Let them get dirty. That's a good way to not be an ass. We went to the coast a couple of weekends ago and it was cold, windy and pretty miserable. Here we are nice and cozy.
I was resistant to letting her run around. Fortunately, my wife convinced me to let her play in the sand. Did VB care? Not really. And we got some great pictures out of it.
Also, let them walk around naked, even if it means cleaning poop off the floor. I did that for the first time this week and I have to say it's actually easier than changing a dirty diaper. (Assuming you use cloth diapers) All our time is pretty much devoted to the child. All other hobbies, interests and past times have taken a back seat in our lives. This again became clear when my wife told me that while I was with VB on the potty, she thought about playing piano or doing something productive. But then she decided to join us so she could watch our daughter poop. Yeah. This is our life, now.
Posts are getting farther and farther apart as my mind is more and more blown with how awesome my daughter is. Here we are having a grand old time... I think.
This makes me think of all those times I was tickle tortured growing up and leaves me wondering if I'm horribly scarring my daughter. But she doesn't seem to mind so far. And it's pretty fun for me, too so I think I'll keep doing it. It will probably stop being cool at some point. Like if I'm still doing it when she's 16 that might be kind of weird. Here we are at dinner. She loves squash!
She just turned 11 months old and we love that she is feeding herself. It won't be long before she's scooping the food up on her spoon all by herself. I might be bragging a little bit. Ok, I'm bragging a lot. I think I'd be an ass if I weren't bragging.
Well, it's almost Thanksgiving. And what do we do during Thanksgiving? Stuff our faces, of course!
Oh... and give thanks. (Can't forget about that) I have a lot to be thankful for this year. (see above) Aside from having the best kid in the world, I've also got the best partner in the world, hands down. Life is good... and confusing. Parenting is so much harder than I thought it was going to be. It's also better than I could have imagined despite the constant reminders of how I'm doing it wrong (depending on the doctor or countless blogs and articles on the internet). Here's another. This article talks about how the 'Cry it Out' method will harm your child's development. I particularly like the part about how parents used to have much more support from extended families than they do today. And when you google 'cry it out support' you get countless stories of how this method works and how parents are getting full nights of sleep with no long term damage. (although I'm not sure how you could measure that) So we're basically screwed no matter what we do. Which just strengthens my resolve to do what I think is best for my family. I need to remember this when I notice other parents making choices that don't align with my parenting choices. But to the guy who peeled out of the gas station playing window shaking music, I doubt very much your kid in the back seat is old enough or tall enough to go without a child seat. And have fun paying for whatever therapy is needed to correct his hearing loss. Ass.
Arrrggghh.... Life. Moving. Too fast!... (Insert Bill Shatner impression here.)
The holidays are fast approaching. But not as quickly as VB is learning new things. Work is finally slowing down a bit, though I still have one more big push this weekend where I will be out of town. But then I'll have a whole week off!
Trying not to be an ass by saying how tired I am knowing that my wife is getting less sleep than me. Doesn't make me any less tired, though.
This reminds me of all that advice I got before VB was born (a little more than 10 months ago!) telling me to get as much sleep as possible. And I defiantly said something like "It's not like I can bank the hours and catch up on it later!" (paraphrasing) And I still pretty much feel that way. No matter how much I slept before, I'd STILL be tired now. If I could offer any advice, I'd say to spend more time fixing up the house and doing all those projects you want because once the baby is here, there is NO time for any of that. In fact, I might encourage you to sleep LESS in order to get those projects done! (Make the raised bed in the back yard. Paint any rooms that need to get painted. Fix the gate to the backyard. Power wash the driveway. etc.) And yes, those are all real things that desperately need attention and haven't been done yet. And you know what, they don't seem that important when you watch your baby make her first steps.
When she escapes out the broken gate or slips on the driveway will be when I feel like an ass for not doing those things sooner.
Working 74 hours a week with a 10 month old is... challenging. Fortunately I don't have to do it all that often. Still sucks, though. As a dad trying not to be an ass, missing Halloween does not do much for my confidence. But I do have these great photos showing that I was around at least some of the time.
VB was not pleased with my attempt to hide her in a too small pumpkin... Seemed like a fun idea at the time. And I found a whole pumpkin seed in her potty the next morning. Yay, BLW!
It's hard to believe that Halloween has come an gone. It seems like just yesterday she was a helpless little thing laying on her blanket in the middle of the living room. Now look at her! On a side note, no wonder the dogs have taken a while to warm up to her.
I think I missed week 40 in there somewhere. VB is seriously close to walking. Seen here she is using her high chair as a walker.
My work is about to get really busy so I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post videos and/or pictures. Not that I'm posting all that often anyway. I guess I'm too busy trying not to be an ass. Unlike THIS guy. Dan Pearce from the blog "Single Dad Laughing" posted this entry talking about all they ways he screwed up his marriage(s). Not sure I could list all the things I've done wrong in my relationship for all the world to see... Who are we kidding?! I've never done ANYTHING wrong, right hon?........ hon? (Chirp Chirp) Okay, so I'm not perfect. Nobody is. But after reading this list, I feel pretty good about how I'm doing. Married over 12 years to a wonderful woman. We have an incredible daughter. And I have a job that I love but not so much that I wouldn't rather be home rocking VB to sleep at night. Yes, I might be bragging a bit. Life is good.
How not to be an ass? Stop neglecting all my fans by not posting any pictures or videos for more than a week. And by "fans", I mean mostly my friends and family. If anyone else is watching, you are awesome and I apologize if you were waiting for me to get my act together. Another way to not be an ass. Read books with your daughter. And if you have a daughter, read this counting book based on Pride and Prejudice.
(Not that boys can't like Pride and Prejudice) It's just... more of a girl thing I think. And a great way to be even less of an ass? Read it with an English accent. My wife really got a kick out of that. Anything to score points, right? Oh, by the way... VB has now been outside the womb longer than she was inside of it. Big milestone. Bigger I think for my wife. But still pretty cool. And yes, I realize that my "anything to score points" comment totally makes me an ass. Sue me.
