5 Months 5 Days Old

Before Von Bebe was born, I remember writing about babies laughing and included a link to a video showing this.  Sadly, that link no longer works.  As a reminder, enjoy watching THIS and THIS.

  This is all well and good, but I now have a taste of what it may be like to hear my own child laugh.  Check this out:

I could watch this over and over again and never get bored.

   I'm really glad that I got this on video when I did because she hasn't laughed the same since.  This is also very lucky because her mom was at work when this happened and didn't get a chance to see it first hand.  We knew that we would miss things as we go back to work full time.  That sucks.  So something I can do while I'm home for the summer is to take as many photos and video as possible so mom can see some of those things we will otherwise be missing.  That is how I can not be an ass this week.

22 Weeks Old or... 5 Months and 2 days

 So my wife and I might be a little competitive without actually acknowledging it.  Or maybe we do.  Von Bebe now says maamaamaamaamaamaa…. (and on and on).  She’s not actually saying Mama.  But it’s really stinkin’ close.  And since I’m home all day I’m trying to get her to say daadaadaadaa instead.  It’s not working.  I don’t know why we bother because the first words out of her mouth will probably be “Ricky, shut up!” (Ricky’s the dog who won’t stop barking)

   And when my wife barely nicked Von Bebe’s thumb with the nail clippers, her response was, “I was hoping you’d be the first one to break the baby.”  (I’m paraphrasing a bit)

   Now that I’ve been home for a few weeks I’d like to think I’m getting the hang of nap schedules, feeding times and things like that.  But I think moms have an innate ability that guys just can’t compete with.  Example:

Wife: “She’ll probably wake up in the next 20 minutes”

Me:  “Wanna make a bet?”

Wife:  “No.  I don’t like to lose.  But I bet I’m right.”

And she was.

   I don’t mind being an ass about the competition because I think my wife is right there with me.

   But HERE is a very good guide on how I can avoid being an ass with my daughter as we grow up together.

   And now for an awesome picture.  (Love these eyes!)

21 weeks old!

   I’m in my 4^th week as a stay-at-home-dad for the summer.  Or SAHD for short.  I thought when I got to this point I would have so much more time to write blog entries.  HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!  Silly me.

   I also imagined myself not being an ass by editing all these wonderful videos together since we’ve now taken several days worth of video footage.  Again, silly me.

   I did make THIS however.  

Real productive, I know.

   Honestly, it’s all I can do just to keep her clean, fed, burped and changed.  If I accomplish this by the end of the day, I consider it a success. 

   But if it’s not one thing, it’s another.  One minute, minor diaper rash flares up again and just when I get that under control my wife notices a sore on her neck where all her baby fat folds are bunched together.  Dad of the year I am not.

   Seriously, why can’t I be as cool as THIS guy?  

Only I later found out that the guy in the video isn’t even a dad.  What a poser.

20 Weeks Old

Happy Memorial Day, everybody!  And thanks to the many men and women in service of our country.

   I would also like to take this time to acknowledge another group of people:  Single parents.  After doing my best to not be an ass for the 20 weeks since becoming a father, I cannot fathom trying to do it alone.  This has been one of (if not THE) hardest thing I have ever done. 

   One of the things that has made it possible is having a partner that I can trust to have my back.  A wingman to take some of the heat when the going gets a little too rough.  When Von Bebe is squalling and has been for hours, I know that there is someone I can count on to give me a break if I need it.  While I am aware that being a parent is a 25 hour a day job, it is a little easier knowing someone else is in it as deep as I am.

   So (as I just pulled an assist with vomit cleanup on aisle one) I’d like to give a big shout out to all you single parents.  My proverbial hat is off to you.  I don’t know how you did/are doing it.

19 Weeks Old

Being a new father I’m quickly discovering (and being told) all of the one million and one ways that my child could die.  This week alone has inundated me with enough articles, clips and Facebook shares to keep me awake very late tonight.

   First there’s this which shows some scary footage of what it looks like if the car you’re driving gets in a collision and your child is in a forward facing seat.

