May 2014 Update

Hey, it's been a while. I have been focusing more on work and family life lately. It seems like there is less and less time to sit down and write. Plus, I'm not even a writer. Have I ever mentioned that before? Oh well. I've done OK so far.

Brynlee is getting so big. Actually, she will show you how big now. Take a look -

Her hair is getting so curly. When we give her a bath, and comb it, it's nice and straight. But that doesn't last too long. As soon as she eats, or naps, she almost always sweats. After that, curly again.

From this - 

To this - 

 A few weeks back, we took her to Brookfield Zoo. She loved it. I loved it. 

She has even upped to a big girl car seat! She loves her new Recaro!

And for Mother's Day, she got her mom a nice card in bed, and also lots of well-deserved gifts!! Love you, Mom!

She had to show off her love for applesauce. She is becoming quite the #selfie girl.

No teeth yet, although it looks like the bottom two will be here very shortly. You can start to see them surfacing. She loves to chew on things, probably because of teething. She really loves Daniel Tiger, and Curious George, and Super Why. 

She knows how to tell you she's hungry, by smacking her lips real loud. She thinks it's funny too, to copy us while we are eating. She's a big oatmeal fan. 

If you give her a crib full of toys, she will play in there for hours by herself. She is very observant, and focuses on even the littlest details of just about everything. She knows how to turn on toys, and how to change channels on TV. Oh, and she sure rolls around. She can scoot backwards, but isn't crawling forwards yet. Should be soon. She has the ambition. 

Make sure to check out my blogs on Chicago Parent. Here are some links to my latest!

Brookfield Zoo Trip - here

Chicago Dad Wants His Daughter To Know He Loves Her The Most - here

Why You Need To Throw Away Your Loofah! - here

Do-It-Yourself Home Photo Portraits - here

Chicago Parent Magazine

6:51pm



I wanted to let everyone know that I have recently been accepted as a blogger for Chicago Parent Magazine! I am thrilled to be a part of such a great community of parents. I never thought that I would get this far.

So starting this month, you will be able to see some of my posts over on ChicagoParent.com. I will keep blogging here, as well.

Brynlee has been growing so quickly, that I can't even keep up. It's hard for us to tell, because we are around her everyday. I was going through some older pictures of her, and couldn't believe how small she was just a few months ago. Now she looks like a monster!

My wife went back to work December 30th. Luckily, we have great family that can help us with babysitting. They come to our home to watch her, and THEY DON'T CHARGE! How jealous are you, now? We are blessed.

Brit's mom takes Mondays.
I take Tuesdays.
My aunt watches her on Wednesdays.
I have her on Thursdays.
My mom does Fridays.
And then Brit has her on the weekends.

It all works out really well for us. Sometimes my schedule changes so we have to adjust, but it looks like I will be able to keep this setup pretty regularly. We aren't as concerned about how high child care costs are as much as we are about the quality of the care. My aunt spent a LOT of time with me when I was little, so my mom likes to credit her with most of my learning. I am excited for Brynlee to get the same treatment.

My wife surprised me with a fantastic Nikon D5300 (the newest camera they have!) for Christmas. So now I am able to take my photography to a MUCH higher level. Trust me, I have a long way to go, but I have been working on my skills at every chance that I get. (Not as many as I would like. We have a three month old, remember?)

We also bought a new computer, since my laptop that I used to blog from, died. I still have to recover all of the images off of the hard drive, but until then, this new computer is working great. iMac anyone?

I look forward to all of the new adventures that this year should bring! Remember to keep an eye out for me at ChicagoParent.com.

Day 16 - How Long Until We Can Eat A Normal Dinner Again?

10:06pm



How long until we can eat a normal dinner again?

Brynlee likes to interrupt our mealtimes, as if she knows what she is doing. Like she doesn't want us to eat. It's all about her now. If we are doing something, she wants the attention. She makes sure that she eats first. She is so spoiled.

Tonight, for example.

I brought home a few strip steaks for dinner. My wife started cooking them shortly after I got home. I was watching the first Blackhawks game of the season, with little B. Well, she wasn't really watching, but she was with me. So when dinner was ready, she brought it out in to the living room, so that we could eat while watching the game. Right away Brynlee starts crying for food. So my wife has to let her food sit to feed her.

I get about halfway done with my food, and my wife hasn't even touched hers yet. I get up to use the restroom, during a pause in the game. I hear an "Oh my God!" from the living room, followed shortly by a "Kevin, I need your help!".

