we had our child. And, while the BC and AC (before child and after child) version of my husband is basically the same guy, I have noticed some changes in him along the journey through parenthood.

For example: The Dad jokes. While my husband always appreciated a good pun, fatherhood seems to have taken that appreciation to a whole new level. Sometimes I seek out especially good/bad ones just to make him smile.

And then there is his role as the real-world explainer. My husband loves to show-and-tell how the world works for our son. This is generally a good thing and only occasionally backfires on him (like when my husband explained that the GPS tracked our car's speed against the limit and our son announced every time we were over it by 1mph.)

It turns out that these types of changes are very real. "Dad brain" is a thing. Men have chemical changes that kick in after the baby is born. Interestingly, those chemicals aren't released until a few weeks after the baby arrives, which is why some men feel they need to "warm up" to the new baby. 

Frankly, I think this is pretty cool. Moms, of course, are already flooded with baby-loving hormones and it is amazing that Dads' bodies find a way to react and catch up.

If you need me, I'll be searching for new puns to make my husband smile.