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New York City

When I was a kid, I used to hate New York City. Despised it really. No good explanation of why I felt that way. I had been there a few times and didn't have any bad experiences. In fact, I only have good memories of those trips. I even liked the Rangers because of Mike Richter the all American net minder. So I'm pretty sure my hatred stemmed from the tiny living spaces, perceived high crime rate, and the Yankees. As I got in my twenties and took more trips up to see friends, my hatred began to give way to love. It's to a point now where I could actually see myself living there if the right offer came around (not that I'm looking). Which brings me to Charlotte's first trip to the Big Apple. We escorted Jen on her work trip to the city, and it couldn't have worked out any better. The weather was absolutely perfect for the three days we were in town, we saw lots of friends and family, and we went all over Manhattan. Day 1 - we arrived shortly before noon on Sunday and headed to the Marriott Marquis in Time Square to drop off our bags. When we got there, we were delighted to find we could check in early, which meant a much less hectic day. Aunt Jilian met us at the hotel, and we headed to Chelsea for a delicious brunch. From there, we walked the High Line and continued down the Hudson past the Freedom Tower to meet Uncle Hoss for the first time. After hanging out on his rooftop, we strolled the Financial district a bit more before heading to dinner in Little Italy. What a day! Day 2 - the day started off with traditional NYC bagels on 36th Street. After dropping Jen off back at the hotel for the conference, Charlotte and I made our way to the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park. It was about a 2 mile walk from the hotel. Not bad except I forgot how out 80 actually is and was exhausted by the time we arrived. But arrived we did and Charli got to see her Auntie Rin while taking in her first theatre experience. Hopefully, in just a few short years, she'll get to see an actual show. What came next was Charli's test for me. A full out meltdown in the middle of Central Park. I'd give myself a B minus. In the end, all that was needed was for her to pass some gas...but it took me about 45 minutes to figure that out. Highlights: couple pubescent boys trash talking my Caps shirt (suck it, 2-1!), diaper change in the grass, first purchase from a street vendor, failed bottle attempt on park bench. After Gas Gate, we walked 5th Avenue to Rockefeller Center, stopped at a bar for food and a Cold Ass Beer (literally the name of it), and headed back to base to meet mommy's clients. The best was yet to come as we had dinner with all of Jen's SDT girls as well as Auntie Rin and Jess. Day 3 - another staple NYC breakfast to start the day but this time at Juniors followed by roaming around Time Square until Jen had to go to work. Charlotte and I decided it would be a nice idea to search for some toys at FAO Schwartz. We left emptied handed but got some fun pictures in. We window shopped 5th Avenue all the way down to the Empire State Building where we took the trip up to the 86th floor. It really is a sight to see and being able to take selfies with my daughter up there was something I'll never forget. I can't wait to do it again when she is older and with my wife next time. Time was coming to and end so we headed back to the hotel but first stopped off at the lovely Bryant Park for a much needed break. It was my first time there and it's really quite nice. Definitely going back. Special thanks to Beans for the suggestion. The day ended with a beer back at the hotel as we waited for Jen while taking in a soccer game. Back on the train we went. Home to Columbia. What an amazing three days!

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"I make the plans!"

This morning my wife and I decide it's time for us to have a dinner out on the town as a family. We've gone out with Charlotte plenty of times but usually with other people. In fact, I believe the three of us have only eaten out once and that was over two months ago. So I've been excited for this all day, but what I haven't told you is that our girl hasn't been napping very well the past two days. Fast forward to 4 p.m. I'm able to get her down and was hoping this would be the time she finally stays down for at least an hour. Then, she'd wake up and we'd roll. 20 minutes later she wakes. Of course. No worries though as Jen will feed her and I'll get ready. We will be at dinner around 5:30-6. Perfect! It's 6:20. Charlotte feel asleep again just after 5 and has decided it's time for a long nap. Looks like dinner will be brought in tonight. She makes the plans around these parts...

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Yes!

Charli slept through the night!!! We are super excited. She must be trying to rest up as she knows March Madness is coming!

