Rookie Dad: The Play-Doh Fun Factory

There has been somewhat of a traffic back-up lately. No, not on 35W or 169 but with The Youngling. The combination of formula and green beans has caused a back-up within the baby's digestive tract. The little trooper has dealt quite well with it, outside of the occasional sore tush, and I'm very proud that she isn't a whiner.

The one thing I could do without during this whole ordeal is the Play-Doh Fun Factory effect. It happened just the other evening when, after being fed, I carried The Youngling upstairs to change what I deemed a smelly diaper and opened it up. Not bad as far as dirty diapers go. Then I heard a small noise along the lines of "poof". This was the beginning of the Play-Doh Fun Factory. I had a front row seat to how a 6 month-old's digestive process works and I really had little choice in the matter.


I should have been disgusted by the green matter being expelled but all I could do was laugh as the wife poked her head in and said "It looks like a human Play-Doh Fun Factory".

That's how odd terms are coined in our home.

Rookie Dad: Will that leave a stain?

The second "solid" food in The Youngling's new diet has been squash. Yep, those tiny tubs of pureed food at the price of 2/$1 are her favorite thing in the whole world. The only problem is that, just like the rice cereal which she now despises, she can't quite swallow everything which leaves pureed, watery squash slowly creeping down her tiny chin on to her tiny bib with more than enough squash making its way behind the bib and on to her once clean clothes.

I suppose my first mistake is consistently dressing her in white shirts in the morning which begs this question: why do the Chinese clothes manufacturers feel the need to even manufacture white clothes for kids? Kids of any age are messy. At best, 40% of the food destined for their mouth actually enters the mouth and stays there.

I just hope that squash doesn't stain because as I took over supper feeding duties last night for the first time this week, this dirty dad wasn't paying close enough attention and The Youngling has added some lovely orange splotches to her nearly new jammies.

Rookie Dad: It's sweet potato time

That really says it all. The Youngling has finally added flavor to her diet in the form of sweet potatoes. No, not whole, straight-from-the-can sweet potatoes but the finely pureed stuff bought in the baby food section of Target. And to this point she hasn't met a food she didn't like. There is no fighting with her to get that tiny mouth open and there's no spitting food out. Just like Mikey, she likes it and so far we haven't seen any symptoms of the far-too-common sweet potato allergy so all of us can sleep well at night.

As far as what The Youngling is doing between feedings of tasty sweet potatoes, she was getting plenty of attention on Sunday. Her older cousin spent the afternoon with us and we experienced, as a group, some time at a local park where I got myself stuck on a slide and after removing myself from that slide all that was left was one exhausted dad. Those couple hours gave me a look at what my future holds and apparently I need to start taking my Flintstones vitamins and drinking coffee. A lot of coffee.

Rookie Dad: This little piggy

The Youngling did what any good little girl would do for her mom on Mother's Day, she took her out to brunch (and got her a framed photo of the one above). Well, a nearly six month-old can't actually take her mom out for brunch but you get the idea. There was a fabulous spread complete with breakfast foods, pork loin, prime rib, shrimp alfredo and a dessert selection that would make anyone hungry.

Not to be left out, The Youngling took part in her own meal. She quietly cooperated as mom took at least part of the day off and was, for once, allowed to eat the bulk of her meal in peace. Lately, she has been gobbling down milk and cereal at the rate of a much older child and we are currently taking bets on what her weight and height will be on her six month checkup next week. My guess is 16 lbs. 2 oz. and 28 inches long. You can leave your guesses in the comments.

Rookie Dad: More snot than you can shake a kleenex at

It's been six days since The Youngling came home with a cold. Well over eight months before catching some sort of ailment is a miracle considering that she spends her days with an older cousin who seems to have been sick continuously since being born.

We prepared ourselves for a long weekend complete with an uncomfortable, snot-filled little girl who wouldn't be able to sleep and instead would scream at hours normally reserved for sleeping. We couldn't have been more wrong. Oh, sure, she wanted to be held more than normal but she sneezed her way through the weekend and used about half of a big box of kleenexes.

By Monday morning it was decided that I should stay home just one day with The Youngling to make sure she gets fully healthy before going back to the normal daycare routine. The little trooper improved throughout the day. She spent time outside in her little red swing giggling and drooling. She spent time inside sleeping in the air conditioned house snuggled with her little green blanket.

In short The Youngling is back to herself. She's back to sleeping for ten hours at a time and pushing herself backwards all through the living room and destroying the occasional magazine.
I think I can put that box of kleenexes away... for now.

Rookie Dad: It's just a rash

I can't claim to know what it feels like to have your bottom sore to a point where it makes me cry but I do know that The Youngling, if she knew how to talk, could tell everyone she sees about her first ailment.

Monday night, when I arrived home, I was informed that we had ourselves a sore baby. I expected teething or maybe she took a tumble somehow but I honestly wasn't expecting diaper rash. In a world where a certain flu strain seems destined to make us all board up our windows and doors something as simple as diaper rash seems trivial but when a tiny princess has a sore bottom, it's a big deal.


Growing up sans siblings, I was and still am totally oblivious to what to do about most everything considering children. I've seen the tube of diaper rash cream/ointment/plaster in The Youngling's diaper basket but outside of using it to soothe her rashy armpits, I had never seen it in action.

I now know, after two days, that slathering the goo on her bottom is better than applying it lightly. Or so says mom. I won't complain because as I cringed in fear of wiping The Youngling's sore tush super-mom stepped up and did what I was too cowardly/unexperienced/proud to do.

One of these days I'll get back to diaper duty but not until that mess of cream is gone.

Rookie Dad: Her first sleepover

We lasted a solid five months before we sent The Youngling packing. Well, packing for the night. Saturday night was the first time in just over five months that the baby has spent the night away from dad or mom. And the amazing part is that we all survived just fine.

After five months, a break is deserved and after the day leading up to that break it was welcome. With two separate rounds of baby puke before noon on Saturday, dad needed a break.

I found it amazing that a little girl could vomit sometime during the night and sleep through it. She didn't stir and we didn't notice until she woke up around 9 AM (yes, 9 AM). Her tiny pajamas and tiny sheet along with her tiny mattress pad protecting her tiny mattress were damp but warm. 9 AM is the perfect time to begin your laundry if you were wondering.

Then after a morning nap, cereal and a bottle, we decided that the bottle - all five ounces of it - was a bit too much. She expressed those feelings on mom's new (thankfully) white shirt, the couch and the hardwood floor. Hooray, more laundry!

Luckily, grandma had a far drier time as The Youngling had her first sleepover. As for me, it's time to get back into the habit of feeding her cereal. This break is officially over.

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