As I said before Tater is now eating baby food, which is a natural step in every kid’s development.  The one drawback that we found out with Tater is sporadic vomiting.  Recently my wife was feeding her some sort of veggie mix, she had gladly eaten about 75% of the container when she started coughing.  It was a regular cough that didn’t concern either of us but after she cleared her throat and with out any warning not even a single dry heave, Awwwwaahhhhhh is what was heard followed by a steady stream of veggies pouring out of her mouth, much like water shooting out of a hose at high speed.  The initial extraction caught my wife with great surprise; it splashed all over Tater, some of it was caught by her bib which has a pocket on the bottom to catch runaway food/vomit, the high chair and some of the floor.  With the first wave my wife was able to call for help.  The second wave came right after the first and with little time to react my wife caught the majority of the vomit in Taters food container, which I thought was a great catch.  After the third wave I got there with paper towel and that was it.  Tater threw up everything she just ate plus some and was totally un-phased, no crying, whining or anything.  Now it was bath time.  My wife took her to the bathroom and I was stuck cleaning up yummy throw up.  This is beginning to become a regular occurrence that seems to strike at any time and place.  After Tater had finished eating breakfast just the other day I was playing with her in her room.  She was crawling around playing with me when all of a sudden AAAwwwwwaaah……..A solitary heave that produced a nice little pile of milk and breakfast.  After Tater was done she turned around and clawed out in to the hallway looking for something to play with.  Again I was the designated janitor so I busted out the woodchips (you know how in elementary school when some kid blew chunks the janitor would cover it with wood chips) AKA paper towel and began cleaning.  She’s also done it in her car seat which is so far the worst place that it has happened, fortunately I wasn’t in the car but my wife told me the smell was unbearable, I just had the pleasure of cleaning it up.  I’m really interested and a bit excited to see where else and on who this phenomenon will take place again.

Well, Tater has passed the next milestone and now she’s crawling, everywhere she wants too.  She isn’t a speed crawler yet and she doesn’t take off as soon as she is on the ground but if there is something that looks interesting to her she will try to get to it.  At times when Strider is relaxing on the floor she’ll crawl over to his tail or one of his legs and start pulling it.  Fortunately he is very well mannered and he’ll sit there and let her play or he’ll pull his appendage away from her and start kissing her.  The down side to Strider kissing her is that she’ll try to kiss back, she kisses by opening her mouth and sticking her tongue out, so you can just imagine the sparks that fly between the them……. Strider is not the only object that captures her attention on the floor, ANYTHING does; the tiniest morsel of dirt is tracked down, inspected intensely by touching it, looking at it and ultimately tasting it.  Needless to say, a careful eye has to be placed on the Tater every waking moment she is playing on the floor.  She is now eating food twice a day, she digs vegetables and will eat almost anything green, we are still introducing new foods to her and will start giving her more textured foods when she gets her teeth.  With the increase of solid foods comes the increase of solid stools.  This makes it much easier when changing diapers, at time there will be a few tootsie roll looking poops along with rabbit pebbles.  Although they are easy to clean up, they roll!  Recently Tater became sick (probably from eating everything on the floor) and she was coughing and throwing up.  After her mom had finished feeding her one morning I took her out of her highchair, while I was gently playing with her she started coughing, this led her to throw up pretty much everything she had just consumed, all over me.  I was struck in the face and mainly on the chest by a steady flow of vomit….It was disgusting and smelled horrible,  I immediately began dry heaving and almost lost my stomach.  My wife enjoyed the show and made me clean it all up.

Thank you Jenna Doll for reading my blog, it’s HIGHLY appreciated!

Alrighty well, my girl is now seven months old and she is becoming more rambunctious each day. She loves to play on the floor with her toys (especially battery operated ones with awesome music) and roll until a wall or myself or my wife stops her. She has almost taken the place of the dust buster because of all the dust and hair she collects on her clothes from the floor when rolling; we do clean often (Mom, just to let you know) but her big brother has a problem with his hair, he can’t keep it to himself.
She‘s getting ready to crawl and will prop herself up on her hands and knees and rock feverishly back and forth; at times she’ll pant heavily with excitement while rocking, it’s quite a sight. She’ll jump around like madwoman in her jumperoo while screaming and laughing, she’ll get ALL riled up when I jump along side her, the first time she started going berserk her big brother was frightened, I guess he didn’t know what got in to her. She talks and laughs often, especially when she wakes up, at times my wife and I will race each other to get to her first.
She started eating baby food recently and has been enjoying it most of the time; she’ll eat once a day but is still eating breast milk. The only negative about the whole food upgrade is the impact it has on her output, there’s MUCH more to clean, the sent is much more pungent and her flatulence can and has cleared a room, almost worse then Uncle Ev. She did take an aqua dump last week!!! Unfortunately I wasn’t home to witness that magical event but my wife told me it was more then an experience. She still takes baths in her little tub, inside the bathtub so the mess was somewhat contained but still very difficult to clean while supervising a squirming poop cover girl.
She went to her friends 1st birthday party recently and enjoyed herself so much that she pooped through her diaper and clothes (a.k.a. an explosion) and it went half way up her back. Her explosions have become such a frequent event that we can’t take her out of the house with out and extra set of clothes.

