Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Daycare


Christmas has come and gone and everyone is still one piece. The Baby has had a rough few days with all the moving around and traveling to and fro and it has really affected her sleeping at night. She usually does fairly well and can make it through the night without any issues but lately that hasn't been the case. We like to blame it on the fact that the Baby was really excited about Christmas morning but like any 9 month old child, she could care less. The Baby, however, was pretty excited about the cool toys she received from everybody and she did add a good percentage to her wardrobe as well.

Here in the next few weeks we plan on enrolling the Baby into a Mother's Day Out program at First United Methodist Church. The Wifey actually went to Pre-K there and when we did our surprise visit, the director was her former teacher. It was a good visit, everyone was super friendly, the kid to adult ratio was very low, a 1:3. So we don't have any issues with the overall quality of care and supervision. It's just hard to trust our child with complete strangers and expect the same type of attention the Baby would at home. The Wifey's mother has some health restraints that limits her overall ability to take care of the Baby. And with the Baby beginning to show the early stages of walking, it would be nearly impossible for the Wifey's mother to keep up with such an active baby. The Wifey and I tried to come up with different scenarios with our work schedules (since my work schedule is so flexible) so that we wouldn't have to put the Baby under another person's supervision, but it didn't work out. There are the positives like the Baby will be exposed to other babies her age. She currently does pretty well socializing with her cousin, who is about three months older, but now she can actually make friends. She will also probably get sick but we have been very lucky thus far with the type of care she has been receiving. I'm just a little hesitant with daycare options because I've never done it. Maybe it's a cultural thing but in our family, the grandmother watched the children. I remember when my sister would drop off her kid so she could go to work. My brother in law's mother actually had to get licensed by the State because she was watching all her grandchildren; a number that would equal five kids at one time.

And on a quick tangent, it's pretty lonely to see ourselves essentially "established" compared to our other friends. We are truly the only family amongst our closer friends. We own a house and we have a kid. Granted, neither of us entrenched in a career driven mindset, but we're all very happy. It's a modest lifestyle and it works for us.

But for now, we'll all going to enjoy our time together. The Baby is starting to be more talkative and can stand by herself unaided for upwards of ten seconds. The Wifey and I are just fascinated by how much she is growing and we love that we can see her little brain work. One good thing the Baby has learned is to react when we say "No". It's usually because she has something in her hands that she isn't supposed to have and we'll tell her "No" and she will look back at us, smile, and then hand over what is in her hand. Sometimes I just like to tell her no just to see her face because it's so darn flippin' cute. And some more pictures...




Tuesday, December 14, 2010

It's the Holidays!

The Baby has become a singer. She sings along to the radio, she sings to the television, but she especially loves it when someone sings to her. It just makes her smile every time. I can't wait until she can start hearing someone who can actually carry a tune, she might enjoy it even further.

The family ventured out to NorthPark Center to visit the timeless and famous Santa Claus. He has been doing this for over 20 years, so he is pretty popular, especially amongst Dallas' finest shoppers. The Wifey and I were actually at the mall the previous night to find a Christmas outfit for the Baby with the grandmother. We asked the Santa's helpers what time we should be there to take pictures with Santa and he said, "well, I start handing out numbers at 9am, but there will be a line of twenty people waiting by then."

And he wasn't joking. There were already 40 people waiting in line to get their number at 9am the next morning. So the family and I just walked around the mall and had breakfast and waited until our number was called. Santa didn't start taking pictures until 1030, so we figured we would check in around 1230 to get the pictures taken. As we waited in line, some NorthPark newbies would walk up and casually step in line and act like it was first come, first serve general admission photo session with Santa Claus.

Sorry folks, this isn't K-Mart. Grab a number and come back later. By the time 1230 rolled around, the number was at about 178 (only 195 numbers are handed out throughout the day) and Santa's helper kindly informed #178 to return around 6pm that night for their pictures. And the parents were infuriated. They thought they could just waltz right up to one of the busiest malls in Texas and get their pictures taken. I thought it was nice that the helper was giving them a rough time estimate to come back. At least they could do other stuff for the day rather than wait in line. But I did feel bad for the kids. Their parents get them all dressed up in their finest holiday outfits and go to a mall, where they aren't allowed to buy anything, to wait in line to go see Santa, and then get turned away because their parents didn't have the foresight to plan accordingly. Well, lesson learned kiddos.

We hoped for really cute Santa pictures but I secretly wanted a crying Santa picture. I think those are the best. Once I put the Baby on Santa's lap, she looked at me with a quizzical expression, glanced at Santa, and then freaked the hell out. And Santa played it cool. He just smiled and held her while the camera flashes went off. But at least she has a really pretty Christmas dress, compliments of the awesome grandmother.


 It was a great experience. The Wifey and I debated whether it was worth it to wait three and half hours for this particular Santa. But NorthPark Santa is definitely a professional dealing with all these obnoxious, crying, bratty kids. And then there are those kids who are truly amazed by him and Christmas Spirit and it was just nice seeing the happiness in all the eyes of the children.

