I eat real food now

Abigail is 5 1/2 months old. She has been eating rice cereal mixed with formula. It smells and looks disgusting, but she likes it and that's all that matters.

We decided to try out some real food. First on the list, Sweet Potatoes. This I how I imagine it went for her:
"HMMMMMMM...this is not rice cereal...the texture is different....it tastes different.....IT'S ORANGE! What's orange? What's rice cereal? HI DAD!!!"

So now, it's official. I'm the only person in my family that doesn't like sweet potatoes. I did have a delicious sweet potato casserole once that Aunt Kristin's mom made that I liked, but that was more like candy than a vegetable.

Not sure what will be next. Possibly carrots. Maybe some peas. Who knows, but it will be fun feeding it to her.

 

They grow up so fast. - 5 month review

Today Abigail is 5 months old.
I can't believe how quickly it's gone by and how much she's changed. She seems to do something new everyday. Today she saw me with her bottle, her eyes tracked it, then when I got close enough, she reached out to grab it and screeched.

At her 4 month checkup she was 24in long and weighed 14lbs 12oz. I'm sure both of those numbers have gone up since then. She goes back to the doctor for her 6 month check up. I'll let you know just how much bigger she's gotten.

Abigail is so cute. She knows I'm her dad. I get a special smile and screech when she sees me. She can roll from her back to her belly and her belly to her back. (Is anyone else singing Snoop Dogg - Gin and Juice?)

We recently started feeding her rice cereal mixed with formula. It's so funny watching her learn how to eat. She spits most of the spoon full out. And when I say spoon full, I'm using that term lightly. I use the smallest  spoon ever made and it's usually only 1/4 full.

She puts her hands in her mouth and spreads the cereal all over her face and hair. She sometimes licks the high chair tray too. It gets everywhere. So far mommy and Mrs Amanda have ended up with rice cereal in their hair. All the grey hair I have just makes it look she's gotten daddy too.

Abigail can sit up on her own now. Wait, let me back up and clarify. If we sit her up, she can remain in a sitting up position. She reaches out for her toys and plays in her jumper . I think her favorites are a bumblebee (non-transformer), a dolly & horse, a dog, a pocket book rattle...wow, now that I list them out, she likes a lot of toys.


We get stopped everywhere we go. People tell us how beautiful she is. I say "thank you" out loud, but think "I know" on the inside. ;) We get asked a lot of silly questions too. Here are a few that spring to mind:

• Is that a real baby?
• Is that her real hair or is that a wig?
• Is that a doll?

Anyway, happy 5 months to my baby girl. You would think 5 months & Fat Tuesday combo we'd all be up to our elbows in cake...especially if you know me and my love for cake. Not sure what happened. But don't worry. 7 months from now...we'll make up for it.

Can you make me a bottle?

POOF! You're a bottle!

YEAH BUDDY! I say it every time Allison asks me for a bottle. Allison hates the joke, but I think it's great.

We put it to Facebook, most agreed with Allison, funny the first time, not funny the next 40 times.

What's even funnier is now Allison tries to avoid saying it. She now says, can you prepare a bottle, or can you get a bottle ready? But I wait for it and I'll POOF her again the next chance I get.

Almost 5 Months - Time Management it Easy

I've been a father of two for almost 5 months and I've almost found a way to create free time. I'm this close!

Let me take you through my day.
I wake up anywhere between 6:00 - 6:30. - I have 3 alarms set on my iphone. The first starting at 5:50 (I'll get to work early today) the last at 6:30 (get up right now or you're fired.)
I get dressed, make lunch and leave for work somewhere between 6:35 - 6:45. I hate my lunch everyday. It's either a turkey sandwich or a chicken sandwich. Everyday at work I hope for a surprise lunch meeting with a vendor or left over 4Rivers from a big meeting. It never happens, so I force my sandwich down.
The drive to work isn't bad. It takes about 45 - 50 minutes.
WORK, WORK, WORK
I leave work at either 4:00 or 4:30 depending on the day.
Pick up the kids by 5 or 5:30 depending on the day. I talk to Grammy or Mrs. Amanda about their day. I hope they had a good day and I don't hear any bad news about Ben pushing, cutting, biting or setting a fire. There's only been one incident. Not telling you which one it was.
I get home, unload the kids, their bags and my laptop. Sometimes I get the mail, sometimes it sits. It never sits for more than 2 days.
I let Ben play, usually he asks me to watch Mickey Mouse or Thomas and Friends, so I set him up and I start making dinner.
Abigail gets a 4oz bottle.
After Abigail finishes, I set her in the swing, bouncer or jumper depending on how she napped during the day.
Allison gets home between 6 - 6:30. Between the 2 of us, we get dinner on the table and we eat.
We finish dinner and are on the floor playing with the kids by about 6:45 - 7:00
We play on the floor with the kids until 7:30 - 7:45, which is the fastest 30-40 minutes of the day.
Now it's time for bath time and bedtime.
Abigail gets a bath first, while Ben plays with his choo-choos in his room or plays with his favorite APP Whooping Trains PRO - totally worth the $2.
 Allison does Abigail's night time routine and I start Ben's bath. About once a week, we swap. By now it's about 8:15 and he's pretty tired so he starts acting nutty. He laughs, giggles and splashes...a lot.
I get Ben into his room, put his PJs on then bring him back to the bath room for flossing and brushing his teeth and hair. Most nights this goes well, some nights I'm chasing him around the house in various forms of undress. While there is nothing cuter than a 2 year old running naked around the house, at 8:30 on a work night, it's pretty hard to enjoy.
Now it's story time. Ben gets his book and tries to read it himself. He turns the pages, picks something on each page, a letter, a picture or a number, announces it, then turns the page. Just as I think it's night time, he asks me to read the book to him.
I read the book while he makes his stuffed Woody, Buzz, Percy, Night-Night Bear and Clifford play. Allison finishes up with Abigail and comes to say goodnight to Ben.
Most nights this is done by 8:30.

Now it's time to exercise. Allison and I started doing workout videos in the evening. We're getting pretty buff. You've probably already noticed. ;) The workout is done by 9:15 - 9:30.
One of us hits the shower while the other starts washing the dishes. (I'll give you one guess who showers first and who does the dishes)
After we've both showered and the house is clean, we sit on the couch for a small snack and some TV. It's usually 10:00 before we start the first show.
We try to get to bed by 11:00, but that's out the window on Thursday night. Too many good shows. The Office, Big Bang Theory, Up All Night (which is freaking HILARIOUS and I think they stole some stories from my blog,) and Jersey Shore. Yeah Buddy!


Before heading up to bed we check on the kids. It's my favorite part of the day. We visit Abigail first. She either sleeps on her side, belly or is passed out on her back looking like she is making snow angels or doing a jumping jack. Those are the days we know she had a fun day. Allison gives her a kiss, I'm too afraid to wake her up, so I just stroke her hair.

We check on Ben. It's always fun to see where he is. When we say goodnight, his head is on the pillow and he is covered by the sheet and blanket. When we check on him, he is usually laying  parallel to his pillow with his head on one of his stuffed animals.

Allison and I get into bed, say goodnight and read. Allison reads for about 3-5 minutes then turns off her ipad and goes to sleep. I on the other hand fight through the sleep and read as much as I can. Most nights I drop my Kindle on my face or chest because I've fallen asleep reading. It's a dangerous game. Sooner or later I'll put an eye out, but I've been lucky so far.

I hope to post more. This is my first post of 2012. Crazy.