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Six Weeks with Daddy – Day #3

// April 21st, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby

::530am:: It’s nice to have six weeks off work to stay home with the baby but it was stupid of me to think that I would get to sleep in. Hello 5:30am, let’s start our day shall we?

::745am:: Vanilla Milkshake pop tarts are the best! Not part of a nutritious breakfast I’m sure but when you’re up at 5:30am, who cares.

Baby played a nice little trick on me. He was crying in the swing so I picked him up to play with him. He kept right on crying and after a while I decided to go ahead and make a bottle for him. So I laid him on the couch to go get the bottle and he’s just been laying here playing for the last 20 minutes. No bottle necessary. There is something about laying flat on his back on the couch cushion that he likes. I’m wondering how long it will be before he spits up on the cushion. I should probably put a burp cloth under his head shouldn’t I?

::807am:: Note to self: Before feeding baby, if you need to go to bathroom go beforehand. Only one of you is wearing and diaper and the baby is in no mood to wait for you to do your duty.

::9am:: It’s funny how 9am feels very similar to bed time to me. Good thing I still have my PJ’s on. I’m going to turn this couch into a bed now.

::1005am:: Like father like son. After spending some time fussing/crying in the swing I picked him up to console him. My traditional methods weren’t working so I broke out the iPhone for some music. He loves music. Today Boyce Avenue was very effective at calming him down. He just blankly stares off while he’s listening. It’s like he’s really taking it in. Here are some of his fav’s from Boyce Avenue.

::1110am:: He’s a little late on his morning nap today. It might be because for the last two days we have been outside of the house in and out of the car. He loves riding in the car. At times when we stop at red lights for too long he gets a little cranky but he’s fine as soon as the light turns green and we take off again. I think he has his Daddy’s need for speed built in. During Mommy’s break at work we sent her some live video of baby playing on the couch and talking with our Knocking Live Video app on our iPhones. She sent me live video everyday while I was at work so now I get to return the favor. It’s great to see your baby even while you’re working! If you don’t have this app you need to download it and use it!

Now that he’s napping I’m not sure what to do. I could eat lunch. I could get dressed. I should probably do both.

::1247pm:: While baby was napping I managed to get in a nap myself. I think it was only about 20 mins but I feel refreshed nonetheless!

::1005pm:: Whoops! Totally forgot to update at the end of the day. Today was the first day in 4 or 5 days that we didn’t leave the house all day. The baby celebrated by sleeping most of the day and Daddy went stir crazy. So we made a trip to Target when Mommy got home and bought a couple of outfits for baby. One I Love My Daddy and one Future Rocket Scientist. I was told not to get the Future Rocket Scientist one because “orange doesn’t look good on him” but I got it anyway. Anything looks good on our baby!

See ya tomorrow!

Six Weeks with Daddy – Day #2

// April 20th, 2010 // No Comments » // Baby

::730am::Well we started off the morning with a bottle and dropping off Mommy at work. Now we are waiting at the car dealership for the brakes to be worked on. Baby has been sleeping the entire car ride but he’s starting to wake up as we sit here idling. Maybe we can test drive a Corvette! Do Corvettes have carseats?

::1030am:: Still at the dealership. Changed a diaper, drank a bottle and pushed the stroller about 2 miles around the car lot. He really loves looking at all the stuff in the garage and listening to all the different noises. When mommy gets home he will smell like a little grease monkey! Awesome!

::1130am::Back home after getting Mommys car fixed. Just enough time to eat and change diapers before meeting some friends for lunch.

::1145am:: Secret Poopie: What you get when a baby makes no distinguishable grunting sounds or facial expressions to signal that he is pooping. So when you think you are going to change a pee diaper you are surprised to find poop. Also know as a Surprise Poopie.

::130pm:: He did great at lunch and everyone loved him. He showed off some funny faces and his standing up skills.

::2pm:: Baby was fussy in the swing so I decided to pick him up and walk around. He decided to spit up his entire bottle all over me, him and the floor. Now we’re both half naked doing laundry and decided what new clothes to put on. Guessed I should have burped him one more time before leaving the restaurant. Doh!

::5pm:: With the baby napping for the last couple of hours that has left me ample time to tidy up around the house, play a little guitar and call AGAIN about the hospital bills from the delivery. Hopefully I will have those cleared up by tomorrow. But as the Daddy day winds down to an end I’ve found the TV sitting on FOX and watching “The Doctors”. I just happened to tune into the part where they are talking about how to eat healthy at restaurant. Two key things I heard that Wifey will not be pleased with: 1) If you think you are eating healthy by ordering a salad, think again. The chicken and dressing can make the salad over 1100 calories. Wifey is notorious for drowning her salad in dressing. 2) Stay away from the sour cream. She loves sour cream and often puts a big glob of it on the side of her plate to dip in. I also heard a tip for me. Stay away from the butter when they serve bread. I loooove butter! I need to make the olive oil switch. I also learned that salsa, in moderation, is actually decent for you.

I’m not sure what’s in store for Daddy Day #3 tomorrow. I really don’t have anything planned for me and the boy. Aside from the crazy violent spit up all over my shirt this afternoon he as been most excellent today. It seems he hasn’t had as much to eat though. Today is a sleepy day it seems.

See ya tomorrow!

Six Weeks With Daddy – Day #1

// April 19th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Baby

daddy-boy-blank As my wife returns to work today after 8 weeks at home with our little one so begins my paternity leave and my six weeks to stay home with our son.