In other news, we received our family holiday portraits. Our intention was to have some nice photos we can send to our friends and family. We also wanted to bring out the cheesiness of holiday photos as well, so we decided to find some over the top Christmas outfits at the local thrift store. Unfortunately, due to the cuteness of the Baby, her super cheesy Christmas outfit ended up being really cute and we were stuck with awful sweaters. Either our taste is really bad or style no longer exists. I will let you decide, all pictures courtesy of Carissa Byers.

stink face


Monday, November 29, 2010

Diaper Rash Wars

The Baby has her first major battle with diaper rash. It's a pretty stubborn rash as we have tried to douse it with every type of powder and cream in existence. The Baby doesn't seem to mind it for the most part but every now and then she will throw her fit to let us know. Our doctor suggested mixing diaper cream with Maalox, so we'll try that tonight. Sounds like an old wives trick but the doctor is pretty reputable.

The Baby just turned 8 months and she is hitting all her milestones. The only concern from the doctor was that the Baby wasn't gaining as much as weight as other babies. But on our last checkup visit she saw how active the Baby was, crawling and moving around all over the place. Luckily our doctor is pretty up to date on the World Health Organization's recent studies that show that breast-fed babies will not gain as much weight as other babies but still be developmentally sound. Even Wal-Mart toys are shown to be huge and sumo-ish with the selling of the "newborn baby" doll that was displayed in the aisle.

 Seriously, that's a "newborn baby" sitting next to our 8month old daughter. I think the Wifey would be in a wheelchair if she squeezed that baby out between her legs.

And of course to us, it seems like the Baby is developing way too fast.

The Baby has begun "cruising" around the house. Cruising is when babies start to pull themselves on objects and then walk along that object. The Baby will use the wall, the coffee table, the foot of the bed, pretty much anything she can stand with. Periodically, she will let go with both hands and free stand for a brief second before she either falls or grabs that object. But every time she does it, she is so proud of herself.

Meal time for the Baby includes everything. If it's on the menu, she will eat it. The only thing we won't allow her to eat is shellfish just because the Wifey was allergic to shellfish once. But I am sure the Baby would enjoy it. Currently the Baby loves cheese pizza. We gave her a plain piece of bread and she looked at, realized there wasn't any cheese on it, and threw it back at us. Snack wise, the Baby absolutely loves the Gerber Graduates Lil Crunchies, maple cinnamon flavor. It's really a great tool to quiet the Baby when she gets fussy.

So now we're all preparing for her first Christmas. Hopefully it's a good one.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Obligatory Thanksgiving Post

At this very moment the Wifey is baking up some delicious treats for today's multiple Thanksgiving feasts. We're big fans of Bravo's new reality cooking show Top Chef: Just Desserts and one of the chefs made a red velvet whoopie pie and I said, "you should bake that next!" and she obeyed. So which leads me to today's topic about all the things for which I am grateful.

First and foremost, I am extremely grateful that I don't get chewed out on national television.



But really, I can 100% honestly say that everything good in my life has some direct correlation with the Wifey. Granted, she has her foibles that seem to annoy me on a daily basis but she has good intentions. And sometimes I lose the sight of the fact that she is trying so hard to be the ideal wife. I don't need her to be perfect, I genuinely love the way she are (Timbaland reference for the grammar police). I do want the house to be a little cleaner and I do want her to stop invading my side of the double sink in the bathroom and I wish she would throw away the baby Chewbacas that come out of her hair and fill up the bathtub drain. But I'm nowhere near perfect either. She tries and she tries hard and I can't fault her for that. If I just had an ounce of her compassion and her love and her excitement for the smaller things in life, I would lead a very happy life. She is my constant reminder that I am unconditionally loved and I will always be thankful for that feeling.

So you would think that if the Wifey is so awesome that anything that came out of her would be awesome too right? Well, I've seen what Wingstop night does to her and that's not 100% true. But, the Baby did emerge and it might be cliche to say, she has changed my life.

Before she was born and much less conceived, the Wifey and I battled about how much having a child would change our overall dynamic as a couple. We would take spur of the moment trips (we decided on visiting New York City on about two day's preparation, the same with Florida, twice) and really enjoyed our spontaneous lifestyle. In fact, after visiting NYC, we decided, "hey let's buy a house." And we purchased our first house within three weeks. So needless to say, our lives would ultimately change when this 6lbs 10oz package shot through the mail slot. And the transition from being a cool hip couple to cool hip parents would begin. I can't imagine how our lives would be without the Baby now. She's just a relaxed, fun baby. She can kiss on command and loves smiling.



Happy Thanksgiving.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

Pictures from the BlackBerry


The Wifey leaves for work a lot earlier than when the Baby and I actually wake up, so she doesn't get to see the Baby dressed and ready for the day. So I send the Wifey a picture of the Baby every morning. Here are some pictures from the BlackBerry. I like to think I dress the Baby quite well, the grandmother will disagree and quickly change her. I will let you be the judge.









Here is the Baby in her Halloween costume watching the hundreds and hundreds of people for the Swiss Avenue Trick or Treat. She just sat there and watched.
The Baby got some of her cookies on her body. The Wifey is really mature.

And this what happens when the Baby gets exhausted. She passes out, whether it's in her Pack N Play or eating. What a life.

