147. Baby on the Plane, Daddy on the ground.

Ah, vacation. The month of March was brutal for anyone in the education field in NJ. Stress levels were and continue to be very high this year so it was nice to have a break to recharge, relax, and forget about NJ for a few days.

This was a much needed vacation for my wife and I, but on top of that it was our first family trip with our little girl. Months ago, my wife and I decided we'd like to go to Florida during my spring break. This is a time of year where deals on airfare are few and far between and any money saved would have limited the number of days we could spend having fun in the sun. So, we decided against spending money on two expensive airline tickets and a rental car. Instead, while the baby and my wife took to the skies, I would be on the road heading south in the family car with all the luggage and supplies we would need for the week.

Let me tell you this, it was much harder than I expected. I was nervous how the baby would do on the plane. Would there be tears? Would she be in pain? Could she possibly throw a fit for the whole two hour flight? And how would this affect my wife? I was worried about all of this, but was secretly grateful I wouldn't have to experience myself. I thought I was home free...Boy was I wrong.

The 1000 mile trip was difficult in terms of driving. In fact I made awesome time on the way down, but it was very lonely. I didn't get to see my wife and daughter for 30hrs. This may not seem like a lot, but it is the longest I've been away from the two of them ever. And I missed them.

I didn't make the trip straight through. I stopped at a hotel in Georgia and barely slept...I couldn't wait to get out the door in the morning and finish that trek just so I could see them again.I met them at the airport when their plane landed and was relieved to see them both in good spirits. My wife, happy to be in the warmth of Florida, gave me a nice hug and my daughter (who seemed confused at my sudden appearance) gave me a little smile. It was a relief to see them both, I could finally start my relaxing vacation.

It was a great week and my 11month old daughter really seemed to enjoy her first vacation. It will certainly make us less nervous to try this again...I'm just not sure I can handle another long trip without them again.

Tinkle, Tinkle, Little Girl...

It was bound to happen. I mean she's 6 months old it's really a wonder that I made it this far without getting peed on. No, I don't blame her. It was totally my fault. I got cocky, I said to myself "self, the tub is only ten feet away, I can make it." Turns out, I couldn't.

Prior to this, I'd hear stories from other parents who have been the victims of their little one's active and well-aimed bladders never thinking it would happen to me. I promised to do things differently. I would be careful not to put myself in dangerous situations, but alas I've learned nothing from the stories. And now, as punishment I am marked with pee.

10 feet, that's all it was. I just had to carry her 10 feet to the tub to start our nightly bedtime routine and as I knelt down to make the final transition she made her sneak attack. When it was over and the smoke cleared she was smiling. I've never seen her look so proud (or was it relieved?) in all her life. Can a 6 month old feel pride? I think so.

The experienced parents out there are probably laughing at this rookie, but if you are expecting your first child, heed my words. The pee can come anytime, don't be a hero, don't ditch that diaper until it is absolutely necessary. Good luck out there!

Fatherhood Friday! - Read? Who has time to Read?

Two Fatherhood Friday's in a row, how about that? I bet you all thought my promise to return was an empty one. Have no fear, I still have much to say...I missed the theme of last week's Fatherhood Friday, but that's ok but this week's theme is one I can really get behind. Books.

I am a tech guy by profession, but an English major by degree so I can really enjoy a good book once in a while. In our house, books have been a big part of the days that lead up to the birth of our daughter, as well as, the days following.

Prior to the birth of our daughter, my wife and I read Paul Reiser's Babyhood. It was a pretty amusing take on becoming a parent. It made the whole process seem fun, and funny. Now that I have a little one at home, I've come to realize that in the moment these funny stories don't seem so funny, especially when you're running on 20 minutes of sleep for the day. Still, the book made us both laugh and helped ease our anxiety leading up to the due date.

During the few weeks after our daughter was born, you know those nights when you're up every 1 1/2 to 2 hours, we had a very set routine. I would change the baby and hand her off to momma to be fed. Then I'd grab the book off the nightstand and read aloud for the next 20 or so minutes. This book was Breaking Back by professional tennis player James Blake. I can't in good conscience say the book was terrific, but it got us through those early middle of the night feedings, and we did learn some things about professional tennis that we didn't already know. We're huge tennis fans, and never miss a televised tournament so it was interesting to get a peak at what happens before some of these players hits the courts for their matches.

In Thoreau's Walden, the author took some time to go into the woods and live deliberately. Now, like Thoreau, I will also do something deliberately. No, I won't be abandoning my family to live in the woods, I've decide to take this year and read deliberately. So, all of those books I didn't give a fair shake in college are coming back, the first is Moby Dick.

I realized that with parenting it is important to have something for you. You need to hold on to a little bit of yourself otherwise you'll get lost in all the poop and drool. Sure, I don't have as much time to read as I once did, and Moby Dick is taking a lot longer than I thought, but all that time I spend NOT reading I'm spending with my family and that is even more rewarding.