I must admit that I feel a little bit like I got the better end of the deal. We spent the first eight weeks figuring things out (formulas, calming techniques, what cries meant what, sleepless nights, etc). While I was at work she had to deal with the majority of it herself. Fast forward two months and we are pretty much a well oiled machine with very few problems.

Take this morning for instance. Our rule is that whoever has to work the next day takes any feedings before 3am. The person that doesn’t have to work takes all feedings after that. Last night he woke up at midnight, which mommy fed him, and he hasn’t woken up at all during my shift.

As a matter of fact, the only to time I woke up was 15 minutes ago when my wife woke me up to say 1) she’s leaving for work and she loves me and 2)how much I suck for getting to sleep in with the baby since she never got to sleep past 6am. Ever.

I tried explaining to her that it’s a complex father/son bond at work here. It has nothing to do with the fact that we spent the first 8 weeks ironing out the kinks but rather the unbreakable bond that a boy shares with his father.

Now watch him torment me for the next 8 hours until she gets off work. As a matter of fact, he is starting right now. I can hear him grunting, farting and ultimately pooping as we speak.

First item on the Daddy To-Do list: Train son to only poop after 5pm when Mom gets home.

It’s going to be a great six weeks home with my boy!

UPDATES

::730am:: Not only was it a poopy diaper, but in the middle of changing him he decided he wasn’t done and demonstarted his projectile pooping skills. Daddy was not impressed.

::9am:: Forgot to give him his medicine before he fell asleep. You try giving some peppermint flavored medicine to a sleepy baby. The first half went in alright despite a “this tastes gross” face. The second half he refused to open his mouth and so when I thought I had it in there I gave it a squirt and it ended up all over his chin. Fail.

::940am:: I’m starting to see arms and legs wiggling in the swing. Something tells me nap time is almost over. Seems like I should have accomplished than eating a bowl of cereal, brushing my teeth and shaving. Time management Daddy. Time management.

::11am:: Up and dressed for the day. Having a bottle and then heading out for lunch with Gpa!

::1245pm:: Back from lunch at Burger King. He slept the whole time! Then we stopped at the bank to show him off to the bank tellers. Now were back home drinking another bottle and trying to suck boogies out of his nose. I managed to get a boogie stuck in the aspirator and now I have to figure out how to clean this sucker out. Gross!

::130pm:: Just changed poopy diaper #2 today. Lets just say if I make a sandwich later I will not be having mustard on it.

::230pm:: He’s sitting here watching TV while sitting in his swing and he is fighting his sleep. He’ll watch the TV and very slowly close his eyes for a minute or so and then slowly open them back up just to repeat the process a few minutes later. It looks like he’s out for a while now. This is a good time for me to call about all the hospital bills from the delivery. I wish insurance didn’t take 2-3 months (or longer) to process charges. It would have been nice if I could have just swiped my card on the way out of the hospital and paid for my portion of the bill. Now I can’t remember what all these charges are for!

::530pm:: After a couple more diaper changes, two bottles and a nap, Mommy is home and Daddy is off duty. The first day of Six Weeks w/ Daddy couldn’t have gone better. We talked, smiled, got out of the house, napped, took a brief walk outside and read a book. On tommorows agenda is getting the brakes done on Mommy’s car. Baby’s first trip to the garage! Yay!

Things That Go Bump In The Night

// March 22nd, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Baby

crying_baby It never fails. You spend an hour rocking and consoling a crying baby. You anxiously wait with each passing rock as his eyes grow heavier and heavier.

He closes his eyes. You hold your breath.

“Is this it? Is he finally asleep?” you ask yourself.

His eyes open back up. He’s not asleep. If sleeping were the kiddy pool, then he’s just dipping his toe in to check the water.

You keep on rocking. Not in the “Woo! Parrrrrty!” way you did back in your younger years when the only thing you were cradling in your arms at 2 am was a case of beer. This time you’re half asleep, in your pajamas and sitting in a rocking chair with a 6 week old baby. You’re staring at the clock and doing the math in your head over what the maximum amount of sleep you can still get before you’re alarm clock goes off.

“If it’s 2am now and I can get him to go to sleep by 2:30 then I can still get 4 hours of sleep.” It’s the sleeping equivalent of the “if a train leaves Los Angeles travelling at 60mph” riddle.

Except now it’s 3am so you’ve had to adjust your calculations a bit. Eventually the baby closes is eyes and you watch him for about five minutes. You’re convinced he’s asleep so you ever so gently get up from the rocking chair and place the baby in his bed. His eyes are still closed and you breathe a sigh of relief. Now you can get some sleep too.

It’s at this point that it doesn’t matter how hard you try, as you head back towards the bed you will inadvertently make as much noise as humanly possible. You’ll bang your knee into the night stand and knock the lamp over. You’ll step on the loudest toy in the house. You’ll roll your ankle as your trip over your own house shoes. Whatever it is that happens, something will happen. After spending so much time and effort into getting the baby back to sleep in the middle of the night, you will quickly undo all of your hard work as you clumsily stumble back to bed and end up waking the baby back up. Now it’s 3:30am and you have a newly energized crying baby again.

It’s at this point you calmly climb back into your bed, roll over next to your wonderful spouse and whisper into their ear, “Honey, it’s your turn.”

Someone needs to sleep like a baby. It might as well be you.