Trash Box Percussion

 One of the best and most frustrating things about babies is their love for junk. As I look into the Baby's toy box, I see more empty bottles, boxes, containers, and junk than actual toys. We started a bad habit of buying the Baby something every time we go to Target (always a dollar or less, times are tough) and we notice those toys are piled up. But give her an empty bottle and she's occupied for the entire day. I guess it helps out with the environment since we are re-using every container we purchase but here fancy toys are being neglected. We purchased the Baby this really nice soft cloth piano that lights up and plays cool songs every time you slap it. But the Baby decides that if you flip over a box it makes a cooler noise when you slap it. So that's her musical instrument. We wanted to get this musical drum from LeapFrog from Target but it was 20 bucks. It's a cool toy but we couldn't justify it knowing that the Baby loves her trash box percussion at home. But knowing us, we'll probably buy it sooner than later. At least it will make a good paperweight/coaster.

Being a parent you end up establishing some sort of routine with your child. The consistency allows for you to stay organized and most importantly, sane. After work, I pick up the Baby from the awesome grandmother's house and the Baby and I go outside to check the mail. We live near a pretty lively and well occupied duck pond, so the ducks enjoy greeting us. They like to greet us by wildly flapping their wings and flying straight up, but it's a greeting nonetheless. The Baby likes to reach over and pry the mail out my hands and eat the bills. If I don't see the bill, that means I don't owe right? I then usually set her ground  and watch her explore the house now that she is an avid crawler. She does an excellent job of scoping out all the random things on the ground and tries to eat them. And when I get up to go stop her from eating the random things, she hurriedly shoves it in her mouth and crawls for safety. She's been learning from the dog. I then usually bring her into the kitchen with me so I can clean it up. As I said earlier, the Baby is an avid crawler now. And she's fast. If there was a Tour de France for crawling, she'd be Lance Armstrong. So the only way to keep Lance Crawlstrong in one place is to put food on the ground in front of her. I put a sanitized place mat on the floor first obviously but I sit her down right in the middle of the kitchen so I can clean. It's not conventional but it works. But then we'll wait for the Wifey to come home from work by partaking in a nice three hour nap. That's the best part of our routine.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Self Feeding

The Wifey and I introduced the Baby to self-feeding and it's been fun to say the least. She has a unique diet of foods that are easy to clean. The messy baby is really cute but it's a hassle to get the bathwater ready every for her. We feed her stalks of broccoli, green beans, corn kernels, carrots, and celery. Pretty much anything she can grasp on her own and shovel into her mouth. The Baby likes to grab her food and carefully examine it. We haven't really introduced any meats to her, however, she does love scrambled eggs.But right now the Baby is a healthy vegetarian.

Currently, her favorite food is carbs. Dr. Atkins would be going crazy if he saw this baby indulge on breads and starches like she does. The Wifey and I can go to our favorite brunch places like Breadwinners and just give her a piece of bread and she would keep herself occupied throughout the meal. Breadsticks, crostinis, pizza crust, and pasta; the Baby is practically a trash compactor for carbs. In order to diversify her meals, the Wifey introduced her to plain yogurt and cheerios. Like I said earlier, we typically try to stay away from messy foods just because...it's messy. But we figured it was Sunday morning and we had nothing better to do than to watch the Baby get dirty in breakfast and give her a morning bath.





She had a grand old time just painting her face with plain yogurt. She obviously bypassed the purpose of a spoon but she did try to use it. And of course where there is a feeding baby, there is a happy dog.

He is pretty useful when I don't feel like getting out the Dyson to clean up the mess. I just sweep everything onto the floor and he goes to town. He's quick, efficient, and he's 100% green. Al Gore would be proud. He was ready to pounce on anything that fell off the table. I think the dog realizes how awesome meal times are for him and the Baby and how messy it can be for us.

And lastly, CLEAN BABY!


Thursday, November 11, 2010

McRibs and Simplicity


Growing up I was enamored with McDonalds. It was a treat for our family to go get the delicious treats at Mickey D's. My parents would come home and say "get in the car, we're going to McDonalds!" and I would rush to find my velcro laced shoes and make a mad dash for the backseat of the 85' gray two door Nissan Datsun my dad would cruise around in. I told the kids in my class that it was the car from Back to the Future and they were amazed. Of course, that was until the doors opened and they realized I was a liar. But anyways, McDonald's was a special treat for us and it was even more special when they would offer these "limited edition" sandwiches and I would go nuts over them. Anybody remember the Super Hero burger? It came out when Batman Forever was in theaters. Just a simple burger: three beef patties, two different cheeses, pickles, lettuce, and tomato on a hero bun.


     So yeah, then McDonalds unleashed this awesome work of art called the McRib and my brother and I went apeshit over it. If one can literally go apeshit, then that was me and my brother. I like ribs. I like sandiwches. I like it when you put a "Mc" at the beginning of it. We would buy as many as we could since it was "limited time only" and it would never be back. And when it would come back the next year, we would buy it again because we really thought "this is the year they stop making the McRib!" But as time passed on and the "limited edition" moniker wore off, I realized the McRib is kinda nasty. It's a meat patty in the shape of ribs. Boneless ribs. And then slathered in their McChicken Nugget bbq sauce which should be used for fries and McChicken Nuggets. And it's a meat patty in the shape of freaking ribs!

I guess my sense of texture and tastes buds have been better developed. Oh yeah and my brain too.

