Mr. Mom

Hey folks, so this was my first week of stay-at-home dad duty. We had a really good time, we went on some nice walks, Molly practiced rolling over, we went to the farmers' market, all sorts of fun. Unfortunately yesterday I got a bit sloppy with the baby and left her unattended at home for several hours while I went out to a bar to drink beers and watch mud wrestling on TV. When I came back, this is what happened. I knew there was a reason they don't trust men with kids...

Bad Mothering

On Saturday I entered the realm of very bad parenting. Others agree that what we did was not so good, but they encourage me to let go and move on. On Saturday I took my baby, knowing that she was getting a cold, to the beach. And let her get a sunburn. Yes, you read correctly. Ouch. And here's how I found myself in this position:

Molly has been "off" for a few days now; a little puffy eyed, a little tired, a little whiney. On Friday night she got very very stuffy, upset and, well, sort of sick. We decided she was really on the edge of a cold. So, what do we do as responsible parents? We take her to the beach. In the middle of the day.

But we have good excuses! We meant well. Really. A friend of mine got married this weekend. It was a weekend affair, but in an effort to have some foresight, we opted not to camp out with the other guests on the beach. Instead, we went up for the bbq on Saturday. Thinking the beach would be cold and windy we decided going for the middle of the day would be best - that way we'd be there for the warmest part of the day. At this point anyone from the east coast should be cringing. But in our defense, this shouldn't sound so crazy to anyone living in the Bay Area. After all, the beaches around here are notoriously cold and windy. Add to that a cold and foggy weather report ("50's on the coast, warmer inland, patches of fog throughout") and we figured we were good to go.

In typical Bay Area style, though, it was as cold as expected at the parking lot, but nice and toasty at the beach. But wait! We still thought we were golden. I brought along the sun hat, light blankets, and it was foggy after all. We'd just keep her covered up, right?

Well, after Molly convinced us she was no longer having fun (she was getting sick, after all) we packed her up and headed home, only to find that she had gotten a dreaded sunburn!!! How could I have let this happen to my child? How stupid I feel. The poor girl, however, has been so caught up in coughing, sneezing, and trying to breathe, that I don't think she's even noticed the burn. And, with a day between me and the discovery of my bad parenting I can see that it's not really as bad as I first thought. It's mostly her cheeks and forearms. And it's a very very light burn. Really. I swear. I'm not that bad!

Through this all, though, Molly has proven she is a trooper. She's clearly very uncomfortable, but still smiling! She's a wonderful wonderful happy baby. And Zach is a wonderful wonderful lucky dad.

Daddy Daddy!

On Friday, Zach, Molly & I celebrated the beginning of his new job: full time dad! We're quite a bit excited about this change. It's been a long time coming, but it's a wonderful wonderful thing for everyone involved. Of course, his work is sad to see him go (who wouldn't be?) but I'm so happy to have him back.

Fabulous Four Months

Happy Four Month Birthday Molly! You've done an amazing job. You've grown and changed and become more and more aware and part of this crazy world we live in. It's fun to watch you learn about the world. I like it when you look really surprised when you hear a new or startling sound. Or when I blow on your face.

Tonight we went and watched the fireworks around the bay with Zach's friend who lives in the hills. We thought we could put you to sleep and watch the fireworks, but you would have none of that. You wanted to be in the sling out on the deck with us. Which is just fine with us. We like having you close by. In fact, every time we put you down we spent a lot of time checking on you.

Lately you've been really enjoying grabbing things, looking at things, and smiling a lot. It's rather fun to be with you because you are quite charming. Your hair keeps getting longer - I guess you're not going to loose it? But it kinda looks like a toupee right now. In a good way. (that's a picture of you with wet hair on the right) Your eyes haven't changed much, they're still a pretty deep blue. At your last checkup the doctor mused that perhaps they'll stay blue? Who knows about that, but I'm sure they'll stay lovely, since you're quite lovely. You've just started the beginnings of rolling over (see picture above); you often roll onto your side when trying to reach for some elusive toy. You seem to really be enjoying the toys, especially the ones you can get in your mouth, which is still difficult. The Skwish seems to be a good bet right now because one end invariably seems to make it to your mouth (see picture below).

The sleeping thing is good some days and really not so good others. But I understand - it's hard sometimes. But it's really worrisome for us, not to mention hard to sleep, when you throw yourself around and groan in your sleep. We've been putting you in the Pack'N'Play a lot at the beginning of the night because you seem to sleep longer when you're not right next to me. Actually, I think I let you sleep longer. When you're right next to me you wake me up with your thrashing, so I end up waking you up and nursing you to get you to quiet down. We bought a crib last weekend and we've ordered a mattress. I'm not quite ready to put you to sleep in a whole 'nuther room, but I'm working on it.

Saturday night Zach and I went to a wedding in San Francisco ... and left you with the neighbors. Funny, how I've gone to work every day for the last two weeks and it hasn't been that hard, yet I worried all night on Saturday. Maybe it was something about leaving you for fun rather than for work. I was able to relax enough to enjoy the dinner & dance with Zach a little. But then I was done and had to rush back home to you. Of course, you were fine.

And you've been absolutely fine every day for the last two weeks with our absolutely amazing neighbor. I put those pictures in the last post and meant to explain that they were shots of you all singing and having fun with the wheels on the bus. You seem to have a really good time over there. But you'll have even more fun soon when Zach is done with work and gets to spend lots and lots of time with you. Soon. Next week. Oh boy!

The wheels on the bus go 'round and 'round...

Molly is right now zoooonked. oops. she just got up. well. perhaps I'll write more later. :)

Juuust Right

My first week back at work. It was challenging, but very good. At some point during my pregnancy I remember my mother telling me a story about biking from her office in Dupont Circle (I think) to my day care in Mount Pleasant to nurse me at lunch. I remember sort of chuckling to myself and thinking what an incredibly dedicated (if not crazy) mom I had. Well, as I biked home to nurse Molly at lunch this week I chuckled some more as I realized I was doing the very same thing. Who would have imagined? I guess we're all more like our parents than we think. :)

The hardest part was not leaving Molly with the neighbor. I love our neighbor. She is amazing with Molly. So amazing that it makes it (almost) easy to leave Molly with her. I know she's in good hands. It was actually harder to concentrate and have adult conversations. It's been a while. Oh, and the pumping thing was weird. Everyone is very nice about it, but you can't get around the awkwardness when it's a small (8 person) office. We're all working in one big room together and every couple of hours I get up and go behind a low wall and start pumping away. I just don't feel very, well, discreet. But, like I said, everyone is very nice.

We also had our 4 month check-up this week. A little early, yes, but that's okay. Everything was just fine. Molly is a very healthy bouncing little girl. She's pretty gosh durn average, too. I always forget to ask the doc about the whole percentile thing (ie. what percentile is she for her weight, length, head circumference, shoe size, head control, finger dexerity, and artistic aptitude) so I looked it up on the rather imprecise charts at the back of the baby book. At 14lbs 12oz and about 24 1/2 inches she's, well, average. Not a supersized baby, not a tiny baby. Juuuust right. Way to go Molly!

The doctor said the sleeping stuff is pretty on target, too, even if I don't appreciate the lack of sleep (have I mentioned that she's only been doing 4 hours in a row recently?). Oh well. As I keep telling myself, this too shall pass.

In other news our friends in LA had their little pooper. Welcome to the world little Tommy!

busy butterball