I come out to find that Brynlee decided to poop out the top of the back of her diaper. Soaked her onesie, and made a mess of herself. Great! Now we both have to stop eating to get her all cleaned up and redressed. Needless to say, the steaks still tasted good. But yes, everything was cold by the time we were able to eat. This happens regularly I'd say.


We both love her so much. We don't know what we would do without her. It's hard to imagine that we didn't have her before. It's awesome to be a dad. Very tough, especially for mom, but totally worth it.


Can I get a warm steak now, please?





Little B couldn't handle the hockey game, she passed out (for a few minutes, until dinner was done) after the first period.

 

Day 15 - Walking Milk Machine

9:35pm

Today is my day off this week. My only one, because I am going to work some overtime at a different store, on my other day off. We could use the extra income due to my wife being off of work. Looks like she might be off for 8 weeks now instead of the original 6. It's up to her doctor when to release her. 

This baby won't stop eating. What is normal for a two week old? She eats about 4oz every time we feed her. She is looking for food probably four or five times a day. But sometimes she spits some of it up afterwards. It's like her eyes are bigger than her stomach. Her dad seems to have this same problem. (The big eyes part, not spitting up). But she seems to always be hungry. I don't think babies are supposed to eat as much as she does. But then again, she does have a few chins to feed. She's quite the little chunker. 

Today I noticed that she doesn't really like when I hold her. It's either that, or she just favors her mom. Or coincidence that she was uncomfortable or something every time I held her. Today she just didn't want me to have her I guess. She would cry and cry. I had her diaper changed, she was fed, and burped. Still cried. Gave her to her mom and she was fine. 

Now I'm thinking, wait a minute? Does she not like her dad!? How could she not? I feed her all the time! I talk to her and change her. I kiss her. I hold her and comfort her. She better like me! I try to be the best dad I can be, but I think all kids are a little partial to their mothers. After all, mom is a walking milk machine, and I can't offer anything close to that. 

Mom has been a little crabby today. Baby, too. I don't know if the normal monthly women problems are in effect or not yet, this soon after being pregnant. But I like to blame it on that anyways. Maybe she has me trained? When I am in a bad mood, I tend to occupy my time with getting stuff done. This morning I cleaned the house, after being up most of the night with Brynlee so that mom could get some rest. Now it all makes sense.....

Day 12 - What Is Blogging?

2:52pm

To state the obvious, I write a blog. Every day I turn on my laptop, or in this case, open an app on my iPhone, and write about what I did that day. There are no rules. Nobody tells me what to write, how to write it, or when. This is my blog, and I say what I want to say. 

But I know many other people with blogs as well. I don't think I know any others that write a daily "journal" like mine. They write articles, about topics. Maybe discussing something in the news, or a controversial topic, or an argument about what they stand for. 

If those are blogs, then is mine a blog? The real question I have to ask myself, is what is a blog? Is there a real definition? 

To me, my blog is a blank canvas. I have a basic structure of what I want to communicate to my readers. Usually what happened that day, mostly involving my wife and Brynlee. If something doesn't pertain to my normal routine, I will leave it out. Sometimes I have reviews of products, sometimes I put up more pictures than others, and sometimes I write article-type posts, like this one. 

I am borderline of a blog and a journal. However I still consider myself a dad blogger, and I appreciate all of the support I have received from fellow dad and mom bloggers. 

I am a blogger. 

What do you consider a blog to be? I would love to hear your thoughts! 

Day 11 - Daddy's Kicked Out!

8:08pm



...Continued from yesterday...


At 6:30am I walked into our bedroom, after sleeping on the couch all night, to find Brynlee spread out as much as her little body could be. IN MY SPOT ON THE BED.

I couldn't be mad. I thought it was really funny actually. But I think I may have been officially kicked out of my own bed!

Tonight, my wife talked me into satisfying one of her many cravings while she was pregnant.

Can you guess what it is?

It's a type of food. A Japanese type of food, actually. And it involves fresh, raw fish, and is highly discouraged for pregnant women.

Shouldn't be too hard to figure out. Sushi, of course! One of our all-time favorites!

We had to get it to-go, since we aren't sure how Brynlee will do in a sit-down restaurant, and aren't ready to find out. She does great at stores, so I'm sure she would be fine, but either way, we decided to take it home. Wow, was it good. I'm glad my wife was able to have some again, she has been talking about it for the last nine months.