I am starting to learn first hand the massive difference between being a parent and a friend.  I’ve realized that being a parent is mainly about giving your kid what they need, not what they want.  Recently we started the self-soothing bedtime practice.  This is when a child is put into their bed awake and fall asleep on their own.   

Up until recently our routine was to bring her into her room with her last bottle, feed it to her and rock her to sleep then put her to bed asleep.  Our first crack at self-soothing was a little too much for my wife to take, granted listening to your baby cry is difficult but listening to it for over a half hour knowing you could stop it proved to be too much for her so she rocked her to sleep. 

The next night my wife went out with her friends so it was up to me to put the baby down and I was determined to have her fall asleep on her own.   When the stroke of bedtime fell upon our joyous night of rolling around on the floor grabbing toys and tasting them, jumping around like a maniac in her jumperoo while I rocked out on Guitar Hero and finally reading stories that had finger puppets built in to the book. (She LOVES them and tried to eat the puppet) I took her to her room, put her in her crib, read her a bedtime story, kissed her goodnight, turned off the lights except for her nightlight and left the room.  As soon as I left, the screaming started.  Doing my best to ignore her screams for attention I pumped the volume up on the TV so I could just hear her.  She cried for 26 minutes straight before I checked on her and found that she had pooped, by this time she was exhausted from crying so much.  As soon as I picked her up to change her diaper she was immediately quiet.  This reassured me that she was only craving attention and/or wanted her diaper changed. I changed her diaper with minimal discussion and put her back in to her bed.  Once I left, the dreaded crying continued and didn’t stop for 15 minutes.  When the crying stopped I went in to check on her and found her dead asleep.   

The next night my wife and I put her to bed just like I did the night before.  This time she cried for 15 minutes before we went in to check on her and found that once again she cried a poop out.  She was changed quietly, put back to bed and cried for about 10 minute before she fell soundly asleep.  As we continued this bedtime practice the amount of time that she would cry before falling asleep grew less and less.  Now when we put her to bed her standard behavior is to whine for about 5 minutes and then falls asleep, when she is really tired she won’t whine at all.  We really like the self-soothing practice because it works for naptime and it also works when she spends the night at her Grandparents’ houses which is huge because it makes sleepovers much more desirable to her Grandparents.  I strongly feel that this not only makes bedtime easier but mainly increases my little girls independence. 

My Girl is almost four months old and her rate of growth is difficult to comprehend even when looking at past pictures of her.  She smiles often and giggles at times, she turns over from her belly to her back; she can roll on to her side and balance there from any angle.  When she is on her belly she’ll prop herself up with her elbows and scan her surroundings while she kicks her legs, talks in baby tongue and occasionally rips huge farts; this is a good position for her if she has a stomach ach.   I remember when tummy time was dreaded, we’d put her on her tummy and she would lay their face down screaming and crying.   She loves her activity mat and is constantly grabbing and pulling at objects, she is even taking baths in her big girl tub, (it’s a kid tub that fits inside of the regular tub) which she loves to splash, kick, and play in. (I’m highly anticipating the first time she takes an aqua dump) Man do I sound like a yenta in a sewing circle.  Strider, her big brother, can’t seem to get enough of her and sneaks kisses whenever the opportunity arises.  With her abilities increasing and the holidays coming I foresee a massive influx of toys from loving grandparents and family members.  I’ve heard all the warnings with deaf ears from friends with kids who said, “your house will become your kids playpen” unfortunately for my wife, I see this in our near future, I on the other hand am still quite fond of toys; my wife won’t let me go to toy stores with her because I take too long.   

Hallaween

The end result

Halloween weekend is upon us and a choice has not been made for my little girls’ costume.  My goal was to have her dressed as Wonder Women so she could fight crime with her big brother (Strider our pup) but we haven’t come across ANYTHING remotely close to it that she would be able to fit in to.

