newborn

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Dear Holly: The Postpartum Beard and My Ability to Burp You

1 month old.

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/beard1.jpg?w=680

Dear Holly,

I love having a little baby girl! I really do. I love knowing I get to come home each day and hold you, talk to you in my special baby voice, stare at you, change your diapers, feed you, and perhaps most important to Mommy… burp you.

Oh yes, that’s one of the biggest ways I can help Mommy take care of you right now. It’s currently my exclusive niche.

Mommy actually depends on me to get that done each time either one of us feeds you. I have a special yet effortless way of sort of tossing you over my shoulder. You instantly seem at peace, as you do this combination of a purr and a grunt. Usually within a couple minutes, a huge burp escapes you.

It makes me feel good to know I have a new official super power.

You are now a month-old and I do admit, it doesn’t seem you should be that old already. The time has flown by. It hasn’t been chaotic, though. Mommy and I have naturally worked out a system to share the load of caring for you.

Your brother Jack is the only one at our house who gets to sleep through the night, but that’s alright. Mommy and I are teamed up to care for you as you need to be fed, changed, and burped every 3 hours.

In the midst of all this, I have accidently invented something I call… the Postpartum Beard.

I’m a low-maintenance, low-overhead kind of guy. Therefore, I traditionally just shave once a week, every Sunday; so I’m only clean-shaven that one day and then quite stubbly for the rest of the week.

This has been my tradition for quite a while now. But now, it’s clearly been more than a week since I’ve used my Norelco.

I know people typically associate the word “postpartum” with depression, but the word simply means “following childbirth.”  I have a feeling I’m not the only dad of a newborn out there who like me, accidentally ended up with a beard.

The Postpartum Beard demonstrates something we as happily married men already know, something that apparently the media will never choose to legitimately celebrate:

As far as all of my friends who are dads, we are all very involved as parents; even with infants.

I personally don’t know of even one happily married dad who doesn’t get up in the middle of the night to help his wife with the crying baby. To me, that’s simply a given.

That doesn’t make us heroes or even special. It makes us good modern husbands and good modern fathers, which is something that we find much identity in as men, here in the year 2016. It’s masculine to sacrifice sleep and hobbies for our babies and kids.

And it’s pretty masculine to have a super power of being able to burp a baby.

You and I are a good match. Thanks for burping so easily for me.

 Love,

Daddy

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Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

3 weeks.

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

Dear Holly,

Mommy’s older sister Jenny, along with your Uncle Tom and your cousins Taylore and Rachel, visited us all the way from Pennsylvania; near the New Jersey state line. They were here for about 4 days.

Immediately upon arrival, Taylore “adopted” you for the weekend, as she is planning on going to school to become a labor and delivery nurse after she graduates high school next year. She visited Vanderbilt University (where Mommy works) as a potential college.

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

Taylore immediately (and literally) jumped up at every opportunity to hold you, feed you, burp you, change you, and play with you. She loved taking care of you.

Similarly, your cousin Rachel naturally “adopted” your brother Jack for the weekend. Though he is 5 and a half and she is 13, they were perfectly suited as buddies. The way they played together was effortless.

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

This sort of double cousin adoption was evident the whole weekend. While we were all at Starbucks enjoying the parade right outside, Rachel and Jack followed each other around. Meanwhile, Taylore studied the way Mommy fed you your bottle.

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

Later on at Mellow Mushroom, Jack wanted to try his hand at the crane machine, in which all the prizes are rubber duckies. In addition to the black with rainbow polka dots one that I won for Jack, Rachel also won one for Jack.

Conveniently, Taylor won a very appropriately themed princess rubber ducky for you!

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

We had a wonderful time having them in town. Not to mention, Aunt Jenny’s family gave us a break by staying with us. I say this not only because your cousins took care of you and Jack the whole time:

Your Aunt Jenny helped with cooking, washing and drying the dishes, as well as waking up at 6:00 AM to take care of you each morning; allowing Mommy (and me) to sleep in.

As for now, it’s back to the real world.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: Your Pennsylvania Cousins “Adopted” You and Your Brother for the Weekend

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Dear Holly: Your Brother Likes to Check on You

2 weeks.

Dear Holly: Your Brother Likes to Check on You

Dear Holly,

With your brother Jack being 5 and a half years older than you, it’s plain to see that he perceives you not as competition, but instead, as a responsibility.

He legitimately helps Mommy and me with you. Having already raised him from a newborn, this time around as parents we know not to pick you up from your bed every time you start to make noises, as you transition into waking up.

So during the daytime, Jack will run over to you to check to see if you’re really awake or not. He then announces to Mommy and me, “Holly’s eyes are still closed. She’s still asleep.”