So anyways, the Baby is officially back to sleeping in her own room. She was going through a rough period of bad teething, so she would sleep in our bed since it was easier for us to comfort her. But I guess with all the snoring that goes on in the room, the Baby and the Wifey could never get a good night of sleep. So we had to reintroduce her to her crib and letting her go to sleep on her own. It only took two nights and me staying awake and the Wifey turning off the monitor for the Baby to go to sleep on her own. I would go in there when the Baby would have one of her tantrums and she would be in her crib grasping the bars like she was a prisoner just screaming. Or she would pull herself up and stand there and scream. Eventually she got the idea that she wasn't coming out of her room. and And now the Baby sleeps almost as soon as you put her down and she stays asleep. She consistently sleeps 12 hours a night. Which is ridiculous that we didn't put her back into the crib before. We're also teaching the Baby tricks. Our dog is too dumb and crazy to understand the concept of commands and tricks, so we figured we would start fresh with the Baby. She can now kiss on command, depending on whether or not she wants to be shy. But if you ask for a kiss, she leans over and opens up her mouth and sticks out her tongue for a slobbery kiss; just like her mother. She also loves shaking hands and on occasion will wave hello and goodbye. Babies make the best pets.

The family also ventured out to the Arboretum before Halloween to take some photos and enjoy the really nice weather. We didn't realize it was trick or treating for the kids that day so the Baby was just wearing civilian clothes. But she looked adorable.


This picture is one of my favorites and it just sums up everything about the Baby. She has the soft green grass under her, a cool October breeze on her face, and the warm Autumn sun on her skin. And she has zero cares in the world. While we were taking these pictures, people passing by would stop and just adore her and we knew that the Baby was making them just as happy as we were. For Halloween, the Baby dressed up as "Dronkey" from the Shrek movies. When we would say "Dronkey" everyone thought we said "Drunkie". Although both equally adorable, we went with the more kid-friendly version. We really wanted to find the super cute costume but everything was too big for the petite Baby but everything worked out.



We took this photo at Target's Portait Studio and we were thoroughly impressed. The photographer wasn't aggressive and doing stupid poses, she just let the Baby do her thing. And the best thing about this photo shoot, this was the first time that the Baby sat up by herself for an extended period of time without toppling over. She sat in this pose for a good three minutes. It was just weird because that morning she was falling over like a "drunkie" and couldn't keep up. But then we realized that the Baby is pretty photogenic because we took our holiday portraits with the indomitable Carissa Byers at her studio. And the Baby posed for every single picture. She just smiled and stared at the camera. The Wifey and I didn't even have to make any stupid faces and noises to make the Baby smile. But seriously, look at these photos:




We can't wait for the rest of the photos.

Happy Birthday to Kelly! She thought our baby was so cute she decided to get a daughter herself. Expected due date of 2/19 but everyone knows the 24th of February is the best day ever.  And also a congratulations to Chasity and her new daughter Piper.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Claws and Antlers

I've always imagined being able to tell my kids stories of sports greatness, how I was able to witness history in the making. I could probably tell the Baby the glory days of the Triplets and how they dominated the NFL. I could tell her how Sunday was my favorite day and my dad would tell me and my brother to watch the Cowboys play so we could learn how to be better football players. I could tell her how the Dallas Mavericks were one game away from winning it all or how the Cowboys are the favorites to win every single year but seem to come up short. But this year was different. This year it was the Rangers' time.

Now I will be honest, I'm not the biggest baseball, not in the least. I've been to a few games before, I would even bring my glove thinking I would catch a foul ball but then I found out only 8 year old boys bring their gloves to baseball games. The adults bring their beer drinking hands. I wouldn't take the time out to find out when the next baseball game was and I definitely didn't take the time to watch a game from the first pitch to the last out. Personally, I just never saw baseball as a team sport. The pitcher does his own thing on the mound and each batter has to hit the ball. It's not like football where the line must block and the receiver has to run a precise route. But this year I decided to get a different perspective of America's Pasttime. Nolan Ryan was running the team and the sale of the team was imminent. The experts predicted that the Rangers would have their beat season yet, winning at least 80 games. So I am sure it baffled the experts when the Rangers were the clear cut team to win the AL West almost by midseason. It was just a great season and the Baby was able to experience her first baseball game after being just weeks old.


The Rangers won that game and as we were leaving the Ballpark, someone said "she must be a good luck charm to see a win at her very first game." The Baby didn't even cry when the fireworks busted over head. Maybe she knew we were in for a full season of them. I get to tell her first hand about the drama that unfolded when the team was for sale. I could tell her about the trade rumors and different scenarios on how the Rangers need that "missing " piece. I can tell her about how we got one of the best pitchers in baseball when he had already packed his bags for the Big Apple. Or I could talk about the player nobody wanted but who would end up being the comeback player of the year. Or the "Natural" proving to everyone that he was finally back. I could delightfully tell her the story of when her mother and I were trying to clean up the house and I would take mini breaks to catch an improbable comeback when a "fat kid who can't run good" belted a three run homer to left field to stun the crowd and sending them for the exits. And I am glad I have something to tell the Baby that something great happened the first year she was growing up. Claws and Antlers.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The Art of Patience