   And this shows the rise of diabetes in America’s youth.

   As summer quickly approaches and we are spending time in or near water, this informational tidbit describing what happens to people who are drowning.  This scares me more than the movie Jaws. 

   And finally, I just finished reading Storms of Our Grandchildren by James Hansen who explains that if we don’t stop burning fossil fuels, nothing living will exist on planet Earth within 1000 years because the surface temperature will parallel that of Venus.

  Oh goody.  So:

Keep using rear facing car seats as long as possible – Check

Eat more vegetables – Check

Swim Lessons  – Working on it

   And write my legislators telling them to close down all coal fired power stations and reduce my use of carbon.  – Ummm… I drive a Prius (Can I get a half check for that?)

   I realize that if we spend all our time worrying about everything that could go wrong in this world, we’ll miss everything when it goes right.  But try not worrying when this is on the line: 

4 Months 6 days

   Next to the guy I saw at Target, I was not an ass today. 

After taking my daughter to my wife’s work for a breastfeeding session, Von Bebe and I went to Target to pick up a couple of things.  So I get to the store, put her in the Mei Tai and we’re off. 

   Baby in Mei Tai, diaper bag over shoulder and red Target basket in hand I head towards the baby section for more Dr. Brown’s glass bottles.  I noticed a nice looking family; 2 parents and their two kids.  The youngest was in the shopping cart while the older sister was of toddler age and staying close to mom who was pushing the cart. 

   Just a warning, I’m about to get really judgmental here which is unfair of me since I don’t know all the facts.  But this is what I saw and heard.

   The mother and two kids were near me as we were both shopping for baby stuff.  The daughter and mother were haggling with each other about what to get.  This added a new dimension to the term “whining”. (The daughter was pretty bad, too)  If I stuck around much longer, I’d swear somebody was going to mention needing power converters from Toshi Station.  (Let me know if you get that reference)

   Then I see the husband walking up and down every aisle of the store talking on his cell phone… very loudly.  Again, I don’t know the details of the phone conversation so maybe he had a good reason to wander away from his family.  Maybe the guy was dealing with a family emergency.  But his body language didn’t suggest anything so desperate.

   Then it reminded me of an article I read recently about husbands of a certain… type.  Here it is from the blog People I Want to Punch in the Throat.  Yes, this guy struck me as a douchey dad.

   I like these people.  They make me feel so much better about myself.

Meanwhile, Von Bebe has been joining us at the dinner table for a week or two, now.  She can even sit up on her own for a few second at a time, too.

???? 4 Months +

   I’ve lost track of weeks.  So I’m going to stop trying.  Von Bebe is 4 months, 4 days old. 

   Starting today, I am a full time stay-at-home-dad (SAHD) for about 3 months.  My job rocks.  I work for a college so I already get summers off, and I was able to split my FMLA leave so I get another month off now.  This works out really great because my wife goes back full time starting tomorrow. 

   However, this puts the two of us in an awkward position.  Whereas I am excited to spend the days with my daughter, my wife is really struggling with going back full time.  For about half a second, we actually considered the option of her quitting to permanently be a stay-at-home-mom.  But this would be difficult as we’ve gotten really used to the double income.  Plus, as difficult as it is, we both really love our jobs.  The work is very satisfying and we do really cool stuff!  I don’t think either one of us would last very long as stay-at-home-parents. 

   Despite how awesome my job is, it is the nature of my work to keep me away in the evenings for 2 weeks at a time four times throughout the year.  Which is why there has been very little from me over the last week.  Those weeks were already hard.  Now that I have a daughter along with a perfect wife, they seem agonizing.  I’m already trying to figure out what I’m going to say to her when I’m working over Halloween and can’t go trick or treating with her.

   This being a father thing is difficult.  And it is impossible to do it without being as ass at one time or another.

   Oh, and I totally nicked her with nail clippers today.  Yeah.  That sucked, too.  And my wife blames me for teaching her to spit.