Rookie Dad: What goes down must come up

I always thought the phrase was "what goes up must come down". It has something to do with gravity. Gravity, though, is a rule that doesn't apply to my baby. Yesterday morning as I fed her she seemed abnormally hungry. She greedily sucked down most of the bottle's contents which meant it was time to dress her for the day. Some sporty sweats were just the ticket for an energetic 4 month old on the go.

She had other plans.


Before I could fully dress her, she began coughing. I have learned that this is a signal to sit her up and see what happens. Sometimes the coughing is due to her trying to eat her fist, sometimes it isn't. This time wasn't from her fist becoming a meal.

As I sat her up, she instantly expelled the offending material. That's code for "she puked up five ounces of milk". But I dealt with it and sopped up the warm mess and proceeded to try dressing her again. Success at last.

Until I heard the magical words as I showered. "Oh, crap." No further explanation, just a pile of baby clothes on the floor as I scoped out the situation minutes later and a raised voice from downstairs asking me to take the sheet off her mattress. It seems that this particular baby had now changed her mind about what she had for breakfast and was sending this meal back to the kitchen. Tough luck for her because the only thing on the menu at the baby cafe is milk and the menu doesn't change for quite some time.

If you're a parent, you know that things happen in threes. That was when baby puke was discovered matted in her hair on the back of her head. A quick trip to the Lil' Baby Hair Salon was now in order. So much for breakfast. That little girl is going to be high maintenance. But it gets easier, right?