So today was quite a day. I know that this blog is supposed to be about Clare but today was an amazing day overall. To start off and to state simply: I defended my theses statements and earned my Master's Degree today. It is the culmination of a lot of hard work and time. What made it even greater is that Julia and Clare joined me for the ride to Durham and were there when I received the news (further note: major commendations to my advisers to invite then into the room to here the news first hand). So now that I have explained why I am riding on cloud nine, let's talk about Clare.
One: She has rolled over, both ways. She has mastered the belly to back roll and the always complicated back to belly roll. In this process not only did she demonstrate that she is advanced but also that she is 100% an Irish woman like her mother and both of her grandmothers. You see Julia and I had realized that she was very close to rolling over and we did not want to miss this moment. We watched her carefully for three weeks. In addition, we had the camera on her and captured approximately 45 hours of almost roll overs. We even sent the camera with Nana, just in case it happened during the day. Well, it happened during the day. And to prove that she is an independent Irish woman who does what she wants, she did it on the day that we forgot to send the camera and when Daddy would not be coming home until late. So I was lucky enough to catch her fourth or fifth roll over.
Second: Right now I am downstairs drinking wine. Not because I earned my Master's, but because tonight is the first night that Clare will not be sleeping in the bassinet. It was tough on Mommy to send her to the other room. I played tough supportive husband and let her know that she was just next door and she could go look at her if she needed to. The truth is that I am not sure how I am going to do. I am about to go upstairs to a room that is not overwhelmingly white noise and has Clare right there. I'll be honest, I will be heeding my own advice, I'll take my time going to bed and I think I may just have to sneak a peek.
Finally, Clare is just over four months old. If time continues to move this quickly then Clare will be in college in a few days: I CAN'T HANDLE THAT! She is growing so fast and time seems to be in warp speed. I am anxious to be able to take her to her sports games or other functions, I look forward to being able to talk to her. However, I will forever miss these days right now. The days that she can't talk but she knows me when I am in the room and lets everyone know through her eyes and smile. I never understood what being a dad meant. I truly believe that no one can know until they are. I can not express the feeling of have a baby smile because they know you are in the room or having a baby collapse in your chest because that chest is "their" chest. I won't say that there is no feeling like being a dad because I know there are comparable experiences. But I can say that there is no feeling in the world like being recognized as a four month old's dad.
In conclusion, it has been a long, exciting day. I am on cloud nine. Needless to say wine has been involved, I thank you all for reading and your support. I apologize for the typos but hope you may this once understand.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 5, 2009
It's kinda been a while
So yesterday in the mall I received my 100th "When are you going to blog again?" so I decided it was probably time to update you all and make a commitment to you all to blog at least once a week. I would love to be able to update you all on all that has happened since I last posted but let's be real- that is way too much. So instead let me just tell you where we are and we'll go from there.
Clare is now 3 and a half months old. She is almost turning over onto her stomach, she is ridiculously long and strong, she has a wicked cold which makes her cough her self awake at night (which has been great for our sleep). In addition to all of this I believe that she is only a few days away from writing her first thesis, solving complicated mathematical theorems, and performing a series of self written one act plays. OK that is a little bit of hyperbole, but only slightly.
On the serious side, this weekend was her debut performance. She got to play the role of all roles- that of baby Jesus. I am completely serious about that. She and Julia performed in a liturgical dance performance and the church was left without a dry eye- mine included and I had seen the performance a number of times. One lesson that I learned and can be added to the list is that babies make you lose all control over your emotions. I cried, and I couldn't control it and I didn't care. It was a very strange feeling for me. OK I am starting to tear up again so let's move on.
This week is Easter, and what better way to start it off than Clare's first ever Easter Egg Hunt. Clare and I crushed the competition. We found our allotment of 6-8 eggs in record time. I obviously did most of the work, but I couldn't have done it without the careful plans and strategy that Clare laid out for me in her series of coded non-conspicuous coughs, laughs, coos, and farts. I knew exactly what she wanted me to do and we accomplished victory.
Finally, Julia and I have had to deal with the reality that eventually Clare will have to sleep without the swaddle blanket. We decided that we would slowly transition her out of this. Last night we decided we would let one arm free of the swaddle blanket. Now I want all of you to imagine Clare swaddled but with one arm sticking straight out like it is independent from her body. Got that image? Good. Now bask in the creepiness of how it looks and that is exactly what we thought, but you know what? It worked so tonight will be night two of creepy one arm sleeping Clare.