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It's been quite some time since I last posted something. As most of you probably know, the last 3 or so weeks have been absolutely crazy as we've been pseudo gypsies living out of suitcases. Now that we are back home, it's time to get back on the saddle. I'm not going to even attempt to recap everything that has happened over the past 30 or so days (first time belly to back roll, first new car!, first words...just kidding), so I'll leave you with some sweet Batgirl pics from our first full day having our entire house back! Mommy finally let daddy dress Charli in this outfit and I took advantage. We had tons of tummy time, mat time, and even a sweet dance party! 

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Daycare Week 1

Well this week is the week we've been dreading since the day Charlotte was born. First week at daycare. While it is certainly scary and not something I want to do (strangers watching your daughter), it's also "strangely" exciting as it's the start of the next phase for the family. Plus, I do think it's important Charlotte is around kids her age. We are fortunate that we only need the use of daycare three days a week (Tuesday-Thursday), which makes it so much easier. 

As the day after the Super Bowl is a national holiday in the eyes of yours truly, I was off on Monday and got to enjoy one last day with Charlotte before daycare. But the inevitable rolled around the next day. The plan was for both of us to drop our little girl off; however, I had a last second mandatory meeting that was scheduled for 8:30, which meant I wouldn't be able to drop Charlotte off. So I prepared to head to work and was going to take my wife's car so it would be protected from the elements when parked (has trouble with rain). Of course, the car doesn't start! Dead battery. Figures. After a quick call to my daddy'o, I decide to jump it and head into work while my baby's momma took our girl to daycare. Jen handled it great even though she was very sad. Charlotte was smiling and happy when she left her which made it easier. At pickup time, Charlotte was sitting on a bouncy chair staring at herself in a mirror. Classic Charli! The teacher told us she was the star of all the newbies (they had like 4 new babies start this week). All was well!

The next day I had drop off and pick up duty. Dropping off sucks. I didn't want to leave her and I felt it all happened so fast. All I wanted was for the day to end. When it did, I acted like the beltway and 70 was my own personal race track. I couldn't get to the daycare fast enough. Once I got there, I was so happy. Charlotte immediately started smiling when she saw me. I really couldn't have been happier. I was so excited that I didn't notice she had a bunch of scratch marks on her head. The teacher let me know and I had to sign an incident report. What was going on?? I couldn't really register. Her head looked awful. Apparently, she woke up from a nap and decided it was a good time to rub her head raw. She didn't cry though so the teachers didn't notice it was happening. Ugh! I was so shocked by that news that I didn't even think about the fact that she only had two bottles all day as opposed to her normal three feedings. So after talking it over back at the house, we decided on Thursday I'd have a talk with the teacher about the feedings and we'd utilize gloves during all naps.

Day 3 of daycare (today) also happened to be round 2 of interviews for daddy's promotion opportunity. Needless to say my stress level was maxed out. At least I thought it was. Charlotte was enjoying her breakfast when all of the sudden, my wife goes: "oh no." I turn around to see a tsunami of milk crashing onto my wife's chest, the couch, and throw pillows. I kid you not, three different waves of milk. It looked like this: 

Once again, I couldn't register what I was seeing. Did Charlotte unlock some kind of secret milk duct on the boob that causes milk to flow uncontrollably? Did she bite off the nipple? WHAT WAS HAPPENING!? That much milk couldn't be projecting from my baby's mouth, could it? As you probably guessed, it was. I ran over in my suit, grabbed her at arms length, and sat her over the sink. Then, BOOM, the back end opened up. Probably the worst smelling poop so far. That is until the next one that came 15 minutes later...what a start to the morning. After a call to the doctor, we decided to keep her home for the day. Luckily, Jen could work from home so I was free to head to my interview. I think we made the right call keeping her home as altogether Charlotte had a minimum of seven bowel movements. But through all this, the crazy thing is she wasn't fussy at all. Same smiley, happy baby we love. So maybe it was a stomach virus or maybe she was just majorly backed up, but it's just another lesson to expect the unexpected. 

Oh, and the interview went well. Fingers crossed... 

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LET's GO CAPS!

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Photo shoot with Charli during hump day daddy daycare!!

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Day 6 was a great day. A trip to the doctors, tummy time, and a two hour nap!

