May 12 2011
Separation Anxiety
baby gear / first 6 months - 1 year ago - Brad
Well, this was unexpected.
For the past couple of months, Sam has been spending his nights sleeping in either his car seat or pack-n-play, both of which were placed in our bedroom. This let us have him within reach when he woke up hungry or needing a diaper, but we knew that the time had come to start the transition out of our room and into his own.
For a couple of weeks, we talked about how we should move him to his crib and even tried letting him take an occasional nap there to get acclimated. One night this week, though, Sam fell asleep in my arms as we had family couch time, so I decided to try putting him down in the crib for the night.
During the discussion, J had expressed some hesitation about moving Sam out of our room; out of our reach and line of sight, and I had tried to ease those as best I could. So when I walked into his room that night and stood over his crib, I was a little surprised how much trouble I had lying him down. I guess I got used to our evening cuddle time on the sofa, even when he was sleeping, and I had a really hard time leaving him there. Eventually, I laid him down and just stood there watching him. He made a couple of peeps, then settled into his new bed for the night.
Since then, he’s spent almost two full nights in his crib under the watchful ear of his monitor, but it still takes me a few minutes of watching over him before I’m okay to leave the room. In our absence, we bought a very cool gadget that (I hope) helps to soothe the little man to sleep – the Twilight Turtle Constellation Night Light.
This little accessory has a plush body, plastic shell, and projects stars onto the walls and ceiling in blue, green, or orange. When Sam is older, we can even point out the 8 real constellations included in the projected star map. For now, though, those stars are mainly for daddy’s peace of mind.
May 6 2011
Beach Blanket Baby
first 6 months / general - 1 year ago - Brad
Last month, J and I needed a little break. My family has a little place in the eastern part of the state, so we decided to spend a couple of nights there to get a brief respite from our very busy lives at home. It was our first trip out of town with the baby on our own and, in spite of a few stressful baby times, it was overall a nice getaway.
As part of that trip, we made an afternoon visit to the beach, eating lunch by the ocean and giving Sam his first taste of the sand, salt, and sea that his parents love so dearly. Getting to the beach proper took a 20 minute ferry ride and about another 25 minutes of driving, which meant our little guy was fast asleep by the time we got to the parking lot next to the beach access.
Off-road machine or infant rocker?
None of us had eaten lunch by that point, so we decided to eat at a little beachfront restaurant and leave Sam undisturbed as long as possible. That’s Baby Parenting 101: If baby’s happy, everybody’s happy. Unless baby’s in a corner; then there’s a whole different set of rules to apply.
We sat on the open patio overlooking the ocean and enjoyed a leisurely, delicious lunch. Particularly delicious? The “Hurricane” fries, smothered in Old Bay and white cheese sauce. And Sam slept.
Finally, once we had gorged ourselves on the wonderful food, we decided to openly defy Parenting 101 and wake Sam up to take him onto the beach. This baby, slathered in sunscreen, who hadn’t eaten since breakfast and had never so much as seen sand, much less touched it. All in all, I think it was a good experience.
Apr 23 2011
Awkward family photos
family / first 6 months / general - 1 year ago - Brad
As a new dad, I realize there are lots of things I don’t really know – like how to correctly empty the Diaper Genie. These are what I like to call ‘known unknowns.’ From time to time, though, I also run across a parenting fact I never knew I never knew. These things are the ‘unknown unknowns,’ and sometimes they can be a bit jarring.
Take the Saturday before Easter, for example: J and I took Sam to the mall for his first picture with the Easter Bunny. I had looked forward to it for a few days and my only real concern was whether he would be afraid of the person in the suit. It wasn’t until we lined up for the picture, only one position away from the stage, that I had a mini-freakout.
At that precise moment, I realized I had no idea how this sort of thing worked. Sam can’t sit up on his own yet – would one of us have to hold him in the picture? Would the Bunny talk to Sam? Ask him what he wants for Easter? What if he cries? And what was I thinking agreeing to hand my sweet baby over to a stranger hidden inside a 7-foot-tall rabbit costume?
Like most parenting-related freakouts at this stage, this turned out to be much ado about nothing. We handed Sam over to the giant Furry and spent the next 7-8 minutes calling his name, making silly sounds and faces, and waving a barely-functioning squeak toy in his general direction – all in the middle of a small-town mall. In the end, I think the result was worth it:
Feb 24 2011
If I said you had a beautiful baby, would you hold it against me?
family / general / newborn - 1 year ago - Brad
In the 7 weeks since Sam first showed his face, we’ve had the chance to introduce him to quite a few family members and friends. And when we do, we almost inevitably hear some compliment involving the words “cute,” “precious,” or “beautiful.” While I’d like to believe this is unique to our adorable little man, I’m willing to bet that a lot of new parents hear these same comments.
My question, though, is how does one respond to such a compliment? The way I see it, there are 3 options:
1. “Thanks! We tried really hard to make a cute one!”
2. “Yeah, we know. If only all babies were this cute.”
3. A blank stare.
Unfortunately, none of these really seems right. As a compulsive thanker, I tend to lean toward number 1 – but then I feel too much like I’m taking all the credit for his cuteness. Sure, half the genes are mine – but the method in which our powers combined had little direct input from me.
I’d really love to get some feedback on this: If you’re a friend or family member (of us or another parent), what response would you like to get?
If you’re a parent yourself, how do you respond?
