I am Diaper Man
I have always wondered what infants are thinking when they laugh, cry, or stare at inanimate objects. My fascination with “what are babies thinking” has increased now that Owen has been more active. I noticed when he was 6 weeks old that he would stare at the art work hanging above his diaper changing table; we hung pictures of a lion, giraffe, alligator, and elephant to complete the safari motif in his room. Not only would he stare at them, but he would talk and laugh at them, which lead me to the question what is he thinking. My wife and I came up with nicknames for ourselves in part due to the way we think Owen looks at us. Since I do a majority of the diaper changing (when I’m home anyway) my nickname is “Diaper Man”. I love the way Owen looks at me, gives a little half
My Well Behaved 11 Week Old
This past Friday, my work had a hail and farewell for Marines in our unit. The last time my wife and I attended a hail and farewell for my unit was one week prior to her giving birth. I was excited to have Owen, now 11 weeks old, attend this official military function; it was more for me to show him off than for him to experience a military tradition. Though Owen is a happy baby who is rarely fussy, I was a little apprehensive about him being at this function; no one wants to be “that dad” who has the fussy baby. My wife prepared Owen for his big day on base by making sure he was well rested and had a belly full of milk. When we walked into the room, I was instantly aware how loud it was and wondered if this would affect Owen. There were
That New Dad Feeling
I was shopping at Food Lion a few weeks ago with my son. I wanted to give my wife an hour or so to herself while the boys did some male bonding at the store. Owen was a good traveler that day, so I had little to worry about. As I was walking through the store, I noticed people looking at me differently as I was carting around my son on my arm. Almost everyone that passed me by had a knowing smile on their face, as if they were saying “wow, what a good dad!” I say this, because I have been shopping with my wife on numerous occasions and people generally pay us little mind. As I was checking out, Owen decided he had enough shopping for one day and let me know as he usually does. Now I’ve got Owen in his car seat on my right
Working out with baby
My wife and I have recently started a workout routine. She is committed to losing the baby weight just as I am committed to losing the sympathy baby weight. I’ve done a number of different types of workouts throughout my years in the military encompassing everything from lifting weights to running long distances. Currently, my wife and I have started a workout routine consisting of high intensity kettlebell exercises which so far seems to be treating us right. Just like traveling with our baby, planning a workout with my wife requires coordination on par with storming the beaches at Normandy. While packing the diaper bag and setting up the car seat are on the ticket for traveling, making sure baby is fed and strategically placing his swing near the workout area is crucial to a successful workout. We usually workout at 5pm, which means the baby will start feeding at
Rules for my Unborn Son
I celebrated my first Father’s Day as a father this past June 20th. It wasn’t quite how the movies picture it, with the son presenting his father with a “World’s Greatest Dad” coffee cup or a paisley tie that goes with absolutely none of the father’s shirts. I’m sure this is due in part to my son being two months old and has yet to discover the wonderful assortment of cheesy Father’s Day gifts. One thing I did get was a book titled “Rules for My Unborn Son” written by Walker Lamond. While my son has been born for eight weeks now, I thought the book would perhaps guide me in my quest to be a close to perfect dad. I remember some of the rules that my dad laid out for me: “Don’t chew with your mouth open”; “Try everything (food wise) at least once”. The first rule I