That is all for now but I will leave you with one anecdote and a promise to post again before the end of the week (look for it on Facebook). The other day Clare met her new best friend. Julia was walking around the house with her in her arms. When all of a sudden Clare spotted this new person in the house. She gave the new friend a flirtatious smile and then hide her face. After a few moments she let out a big smile. She reached out her hand to touch hands with her new friend. Then embraced for a bit but then it was time to leave. From time to time we have taken Clare to see her new friend and every time she becomes excited to laugh with this friend and play with her as well. This friend of course is her own image in the mirror. She loves herself. Some may call this vanity, I simply see it as Clare having the same feelings for herself as we all do.
Until next time..... Back to those diapers now.
Clare is now 3 and a half months old. She is almost turning over onto her stomach, she is ridiculously long and strong, she has a wicked cold which makes her cough her self awake at night (which has been great for our sleep). In addition to all of this I believe that she is only a few days away from writing her first thesis, solving complicated mathematical theorems, and performing a series of self written one act plays. OK that is a little bit of hyperbole, but only slightly.
On the serious side, this weekend was her debut performance. She got to play the role of all roles- that of baby Jesus. I am completely serious about that. She and Julia performed in a liturgical dance performance and the church was left without a dry eye- mine included and I had seen the performance a number of times. One lesson that I learned and can be added to the list is that babies make you lose all control over your emotions. I cried, and I couldn't control it and I didn't care. It was a very strange feeling for me. OK I am starting to tear up again so let's move on.
This week is Easter, and what better way to start it off than Clare's first ever Easter Egg Hunt. Clare and I crushed the competition. We found our allotment of 6-8 eggs in record time. I obviously did most of the work, but I couldn't have done it without the careful plans and strategy that Clare laid out for me in her series of coded non-conspicuous coughs, laughs, coos, and farts. I knew exactly what she wanted me to do and we accomplished victory.
Finally, Julia and I have had to deal with the reality that eventually Clare will have to sleep without the swaddle blanket. We decided that we would slowly transition her out of this. Last night we decided we would let one arm free of the swaddle blanket. Now I want all of you to imagine Clare swaddled but with one arm sticking straight out like it is independent from her body. Got that image? Good. Now bask in the creepiness of how it looks and that is exactly what we thought, but you know what? It worked so tonight will be night two of creepy one arm sleeping Clare.
That is all for now but I will leave you with one anecdote and a promise to post again before the end of the week (look for it on Facebook). The other day Clare met her new best friend. Julia was walking around the house with her in her arms. When all of a sudden Clare spotted this new person in the house. She gave the new friend a flirtatious smile and then hide her face. After a few moments she let out a big smile. She reached out her hand to touch hands with her new friend. Then embraced for a bit but then it was time to leave. From time to time we have taken Clare to see her new friend and every time she becomes excited to laugh with this friend and play with her as well. This friend of course is her own image in the mirror. She loves herself. Some may call this vanity, I simply see it as Clare having the same feelings for herself as we all do.
Until next time..... Back to those diapers now.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Six weeks In
Yesterday marked six weeks for little Clare. Already it is amazing how much she has grown and changed. It is also remarkable how much my life has changed and I didn't even notice until I looked back. For instance, I never understood why parents seem to hum so much; now I do. I find myself humming all the time. And not just humming the last song I heard on the radio, or a song from my latest CD, but rather songs like "The Rainbow Connection", "Over the Rainbow" and my own little compilation/remix of all your favorite songs rolled into one. It is so bad that the other night Julia needed to wake me from my sleep to let me know that I did not need to pat Clare and hum to her because I was not holding her but rather a pillow. From what i hear it was not the first time.
I am happy to report that Clare also has super human abilities. She is able to poop through multiple outfits in one day. The reason I share this with you is because it is just one of the new criteria we know have for judging good days vs. bad days. Just a few short weeks ago days were judged by what time you got out of the house, or how our students were. Things like traffic, and our mood actually mattered. Now the only thing that we seem to care about is how many outfits she went through, how much of that awesome baby stain spray was needed, was the sink involved, did she have good awake time, was mommy able to have a nap, and whether or not we had an opportunity to check our email.
Suffice to say: Life has changed, but I don't seem to care too much.
Now this may have all seemed like a shameless attempt to earn points by making my mom cry- Well it is.