One of the most important things that any new father should learn is the art of patience. But patience is one of those things that can't be taught. And the Wifey knows very well how I deal with patience. But when it comes to babies, patience is just something that has to be realized. Babies don't have the privilege of understanding basic commands as soon as they are born. And since they can't talk and communicate, the only thing they know how to do is cry. And babies love crying. Now I will be honest, I've let the Baby cry a little longer than she needs to but it also lets me deal with my frustration and impatience. Really as cliche as it may sound, it's all about taking a deep breath and realizing that some things are out of your control. Fortunately for a baby their list of wants is not that long. They either want to be held, a diaper change, or to eat. Not an extensive list. Of course there are always the variables that come into play like teething and illness but that's why there is whiskey. But then you realize that you wish your child would exercise patience. They seem to be in a hurry to start moving around and learning new things. Sometimes the Wifey and I miss the days where the Baby would just lie there and the only moving she would do was to grab her toes. Now the Baby can't stay on her back for longer than two minutes without her crawling away. Of course to top it off, she is pulling herself up and standing. But what goes up, must come down and the Baby has already toppled a few times. I can see the bruises and Hello Kitty band aids in the near future.

One of the other big things to deal with is sharing. It's still a big adjustment for the Wifey and I to share our time with the Baby. We have had some nights out and it has been nice but I miss just spending time with my wife. She used to come home from work and she would throw all her stuff down and we would just lie on the couch and catch up on our shows. Now she throws her stuff down and grabs the Baby to feed her and then our night consists of watching the Baby and the "internets". I'll be honest, I love the Baby and how much she changed our lives for the better and I can't wait to hold her and play with her but as she is growing up and consuming more of our time, I can't help but miss my wife. I guess I just have to be patient for my turn again.

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Seven Months

This past weekend the family loaded up the car and headed down to Austin for our first weekend road trip. I had to do an event at the Longhorns game doing some promotion stuff and since it was company paid, we figured why not make it a family trip. The original plan was to drive down Friday morning and go through a drive-in petting zoo near San Marcos but the rain and my absolute hatred in being in a car longer than I need to be pushed up our departure to Thursday evening. The Wifey found a 25 dollar hotel in Austin through Priceline so we could drive down and have more time on Friday to do stuff. Despite the Wifey's beliefs that I told her I "just love driving" we have an agreement that she drives down and I will drive home. I sat in the backseat with the Baby and we were off. The Baby did really well for her first extended road outing. She slept for a good portion of the trip and when she was awake, she enlightened us with her rendition of Hamlet. We got into Austin a little after 10pm and since none of us had eaten dinner, we went out to Kerbey Lane for some food. We walked in thinking we were the trashy parents hauling their infant for dinner at 10pm but we saw two other babies who were younger than the Baby already inside the restaurant. Crazy Austin and it's hippies.

Friday morning we went out to Juan in a Million for some breakfast tacos and with the high chance of precipitation, we altered our plan of going to the petting zoo and opted to go outlet mall shopping. When we were through with that portion of the trip we checked in to the company paid hotel at the very nice Casulo Hotel. It's located in South Austin and relatively close to downtown and since I booked this hotel a couple of months ago, I had a pretty good rate but even then, this hotel's regular rates are pretty good, $130/night for a home game weekend. I really suggest checking out the pics, the rooms were a decent sized but everything was really well designed and it felt like a fancy hotel. But then again, the Wifey and I think Holiday Inn Express is pretty nice too so I guess it's all personal preference. But the Casulo has a huge shower with the rainfall showerhead and a regular one and an oversized bathtub. But it also had a window that looked into the bedroom. It was actually pretty creepy, especially if you are sharing the room with someone who you aren't married or dating, but other than that, we loved the hotel. We also had dinner at Moonshine in downtown Austin and the Baby was able to eat her fair share of crostinis and pickles. She really didn't eat the pickle but just squeezed it and looked at us and laughed. But the crostinis she loved. It's fun watching her eat and just look at her food and the reactions she makes every time she tastes something. So far she loves bread, celery, broccoli, pickles, and chicken. I gave her a raw onion and she wasn't too happy about that but that's been the only thing she doesn't like to eat.

Saturday morning I went off to the game, the Wifey had breakfast in bed with the Baby. She also left a lot of her breakfast in the bed, mainly my side, but that is neither her nor there. Lunch we drove out to Salt Lick in Driftwood to indulge on some BBQ. The Baby turned seven months old on Saturday and she said she wanted to try out Salt Lick, so we went. That evening we stayed in and caught up on some sleep and prepared for our drive back in the morning.

Sunday morning we met up with my old college roommate(s) Charles and Matt. I actually lived in the dorms with Charles at A&M and for one summer I slept on Matt's couch at his apartment. Except one night I woke up and Matt was starting at me in the middle of the night, so I took that as a sign that I had overstayed my welcome and abruptly left. Charles likes to miss all the major events in my life by playing GI Joe and being an All-American hero in the Middle East but now he's at Fort Hood. He actually gets paid by the government to break into the bases and other maximum security government offices and then tells them what they need to fix to keep people like him out. Crazy stuff. But anyways, we had a good breakfast, shared a few laughs, and then the family left for home.

