Cartoon of the Week

I wanted to use this comic and this time to give a big, gracious thank you to all of our family and friends for their practical baby gifts! We are so extremely lucky to have had such great people in our lives. We are yet to have to buy a package of diapers on our own (well, I take that back, I think we may have had to buy one pack of newborn size since our lil peanut fit in those for so long...), but not having to buy any diapers for 5 months now? I'd say that's pretty great. We have a whole closet full still left too, up to size 4's, so I think we'll be good for awhile, seeing that we haven't even moved up to 2's yet, but probably will soon. Also, since starting to supplement with formula, we've yet to have to buy any. We've only gone through one container so far, and we still have 3 containers in the cabinet, along with the Similac to-go packs for road trips or going out. Friends at work got free samples of it and don't use it, so they passed it on to us, and our sister-in-law sent a few containers they don't use either, so it's been wonderful. We think of all the money we're saving because of having such great people in our lives, and it makes us very happy... although the money is all just going toward daycare now instead...

Introductions

One thing I've noticed recently is that over the different phases of our lives, we introduce ourselves to others differently. For example, when you're in elementary school you typically introduce yourself to your classmates by your first name: "Hi, I'm Eric. You want to share your juice box?" Maybe in high school or college you develop a nickname that you go by instead - something less formal: "Hey, I'm Meibs. Want to split a case of beer?" Then as you move into the professional world, you typically go back to the formal naming convention of just your last name: "Hi, I'm Mr. Meibers and I'm here for the grown-up job interview."

Sometimes it's hard getting away from the less-formal nicknames that you've grown accustomed to using and getting called for so many years. You might even catch yourself introducing yourself by the former nickname only to stop mid-word and correct it. Women have it even harder after they get married - assuming they take their husband's last name. They've spent 20+ years going by the same first and last name combination, only to have it change on them. Not to mention writing it on official documents.

Once you've been in the "adult world" for a while, you get used to introducing yourself a certain way. For example, Mommy B and I have been married for almost 3 years now and I've gotten very used to introducing myself to her friends and colleagues like this: "Hi, I'm Eric - Brittany's husband." Even though most of them already know she's married, I always like to cover my bases and to fend off the potential cougars ahead of time.

However, the other day I found myself introducing myself in a way I hadn't experienced yet. I was dropping Alli off at daycare and one of the other dads from Alli's class was dropping of his kid off at the same time. We made a couple small jokes about the kids, and I reached out to shake his hand. And for the first time in my life, I introduced myself like this: "Hey, I'm Eric - Alli's dad."

Woah... I'm someone's dad??

When did that happen? And why did just introducing myself that way make it sound so official? Wasn't her birth enough to make it official? I guess just talking about fatherhood to family and friends doesn't quite drive the point home like it does when talking to strangers. To be honest, I think I might have actually hesitated a fraction of a second while my brain stopped my mouth from following up with "Brittany's husband" and changed it to the appropriate relationship for the situation. This guy doesn't know my wife (hopefully), but he certainly knows my kid who's in the carrier right next to me. Well, that and that she's the cutest kid in the class, of course. Amazing how fast the brain can work sometimes - even when you're not conscience of it.

While it probably didn't register to the guy I had just shaken hands with, it was a moment I won't soon forget. It made me realize that I'm going to be introducing myself that way for a very long time. If Alli turns out to be the social butterfly we all think she's going to be, I could be introducing myself that way a lot.

Of course, I'll still be "Brittany's husband" and "Scarlett's owner" (we'll see how much I admit to that)... but now I have to add "Alli's dad" and eventually "(insert second child's name here)'s dad" to the mix. And I was just getting used to not having to think about it...

Cuddle bug

On most mornings, Alli will sleep until 6-6:30am before she wakes up and is hungry. On the weekends or days that Mommy B doesn't have to work, we'll usually get up and feed Alli and let the dog out to pee (and feed her as well, of course). Most of the time she'll eat for a bit, get a diaper change and fall back to sleep within an hour. Naturally, that means Mommy B and I can go back to sleep for a little while longer too. On weekdays, this doesn't affect me because I'm out the door to work by the time she goes back to sleep anyway.

Today was a little different. Alli decided that she wanted to wake up around 5:30 or so when Mommy B finished getting dressed for work. This isn't too abnormal for her, and it just means that I have to start my morning routine with her a little earlier. So Mommy B brought her downstairs and fed her while I had breakfast, and around 6 she was acting sleepy again. I figured she could go back to sleep for about 45 minutes until it was time to get up again and head off to daycare.