Now a bit of what is to come: Tomorrow I am going to get my wisdom teeth out. I will certainly blog at some point about how parenting is while in pain recuperating- This is of course, if my wife does not kill me because let's face it I don't do well with pain. Also I am happy to report that Clare has discovered her legs and how they work. She in fact now knows that her legs were placed on her body specifically to get her daddy in his ummmmm "area" and to force her head into my chin in an attempt to do what the dentist will do for me tomorrow. With all this knowledge, I am confident in declaring that my daughter is in fact a prodigy and genius.
Anyway, short post tonight hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to your comments. If you include questions I may even be able to milk the answer for an entire blog entry.
I am happy to report that Clare also has super human abilities. She is able to poop through multiple outfits in one day. The reason I share this with you is because it is just one of the new criteria we know have for judging good days vs. bad days. Just a few short weeks ago days were judged by what time you got out of the house, or how our students were. Things like traffic, and our mood actually mattered. Now the only thing that we seem to care about is how many outfits she went through, how much of that awesome baby stain spray was needed, was the sink involved, did she have good awake time, was mommy able to have a nap, and whether or not we had an opportunity to check our email.
Suffice to say: Life has changed, but I don't seem to care too much.
Now this may have all seemed like a shameless attempt to earn points by making my mom cry- Well it is.
Now a bit of what is to come: Tomorrow I am going to get my wisdom teeth out. I will certainly blog at some point about how parenting is while in pain recuperating- This is of course, if my wife does not kill me because let's face it I don't do well with pain. Also I am happy to report that Clare has discovered her legs and how they work. She in fact now knows that her legs were placed on her body specifically to get her daddy in his ummmmm "area" and to force her head into my chin in an attempt to do what the dentist will do for me tomorrow. With all this knowledge, I am confident in declaring that my daughter is in fact a prodigy and genius.
Anyway, short post tonight hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to your comments. If you include questions I may even be able to milk the answer for an entire blog entry.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Ramblings after a month
O.K. Let me begin this post by stating that I have wanted to write it for approximately 10 days now. However, this is the first moment that I have had and been alert enough to write. Also, I have been trying to figure out what to write about, what more could I tell you. Well, I have decided that I will simply tell you all what I have experienced/learned and hopefully more will flow forth.
Since my last post Clare opens her eyes much more and can also express emotion with them (that's assuming that "Who the hell is this crazy man making faces at me and telling me weird facts about my mommy" is an emotion). Anyway, we also were privileged enough to witness Clare's first vomit. If I may be a allowed a term from tween vernacular OMG!!!!!!!!!!! First, it came out of no where and secondly I'm not sure where it all came from, she is certainly not that big. As far as the rest of the details go I will leave that to you parents out there to remember and chuckle about and for you non-parents I will leave it to your imagination.
It is hard to believe that it has been a more than a month that Clare has been with us. This last Saturday was her one month birthday. Julia and I made a big deal of it. Clare decided to celebrate with the aforementioned event. I am also happy to report that Bailey has taken completely to the newest member of the family, almost in a creepy way; like she feels the need to clean her as if she is one of her own young. Let's just say Clare's "tummy time" has resulted in some interesting interactions.
Finally, I would like to let you know that currently I have earned no points. I don't know if I am not doing a good enough of a job or my mom hasn't figured out what a blog is. Also, the next blog will be sooner than this one was and will have a new list of things I have learned. I am sitting here knowing have learned things but honestly can't recall anything specific and feel as if my time for tonight is running.
Next time I will discuss Clare's diaper blowout and other fun times.
Since my last post Clare opens her eyes much more and can also express emotion with them (that's assuming that "Who the hell is this crazy man making faces at me and telling me weird facts about my mommy" is an emotion). Anyway, we also were privileged enough to witness Clare's first vomit. If I may be a allowed a term from tween vernacular OMG!!!!!!!!!!! First, it came out of no where and secondly I'm not sure where it all came from, she is certainly not that big. As far as the rest of the details go I will leave that to you parents out there to remember and chuckle about and for you non-parents I will leave it to your imagination.
It is hard to believe that it has been a more than a month that Clare has been with us. This last Saturday was her one month birthday. Julia and I made a big deal of it. Clare decided to celebrate with the aforementioned event. I am also happy to report that Bailey has taken completely to the newest member of the family, almost in a creepy way; like she feels the need to clean her as if she is one of her own young. Let's just say Clare's "tummy time" has resulted in some interesting interactions.
