Saturday

So it's just me and Maggie home on a Saturday night. Part of being a parent. I don't mind. She out ranks me so I've gotten used to being home when I'd rather be out. Heck I haven't played golf since May. The wife is at her friends birthday party. We went for a bit but it was time for Maggie to go to sleep. So far so good. I'm glad the wife is out tonight, she needs it. She works way to hard.

Maggie and I had a great day. She love rolling around on the blanket. She's rolling over both ways so that's how she moves around. She hasn't started crawling yet but it's coming soon. Maggie is starting to figure it out. She will roll on her tummy and lift her head up and kick her legs, hasn't figured out how to move with those kicking legs. She can scoot a little and today she manage to scoot to the edge of carpet and blanket and licked to floor. Yuck. I put a quick stop to that. So I decided to get on the floor and play with a bit, and she managed to get one of those stacking rings around her foot. She is funny with her feet, she feels everything with them, does any one else's babies do this I wonder? Then we practiced sitting up for a while, she is getting so good at it.

The pic is from when I ran to Home Depot to get some charcoal and wood chips. I tightened the strap down but she is doing a pretty good job staying up, granted she is holding on with both hands. I'd also have to say it's gotten a lot easier taking her places, even though it still takes extra time to prep her and stuff. When my wife first went back to work I hardly left the house. It was still the cold as heck out side, but when got above forty (which happens around April here in Chicago) we would go on a walk, and go to the park. Hardly in the car. Now we just go.

Well I've just poured my self a well deserved beer. Might even step outside and have a cigar.

Home sweet home

We had a great time down state this week. I now know it takes an extra two hours drive time now. We had to make several stops both times to feed and change Maggie. One of us also had to sit in back with her to keep her from fussing. I guess she got lonely back there by herself. She didn't sleep very well in the car either. Heat does not work well with babies. Wore her out. We went to the county fair and Grants Farm in one day and it was a little too much for her.

I had to run out and get another self feeder thing because we forgot to bring them ( I also learned that you bring a lot of stuff for such a little person), and her teeth are really bothering her. I had to go to three stores but I found one. This one is a different than the other ones. Called Sassey. We like this one a lot better, because it has a piece that keeps it cold and the netting is removable.

We also went out to eat a few times and we ordered Maggie applesauce a couple times and it was weird (in a good way) ordering for another person. She did very well sitting in the high chair and eating. She is such a easy baby.

The cats have been driving us nuts since we got back last night. Luke is helping me write this as we speak. Gonna have to bribe them with wet food to keep them away from us.

We just got back from library and Whole Foods. I had to return a museum pass late and I didn't have enough cash on me to pay late fee and I noticed the Brookfield Zoo pass was in for the first time I've ever seen. So I raced over to the store and back and some one beat me too it! Oh well we will keep trying. I got Maggie's food for the next two weeks or so. I will be making it all weekend. New this week is Mangoes. I also got her some little snack things that are pretty good for daddies too, at least I liked them. they were a little big so I would eat half and give her the other half.

We stopped at the park on the way home and played on the swing for a while. She sure does love that swing. I also let her reach and touch the water that comes out of the sprinklers there. She had this look on her face that said "what the heck is that daddy".

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Current Family Favorite

Yes her royal cuteness Maggie is the current family favorite, at least that's what her new P J's say. Had to get them. We ended up going to the park yesterday. When she finally woke up it got gloomy outside and I didn't think we'd get to go but at around 6pm the sun came out. So we played on the swings for a bit and sat and watched all the kids play. I enjoy listening to all the kids names, always interesting. Skylar was yesterday. Not my favorite but whatever floats your boat.

Maggie had a pretty good day. Woke daddy up too early. Daddy got home too late last night from playing cards. At least I came home with extra. I am darn tired right now. We went to the pool today and Maggie wasn't into it today but I had fun until I saw what looked to be a piece of poop on the bottom. I went for a closer look and it sure looked like one. Maggie fell asleep on the way home while holding onto one of her hanging toys. Not an easy pic to take while driving. Luckily I was at stop light. Took me ten tries.

We are headed to St. Louis tomorrow to visit Grandma and Grandpa's tomorrow morning. I will Try to update when I there but their computer was on the fritz last time. Follow us on twitter at DaddyIncidents.

Sleepy time.

Maggie is asleep now. Has been for three hours now. She hasn't been feeling well since yesterday. Running a little fever. I think it's just her teeth coming in. I gave her Tylenol and she is just getting a good rest. I hope we can go to the park later, as I promised we would go today weather permitting. After raining all night until about noon it is finally nice outside. I hope she wakes up soon as I am actually bored and I feel like making homemade chocolate pudding which is not good because I will probably destroy the kitchen with cocoa powder and sugar everywhere. I used to know a homemade chocolate pudding recipe from high school and now I no longer remember it. I know it takes a 1/3 cup cornstarch and some sugar, milk, and bakers chocolate. Thats it. Should of written it down.