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Day 6

Daddy daycare commenced today. It was a great day! We started off with a trip to the pediatrician for a three-month weigh in. Last month, Charli's was a bit on the smaller side so this was just a quick check up. We got great news as Charli's weight jumped up to 12lbs (the 29th percentile)! Doctor was very impressed!!! The rest of the day consisted of play and nap time along with the feedings. We sang some songs and read some books. We even bumped up the bottle amount half an ounce and Charli loved it! One more day of daddy care and then it's time for the grandparents to step in.

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Bath excitement

We had a first on Sunday night. It all started after dinner as we prepared to give our little punkie a bath. My wife mentioned that we may want to hold off on the bath until after Charli poops. However, if we did that, bath time wouldn't be until 8:30ish, and who knows if Charli will actually have a "movement." So we went for it. And the first time she pooped in the tub happened. It was quite a sight. So we took her out, cleaned her up, and washed out the tub. We then commenced with the bath. And then the second time she pooped in the tub happened...what a night?!

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Day 5! We visited mommy at work for lunch. Charlotte got a taste of 9 to 5 life. Then, we went to the HOCO government office to get her birth certificate! Charlotte was not happy about the wait time. What a great end to week!

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Before and after pictures of our first daddy/daughter trip

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Day 4

I can't believe day 4 has already come and gone. Feel like it's only been a day or so. The days fly by so quickly that you have to enjoy every moment. 

Today was an excellent day. Lot's of playing, tummy time, and nap time. Most importantly, we had our first daddy/daughter trip! I had to head up to White Marsh to meet our softball sponsor to discuss the upcoming season. It turned out to be an hour trip there and back for about 15 minutes of business. Since the meeting was so quick and easy, we mall walked for a bit. Charli was awake the whole time and enjoyed watching daddy crush samples from the various food court venues.

Even though the trip was quick, I'm really glad we got the opportunity as I feel much more comfortable leaving the house with her. Which is a good thing since we will be taking a trip to mommy's work tomorrow so Charli can meet all of her coworkers! 

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When Work Calls

On Tuesday, there was a working meeting at 3 p.m. I had to call into even though I was on daddy daycare duty. I thought, no problem, that will be during her nap time. I was even more confident after Monday as she went down around 3:30 p.m. for almost two hours. If I could just bump that up 30 minutes, I’d be good as gold. 

Let’s fast forward to 11:45 a.m. Mommy came home to provide the lunch time feeding meaning the next feeding would come somewhere between 1:45 p.m. & 3 p.m. A tight window for me being able to call into the meeting. After Charlotte’s lunch, I had to eat and take a shower since I just had a quick workout. By the time I finished the shower, our LPG was getting fussy. I knew immediately she needed to nap. But it couldn’t be THE nap as she'd wake up right in the middle of the meeting. At this point, it was about 1:30 p.m. and she quickly went down in my arms. 20 minutes pass. She is still out. 25 minutes. I’m getting nervous. Please, please wake up! 30 minutes. No movement. It was now less than an hour until my meeting and she needed to eat, burp, and go down. So I contemplated the next move. Do I do the unthinkable and wake a sleeping baby? Or do I let it play out? Too risky, so I wake her. Or at least tried. I put the bottle in her mouth. No response. So I wait, but 10 after hits and I decide it’s game time. I gently wake her. Thankfully, this time she takes to it.

Charlotte polishes off 4 ounces in 15 minutes. That leaves 30 minutes to burp and nap. She let's out a few burps right away. Perfect! I spend some more time burping her until 20 minutes before the meeting when I make the first attempt for a nap. Short-lived. Second attempt works! Seemed quick, but apparently not. I'm late! I rushed down to make the call and arrived right when they got started. Nice! Until Charlotte wakes up...OH NO! I put the phone on mute and ran to soothe her while trying to pay attention. No questions my way. I still have time! Please, please help daddy out here! Charlotte smiles, yawns, and closes her eyes. YES!! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Ultimately, she stayed down until 5:15 p.m. She just wanted me to sweat it out. And that I did. Lesson learned. Charlotte makes the plans around this house. 

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Day 3! The bib speaks the truth!