So this past weekend we realized the Baby is pretty good in the car. She also can't stay in a hotel room for an extended period of time and prefers to actually go out and do stuff. She already understands being stir crazy. The Baby has also started moving forward with a mixture of regular crawling and army man crawling and now she can roll onto her butt and sit up by herself. And as of today she is able to pull herself up and stand up. She eventually comes crashing down but the fact that she even does that has gotten the Wifey and I are to start baby proofing corners and lowering the cribs. It's absolutely nuts to fathom that the Baby is actually seven months old and she is learning new things faster than we can keep up with. But all in all, great weekend. Happy Seven Months baby.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Doggy Tales

Howdy Friends!

Shrek, the family dog, guest blogging today as my bestest friends in the whole world are gone.

About seven months ago they brought home a rather peculiar thing  and seem to have almost forgotten about me. This thing makes weird noises throughout the day and just slept. They call this thing "baby" and every time it would make a sound, my best friends would drop everything and run to it. But every time I make a noise, I get yelled at for being too loud. And don't get me started on all the cool awesome stuffed animals "baby" gets and I can't even touch them much less sniff those fabulous toys. All this "baby" does is eat, sleep, poop, and cry but it sure makes my best friends smile and laugh all the time. At the beginning, I was not impressed.

But now "baby" is becoming more fun. She likes to staring at me and boy do I love being stared at. Her face tastes so good too and she smells delightful. But I like her because she pets me and she looks at me. And sometimes in the middle of the night, "baby" will start crying so the my girl best friend will get up and walk all the way across the house to get her and I get to follow. I love following. I love walking. I'm starting to notice that "baby" looks like a combination of my best friends and it is incredible. "Baby" likes to get on her knees and touch me and I am alright with that. Now that she is becoming more active, my best friends don't pay as much attention to me. I am fine with that because that allows me to sneak off and snatch the "baby's" precious toys. I tore up a gifraffe, two hedgehogs, and chewed the hell out of a wooden porcupine. The girl best friend was not so happy but I definitely was smitten. I've also been spending a lot more time outside, but it's also nice weather too, so I don't mind.

"Baby" has also been sleeping in the bed with my best friends. I don't mind because "baby" isn't sleeping at the foot of the bed which is my spot. But every morning I like to creep and just smell everybody and lick "baby" toes. I always get yelled at but I always sneak in a few good lickings.

In summation, I don't mind this new addition to the family. "Baby" is slowly becoming my best friend. She doesn't yell at me or tell me "no" she just stares and touches. I love being stared at. Anyways, time to go chill outside, "baby" is about to come home.

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Rawr

The Baby has discovered something new and that is the art of the growl. She growls mostly at her pacifier but anything she has in her hands, she will just start growling. It's a very deep, scratchy growl and sounds almost devilish in a cute baby way though. Last week she was just screaming at the top of her lungs in the highest pitch she could let out but this week it's the growl, just a simple "rawr". I will have a video uploaded pretty soon.

Currently the Baby has two little bottom teeth that she is using to tear her stuff to shreds but it seems like she has some bottom molars popping in as well. And the pain is becoming unbearable for the Baby. She can usually take her pacifier or a bottle but now she is grimacing in pain when the teething gets bad. That leads to a grumpy baby that can't sleep. But she seems to sleep pretty fine when we bring her into our bedroom.

Now I've never been against co-sleeping, which is where the baby sleeps with the parents, since that's how I was raised and so were my siblings. But I think my parents did co-sleeping out of pure poverty and not by choice. Growing up, I did sleep on the same twin size bunk bed with a spaceship and planet design until I was 18. But anyways, the Wifey and I and the Baby have been good about sleeping in our separate beds but when the Baby is fussy, it's a lot easier to just keep her in our room instead of trekking across our house to go comfort, get her back to sleep, and only to have her wake up as soon as your head hits the cool side of the pillow. We do have a little bassinet next to our bed for this very reason but recently it seems as though the Baby prefers to sleep in the grownup bed. As soon as we lie her down she is asleep. Now my only big issue with the Baby in our bed is the fact that I am scared I will smother her. And the fact that along with the Baby and the Wifey in the same bed, they take up 90% of it. So I am relegated to my sliver of pillow-top as I have to make sure not to roll towards the center of the bed for fear of crushing my only daughter. Luckily she is still young and still very pliable and has already survived being steamrolled. But the Wifey does a good job of cuddling the Baby with her arm so if I do roll over, I crush the Wifey's bones and not the Baby's body. Good job on taking one for the team Wifey!

Now the Wifey leaves for work long, long before the Baby and I actually get up and since I've been known to sleep through tornadoes, we like to make a Fort O' Pillows around the Baby. This is just a precaution to keep the Baby from rolling off the edge or the bed or just getting up and sneaking out of the house. It's a simple and effective tool to thwart the Baby from rolling around. Simple pillows keeping her confined to a space. All she has to do is climb the pillows and she is free. Babies are so dumb.

Speaking of climbing, the Baby has started to get on her hands and knees and started rocking back and forth. So she is going to start crawling around pretty soon. I can't wait. It's going to be harder now she is a baby on the run but I just want to see her crawl around the house chasing the dog. Should be interesting.

Thursday, September 30, 2010

As Promised...

