Daddy, This is MY BLOG!!

I hope this isn't a sign of things to come. I think Ben got a little jealous of my post about Baby Girl C yesterday. Tonight at bath time there was an incident. An attention grabbing incident...which was probably my fault. It was like Ben said "Daddy, you know that song that you play in the car, that you're not supposed to play, but you play it anyway, then you turn to me and say, Don't say those words Ben, well, this is my blog! It's All About the Benjamins Daddy!"  It sounds like something he would say. That or, "My question to you sir, is this my blog or not?" Yes, I'm watching too much Casey Anthony Trial.

*not for little ears*

Ok, so here's the story. I picked up Ben from the babysitter, then headed off to BJ's to pick up a rotisserie chicken for dinner. They didn't have any ready, so I had to walk around the store for 20 minutes.  We stopped by the toy section, the electronics section then the bakery. They gave Ben a frosted sugar cookie. He loved it. He ate the whole thing.

We got home, he was giggling and silly. He had no interest in dinner. We played a bit, then it was bath time. He splashed around, played with his toys, then practiced his swimming. Flipping from his belly to his back, just like they teach him in class (good boy)

While laying on his back, he started making some bubbles. He announced them "bubbles!" Then suddenly he stood up with a panicked look on his face. I reached out to grab him and sit him down. (there's no standing in the bath tub) When I did, he grabbed my arm with both hands and started to grab onto me with his legs too.

I said "Whoa buddy? What's the matter?" He looked at the water, pointed and said "uh-oh" I looked and there was a little poop nugget. "No biggie. I'll fix that for you kid." As I swung him a few inches to the left I saw them. An East River Brown Trout and his friend the Bronze Dolphin. (there's nothing funnier than poop jokes/stories. See past post: Poop, Poop, Poop.)

I scooped him up out of the tub and yelled out to Allison "I need help" she came in, yelled GROSS and started cracking up. We moved him into our shower to finish getting him clean. I jumped in still wearing my shorts, shirt and glasses. Ben took the shower head and tried to spray the dog. He started to giggle. Molly tried to bite the water through the glass door. Ben started belly laughing. This was the hardest I've ever heard him laugh. I was in tears laughing at his laugh. It was awesome. After a few minutes he let me finish his bath and after THREE stories, we put him to bed.

What did I learn today? Next time they someone gives Ben a frosted sugar cookie, only let him eat half.

Good thing I'm not a house elf.

Tonight I didn't want to do the dishes so I asked Allison to switch with me. She would do the dishes and I would do bath time. Bath time is usually a lot of fun, but not tonight.

As I was getting him ready for the bath, he was already getting a little cranky, but usually as soon as he gets in the tub he perks right up. He is starting to learn how to make his bath toys squirt water.

He had his firefighter duck and was filling it with water...and squirting it out. He was excited and flopping around like a fish. He hit the back of his head on the faucet. He didn't cry, but he wasn't happy so I decided to move him to the other side of the tub. I guess I moved him too far back and when he turned he lost balance and fell backwards.

He hit his head again, this time on the back of the tub and this time he did cry. I felt so bad for him. He was crying really hard and even tried to climb out of the tub. I let the water out of the tub and gave him a hug. He cried for a few more minutes and really off and on until he got his night time bottle.

He's OK, but I feel bad. I feet like I should smash my head or something like Dobby the house elf. I'll make it up to him tomorrow. When mommy goes out to dinner...daddy will take him out for ice cream. Now hopefully mommy doesn't read this until after tomorrow night.

ORANGE ALERT! EMERGENCY

Last night Allison had to work late so I was in charge of Ben. No biggie. I've been alone with him before and I get the job done. Well he didn't nap well and was a little cranky. Not good for me, but still I did a good job.

I was feeding him his 6:00 meal (rice cereal mixed with formula) when Allison called. She said what are you doing? I said "poop eating" she said "WHAT!?!?!" then she realize I meant Ben was pooping and eating at the same time and not eating his own poop.

He ate his food and he was done pooping so I decided to change him. I lay him on the changing table and I can already smell it, not good. Ben did his 3 days of carrots and now he's on day 2 of sweet potatoes. I take his pants off, unbutton his onesie and WHOA! ORANGE POOP EVERYWHERE.

The poop escaped out of his diaper and over his belly button. His belly button actually looked like the middle of a scale or a see-saw with a line of poop going across his whole tummy. Poop was all over his onesie, so I didn't know exactly how to undress him. I got poop all over my hand and arm, but got the onesie off of him without spreading the mess on Ben.