   My wife wanted to dress her as a pepper or some other kind of inanimate object but I strongly refused, I don’t care how hot the pepper is it just isn’t scary.  If we can’t find something for her, I might have to do what my mom used to do to my brother and I when we couldn’t decide upon a costume and get a pillowcase, drawl a Pac Man ghost on it and cut a hole in the top.  At least it’s a ghost…

In honor of my girls first fall, we went to the cider mill to celebrate with her friends Ellie and Lexi.  The weather was unbeatable (almost 80), the lines were atrocious and the bees were EVERYWHERE (which is to be expected).  My girl acted great and was amused by all the people.  I think Lexi had the most fun; she’s 2 ½ and was constantly getting yelled at for running off here or there, which is the norm when there is a hay maze, jungle gyms, caricature stands to put your head in to take pictures and kids everywhere to play with.  Watching Lexi take off all over the place made me realize that I’ll be in that boat soon but fortunately my girl is just starting to move around a little.  She’ll inch her way off her activity mat by kicking her legs feverishly while talking to herself.  It is very funny to watch and crazy to see how fast she is developing. 

Today is my third wedding anniversary so tonight my wife and I are going out to dinner to celebrate.   In order for this to happen we needed to obtain a baby sitter; this is a fairly new situation for us considering our baby is just over two  months old.  It’s weird to think that I’ve been a dad for two whole months.  In retrospect, a lot has happened in regards to her growth.  She recently discovered her hands, so now when a toy is held up over her (like her whoozit thanks to Rach, D and Aim) she will swat at it in a very clumsy way sometimes even making contact with it.  It doesn’t sound like much, but when it happens the reaction from my wife and I, is that of the annoying, stereotypical parents usually portrayed in a movie or TV program.  With the discovery of her hands, comes the threat of her ferociously pinching my neck without warning. That freekin hurts!   Her overall growth is astonishing.  She has moved up to a bigger sized diaper, which she is just starting to wear properly.  This was an interesting transition; when she out grew the small diapers her poop would squish up her back and/or tummy depending upon the position she was being held in; (Surprise Grandma!!) with the new diapers, they didn’t fit just right initially so at times when she pooped it would seep down her leg due to the diaper having a little too much room to roam. (Tasty, I know) Truth be told, I haven’t seen this quantity of bodily fluids being extracted from a person since sophomore/junior year of college and it’s just as entertaining now as it was then; the only difference is that I have to clean it up.  

O yeah and she smiles! 

The happy girl

The usual occasion arose to change my baby’s diaper, so I began my routine.  I placed her on the changing pad, took off the dirty diaper and began to wipe up her processed meal.  When the area was clear of excrement I placed all the used wipes in to the dirty diaper, closed it and threw it away.  I grabbed the new diaper and began to attach it to her; the moment I picked up her legs to apply the diaper I was overwhelmed by a barrage of flatulence.  Knowing what might potentially follow I kicked my reaction time in to hyper speed, trying to do my best to cover the threatening area.  My best just wasn’t good enough this time and a hearty flow of feces catapulted on to the front of the new diaper, all over the changing pad and my hands.  Totally overwhelmed by the sneak attack I called in for reinforcements.  My wife arrived at the scene, relieved me of my post so that I could wash my hands and started cleaning up the explosion.  While I was washing my hands I heard a loud shrilling scream come from the disaster area.  I quickly dried my hands and bolted towards the scream.  The sight I saw took me a moment to process; a milky substance soaked my baby’s entire torso.  “She spit up EVERYWHERE!” my wife said laughing in a mildly disgusted manner following it up with  “ It’s bath time”.  With that said my wife undressed the baby and started to take her to the kitchen while I started cleaning up the mixture of bodily products.  On their way to the kitchen an eruption of flatulence started again.  Quick on her feet, my wife cupped the baby’s bottom with her hand hoping nothing more would be extracted.   Unfortunately for her that wasn’t the case and her hand was quickly filled with more fecal matter.  While this was happening my wife made a quick detour to the bathroom and held the baby over the toilet allowing her to finish her bowel movement, which she did in the toilet. Once the baby emptied all her storage compartments the bath occurred and everything was copasetic.               