Finally, I would like to let you know that currently I have earned no points. I don't know if I am not doing a good enough of a job or my mom hasn't figured out what a blog is. Also, the next blog will be sooner than this one was and will have a new list of things I have learned. I am sitting here knowing have learned things but honestly can't recall anything specific and feel as if my time for tonight is running.
Next time I will discuss Clare's diaper blowout and other fun times.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The Snuggli is my friend
Had you asked me just a few weeks ago what the best invention ever was I would've answered the Sham-Wow, Magic Bullet, Magic Putty, or Swiffer WetJet. While I still think that the aforementioned items are great invention, my official nomination now goes to the Snuggli. For those of you that do not know what the Snuggli is, let me fill you in. The snuggli is a contraption that allows you to carry the baby on your chest (or back when they get older). Not only does this allow you the access to both of your hands, it also allows the baby to curl up into a contortion that only babies are able to achieve and fall asleep. Not just calm. I mean OUT. Like I just ended an all nighter by getting hammered and I just found a couch out.
Now I admit there are a few issues one must get around when using the Snuggli. First, it is by no means and easy in, easy out carrier. You have to master the right hand hold, left hand snap twice and then vice versa routine. Then there is a moment when you realize that your baby and a marching band bass drum have a lot in common. I have realized many things as a father, but this realization may have been the oddest.
Finally, I am convinced that the Snuggli had to have been invented by a mother. I think this not because it is a useful item for mothers to use while getting things done around the house. Nor do I think this it allows the person some freedom from the arm stingers that are recent parenthood. No I am convinced of this because when I carry Clare in it and try to get up and down from the sitting position, or even walk around, I do it exactly like Julia did just a few weeks ago in her third trimester. The Snuggli offers parents free hands, a break, puts the baby to sleep, and exacts revenge on the fathers, for this I declare it the greatest invention and say kudos to you females: You Win!
Now, the other day i promised you the story of when we went to get pictures taken at the mall. I am hoping that you weren't hoping for a hilarious story because it wasn't. The event of taking pictures is rather awkward, but then again I have always found going to a photographer to be rather awkward: My chin just doesn't need to go higher. Anyway, we decided to go for a stroll through the mall after the pictures. This started off good, but soon enough Clare let us know that she was done.
I am sure that you parents out there have had the experience of having your child scream as if they were on fire in a public place. The most shocking of this was that people continued to come up and look at her and comment on her cuteness. Now I mind you her face was beat red because she had decided that oxygen was not as important as making her point. Yet people continued to oh and ah at her. Now I am not trying to say that my child is cuter (though she is) or that she is any more special. What I want to know is when the common stranger goes from thinking that a screaming baby is cute to a screaming baby is annoying. The only thing I can think is that it is the carrier. A baby in a carriage alone does not get the pass that a baby in a carrier attached to a stroller gets. For this I believe that the baby carrier may have the single largest impact on our society than any other accessory. Seriously can you think of anything else that elicits a stronger impact. Now don't get me wrong the baby has a part. A person with just a carrier with no baby would elicit a completely different response, but at the same point again it seems to be a universal one at that. I'll be sure to fill you in any other developments in my research.
Now a few rules have come in and I am sifting through them, but as it stands right now I have earned no points, but I did get one complaint from my father. To be fair to myself I am not sure that my mom has even read the blog yet so I expect a bigger second half from myself.
New Lessons Learned
1. Babies don't like medicine squirt into their mouths.
2. Babies love mobiles; dogs hate them.
3. Suddenly midnight has become early and 5 A.M. become late.
Now I admit there are a few issues one must get around when using the Snuggli. First, it is by no means and easy in, easy out carrier. You have to master the right hand hold, left hand snap twice and then vice versa routine. Then there is a moment when you realize that your baby and a marching band bass drum have a lot in common. I have realized many things as a father, but this realization may have been the oddest.
Finally, I am convinced that the Snuggli had to have been invented by a mother. I think this not because it is a useful item for mothers to use while getting things done around the house. Nor do I think this it allows the person some freedom from the arm stingers that are recent parenthood. No I am convinced of this because when I carry Clare in it and try to get up and down from the sitting position, or even walk around, I do it exactly like Julia did just a few weeks ago in her third trimester. The Snuggli offers parents free hands, a break, puts the baby to sleep, and exacts revenge on the fathers, for this I declare it the greatest invention and say kudos to you females: You Win!