We finally introduced solids into the Baby's diet and she is slowly catching on. We're letting the Baby self-feed; basically we mash up the food and put it front of her and let her figure out how to shovel it into her mouth. It sounds barbaric and savage but it allows her to figure out how to use her fingers to eat and she knows when to stop. It also helps her get a sense of her gag reflex by self-feeding, otherwise if we piled everything on a spoon, she would just get used to a spoon down her throat and never really establish a gag reflex. Although that will make her everyone's favorite girlfriend when she grows up, it's not a trait I want her exposed to. We've only tried two things: avocados and bananas. The avocados she wasn't impressed with but she seemed to enjoy the taste of bananas.  The Baby is a pretty messy eater, so I take that as genetics.

Anyways, we have an appointment with the doctor pretty soon. Our pediatrician apparently was invited to a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show so we had to schedule the Baby's appointment accordingly. But I will have her stats so everyone can judge our Baby's development.

These next three videos are fun. They are appropriately named so it shouldn't be hard to figure out but just in case:

Fake sleeping: You can barely see the Baby's eyes are open but I am making movements with my hand to make her smile. She tries to contain them but she can't and she is exposed for the fraud she really is. Please forgive my cheesy use of video fades and title screens, I was using Windows Movie Maker and I was too lazy to edit that stuff out of AutoMovie.



Fake smile: So here in this clip she is actually waking up but she throws us a snarky ass fake smile just to appease us. I even think she rolls her eyes but who knows...



Waking up: This is the longest of the clips but it's the most fun. She is finally waking up and everyone can see how happy she is. So for all you expectant parents, this is going to be your new weekend routine: Grabbing the camera just to record your baby. It's nice to sleep in but it's also more fun to watch babies wake up. Initially the Baby is confused as to where she is at exactly but then she realizes that A) it's a new day and B) her parents are weirdos.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

6 Months!

How do you celebrate your daughter turning 6 months old? By having the air conditioner go out and spending the night at the grandmother's house. We also took the Baby to the doctor earlier in the day because she was tugging at her ear and she hasn't been sleeping too well at night. Turns out the Baby is cutting more teeth and she does not have an ear infection. Tomorrow the Baby is going to eat her first solids --- I'm thinking lobster or a Big Mac. The Wifey wants to feed her avocado. Boooooring. We are also feeding her early in the morning just in case she has some crazy allergic reaction we can make a bee-line to the doctor's office. She will probably react to the avocado by throwing up because it's nasty. If she has any sense of taste and texture like her father, she will pass on the vegetables and head for the protein. Veggies are for the cows.

We are going to head to the State Fair of Texas tomorrow. It should be an interesting day as we're going to try to hit up all the shows and eat all the food and drink all the beer. I'm hoping the Baby will enjoy the dog show and petting zoo as much as the Wifey does. Even if the Baby enjoys them only a tenth as much, that's still a lot of enjoyment. The Wifey can spend hours watching YouTube videos of "cute puppies", think what a dancing pug in a grass skirt does to her brain.

Anyways, pictures and some videos will be up for the next post. Just giving out a shoutout to the cutest 6 month old baby today!

Monday, September 20, 2010

Trouble

This Baby is going to be trouble. I posted awhile back on how she loves laughing when we yell at her. Well, last night I had the Wifey's belt and I was snapping it and the Baby thought it was one of the funniest things ever. We tried to videotape it but we couldn't find the camera. I won't be able to threaten her with my belt like my dad used to do. She's just going to laugh at me snapping the belt and then my heart is going to melt and I am going to feed her ice cream.


The Baby also has figured how to fake things. She will fake cry. She will fake cough. She will even fake smile. She's really sarcastic. The Wifey says she gets it from me. I highly doubt that.  But anyways, when the Wifey and I are minding our own business and she's just hanging out in her swing or Baby Einstein orb of toys, she will fake cough and then immediately look at us to see if she has our attention. And if we continue to "ignore" her she will continue to do it until she gets noticed. But her fake crying is the best. She will start crying and then bury her face in the bed when she is on her stomach. And she will get quiet, look up at us, and then do it all over again. You just have to look at her and she will put her face into the sheets and start crying.

Her fake smile is a fun one too. I think she smiles just to appease us. The Baby will be minding her own business and we'll look at her and make a goofy face and she will just smirk and look away. We know when she truly smiles. What a bitch. Just like her mom.

Development wise the Baby hasn't done anything extraordinary. She has begun to flap her arms like a penguin. And she also likes to slap her hands on stuff. I think it's neat watching the Baby's senses being exposed to different objects, like touch. You can just watch her eyes and see her brain going crazy when she touches something new like a rough surface or a slimy surface. The Baby really loves her toys and she interacts with them fairly well. She also eats all her toys but that's common among babies.

We took her to an FC Dallas game at Pizza Hut Park, courtesy of our awesome friend Jessica, and the Baby absolutely loved it. We were worried because she hadn't napped that much all day and she would be grouchy during the game. But she was excited and smiling (real smiles, not her fake ass bitchy smile) about being outside and watching soccer. During the game I was holding her and letting her enjoy the sights and sounds and then FC Dallas scored and the crowd erupted with applause and yelling. The Baby did not appreciate that at all and she started crying like the baby she is. So the Wifey had to calm her down as I continued to celebrate.

This Friday the Baby gets her first experience at the State Fair. I really hope she enjoys the fried beer.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Let Her Sleep

Alright, so quick little update.