I'll never stop reading, I may slow down a bit, but I'll never stop.

Sleep in Saturdays, the greatest idea ever!

I started this blog as a place to vent. It is a place where I can come and talk about what it's like to be a parent. But somewhere along the way I didn't really account for the time it would take to actually parent, go to work, spend time with my wife, sleep, eat, occasionally shower, and any number of other things that steal my time now that I am a new parent.

That said, I haven't had the time to really put effort into this blog. I had high hopes and have fallen short of my goals...That is a little disappointing, but when I take a step back and think of every time I've seen my daughter smile at me in the last couple of months I don't even care. No matter how bad or stressful my work day is, I know that when I get home to my wife and baby girl nothing else matters. So I am going to try to resurrect this blog, but I won't do it at the expense of my family time.

I'm sure at this point you're wondering what has been going on since my last post. I know you're constantly checking the site, waiting for what I have to say next or wondering if you'll ever hear from me again. Have no fear. There is finally something new to add.

My wife recently came up with the greatest idea ever. It's called 'Sleep in Saturdays,' (or Sundays depending on our plans). The idea is this: My wife and I will take turns sleeping in on Saturday. It's that simple, when it's my turn to sleep in, my wife will get up with the baby, feed her, dress her, and take her out for a couple of hours. When it's my turn I'll get up prepare a bottle, try to dress her, and take her out for a couple of hours.

It really is a sanity booster. By the end of the week, we're both pretty beat and the opportunity to sleep in recharges all of those exhausted internal batteries. Not only that, but when it's my turn to get up with the baby I get the added benefit of daddy-daughter time that i usually miss during the week.

If you don't have a rule like this in your house I strongly suggest you give it a shot. My wife is brilliant. It's ideas like these that deserve Nobel prizes not silly advances in atomic physics or penning an obscure book no one has ever heard of.

Talk about you Tuesdays....

OK, so we've all got parenting blogs. We love to talk about our kids and all the great and interesting things they are doing, all the mess and the drool, and all the love and adventures. But, what about us? Occasionally, it's fun to talk about yourself. Selfish? Maybe, but it's your blog, you can write what you want. So I'm starting a new activity/carnival/Mr. Linky party...It's Talk about You Tuesdays.

Use your Tuesday blog space to tell us a story about you. It probably won't be completely void of your children, but instead of them being the soul focus take some time for you...Here I'll start us off with a story I was recently reminded of:

"The Day I Fell Out of the Boat"

Since we brought our daughter home, I find myself thinking about all the wacky things I got myself into growing up, and one of my misadventures came fluttering back to the surface and made me laugh.

I am an avid angler, and winter really puts a damper on my fishing. So every year when the lakes thaw I throw the boat in the back of the truck and head to the closest lake to see what's swimming around. In the winter of my 17th year, I didn't have a truck. I had my mom's car and a precarious system of knots that kept the boat firmly (or not-so-firmly attached).

The trip to the newly thawed lake was uneventful. Once I was unloaded and tooting around the lake with my electric trolling motor and more fishing rods than one person needs for a few hours on the water I was finally at peace. That is until I felt the 'call of nature.' Now I've been fishing with people who will readily answer 'nature's call' over the side of the boat, but I'm a little more modest. So I head for the closest shoreline.

I get the boat as close as possible to land, but this shoreline was far from suitable for exiting a boat in February. At this point I had no choice, I was running out of time and had to get out of the boat. So I did what any safe boater would. I threw my anchor up on shore, climbed to the front of the boat and grabbed a small tree that would aide in my exit. Unfortunately, the tree was too small and when I attempted to pull my self away from the boat, the tree bent. From here everything slowed down.

I felt the tree giving in to my weight and my balance fading...It continued to fade until I was in the water. The water was only about eight inches deep, but it was enough to soak me through. It was cold, very, very cold. At this point (thankfully), 'nature' stopped calling. I shot out of the water and over the side of the boat. I gunned my tiny motor back to the ramp at little more than a snails pace. Losing feeling in my hands and feeling my clothes starting to freeze I dragged the boat ashore and did my best to lash it to the car. Tying knots with no feeling in your hands is difficult but tying a good knot with no feeling in your hands and the weight of the lake in your frozen clothes is just about impossible.

When I finally got in the car I did what any pre-hypothermic angler would do I stripped to my underwear and drove home. Amazingly, the boat stayed on the car and I didn't get pulled over...Oh, and I guess it was good that I survived, too.

I hope I can teach my daughter to avoid the mistakes I've made. Sure she'll make her own, but if I teach her one thing it'll be to make sure she's uses the bathroom before she leaves the house because you never know what can happen when you close the door behind to leave.

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