Now, the other day i promised you the story of when we went to get pictures taken at the mall. I am hoping that you weren't hoping for a hilarious story because it wasn't. The event of taking pictures is rather awkward, but then again I have always found going to a photographer to be rather awkward: My chin just doesn't need to go higher. Anyway, we decided to go for a stroll through the mall after the pictures. This started off good, but soon enough Clare let us know that she was done.
I am sure that you parents out there have had the experience of having your child scream as if they were on fire in a public place. The most shocking of this was that people continued to come up and look at her and comment on her cuteness. Now I mind you her face was beat red because she had decided that oxygen was not as important as making her point. Yet people continued to oh and ah at her. Now I am not trying to say that my child is cuter (though she is) or that she is any more special. What I want to know is when the common stranger goes from thinking that a screaming baby is cute to a screaming baby is annoying. The only thing I can think is that it is the carrier. A baby in a carriage alone does not get the pass that a baby in a carrier attached to a stroller gets. For this I believe that the baby carrier may have the single largest impact on our society than any other accessory. Seriously can you think of anything else that elicits a stronger impact. Now don't get me wrong the baby has a part. A person with just a carrier with no baby would elicit a completely different response, but at the same point again it seems to be a universal one at that. I'll be sure to fill you in any other developments in my research.
Now a few rules have come in and I am sifting through them, but as it stands right now I have earned no points, but I did get one complaint from my father. To be fair to myself I am not sure that my mom has even read the blog yet so I expect a bigger second half from myself.
New Lessons Learned
1. Babies don't like medicine squirt into their mouths.
2. Babies love mobiles; dogs hate them.
3. Suddenly midnight has become early and 5 A.M. become late.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Three Weeks in
Since I decided to start this blog a few days ago my mind has been racing about what I would write about next. Unfortunately, it wasn't until now that I have had the opportunity to sit down and actually write anything. It is currently 11:45 p.m. and I have no idea what the next minute may bring or when I will be able to finish this post. In fact this seems to be the theme of my life for the last few weeks. Frankly, I am enjoying it quite a bit.
To start this post however I would like to edit my overall goals for this blog. I will not be changing the overall goal of being able to share stories with you as well as create a chronicle that can hopefully last and be something that I will share with Clare when she is older. Hopefully, it will give you and her enjoyment in years to come. While this is the serious goal, I would like to set a fun goal. That fun goal will be to get you all to laugh as much as possible while simultaneously making my mom cry (or if I am daring my dad). I will be informing my mom of this goal and have decided it would be fun to keep track and give myself points for this. So from this point forward I will give myself one point for every time my mom cries and two points for every time my dad cries. In addition, bonus points can be earned if my mom laughs and cries simultaneously.
Now I would like to issue a challenge to the few of you that are actually reading this post. I would love to turn this whole blog into a game. So in the next few days I want to hear from you. I want other ways to earn points (and maybe give you the opportunity to earn points). Send me rules or challenges and let's have some fun with this.
This post also is serving as the inauguration of the first recurring feature on the blog: "What I Have learned as a father". Before I get to the list I want to take a moment to address the learning curve of fatherhood. While I knew that I would be learning a lot, as well as realizing that I didn't know anything at all, I had no idea what I was in for. The only way I can explain it is with an analogy. Let's put it this way if I learned academically at the pace that I have been forced to learn fatherhood I would have been a board certified astrophysicist by the end of First Grade. I have no idea what I will learn each day when I wake up and I can't believe what I had to figure out that day when I finally go to bed. It truly is amazing.
Now without further ado: The list.
What I have learned (Three Weeks In)
1. Babies are hardwired with a reflex to refuse allowing their legs to go easily into pants or sleepers.
2. The smell of baby will completely take over your nasal passages and force you to smell it no matter where you are.
3. The difference between 6-10 lb diapers and 8-14 lb diapers when your baby is 8 lbs is huge.
4. The sizes for tights for infant girls is the equivalent of tights for woman that would range between 80 lbs and 320 lbs.
5. A cup of coffee has become a really freaking hard thing to have.
6. There is actually quality programming TV on from midnight to 2 A.M.
7. You can watch a version of Law and Order straight from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.
8. A clean diaper triggers a response in a baby to soil it immediately.
9. My fingers are delicious
10. If Clare is screaming simply rock her, shake her gently, rub her belly, let her suck on your finger, lay her on her side, rest her your chest, shush her, hum with her ear on my chest, lift her in the air, or gently blow in her face. The catch is all this must be done at the same time.