I started to clean him up, but I was making it worse. There was a pile of poop gooped onto his but and peeps area and the poop that was on his tummy, was now spread up to his nipples. He needed a bath stat. I picked him up and carried him to the tub. Shit! How do I turn on the water and get the shower head down? He's covered in poop. I worked it out and he got clean. Never a dull moment, but I felt good giving him bath time all by myself.

Fast forward to tonight's bath time. I got home from running and Ben was already in the bath. I washed up and went to visit. Ben was playing with his toys and splashing around. Allison and I were talking about his day, nap time troubles, eating schedule and stuff like that. I guess we stopped paying attention to him for a second. He reached out for a bath toy and went head over heels. I immediately picked him up from the water, but he bumped his head on the bottom of the tub and went under. He was fine, but he got scared. He cried a little bit, but was happy again after 30-40 seconds.

Sorry little buddy, didn't mean to let you down like that. You can bet all future baths will be spent with all eyes on Ben.

Happy Half Birthday

Ben is six months old. During his six month checkup, he got two shots one in each leg. He didn't like that very much, but he did really well. He's 18Lbs 0.5 Oz - 27 1/4 inches long. The doctor said he looks like a 9 month old. She also said he could start solid foods.

What does Ben and a rabbit have in common? They both like carrots. We gave him carrots first, sweet potatoes are on the menu for tomorrow. Check out Ben's first taste of carrots.

The carrots gave him an orange beard, orange fingers and orange poop.

We also started giving him baths in big boy tub. That's just the regular bath tub to you and me. He loves it. He spends the first few minutes splashing around. Then a few more minutes trying to catch his bath toys. When we finally wash him, he's exhausted.


Lastly, I have told everyone who's asked how much I love being a dad. I love everything about it. Well, that's not exactly true. I found something I hate doing. I hate, two things more than anything in the world. 1) I hate changing crib sheets in the middle of the night 2) I hate washing bottles.

That's all for now. Make sure to leave some comments and stay tuned for updates on Ben's first plane trip, coming soon.

Happy 1 Month, Benjamin

Last night was garbage night. I don’t mean it was a bad night, I mean it was the night I bring the garbage out. After work I ate, took Benjamin for a walk with Allison, went for a run, showered, gave Benjamin a bath, then held him on the couch until his last feed before bed at 10:30. I gathered up the garbage, emptied the Diaper Genie and took it down to the street, then I took Molly out for her last potty of the night. I was heading up to bed, when I saw one last bag of garbage that needed to go into the pail. Quickly I grab it and head to the front door.

I unlocked it then paused. “Did I arm the alarm on?” Upstairs there is a fed, changed and sleeping 1 month old and a tired, cranky and close to sleeping wife. Do I risk opening the door, setting off the alarm and waking them up? That would, no doubt, wake up the beast. Well, I’ve got one question for myself. Do I feel lucky? Well, do ya, punk? Short answer, NO. I punked out and check the alarm. It was not armed yet, but like I always say, safety first.

I’m sure that’s not what you were expecting to read on the day Benjamin turns one month old, but I’m not finished yet, chill. He made out very well at his doctor appointment today. He got his second Hepatitis shot, he cried hard for a few minutes, then he was good. He weighs 10 Lbs 5 oz and is 22 inches long. Good news: he was given approval to take a full bath. Up until now we have been giving him sponge baths. He loved his first real bath. We didn't bust out the bath toys, maybe next time. Gotta start out slow.

The bad news: the doctor didn't yell, but said we aren't giving him enough tummy time. We give him tummy time everyday, but the doctor recommends tummy time 3 times a day. Whoops, noted. He'll be doing push-ups by 2 months. She also said he should be going to bed earlier. We are trying that out tonight. He's in bed right now. Let's see if he stays there.

How do I like being a dad? I love it. I don't feel like I've done very many "dad" things. No playing catch, no slot car races, but we have watch a Jets game together and they actually won! At this point, I'm just helping him survive. The parenting and "dad" feelings will come later on once he's older. But I still love it. He's a good boy and he's so cute when he's asleep. He lays on my chest and he's just the cutest kid you've ever seen. I know I'm not exactly an impartial 3rd party here, but seriously, he's a beautiful boy.

Next month he should start smiling and take more notice of his surroundings. I can't wait for that. I'm also looking forward to getting back into a schedule and spending time with Allison again. There have been days where we see each other, but don't talk at all. It's weird.

Anyway, I'll wrap it up by saying it's been a great month and also mention that today, was so much less stressful than day 1.