The tooth hath cometh! Actually, teeth hath cometh. The Baby has one top tooth and two little bottom teeth popping through her gums. It's been really fun dealing with a teething baby but the Baby has been a trooper. She is obviously in pain from the teeth because she is trying to grab them with her hands. But it's fun watching her put her tongue to her teeth and be shocked to have them there. We tried the frozen toys to help soothe the pain but then we put the toy in our mouths and it tasted nasty so we stopped doing that.

We have also stopped swaddling the Baby at night when she sleeps. She now sleeps in her little pajamas. It's still an adjustment for the Baby as she has become an expert on flopping around.

The Wifey is out with some friends at a Bachelorette party, so it's just the Baby and myself tonight. The Wifey needs a break but I know she misses the Baby.

But I am not the best dad/husband. I can sleep through anything. When the Wifey is going to be out for most of the night, I have to put the Baby in the bassinet in the master bedroom, otherwise I won't hear her cry. I could have the Baby monitor strapped to my head, with those fancy Dr. Dre Beatz headphones in my ears and I still wouldn't hear the Baby cry. Lately, with the Baby's teething issues going on PLUS the Baby is going through another growth spurt, the Wifey has been up every hour to take care of the Baby. And I just sleep away. In fact, the Wifey will bring a crying baby into the bed, feed said crying baby and I wouldn't know. I really am the worst dad/husband ever. But the Wifey doesn't complain. She's probably used to it. But that's still no excuse for me. Now that I think about it, the Wifey is beyond exhausted. The other night she fell out of bed and just sat on the ground. I asked her if she needed any help and she just sat there. So I had to pick her up and put her back into bed. The next day she didn't remember a thing.

So for all those soon to be dads:

If you are heavy sleeper, quit it. Become a light sleeper. Sleep with one eye open. Sleep with both ears open. Sleep with one foot on the ground ready to hop out of bed when the Baby starts crying. In fact, learn to anticipate when your baby will cry so you can be proactive and prevent your child from crying before it starts.

Massage your wife's body. Her feet, her back, her hands, her hips, her head, her elbows. If you can knead your fingers into it, you can massage it.

Let your wife nap. Let her nap anywhere. If she wants to snooze while sitting on the toilet, let her snooze. If she wants to close her eyes in the car while you pump gas, let her sleep. This holds especially true for full-time breast feeding mothers. These moms work their body into a schedule and the body adheres to that schedule, whether they like it or not. They have to squirt their milk into the pail on a regular basis. When the baby isn't on the teet, the teet is crammed into a machine. I swear the Wifey's breast pump is like some fancy handbag that she will never leave home without.

And lastly, tell her every chance you get that you love her. You're not telling you love her because she forgets, you tell her because she falls out of bed because you can sleep through a baby crying it's head off.

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Rear View Mirror

I think we spend too much time focusing on the road ahead of us that we forget to appreciate what's in our rear view mirror. Maybe we're happy to be leaving someplace we despise or maybe we just want a little reminder on what we'll be coming back to, but the rear view mirror gets overlooked. This is the view in my rear view mirror:




That's the baby chilling in her rear facing car seat and she's just laughing and enjoying the scenery around her. Sometimes on our drives, she will just stare out the window and watch the world pass by; that's usually before she passes out. Other times she just joins the Wifey and I's conversation and just talks and talks.

I know it's tragic to hear about parents who truly, accidentally leave their child in the car. Most of the time these families have siblings and in all the chaos that comes with children, parents tend to forget the quiet ones. "Industry experts" suggest leaving something of importance in the car seat, like a cell phone so a parent will make sure to get their kid out of the car. Unfortunately, it makes sense. We get so caught up in our lives that we forget the things that aren't screaming for our attention. And the same goes for day cares. The care givers at a daycare are going to usually pay more attention to that child that is screaming their heads off. And the quiet ones, the ones that just mind their business and do their own thing, sometimes get overlooked. The Wifey would tell me how when she worked at a daycare that workers would forget to feed a child because the kid wasn't fussing at all and they were too busy tending to other children. Granted, she worked at a daycare in Denton, but still. And that's why we worry for the Baby. She keeps herself entertained. She doesn't need to be constantly held or entertained, she just does her own thing. And it can be frustrating. The Wifey and I will get into the car and if it's dark and I can't see the backseat in my rear view mirror, I always ask "we got the Baby right?" But I guess that's a small price to pay for a good child.

I went out and bought this from Babies R Us, an oversized mirror from Safe Fit:

It's an ugly, massive eye sore but it works. Most car mirrors have horizontal straps that wrap around the headrest, like its hugging it. That's an issue because the straps slide up and down and I can never see the Baby in the mirror. This one has vertical straps and just fits so much better. PLUS it has a built in light so I can actually see the Baby without turning on the dome light. Pretty gadgety but it works.



In other news, J'acadi sent an apology gift awhile back. It was a very nice gesture for our experience. We were sent a bottle of baby perfume that the Wifey is actually using but I don't think she wants anybody to know. At least she doesn't have to worry about someone else wearing her scent. The Baby also got a nice little stuffed animal.





Luckily the Baby is fitting into bigger clothes, so we can actually shop at J'acadi now and buy some of their adorable outfits.