That's it for now. In the next post I will let you know how our venture out to get pictures taken at the mall went today. Final update, I was able to write this post uninterrupted. Which means that she is sleeping. This will lead to one of two outcomes: A great night of sleeping, or a night of no sleeping. I am convinced there is no in between
To start this post however I would like to edit my overall goals for this blog. I will not be changing the overall goal of being able to share stories with you as well as create a chronicle that can hopefully last and be something that I will share with Clare when she is older. Hopefully, it will give you and her enjoyment in years to come. While this is the serious goal, I would like to set a fun goal. That fun goal will be to get you all to laugh as much as possible while simultaneously making my mom cry (or if I am daring my dad). I will be informing my mom of this goal and have decided it would be fun to keep track and give myself points for this. So from this point forward I will give myself one point for every time my mom cries and two points for every time my dad cries. In addition, bonus points can be earned if my mom laughs and cries simultaneously.
Now I would like to issue a challenge to the few of you that are actually reading this post. I would love to turn this whole blog into a game. So in the next few days I want to hear from you. I want other ways to earn points (and maybe give you the opportunity to earn points). Send me rules or challenges and let's have some fun with this.
This post also is serving as the inauguration of the first recurring feature on the blog: "What I Have learned as a father". Before I get to the list I want to take a moment to address the learning curve of fatherhood. While I knew that I would be learning a lot, as well as realizing that I didn't know anything at all, I had no idea what I was in for. The only way I can explain it is with an analogy. Let's put it this way if I learned academically at the pace that I have been forced to learn fatherhood I would have been a board certified astrophysicist by the end of First Grade. I have no idea what I will learn each day when I wake up and I can't believe what I had to figure out that day when I finally go to bed. It truly is amazing.
Now without further ado: The list.
What I have learned (Three Weeks In)
1. Babies are hardwired with a reflex to refuse allowing their legs to go easily into pants or sleepers.
2. The smell of baby will completely take over your nasal passages and force you to smell it no matter where you are.
3. The difference between 6-10 lb diapers and 8-14 lb diapers when your baby is 8 lbs is huge.
4. The sizes for tights for infant girls is the equivalent of tights for woman that would range between 80 lbs and 320 lbs.
5. A cup of coffee has become a really freaking hard thing to have.
6. There is actually quality programming TV on from midnight to 2 A.M.
7. You can watch a version of Law and Order straight from 11 A.M. to 5 P.M.
8. A clean diaper triggers a response in a baby to soil it immediately.
9. My fingers are delicious
10. If Clare is screaming simply rock her, shake her gently, rub her belly, let her suck on your finger, lay her on her side, rest her your chest, shush her, hum with her ear on my chest, lift her in the air, or gently blow in her face. The catch is all this must be done at the same time.
That's it for now. In the next post I will let you know how our venture out to get pictures taken at the mall went today. Final update, I was able to write this post uninterrupted. Which means that she is sleeping. This will lead to one of two outcomes: A great night of sleeping, or a night of no sleeping. I am convinced there is no in between
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Blogging Again
As some of you know I started a blog a few years ago. From what I gathered many of you enjoyed it. However, I ran out of time and inspiration to keep it going. Furthermore, that blog really didn't have much focus or vision, it was for all intents and circumstance a series of ramblings. Well now I have a new vision and new focus. I have a daughter.
Clare Ellen was born on Dec. 17 at 5:20 A.M. Suffice to say my life as changed dramatically since then. Many people have told my wife and I that we should keep a journal to look back upon and reflect upon these beginning moments of Clare's life. Julia is good at sitting in bed at night and putting the pen to the paper and just writing. I am not a pen and paper kind of guy. I am a sit in the recliner with the laptop on my lap and a beer in my hand kind of guy.
Also, whenever I sit down to write something that is only for my eyes I am always filled with a feeling that can only be described as awkwardness. It is a feeling somewhere between "I feel like a third grade girl" and "Hey maybe I am one of those great renaissance writers who will be famous when he dies and someone finds my inciteful, deep, and provocative writings in an old cracked leather journal." Most of the time the former feeling is the prevailing one.
So where is all this rambling going: I write to share. I don't presume to change anyone's life or to even impress anyone. I only hope to maybe make you smile or laugh at the things that go into raising a baby. I know that not much of what I will go through will be unique or extraordinary. In fact I am sure that most of what people will get out of this are recollection of their own experience of dealing with babies.
