Representative Jimmy Gomez made the House floor a lot more adorable when he brought his 4-month-old son with him to work—but his reason for doing so is the best part of the story.

Unpredictable work hours are nothing new for Representative Jimmy Gomez, a Democrat from California. He’s already served three terms, so he knows how working in Congress can be. But now that he has a four-month-old son, Hodge, he needs a little more predictability in his schedule so he can stick to his baby’s strict feeding times. And that’s why Gomez did the only thing a loving dad could do—he put on a babywearing sling and took little Hodge with him to the House floor for the Speaker votes this week.

“His feedings are at 7 in the morning, then four hours later at 11, then again at 3, then at 7 o’clock at night,” Gomez told NBC News. “He’s an alarm clock. At three hours he starts getting fussy and cranky, and that’s when you have to keep him occupied because once he gets to three and a half hours, that’s when he gets really upset.”

Gomez told NBC that he made sure to go to work with enough diapers, wipes, and bottles to have Hodge there all day, if necessary. The sling allowed the infant to see what was going on and smile at his dad’s coworkers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who Gomez says insisted, “Give me that baby.”

But as any parent will know, not everything went perfectly according to plan.

“The first feed at 11 a.m. started at 10:45 a.m. and took an extra 30 minutes. Then he had a diaper blowout,” Gomez said. “I had to go and change him. Luckily there’s a men’s bathroom right across the hall from my office.”

Thanks to a recent update, all the restrooms in the Cannon House Office building on Capitol Hill have changing tables, including the mens’.

Gomez said taking his son to work with him was just what made sense for his family at the time, but he hopes the move has a rippling effect on working fathers everywhere.

“In the end, we have to normalize dads taking their kids with them, be it stay-at-home dads or working dads,” he said. “When I took him to the floor, I think people were surprised — but it wasn’t a big deal. I think it does send a powerful message that us guys need to do our part. We don’t risk our lives bringing children into the world — women do.”

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