143: Fatherhood Friday, What am I supposed to do now?

In about 24 hours, my wife a child will be on a plane headed to California for a week. My wife's sister lives on the opposite side of the country and they miss each other a lot. So, for Mother's Day I decided to surprise my wife with plane tickets. It seemed like such a good idea at the time. Now, with the trip approaching fast, I am feeling very anxious. I've never been away from my wife for this long in years, and I've never been away from my daughter at all.

Cynics will surely say I bought the tickets to give myself the vacation, but that's not true. I don't do well when I am away from them. I won't sleep, I'll eat poorly or not at all, and I will be extremely listless. Thanks to Gmail's video chat we'll be able to have some contact, but in the end I'll be all alone.

So what am I supposed to do now?

It's funny how things have changed. These two girls are my entire life. My wife and I have been together for 13yrs (married for 6) and my little girl turned 1 a few weeks ago. When I'm at work I wonder what they are up to, when I'm driving home I can't wait to get in the front door to see them. I'm often bummed when my daughter is still napping when I get home. Is it manly to say that I love getting hugs from both of them is the greatest part of my day? No, probably not, but no one will ever accuse me of being particularly manly.

I just reread that last paragraph and you'd think they were going away for a month, but it's only a week. I can get through this, I can...No really, I can.

I'll let you know how it goes next week.

Check out more Fatherhood Friday posts at Dad-Blogs.com!

144: The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

It seems that 14,000,000 people have seen this video before I ever heard about it. I was all about the Muppets growing up and this video has all of my favorite characters plus a few new guys that weren't around in my day. I hope the Muppets Studio people continue to put together great clips like this so that my little girl can grow to love them as well!

145. Wordless Wednesday's - A Stroll Through the Tulips

If not for Dad-Blogs, I probably would forget to post. It's the one spot on the web that actually makes an effort to acknowledge fatherhood...Sure the parenting sites pretend to include us, but with makeup and beauty advertisements all over the place it's hard to make that argument stick. If you haven't seen Dad-Blogs, check it out today...

146. Fatherhood Friday's - What about BOB? My jogging stroller and me.

In about 3 weeks, I'll be standing in a crowd of about 30,000 people attempting to run 10 miles for a cause. It's the 31st Annual Broad Street run in Philadelphia. Now, before you go, "Wow, we've got a healthy runner here looking to do some good" I should tell you that I am far from the picture of health, likewise I'm not really a runner.

In 2004, I my weight was creeping ever so close to 300lbs (270lbs to be exact). It wasn't so much what I was eating, just the amount of what I was eating coupled with extensive inactivity. As the weight continued to climb I decided to do something about it, and about a year later I had lost 70lbs...I thought that was enough. Once I got down to the magic 200lb number I had in my head I thought I could just relax and enjoy that weight for a while. But it's all too easy to fall into those old habits and my weight started to go the other way.

That was when I decided to run. I had changed my diet and was walking/jogging, but it wasn't giving me the results I was looking for. With help from some friends and the motivation of a 'Biggest Loser' contest at work I started to take things up a notch, and lose about 40lbs. I was officially healthy, my bloodwork and weight said so. I ran a couple of respectable 5k races for charity and I actually enjoyed myself.

So what do you think I did? Yep, I got lazy. Life takes over and you forget to take care of yourself. My wife and I had a baby and exercise and eating right suddenly were on the back burner again. I've gained some of the weight back for a third time, but promising to run after work is difficult when you have a little girl at home that you haven't seen all day.
Have no fear spring is finally here! I think we've found a solution. It's not a new solution by any means, but it is new to us. We bought a Bob Revolution jogging stroller. I took it out for a spin last night with my daughter and I think we both had a lot of fun with it. I can now spend time with her and get my run in. No more excuses. I've only had it out once, but I think we'll be getting a lot of use out of it this year! It was fun to watch our little girl wave to people as she rolled by and watch the breeze in her hair.

I want to be healthy for me and my family, but it's hard. I enjoy food so much. I'm out of excuses, and I have 3 more weeks to train for the big 10 mile run in Philly...Wish me luck, gotta Run!

Check out more Fatherhood Friday posts at Dad-Blogs.com!

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.

148. Fatherhood Friday - Eating is so easy...

Can someone please explain this to me...We go about our nightly dinner routine by giving our little girl a bottle which she happily chugs. After that it's time for solids. We get her all strapped into the high chair, get the food ready (last night it was broccoli, turkey, & cheese), and put a little whole milk into her sippy cup (we're easing the whole milk in slowly and as peacefully as possible).

For the dinner, the turkey she likes, that goes pretty well and cheese she loves. She even feeds herself some, so that's good. She drinks her milk, which she liked a little more than she did yesterday. But we hit a wall at the broccoli. She takes a couple of bites, but then throws a fit and refuses anymore. We tried to do the right thing and not pressure her to eat more than she wants because the last thing we need is some sort of food anxiety on our hands.

Once she throws a fit, she's done she won't eat anything else. So my wife and I finish our dinner while she plays happily with the crumbs. When we're done I take her out of the high chair to clean her up, and just for giggles I give her a little taste of the broccoli...Now, she loves it and I can't give it to her fast enough...She ate all of it.

It was a bizarre little event that I cannot explain. We thought she was exercising her right to choose foods she likes by refusing the broccoli, but it appears she actually like it.

I'm baffled, every day with this beautiful little girl presents a new mystery of life. I try to take notes, but no matter how prepared I think I am to see that fast ball on the outside corner, I wind up seeing a curve down and in for a strike.

Don't forget to check out more Fatherhood Friday posts over at Dad-Blogs!

149. The Geese are back, it must be Spring...

Spring is in the air. As I type this it's 70 degrees outside, the sun is shining, and the daffodils are popping up out of the ground.

What does Spring have in store for us? Well, we'll finally be able to get back outside. Our little girl was born in May so we had a fantastic first 5 months of her life wandering outside and taking little adventures that kept us wrapped in fresh air and sunshine. And then, Winter came and we locked up the windows, packed away all the short sleeves, and huddled up waiting for our chance to get that stroller rolling again.

As part of my rather ineffective New Year's resolution to lose weight, I signed up to run the annual Philadelphia Broad St. Run...In cold weather, this 10 mile exercise in disaster has forced be back on the treadmill. Now that it's finally warmer I can run outside. Sure I could have been like a few of my neighbors jogging down the road with 10 inches of snow on the ground, but I'm just not that dedicated.

The race is in May and I am on pace to be sufficiently prepared for the 10 mile trip...At least I hope so. I ran almost 6 miles this past Tuesday and felt pretty good. I could have done more but I crossed paths with my wife and daughter who were walking around town enjoying the sun and I just had to stop to be with them. I ran almost 4 miles yesterday and was just a bit sore, but still felt good. So with a little more than a month to go things are looking pretty good.

Between now and then, staying motivated to run will be my toughest challenge...Warmer weather means fun outside with the family, time on the water with a fishing rod, and some work to be done out in the yard. We'll see how it goes...