As I write right now, I am not even sure where to begin. The thoughts that are running through my head are: Will I have time? How can I not sound pretentious? Will this even be interesting? I don't have the answers to these questions, but frankly I don't particularly care. I am going to attempt to do what I know how to do and that is simply write what I am thinking and experiencing. Hopefully it will make sense but no guarantees. Hopefully it will be entertaining, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will sound sane, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will be able to update it frequently for you, for me, and for Clare in the future, but no guarantees.
I do hope that you read this and get something from it. I look forward to the feedback and if we are lucky maybe it can even serve as a place where we can all share some laughs about the experience of raising a child.
I feel like I am rambling at this point. While I have already admitted that that will be the prevailing style, I fear that the rambling is starting to be senseless. I do want to leave you with a quck anedote though. I decided tonight that I would start this blog. It was on a whim, and basically happened because Clare was feeding so my hands were free. I started dinner, sat at the computer and just started typing. That was three hours ago. I was not out of words or ideas. I was simply out of availability. So since I have started this blog Clare has fed twice, Julia and I have fed once, I cooked pasta, slightly burned garlic bread, and gave Clare her medicine, whose directions by the way tell us to squirt the medicine in Clare's mouth, have her swish it in her mouth for thirty seconds, garble for a bit, and then swallow. For a two week old these directions are a bit daunting. Our practical directions have become: Squirt it in her mouth as quickly as possible, completely cover her shirt so we don't have to change it, and hope to God that at least some of the medicine stays in her mouth and doesn't end up being spit all over my hand. Well until next time I am off to change numerous diapers of various colors and consistencies.
Clare Ellen was born on Dec. 17 at 5:20 A.M. Suffice to say my life as changed dramatically since then. Many people have told my wife and I that we should keep a journal to look back upon and reflect upon these beginning moments of Clare's life. Julia is good at sitting in bed at night and putting the pen to the paper and just writing. I am not a pen and paper kind of guy. I am a sit in the recliner with the laptop on my lap and a beer in my hand kind of guy.
Also, whenever I sit down to write something that is only for my eyes I am always filled with a feeling that can only be described as awkwardness. It is a feeling somewhere between "I feel like a third grade girl" and "Hey maybe I am one of those great renaissance writers who will be famous when he dies and someone finds my inciteful, deep, and provocative writings in an old cracked leather journal." Most of the time the former feeling is the prevailing one.
So where is all this rambling going: I write to share. I don't presume to change anyone's life or to even impress anyone. I only hope to maybe make you smile or laugh at the things that go into raising a baby. I know that not much of what I will go through will be unique or extraordinary. In fact I am sure that most of what people will get out of this are recollection of their own experience of dealing with babies.
As I write right now, I am not even sure where to begin. The thoughts that are running through my head are: Will I have time? How can I not sound pretentious? Will this even be interesting? I don't have the answers to these questions, but frankly I don't particularly care. I am going to attempt to do what I know how to do and that is simply write what I am thinking and experiencing. Hopefully it will make sense but no guarantees. Hopefully it will be entertaining, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will sound sane, but no guarantees. Hopefully I will be able to update it frequently for you, for me, and for Clare in the future, but no guarantees.
I do hope that you read this and get something from it. I look forward to the feedback and if we are lucky maybe it can even serve as a place where we can all share some laughs about the experience of raising a child.
I feel like I am rambling at this point. While I have already admitted that that will be the prevailing style, I fear that the rambling is starting to be senseless. I do want to leave you with a quck anedote though. I decided tonight that I would start this blog. It was on a whim, and basically happened because Clare was feeding so my hands were free. I started dinner, sat at the computer and just started typing. That was three hours ago. I was not out of words or ideas. I was simply out of availability. So since I have started this blog Clare has fed twice, Julia and I have fed once, I cooked pasta, slightly burned garlic bread, and gave Clare her medicine, whose directions by the way tell us to squirt the medicine in Clare's mouth, have her swish it in her mouth for thirty seconds, garble for a bit, and then swallow. For a two week old these directions are a bit daunting. Our practical directions have become: Squirt it in her mouth as quickly as possible, completely cover her shirt so we don't have to change it, and hope to God that at least some of the medicine stays in her mouth and doesn't end up being spit all over my hand. Well until next time I am off to change numerous diapers of various colors and consistencies.
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