Our life

Happy 1 week bday dd! Hard to imagine that you were brand new a week ago today.

Going to make today’s post real quick, because we have a lot to do and no time to do it in.

In this short week, your mommy and daddy have learned how to:

• be patient with the hospital staff
• sleep whenever available
• drive the speed limit
• smile when you haven’t slept in what seems like days
• avoid projectile fluids
• include sleep as part of multi-tasking
• love you more every time you look at us

It’s gonna be great raising you, dd. The best is yet to come.

Wednesday morning started off with a bang. After dd had a good feeding, I changed her. Without getting into the detail I had originally planned, let me just tell you that I now know more about the physics and velocity of newborn poop than I did the morning before. Cause and effect have more impact on that changing table that I previously thought.

After that, the rest of the morning was rather uneventful. Found out that dd is smaller and lighter than Mr. B. Placing them near one another, it was the first time I ever saw Mr. B as a big cat.

We put dd down for a nap at 2, and I finally went for a haircut, then stopped by Oz’s office to check in. Once again, GB informed me of the conspiracy against me. It seems the women in my life are out to get me, and I’m ruining it for future fathers. We began to discuss an extraction plan for key items in our home, but were busted. Alas….

When I returned home about 3, c was beat. She kept trying to clean, which is understandable. But she needed to rest. So I convinced her to take a nap, and I puttered around the house and internet (okay, more internet than house). C got up about 5, when dd got up from her nap. Apparently, I misunderstood c’s statement that dd should get up when she went to bed. So dd had a nice 3 hour nap to c’s 2 hour nap. Oopsies.

We started with “tummy time”. Now some people say to wait until about 2 months. Others say to start right away. I decided to start right away, just in short instances. dd wasn’t a huge fan of it. But I understand that most babies aren’t. So after a couple minutes, we stopped.

No longer mad at us, dd asked if she could help us with dinner, so we obliged. She’s gonna be a fantastic cook, just like her mommy.

Oz stopped by after work, before meeting 73, for some quality dd-time. During this time, the marching band decided it was time to practice. dd wanted to help.

While watching the band, Great-Grandmom stopped in to get her quality dd-time. I think everyone should get their quality dd-time. It’s worth it, I assure you. 4 generations of women in one home at one time. How cool is that?

After everyone left, we ate dinner and just hung out, taking turns staring at one another. Put dd to bed about 930 or so, and spent some quality mommy and daddy time. C now knows what the Numa Numa dance is, who sings Chocolate Rain, what can happen with alot of mentos and diet coke, and why david bowie is afraid of americans.

Another fantastic night with my fantastic girls. dd woke up at 2 for a snack and a less explosive changing. Woke up again at 6 for the same, at which time I got up. Now she sits, half asleep and half awake, in her bouncy thingy.

A question to the parents reading: We’re 5 days old today. Any tips? We want her to be a genius, but with personality. Should we be doing anything more than we currently are? Just leave a comment with your advice¹.

1. All comments are moderated. If you’d rather not have your comment posted, simply say so in your comment, and I will delete it after reading it. [↩]

Okay, so I was perusing a blog or two this morning. Dad Gone Mad had a guest post from Boobs, Injuries and Dr. Pepper.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just click above and read.

So day 2 at home with dd went a little better. Granted, every day with her is a blessing. But Tuesday was a bit better than Monday.

We all slept a little better through the night. C and I are starting to develop a rhythm. If she needs changing, I try to be the one doing it. That’s because, if she needs feeding, I’m ill-equipped¹.

We pretty much just hung out in the morning for a while, then took her out for her first walk. This eddie bauer travel system is much nicer than the evenflo discovery². We headed uptown to Frankee’s Bakery (home of the Kolacky since 1918) for breakfast, then over to Oz’s office for showing off.

While there, she met the guy that shall be known from this day on as GB, or Gentle Ben. I had debated between GB and King Kong. Thought GB would be a bit nicer. But seeing dd’s little frame in comparison to GB’s 6′5, 250 frame, really put her into perspective. His fist was bigger than her head.

Leaving there, we found out just how versatile the EB Travel System is. Pop the carrier out, and pop it into the car seat base. Fold up the stroller, leave. Just like that.

Hung out more when we got back. Hanging out is just fun. C and I oogle dd all day long, then take a hundred pics, then oogle some more. Trade compliments with one another (“you did good.” “she has your cuteness.” etc). Rinse repeat.

Late in the afternoon, C and I made a trek out to Target for some required items. Living down here in the country, trips to places like Target have to be pre-planned. The closest one is 20 minutes away. With a recovering wife, its 25-30 (depending on the guy ahead of me doing less than the speed limit). We moved slowly and deliberately through the store, picking up about 85% of the stuff we had listed. The remainder will probably be ordered online. Started missing dd pretty much right away.

Got home and finally started celebrating our wedding anniversary. That’s right folks, it was our anniversary. Can’t believe it. What a great gift! We had some 4 lb steaks, potatoes, and green beans. Watched “Frank Sinatra: A Man And His Music”; a show I either didn’t know we had, or forgot about. Topped it all off with a glass of Champagne, courtesy of Oz. Not just any champagne. Nope, it was the champagne we toasted with at our wedding. Yum!

Fed DD (pre-champagne), put her to bed. Put C to bed about 1130. Fed dd about 12:00 am. Hung out for a while with her (1230-1245?), then put her back to bed. Cleaned the kitchen and did some miscellaneous stuff (like trying to figure out a good way of displaying dd pics here, securely and safely). Made it to bed about 115 or 130.

What a fantastic day. But I know that every day as a Husband and a Father is a fantastic day.

p.s. I asked dd what she thought about putting all her pics up, unprotected. Her answer:

I guess I’ll have to work on that.

1. Granted, a breast-pump alleviates that now [↩]
2. yes, we did the recall. If you have an evenflo discovery and have not participated in the recall, you are putting your child at risk. Please take the 60 seconds to check and complete. [↩]