We drove up to the outlet mall just across the border in Wisconsin, just south of Kenosha. We got Maggie some cute stuff from Carter's. I picked out a hoodie for the fall and some finger puppets. In some store called OOPS (I've never heard of it) I saw a really cool light up princess castle. If Maggie was just a year older or so I would of bought in a heartbeat. I also saw some stainless steel cookware that I really want (I do most of the cooking, the wife is the baker), but the wife said no :(. Oh well maybe for my birthday.

What the #%&*!

Image via Wikipedia

Yes I Swear. Just about everyone does. I don't mind it in certain situations. There is a time and a place for it. In public-bad, at the bar with your friends, sure why not. Recently I have been catching my self before I drop an F bomb in front Maggie. Sometimes I let it slip. Luckily she is not old enough to really understand it. I've been saying sorry to her every time I let one slip, kinda funny in a way. I really don't want Maggie swearing in the house or her mother or I. I find it disrespectful. I know she will learn it on the playground and from her friends like we all did. I never swore around my parents and I still don't (yes I let one slip there too, like when the tree branch hit my car. I was on the phone with my mother at the time). I remember one time I was riding in the car with my dad his friend, and his friends kids. For some odd reason (probably because I was a kid and thought it was funny) I decided to whisper the F word to one of the other kids. I have no idea how my dad heard me, but he did. I don't remember the name of the soap (nor do I want to), but I remember it tasted like something I never want to taste it again. I think I had to have in my mouth for five minutes but I could be wrong. Simply horrible. Maybe that's why I never Swore around my parents even though they swore like sailors.

Well Maggie sure does love those self feeder teething things. As soon as she saw it her whole face lit up. We got her a Beatles onesie yesterday. I like it. I wanted to get the AC/DC one but it was more for boys. I don't need anyone else thinking she is a girl. I purposely put her in "girly" cloths so you know she is a girl. That doesn't always work. I have had a few people think she is a boy even though I dressed her in all pink! I'm just gonna tell them in the future I am raising a gay boy (not that there is anything wrong with that), rather than try and explain they don't sell pink boys clothes.

I also put new batteries in her little ABC cell phone toy. She is learning to hit all the buttons to make sounds. It was the one toy I really wanted to get her because it teaches ABCs and numbers. I really don't mind all the noise it makes. Maybe someday I will.

Swim Time!

Maggie and I went swimming yesterday. I was running my errands around town and got a text from Maggie's aunt asking us to go swimming. I thought that would be a lot of fun. So we put off the errands and headed on over to my brother and sister in law's. The pool was a little cool but we had a great time. Maggie seems to love the water, splashing and kicking a lot. I hope she loves the water as much as I do. I feel very natural in the water (Damn I need to do some diving! Been too long). Shouldn't be a problem now that I got someone to swim with. This pic is actually from sat as I forgot my camera yesterday. We will probably go swimming again on Sunday.



We also tried a new teething thing. It's called a self feeder. What your supposed to do is put a piece frozen fruit in it. It has got a net like thing and the baby will just sucks on it. Maggie loves it. The pic is of her with the teether thing last night. She wouldn't let it go! Glad we got that thing.

We were discussing the new diapers that we would be ordering soon. We might be looking in to these new Bum Genius V4.0. Check them out here http://www.jilliansdrawers.com/products/clothdiapers/clothdiapers/onesize/bumgeniusv40onesizepocketdiaper . We've ordered from this site before and they are great. We have some of the older ones (I'm not sure about model number, talk to the wife on that one) and they work great. I would actually like to use nothing but these. But it will be a slow upgrade. We'll get there.

Well it's time to put Maggie to bed. Daddy has got to go read her a story.

Turn up the radio!

Yes 80's rock rules. But that was over 20 years ago. If you know what band sang that song I applaud you. But moving on I find myself turning the music down now when Maggie is in the car or when we are at home. I didn't even have it that loud yesterday but the father in me told me to turn it down. I still listen to the same stuff I did 20 years ago. Except now when Maggie is listening with me I've been skipping songs that are inappropriate for young minds yet alone the general public. I must be getting old. Hey you damn kids get off my lawn.

Maggie is finally back on schedule after being out with family and friends all weekend. We had a great time in the pool on Saturday. Maggie did great except for the drinking of the pool water which she started getting sneaky about. I'd grab her one hand and she would stick the other in the pool.

We will be ordering new diapers for Maggie soon. We are getting the next size up of pre-folds. I think we have decided on getting the sprayer for the toilet. Makes cleaning the poopy diapers easier. We have these flushable inserts now which work ok. I wish we just get the all in one diapers which go on just like disposable diapers. Very easy. I love the Bum Genius ones we have now they are great. But we only use them at night now.

Maggie's first tooth is on it's way and will be here any day now. She keeps rolling on her tummy and hasn't figured out how to roll to her back yet. I have to help her when she gets frustrated. Now back to being a parent and run some errands.

A quiet day, but...

Another day in daddy land. Pretty quiet all day except the giant tree branch that fell on my car parked across street. Already called a bunch of people including the City of Chicago, who I've been told is the owner of the tree. It will only take 3 months before before I hear anything from them.