Well, she wasn't having it. I tried to put her back to bed while I finished getting ready for work, but she didn't feel like it apparently. First, she flipped over to her back - even though I put rolled up towels on either side of her to prevent her from rolling over. And if you recall previous blog posts, Alli doesn't sleep when she's on her back. She started out just babbling and making other noises while I brushed my teeth but it quickly escalated to a full cry. I scrambled to finish getting dressed so I could go pick her up - I'm surprised I have matching socks on today. Of course, the second I picked her up, the crying stopped. The bad news was that I had to put her back down on the changing table so I could get her dressed.

She really didn't like that. The cry she had before turned into a full-fledged scream. I haven't heard her scream like that since she was a little infant - so needless to say I moved as quickly as I could to get her dressed. Add the fact that I now have to disinfect her earrings and "turn" them three times, the princess was none too thrilled. Does everyone recall my blog post about my baseball gloves for hands? Mini-buttons were hard enough... now you expect me to grasp and spin a 5-month-old's earrings? Riiiiiiiight...

I managed to get Alli dressed (even had matching socks on too), earrings cleaned and back into my arms in no time flat. Even though it didn't feel like it while she was screaming at me, I was able to make quick work of the task at hand. Of course, the second I picked her up and held her close to me - the crying ceased. It was like someone had turned off a faucet.

While I was getting her bottles ready for daycare, I noticed Alli was holding on really close to me and being very cuddly. She actually leaned her head in and rested it on my neck/shoulder - when normally she holds her head up and is looking around at things. I could clearly tell that something had made her uncomfortable earlier, and only cuddling close to daddy would make it all better. It actually choked me up a bit as I was getting her things together. It reminded me how much I love this little girl with all my heart... and how good it feels to be able to make her feel better just by holding her close to me. I can only hope that it stays that way forever, even when she's taller than me.

Oh Dr. Phil!

Today, Dr. Phil's show made me cry.

No, not because it was a "changing day in someones life...", and he yelled at people to change or something... but because he had his son Jay, daughter-in-law Erica, and their baby, his granddaughter, Avery, on the show celebrating her first birthday. Hearing the interview of Jay and Erica talk about all the up's and down's of the first year, how fast it flies by, and how much you need to cherish it... I found myself squeezing Alli a little tighter while I was feeding her watching the show. I can't believe almost half a year has gone by already... where has the time gone? Dr. Phil was funny though, saying to his son, "Well you sure didn't think time was flying when she was teething, etc...". I'm sure that will be coming soon for us, and I can't say I'm excited, but in a way, I am. Just to see her reach another milestone will probably bring tears to my eyes, again.

Here's just a quote from Dr. Phil's website about his granddaughter and her 1st birthday...

 "It’s hard to believe an entire year has gone by since that little girl came into this world and just stole my heart. Yeah, and my friends are still shaking their heads and asking what’s happened to me! HA! I admit it, she’s got me wrapped around her finger like never before. I remember Robin telling me when Avery was born, “Honey, you are going to walk around with your heart in your hands.” And, boy, was she right. But it’s not just Avery’s cuteness and blooming personality that gets to me. There is something so moving and captivating about watching her get excited over the littlest of things, like a new stuffed toy or pulling on my mustache! If it sounds like I’m smiling as I write this, it’s because I am. We couldn’t be prouder of the parents Jay and Erica have become; watching them together is like seeing the world again through a brand-new set of eyes."

And, on the show, Erica, who is an identical triplet, had her sisters and their babies on the show as well. They all three had little girls within weeks of one another. Pretty crazy! Jay & Erica also announced that they are 4 months pregnant too! I love it. Maybe we'll get working on that second one soon??

the triplets with their girls...

Our girly girl...

Grandma C came down to visit for a long weekend, and her first full day here, we decided to go together to get Alli's ears pierced. Oh boy, what an adventure! I don't know who cried more... Alli, me, or Grandma C! We were all in tears, but, after a few minutes, it was like nothing happened. Unfortunately for some reason, Grandma C thought she should video tape it, and re-living the whole ordeal through a video is not a good idea! We showed it to Dad-E when he got home from work (now, just for the record, we had asked him about getting this done in advance, and he had given his blessing! It was not a surprise to him when he got home, we had to agree that we'd take care of these together!), but anyway, we showed him the video and he didn't have quite the reaction that we did. Must've been a "had-to-be-there moment."

