I've always tried to spent as much time as possible with my kids after work and on weekends. The few hours between me getting home and them going to bed didn't seem to really be enough, though.

My relationship with the two youngest, Benjamin (10 months old) and Spencer (4 years old) has been totally different. I quit the corporate gig a month after Benjamin was born and have been working from a home office pretty much his entire life. Spencer is still home all day, he starts pre-school this fall. I get to hang out with the both of them more than I ever was able to with the older three.

Benjamin is walking now. I've seen him go from holding my hand to tottering off on his own the whole way. There was no call at the office from my wife, exclaiming that he's taking his first steps. I got to be there.

I can put him to sleep just as easily as his Mom. Unless he wants to nurse, that is. If he wakes up at night, I rock him back to sleep. I've never been so close to a baby before. I don't love him any more than Jordan, Gabriel, Jacob or Spencer. It's just I've spent a ton more time with him. It really been amazing.

Spencer and I are really good pals right now. We can watch cartoons in the morning together after everyone has left for school. And we have lightsaber battles at lunch. Things I was never able to do when I was a corporate ad agency wage-slave.

And to top it all off, I have a small baby kitten purring in my lap while I type this.