Maggie slept a lot today, which is good because the last couple of days she hasn't napped well at all. She even woke up a hour after she went to bed last night crying (this has been a rare occurrence, we have been blessed), we think because of teething pain. We gave her some Tylenol and she went to sleep a little later. She even went to sleep when I put her in crib while I was in shower after she just got up from a nap. She's on her 3rd nap today.

We all went to Whole Foods yesterday and bought some food for Maggie. We got her peaches, apples, avocado, and some squash. Already made the peaches last night and she had them for lunch today. We also got some oatmeal cereal (which we found at later that it's cheaper at Target) and teething biscuits. I'm gonna make the apples tonight. I enjoy making her food a lot and it tastes pretty good.

We also got Maggie some sippy cups. This kid is growing up way too fast. She will be seven months next week. Now back to work, gotta make dinner.

The pic is of Maggie falling asleep while eating her lunch.

Poop happens. (yeah I'd be shocked if I was the first to use this title).

Yes poop happens. I thought Maggie and I had an agreement about no poops when daddy is watching you all day (and I do mean all day, my wife is gone from 6am to 8pm). Well I was wrong. I should of known when I changed my first poopie diaper (yet alone my first diaper ever and with no help) when she was hours old. Now since we have moved on to solids it's a whole other ball game. I got one poopie yesterday and two today. I dislike it a lot (I'm sure I'm not the only one). I was told my father never changed my diapers because he said it made him throw up. I brave through it. I have to, I'm the only one around. I tried to get the cats to do it but that didn't go over so well. But I guess I'm getting used to it, or maybe its just because I love my daughter. I think we both know the answer.

A watched pot never boils...Bollocks!

It's 4:30pm and I'm already beat. So much to do. Luckily Maggie is asleep now so maybe I can get a nap in. But I doubt it.

On the agenda: 1 make some baby food (we make some of it ourselves). Today I am making carrots. It's pretty easy to make your own, steam and just puree (and to think the wife was mad at me for putting the food processor on our wedding registry, she didn't think we'd ever use it, one word HA!). Waiting on the water to boil now. 2 Finish washing the diapers which is not bad, just gotta go to basement washer and run it twice, once a cold rinse and then a hot wash with soap, hang dry. Only bad part is i always forget they are down there and I had to set a timer this time to remind me. 3 Play with Maggie, possibly the park if we have time. I love taking her to the park, she loves the swings. 4 talk to Maggie. Sure she can't talk yet but she'll answer back in her own way, she will make like a gurgling sound (hard to explain). I've never heard other babies do this, I wonder if they do. 5 last but not least make dinner for everyone. I do most of the cooking. I enjoy cooking a lot.

I'm very happy that Maggie is napping today after not really napping at all yesterday. I told my wife I would invent a baby sleeping pill. She asked "how are you gonna do that" I replied "mostly it would be Irish Whiskey".

I leave you this thought... is it ok for a person to that you don't know to pick up your baby and start kissing it? I think not.

Popping my blog cherry.

Hello out there in the world wide web. I decided to start this blog to have some fun and to have something to do while I'm on the computer when the baby is sleeping. So here I go...

First off raising kids is the hardest job in world bar none. It is also the most rewarding. There is nothing like making your child laugh or seeing them smile. I have been very lucky so for because I do have a very easy and well behaved 6 month old baby girl named Maggie.

Some would call us granola but I think we just want what we want. We use cloth diapers. You may frown on this but really its not that bad, I actually suggested this to my wife when she was pregnant and at first she was against them, now she is more into than I am. We have been really happy with them so far and glad we picked them due to Maggie inheriting my sensitive skin. We do keep some disposables around, and after wearing just one she starts to get a diaper rash. She has never gotten one from the cloth diapers. Do you know how many chemicals are in those F'n things? Maggie also knows when she is wet with the cloth diapers and she will let you know it. The poop is a whole other story. But really it's not that bad.

Well today was a great Saturday in the RV. Couldn't drive anywhere, not that we needed to, due to Burger Fest going on. You leave and you will never get a parking spot remotely close to your house. So we just walked everywhere. We went to the post office so I can mail some of my Ebay sales. Then we went to the park and put Maggie on the swing for a while. She loves to swing, she will kick her legs and do like an excited laugh. Pretty uneventful unlike yesterday when I was walking to the library I was crossing the street at a stop sign and a car kept on coming so I hesitated and he ends up blowing the stop sign and coming within a foot of us while he was gassing it. I yell at the guy and as he drove by he didn't even turn his head. I'm glad my wife wasn't with us or I probably would chased the douchebag down down and slammed his head in the door a few time, then wiped it all up with baby wipes.

Maggie didn't nap to well today but she went to bed pretty easy tonight. She has been sleeping through the night since she was a month old. We have been very lucky so far. She usually doesn't get up until 8 or 9 am, once again lucky.

I'm tired and I don't want to keep rambling so more later.

D