That helps us to know we’ve still got a few more minutes before we have to get your bottle ready to feed you once your nap officially ends.

l11a

For all these years, Mommy has always sat in the back seat with Jack, to spend quality time with him. I say that because when you live in the Nashville area, anytime you get in the car, it’s going to take at least 30 to 45 minutes to get where you are going.

But now Mommy is sitting up front with me, meaning that it was Jack’s job to keep checking on you by looking over at you in your car seat.

Turns out, this weekend you were asleep the entire car ride in the 2016 Lexus IS 200t to Whole Foods and all the way back as well. Even so, we truly depended on Jack to check on you.

Thanks to him, we had assurance you were doing okay back there. Jack served as our eyes and ears.

I am so pleased with the age difference between you and your brother. He’s truly helping take care of you and I can tell he’s so proud to be doing it.

Dear Holly: Your Brother Likes to Check on You

Love,

Daddy

3 Comments Posted on car reviews, parenting, Storytelling, Uncategorized

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride Together in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

2 weeks.

https://familyfriendlydaddyblog.com/2016/05/03/motormood-classic-review-a-fun-emojicon-for-emotionally-intelligent-drivers-giveaway/

Dear Holly,

Amazingly, it wasn’t until you were exactly 2 weeks old, this past Sunday on Mother’s Day, that we finally rode together as a family of 4; together in the same car.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

With Grandma staying with us for the first week of your life, she stayed home with your brother Jack when Mommy and I needed to take you to the doctor for a check-up.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

But finally, our family got to ride in the same car today, as a family of 4, together on Mother’s Day. However, our little road trip wasn’t in one of our old cars.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

Instead, we were graced with a 2016 Lexus IS 200t for this past week! What a way to go for our first family drive. I know you’re new in this world, but a Lexus is a very, very nice luxury brand with quite a reputation.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

All the guys at my work drooled when they saw me in the parking lot. And I think Mommy had a hard time giving the car back after a week.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

Last Thursday, Mommy took you in it to get your professional newborn pictures made. She texted me once she got there:

“Love that car! Want a Lexus one day for sure!”

l11a

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

She also loved getting to take the Lexus IS to go pick up groceries while I stayed home with you and Jack on Saturday morning.

As for Mother’s Day, having received her gifts on Sunday morning, she decided for her official Mother’s Day activity, she simply wanted to go out for a special treat at Jamba Juice, which is 16 miles away. She’s been craving their smoothies since she gave birth to you.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

Your brother Jack decided he wanted a popsicle at Whole Foods right across the street, so Mommy got her Jamba Juice to go and we hung out there at the patio.

My treat was a Strawberry Serenity kombucha. (Yes, that’s what a vegan dad chooses as a “treat”.)

l13

Your treat, as a 2 week old infant, was of course none other than milk.

It was so nice hanging out as a new family of 4,  with treats in hand and sun on our skin.

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

And though I can’t be for sure that I can credit the Lexus for this, I do know you slept perfectly in the car the whole way there and the whole way back.

Love,

Daddy

Dear Holly: Our Family’s 1st Ride in the Same Car (2016 Lexus IS 200t)

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Dear Holly: I Particularly Love Your Ears

1 week.

Dear Holly: I Particularly Love Your Ears

Dear Holly,

Before you or your brother were born, I always thought all babies basically look the same. And for the most part, I probably still do believe that.

But as for you, there is one certain feature I have noticed from the very beginning that I just really find adorable: your ears.

Mommy noticed this too. The fold at the top of your ears are 90 degree angles. That’s not something we’ve ever seen before.

I love your ears.

No matter how old you are, you’ll always have your unique ears. I will always adore them on you.

Your eyes still have that bluish tint in them that newborns have, but it looks like it’s only to cover up brown eyes for the time being. I think in the next couple of months, it will be obvious to the world that you have brown eyes like Mommy and me, and unlike your brother Jack who has blue eyes.

Dear Holly: I Particularly Love Your Ears

As for your hair color, I’m seeing what appears to possibly be (at the moment) a sort of strawberry blonde color. I definitely see hints of red, but then your eyebrows are clearly platinum blonde.

Obviously, your brother Jack had blonde hair for most of his life. Only recently has it truly started looking brown, though he still has some platinum blonde in his bangs when I spike his hair up.

Speaking of Jack, you actually look a lot like he did when he was a newborn. I predict that the two of you will resemble each other.

I am enjoying seeing you in your girly clothes that we’ve had ready for you all these months. You are such a beautiful and precious little girl.

And you are particularly fun to hold. You are so mellow and so cute, that time just flies by before I realize it.

Love,

Daddy

j8