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The New Due

Fatherhood is by far the biggest responsibility I have ventured into; with that said it is also the most exciting.  To know that I am accountable for the livelihood of a human being that I helped create is still surreal to me, even as I go through the daily routines of feeding her, changing her, burping her, consoling her, bathing her and cleaning up after her the reality is slowly setting in but it hasn’t hit me fully.  Initially, when my wife and I found out we were pregnant we were both extremely enthusiastic.  When we found out we were having a girl, our joy increased and so did the opinions and advise from friends and family regarding the supervision and protection little girls require.  The opinions and advice I received spurred my imagination to the point that I visualized caring my baby girl home from the hospital, setting her down inside her new home for the first time and while my wife and I were taking all this in there was a knock at the door.  As I answered the door I was met by a mob of horny guys pushing their way in to my home trying to get to my daughter, I ferociously fought them off and locked the door.   Fortunately, this hasn’t happened yet, besides, the fortitude that my daughter burps and farts with would be discouraging to any male but definitely makes me proud.   

Chillin with Strider and Pop 

On Thursday Aug 2^nd my wife was extremely uncomfortable and having random contractions. During all this discomfort her and I went to a new clients house to take measurements and get things rolling, if anything just to keep my wife occupied because she was miserable.  Early on Friday morning the contractions started to become more regulated and prompted us to contact the doctor to see if she should head to the hospital.  The doctor told us to hang tight for a while to see what happens.  With that said we headed over to my wife’s parents house at around 5am (they are on the way to the hospital) there we dropped off Strider and hung out for quite a while.  The contractions slowed down and I crashed for a few hours.  When I woke up around 10:30 am the contractions decreased significantly but the severity had increased.  We contacted the doctor once again, explained the situation and she told us to head to the hospital.  Once there we sat in triage for a while and finally got check out by the doctor on staff and according to her findings we were in early labor. THIS WAS IT!  We were admitted and put into a birthing room.  We called family and friends to give them the heads up.  As labor continued agony increased, although my wife desired a natural birth she was finally convinced to take an epidural.  This worked WONDERS and allowed her to take a much-needed nap.  Once hard labor hit my wife was ready to tackle it head on and she was AWESOME.  The nurse (Barb who is spectacular) did not expect her to push so hard and cover sooo much ground in such a little time (but that’s my wife) so she had to call the doctor ASAP.  My wife was in hard labor for about 30-40 minutes. The doctor came in assessed the situation and pulled the baby out roughly 15 minutes after she entered the room (DOB 12:31 AM 8/4/07).  CRAAAZYYYYYYYYYYNESSSSSSS!!!!!  The delivery was done and had gone very smooth but we weren’t out of the woods yet.  The placenta was not extracting itself like it should and the doctor was working to remove it feverishly.  After about a half hour of the doctor trying to remove the placenta, my wife’s body started to try.  This is where it hit the fan.  My wife’s body started GUSHING blood with one massive spurt.  This typhoon of blood covered the doctor, momentarily stunning her, but in that same moment I watched the doctor transform in to Super Doc.  Totally focused and ready to take action she looked at me (I was holding Mel’s hand doing my best to stay focused and keep her calm) raised an eyebrow and swiftly inserted her ARM UP TO HER ELBOW in to my wife’s uterus.  REALLLLLYYYY CRAZZZZYYYY!As you might imagine this was just a bit uncomfortable for my wife and she responded by screaming “WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO ME!!!!” Super Doc responded “Melanie, just relax I’m sorry but this is necessary”. Even though I started seeing spots and became ridiculously light headed I was able to maintain my composure and stick with my wife.  After about 30seconds of Super Doc fishing around in my wife’s uterus she extracted her arm and pulled out the entire placenta “ there we go!”  Super Doc said. Watching Super Doc remove her arm from my wife with a handful of EEEWWWWWW increased the spots I was seeing by about ten folds and believe it or not I was able to stay on my feet and still be there for my wife.  The action that Super Doc took (the trespasser is what I later named the move) allowed my wife to stay out of the operating room for the emergency surgery that they were getting ready for and ceased her extraordinary bleeding that was taking place. (She lost +/-25% of her blood during this, most of it landing on Super Doc) Once everything that needed to be extracted from my wife was, the nurses and Super Doc started cleaning up.  After everything was copasetic friends and family were able to come and meet Sadie Brielle at about 3:15AM on 8/4/07 and left around 4AM so my wife and I could get some much deserved sleep.  The whole family (Sadie, Strider, my wife and I) came home from the hospital on 8/5/07 at around 6:30 PM.  Life has never been more exciting!

I must thank everyone at the hospital, there were truly great throughout our entire stay and I hope every body who has a child can experience the kindness and sincerity that we felt while we were there.