Brynlee's umbilical cord remainders, fell off today. So there's her first milestone. And I was the one to find it! My wife says that it's significant, who finds it. I don't know. She could have found it and I would have been OK with that. Now we can give her a real bath! Well, we will wait a few days still, to make sure it's all sealed up right.

*FTC Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links. All opinions are 100% my own.

Day 10 - The Reason I Slept On The Couch Last Night

2:41pm

So this is a first for me...

We have a really nice, comfortable, new, memory foam king size bed. I love it. We both do. I would really miss it if for some reason I didn't have it anymore. 

Last night, Brynlee would just not stop fussing. She ate, still cried. Changed her diaper, still cried. My wife even held her. Cried. 

At about 4am, after tossing and turning and barely sleeping, I decided that there was no way I was going to be able to wake up at 6am and get to work with her crying. 

I told my wife, "sorry, but I have to go sleep on the couch". She said OK. She understood. She hadn't slept much either. 

The ironic part of this story is that at 6:30am, when I finally got off the couch, I went into the bedroom to find this....

TO BE CONTINUED....

Day 8 - Visiting Daddy

4:54pm

My wife ventured out on her own today for the first time since Brynlee was born. Where did they go? To see Daddy at work!  

My coworkers were able to meet Brynlee and she was excited to meet them too. Or maybe not, since she was sleeping... Oh well. 

They went to lunch with me, but it wasn't really a "lunch". More of a "feed Brynlee, then oops she puked it up and now we need a booger sucker but we don't have one in the diaper bag so we have to run to Walgreens, and they are all out of the basic ones so we have to buy the one in the kit that costs 15 dollars".  Did you get all of that? I had about 4 minutes to eat McDonalds. Good thing I wasn't even hungry.  

In other news, the Chicago Bears beat the Pittsburgh Steelers last night. Making them 3-0 so far. Awesome. 

Chicago Blackhawks are getting ready to start a new season next week, too. So there goes all of my extra free-time, if I even have any free-time. Brynlee is a lot of work! Luckily for me, her mom takes on a lot of the work. 

Remember to SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! And any questions feel free to email pregoformen@mail.com!

Day 7 - Baby Model

3:21pm

Little B got a bath last night. Well, she was washed. Until her umbilical cord falls off, she can't be submerged in water. So she has to be sponge bathed. I love when her hair is clean because it's so soft and silky. 

We really buckled down and sorted the whole house last night. We had purchased a few storage bins the day before she went into labor. So they have been sitting around and we finally filled them up last night and stacked them in the garage. Brynlee came outside in her stroller and watched me reorganize our storage in the garage. It was pretty chilly out last night. She had lots of blankets on. 

The real reason we got the house sparkling clean is because Brynlee was a baby model this morning. A photographer was looking for a newborn to model a company's baby headbands. I'm sure you can guess who was chosen to do so....

The lady came to our house this morning to get the photos of Brynlee modeling the headbands and outfits. We get free professional pictures out of the deal, which most people know, are NOT cheap. 

My wife's family is over right now. Her aunt and grandma haven't met B yet. I guess her grandma didn't want to pass Brynlee off for someone else to hold. Too funny!

Here's a few pictures from yesterday. 

Day 5 - Our Little Hairball

2:33pm

I already am dreading leaving her in the morning, when I have to go to work. My wife is nervous too, about how in six weeks we are going to have to give her up a couple days per week, to a babysitter. It would be nice if one of us could stay at home, but it would also be nice if the bills would pay themselves. We both have to work.  

This is what I have to leave in the morning...

Our little hairball, all swaddled up and comfy. She was smiling before I took that photo. I missed it. 

We are very thankful and appreciate all of the congratulations that we have received from friends and family. We are getting all kinds of letters in the mail, as a matter of fact, my wife called me a little bit ago, and said she was going to cry, because Brynlee got her first letter, addressed to her, today. 

I'm thinking that next week we are going to slow down on the visitors. It's been so overwhelming lately with everything that we have to do, that time is already passing us by. We haven't had much of a choice to enjoy her to ourselves. I think it's important to have that family bonding time. Especially since the six weeks my wife has off is going to fly by. 

Oh, and I guess Brynlee decided that she would have an "explosive" bowel movement while my wife was changing her diaper, earlier. So I have that going for me today.... When I say "explosive", I mean like "Have to clean the walls" and "Steam clean the carpets", explosive. Of course I found it kind of funny because it was my wife and not me, but I'm sure my day awaits.