Feb 14 2011
Better late than never
general / mini-post / newborn - 1 year ago - Brad
It’s been about 8 weeks since I updated, and I bet anyone reading can guess why…
Say hello to Sam! He was born on January 2nd – but having a newborn doesn’t exactly lend itself to blogging time. Now that he’s got a few weeks under his belt, though, things are getting a little easier (not to mention cuter!) every day.
We’re all healthy, happy, and doing great (if sleep-deprived). J has been a saint, taking the lion’s share of the overnight duties so I can get some sleep during the week for work. We’ve gotten lots of love from family and friends, and we appreciate it all more than we can say. And most of all, we love having that guy around!
Dec 30 2010
Has Anybody Seen My Baby?
general / pre-baby - 1 year ago - Brad
As of today, Sam’s official due date is just one week away. The doctors have told us he’s a very large baby, which facilitated another ultrasound scan to estimate his birth weight. We had that ultrasound yesterday morning, and his approximate weight is….
[drumroll please]
6 lbs. 14 oz.
We had been hearing for a couple weeks how big this guy is – so big that his head dropped about a month ago because it had nowhere else to go. Apparently, though, he’s just tall and skinny. Who expected that from my kid? Not me, that’s for sure. I was over 9 lbs and I was expecting this guy to tip the scales too.
Now that we know how big he is, we need to figure out how to get him to show his face ASAP. In pregnancy class Tuesday morning, we had sort of a mailbag segment, where each couple could share their specific concerns and get info from the staff. One of the hottest topics, just behind how to tell family and friends to leave, was wives’ tales about things that bring on labor.
As with anything baby-related, everyone has their own take on how to get the wheels turning on the birthing process. For the past two weeks, for example, my male coworkers have been encouraging us to have spicy Mexican food (along with a couple of other choice activities) to get things moving. In the pregnancy class, we heard a few others, not the least disgusting of which consisted of a tablespoon of castor oil mixed with lemonade. I can’t say for sure whether it brings on labor, but I’d bet it makes for an interesting evening.
For the record, it’s been two days since the camarones a la diabla, and still nothing…
Dec 22 2010
You ARE the Father.
In this pre-baby time (which is quickly drawing to a close), I’ve spent quite a bit of time talking about cool or useful or funny baby items that I wanted Sam to have. Today’s post, though, is about an item that I, under no circumstances, want him to have.
It’s a onesie available from the NBC.com online store, and it pretty much speaks for itself:
If you don’t know what that means, I’m actually quite happy for you. It means that somehow, for the past 15 years or so, you’ve managed not to get sucked in by Maury Povich and his brand of sensationalized paternity testing. In lieu of explaining, here’s a video example.
In this particular example, it turns out the man was not the father, but you get the picture.
In any case, this onesie is designed to advertise the fact that the child’s mother was so promiscuous that she, in fact, had to have a DNA test performed on a daytime talk show to determine the father of her child. Is it any wonder it’s on clearance?
Dec 4 2010
Papa’s got a brand new bag
baby gear / pre-baby - 1 year ago - Brad
So I’ve heard that one thing every parent needs is a diaper bag. This magical do-it-all accessory serves as storage for everything from bottles to diapers to changes of clothes, books, favorite toys, and just about anything else you might need to take care of your tiny offspring.
The good news is that diaper bags come in lots of shapes, sizes, and colors for nearly any occasion. As a dad, though, the bad news is that about 97.3% of all diaper bags look like purses. And of those that don’t, about 2.6% are way too expensive. So what’s a guy to do?
Well, a couple of weeks ago (while at a comic book show that just happened to be next to a baby outlet), we picked up a brown and green diaper bag set that doesn’t look that feminine. Seriously, I could carry that around and was pretty cool with it – until this week, that is.
That’s when I came across this beast at Babies R’ Us:
It’s a rugged, darkly-colored, spillproof, off-road machine of a diaper bag – it’s a Jeep. And, if you didn’t notice, it’s sitting on a leather couch with the TV remote. Probably watching football. It’s that manly.
Now, when people see me with Sam, they’ll know that he’s a man’s baby, that his belly is probably filled with delicious meat and potatoes, and that his car seat is fastened securely into what might humbly be called the manliest of all vehicles.
Can your diaper bag do that?
Nov 24 2010
Pillow Fight
general / pre-baby - 1 year ago - Brad
As a married guy, one of my favorite parts of the day is getting to lay down to sleep next to J each night. For the past few weeks, though, the extra weight and positioning of baby Sam have necessitated some changes in J’s sleeping habits. As a result, I’ve been introduced to another new facet of pregnancy which I affectionately refer to as the pillow fort.
In short, pregnant girls need lots of pillows. Somehow, one or more of the hormones involved in pregnancy triggers an innate need to be surrounded by pillows of all shapes, sizes, and textures. There are entire lines of pillows that are designed just for pregnant women; some are designed to prop them up, some wrap around, and others are just designed to cuddle.
Thankfully, our pillow collection is still pretty manageable - and we haven’t quite gotten to the wraparound body pillow just yet. If J needs it though, I’ll be more than happy to put up with sleeping outside the pillow fort for a while. After all, we’re only a matter of weeks away from Sam making his big appearance!
Nov 17 2010
I’m an Uncle!
family / mini-post / pre-baby - 1 year ago - Brad
No, this adorable little guy is not Sam – he’s still a few weeks away. This is Sam’s brand new first cousin Gabriel, about an hour after he was born. 8 lbs. 5 oz. and 22 inches long. Yes, 22 inches. That’s a super long baby, but he’s also super cute. Congratulations to my brother and sister-in-law!
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