She's so happy and smiley now, you wouldn't even know she had them done. Even by the time we'd gotten to the car after having them pierced, she was almost asleep, probably just worn out from the whole experience, similar to after getting her vaccinations. They don't bother her at all, and she doesn't even know they're there. We clean them with her morning diaper change and at bath time, she's great with us doing that as well, could care less. It's been wonderful! The back fell off of one of them the first day while she was in her crib napping, but I was able to find it and slip it back on (a little more snugly!) without her even noticing. We haven't had any other problems like that, thank goodness. I'm glad we got them done now where she won't remember even getting them pierced, because I have a certain niece who's 13 years old and scared to death to get hers done because she doesn't want it to hurt! I had mine done when I was an infant too, a little older than Alli is, but regardless, I don't remember a thing.

5 months old!

Happy 5 months birthday lil girl! So much has changed throughout this last month... I feel like she has grown up absolutely overnight. She is so happy all of the time, laughing, smiling, and so playful. She grabs for everything, and it all usually ends up in her mouth, and she's just in love with her daddy. (He says she acts the same way with everyone else too, but when my mom came this weekend, she could see it too... she just really lights up when he's around!) Alli is still wearing her size 1 diapers, but we could probably get into 2's now too... we have one package of 1's left that we may use up, and then onto the 2's. She can still wear 0-3 month onesies sometimes, but pants & sleepers have all moved up to 3-6 month size for the length. And now that it's dress and shorts season, it'll be okay if she wears some of her "pants" as capri's :o)

She is rolling over ALL the time, belly to back, back to belly... she really gets around. Especially if she sees something she wants, she'll make her way to it somehow.. scooting or rolling, shifting herself around, she finds a way. We have started giving her baby food now too, and as of yet, she hasn't had something she doesn't like. Bananas, applesauce, peaches, green beans, squash and of course, her favorite, sweet potatoes! We've been trying something new every few days, and she's just thrilled by it. The girl can eat, that's for sure!

We're definitely looking forward to the spring and summertime with her... taking her to the beach, out and about in the neighborhood and at the pool, and hanging out with family and friends!

It had to happen sooner or later...

Ladies and gentleman... we have a floater. And I'm not talking about the dead-body-found-in-a-pond-somewhere type of floater - I'm talking about the kind that can only happen to a parent. That's right Followers, Alli finally pooped in the bathtub.

This week/weekend has been a rather eventful one around the ol' homestead. I'm talking multiple-blog-post eventful. We started Alli Ru on real baby food this week, which I think she is finding to be a nice change of pace to her breastmilk and rice cereal. You also may recall that we started integrating some baby formula to supplement her breastmilk as a way to make sure that she is never hungry.

Well, as the parent of any breastfed baby will tell you, the stuff that comes out the other end is nothing compared to the mess that comes out of formula-fed babies. There's just something about the mixture of nutrients in the formula that makes the baby's poop disgusting. Not that any poop is nice in the first place, but formula just makes it worse.

So as you can imagine, we've now added real baby food on top of the little bit of formula we've been giving Alli. And holy crap (pun intended)... what a difference we've seen. I'm not going to go into all the details because no one really wants to hear about that. Let's just say that she went from having blow-outs with a more liquid consistency to having "adult poops" in about 4 days time. I almost feel like I'm changing an adult's diaper instead of my 5-month old's.

Alli has always been very good about not going to the bathroom while she's in her little whale tub. In fact, she's never had a bowel movement while we've been bathing her... even from the day we brought her home. Well this weekend that streak ended. With a vengeance.

On Thursday night, we took her up to have her nightly bath just like always - got her tub filled, jammies out, and stripped her down. We made it through almost the entire bath (thank goodness) before Alli abruptly stopped splashing - which is weird in and of itself. She looked up at both of us with a very concerned, concentrated face. She then grunted rather loudly and started squirming around a bit... and we both knew something was up. That's when we saw it - Alli's first floater.

Up to the surface it came, like a breaching submarine... and immediately bath time was over. Mommy B removed our little poop factory from the tub, which naturally left me with HazMat duties. I was able to clean out the tub and get rid of the "present" Alli had left us with, and the rest of the evening proceeded as normal. Alli apparently enjoyed the experience so much that she repeated this occurrence on Friday night for Grandma C while Mommy B and I were out on a date. (We went to Sam's Club first, then to Santi's for the best margaritas in Chucktown - I know, hot date, right?)

She made it through Saturday night without an "incident"... but now Mommy B and I know that we'll have to keep our eyes peeled for that fun-size Baby Ruth Alli might decide to leave us again. But, I guess it had to happen sooner or later.