How do you tell a baby that is almost 4 months old that what she is doing is rude and bad manners? I think I might be getting ahead of myself so I will back up a bit.
Today is day 3 of my full blown adventure into being a Stay At Home Dad (SAHD). So far so good. I get up with my wife when she is getting ready for work, wait until Aellyn wakes up and we start our day. We fill our day with feedings, naps, walks(weather permitting) and play time. Now all of this is awesome. I am enjoying it sooo much but today, "Princess" Aellyn overstepped her bounds. Want to know what this adorable little girl did to me that has me up in arms? Let me tell you while asking a question.
Let's say you go out to dinner to your favorite steakhouse. You have been hungry for a little bit and you order your favorite cut of steak. It arrives at your table prepared exactly the way you want it. You cut into it and the juices flow. You take a bit. MMMMMMMMMM! You are ecstatic. You continue to to enjoy your steak one bite at a time until you start to feel a wee bit tired. Not because someone has drugged your steak, but because it is sooo good it relaxes you and your eyes start to fade. You move the next bite up to your mouth and it barely makes it onto your gaping maw. At this point you are completely out. You have a hunk of meat still attached to your fork hanging from your pie hole. Now the waiter see this and comes over and removes the fork/meat from in between your relaxed lips so that you may sleep without any fear of choking. At this point you wake and scream until he replaces it. You finish that bite and then repeat the process every few bites. At this point the waiter is frustrated and stands beside you and startles you every time you start to doze off. Now I ask you. What is wrong in this situation? If the waiter is wrong for taking the food out and making you more comfortable, then I should stop this post right now. If it is you who are wrong for falling asleep in the middle of what is obviously a delicious meal, then I shall continue.
Now that we know the answer, back to the "Princess". Aellyn started to get a little fussy today and I knew she was hungry. The bottle was already prepared as it breast milk, I was just warming it up in some warm water to get it room temperature. We sat down to feed and she got all giddy at the sight of the bottle. I place the nipple in her mouth and she gobbles it up excitedly. Within a few sips, she starts to nod off. I am o.k. with this. I remove the bottle from in her mouth and promptly she lets out a banshee like scream. WHOA! I was a little startled so I plugged the bottle back in. She drank some more and fell asleep again. This time I waited. I waited a good minute, minute and a half and then removed the bottle. I did not get it past her chin before she began to cry again. This continued for the next 10 minutes or so. In, sleep, out, cry. At this point I made it my job not to only feed her but keep her awake by any means necessary. I talked to her. Tickled her feet. Made funny noises, anything to keep her awake. She was not happy about this turn of events. She fought me verbally by making noises and staring at me with the stink eye. She finally finishes and I gladly let her sleep off her deliciously prepared meal.
Was what I did wrong? I don't think so. I think what she did was rude to the chef(my wife) and rude to the waiter(me). Just because she is a cute, adorable 16 week old does not give her the right to have bad manners.
Stay tuned for the further adventures of Princess Aellyn:The Rude.
Well, it has been almost 3 months since my last post about my sweet little Aellyn. These first few months have been nothing short of amazing. All the new things I have had to learn, I had to learn quickly. My wife has been reading books for months if not years. I am not saying I did not read any of these books but I am more of a hands on type of guy. Let me say first that of all the babies out there and all the new parents learning from said babies, I scored the best teacher. Aellyn has been pretty much the perfect baby. I guess a lot of it comes from being flexible to her schedule and being willing to lose a little sleep.
Month one is always graded on a curve but I think, and I hope my wife would agree, I blew that curve out of the water. I was changing diapers left and right. Getting up very early in the morning so that mommy could sleep a bit longer. Interacting with Aellyn and helping her adjust to her new world. General bliss in an otherwise daunting situation.
Month two and three were a little tougher as I entered back into the work force. My work schedule always changed from week to week because I work in retail. I did my best to adjust and I think I did well. I was still a little chilly out for walks, so we spent a lot of time making faces at each other. Now, she would randomly smile in the beginning (gas) but as month two ended and month three began, she was smiling AT ME. Every funny noise I made. Any funny face I made. She smiled AT ME. I gave her zerburts on her tummy but she only responded with a wide eyed stare into my eyes that seemed to say "Hey! Not sure what that was but quit it". Also in the third month we started taking walks. Aellyn loves to do this. She loves to stare up into the sky and take in every bit of information her tiny little brain can process. After a long walk Aellyn loves to take a bath. I have never seen a baby smile and coo so much. Her favorite part of the whole experience is floating on her back, looking up at you with a huge smile from ear to ear. She also sleeps through the night. Except for feedings. Which I sleep through as I do not posses the correct feeding apparatus.
Month four has just started and is it ever fun. Not only did I quit my job in retail hell but I got hired on as a full time male domestic engineer. Yes, that is right, my new title is Mr. MOM. The best job you could have and the toughest. I will be responsible for every aspect of this child's day. Feeding, changing, nurturing, entertaining, teaching and most of all loving. I will be doing all this while still learning, not only about my ever growing bundle of joy, but how to balance the cleaning, the laundry, the cooking and general house work. I know it will be a hard adjustment but it will be worth it. Anything to spend more time with the happiest baby in the world, Princess Aellyn.
To be continued....
