SAY CHEEEEEEEEEEEEESE!

Hold that smile... and hope he's got one. 

There's a lot of pressure on parents when raising kids you know:  Feeding, teaching, changing, feeding, changing and of course feeding.  But there is another form of pressure I didn't konw about:  Smiling. :)

Here's the dilemma:  When taking pictures with your little bundle of joy, they are not always showing "joy" on their faces:  Sooooooo, that means, whenever they do finally smile, you better be ready and have a perfect grin goin on as well.   Thus, if mommy or daddy have a hair out of place, or something hanging from our noses, it will be printed nonetheless as long as baby has the perfect smile to distract the friend or relative lucky enough to get the picture. 

Giving Thanks... to all of you.

We've reached the end of our online version of Mr. Mom.  Thank you so much to all of you readers and contributors for keeping tabs on my triumphs and tribulations.

It sure was an emotional yo-yo ride on a triple loop roller coaster no?  I went from naive to inexperienced to plain old silly... all in one day sometimes.
But I've survived so far, and (as of the time this is being published) haven't broken the baby yet either. :)

That awkward holiday moment that many families have around the dinner table is "What are you thankful for this year?"
In seasons past it may have been difficult to come up with a creative or heart-stirring response, but not this time.
That 7.6 lb bundle of joy has doubled in size, and cut our free time in half.  Yet whether its when he's eating a turkey,
or eating his own foot, it's obvious we wouldn't change anything even if you paid us.... just how much are you offering by the way?... um..   regardless, no amount of money will do.

The whole experience has given me a better appreciation for what "normal" moms go through, and fellow Mr. Moms.
I really appreciate all parents more now.  My own, and everyone else's.  Good parents work very hard, and care so much that you can see it in their face:
I'm talking about their bleary blood shot-sleep deprived eyes of course.

So give thanks to your children.... and if you don't have any, just give thanks to your parents. 

In closing, if you learned anything from this endeavor.. Great!... pass it on.  If you were merely entertained, even better.
I got a kick out of chronicling my mishaps and of course showing off (exploiting) my cute kid. 
We'll be back on TV in January with an update on our progress, but until then I formally retire my moniker: Mr. Mom.
It doesn't matter, I have a new one now:  Sebastian's Dad. 

Don't throw stones at Milestones

For me, time used to be marked by things like: when I would finally be old enough to vote, or old enough to order a beer.... or just old (when I would turn 30). 

Other things in life we measure ourselves with are milestones like graduating college, getting married or buying a house.  Yet all that has changed now that I have a son.  Instead of counting time in years or accomplishments for myself, I'm instead focused on how many weeks or months my son has been alive, and what he's learning and can now do.

We were doting over him when he babbled his first word (well ahead of schedule), and he's eating food like a champ.  It's human nature to feel proud of these trivial accomplishments when you are a first time parent, but I'm also careful not to get too hyped or disappointed at these things either.

For example.... the books say he should also be rolling over by now, but.......

He can do this and roll half way over, but not all the way.  Should I be disappointed?  I'm not.  I've seen in the past parents that go ga-ga over the smallest things and fret and worry because a supposed milestone is not coming on the time-line they imagined. 

Last I checked, babies are babies exactly once in life.  I don't want deadlines to be a part of that carefree babbling-spitting-gassy world.  Take it from a reporter with deadlines every day... they are not fun, and I'd take teething again over meeting my deadlines any day.  Don't get me wrong, I'll always work with Sebastian to get smarter, quicker, healthier, and happier, but if he misses a milestone by a week or so.... his smile tells me that's OK.

For now, we're measuring milestones like this.

His first election:

Look but don't touch

No, that's not a new rule I'm trying to teach my son, that was a difficult-to-follow self imposed rule for myself this past weekend.  I had the flu, so to keep that sickness away from Sebastian I had to keep myself away from him too.  :(

It was amazing how difficult it was to not being close to my smiling little guy!  (even in this old picture) The most I could do was play "hide and seek" from across the room!.... it worked, don't get me wrong:  The kid is now giggling at an alarming rate.  He's got me thinking I'm Seinfeld or something.  He's not at the point where he reaches out for people, but he certainly turns his head when he hears a new voice, and he was constantly looking for me when he heard me from across the room.  Before you ask, yes I know parents are supposed to get flu shots, and I did, but it was only a couple weeks ago, and some say it takes a few more weeks to take hold.  The problem is, babies younger than 6 months of age are not recommended to get flu shots, and if they get the virus, there's not much that can be done to help.  Antibiotics remain a no-no for the young ones:

http://www.babycenter.com/0_flu_10877.bc

But alas, after a 2 day quarantine, it worked... I'm a little better, and he, thankfully is still flu-free.

Hold the presents

I know many of you out there are starting to think about what amazing-trendy-educational-entertaining gift to get Sebastian for the coming holiday season.  WARNING:  It may be impossible to beat the one he found for himself this week:

  They are always available.  They are free.  You can count on them.  They are easy to find... and they taste um..... great?  We are speaking of course about feet.  Sebastian has now found out "they're not just for kicking anymore".  He can basically stick his toes in his mouth now, and all we parents can do is wonder how long that bendable spine of his will allow him to contort so easily. 

When the feet are covered with socks, that adds a whole new challenge to the game! 

So forget about the stuffed animals and bright lighted counting toys for now, because eventually he might realize those feet can actually be used for balancing and walking too!!

Stay tuned!

We're back.... for now

For those of you who thought I'd already packed Sebastian in his car seat and we were ready to leave the blogosphere... don't worry.     Even though we may not have been on the front page of the website recently, we're not going anywhere... yet.  We'll continue to follow Sebastian's growth (and my mistakes) for another few weeks.  Through the end of November we'll continue to follow his quest to sleep through the night and eat everything in sight (some of it even edible).

But starting in December, the blog goes away, and I'll stop exploiting my son.... for awhile. 

(hint hint... he might be back on TV in January)

Get in my belly!

Rice Cereal and Baby Oatmeal have replaced Milk and Milk.  The little man is really a little man now as he's eating food that (theoretically) we could all eat too. Here he is pretending to not enjoy every grainy bite.  The trick we're using so far is to try to get him to mimic what we're doing.... which means constant sounds of "mmmm" and fake chewing over and over again until he does the same.

I've been excited for this phase of his babyhood to begin because (theoretically) it's supposed to coincide with him having a fuller belly, and thus sleeping more.  So is it working?  Let's just say I'll need to continue covering the bags under my eyes with copious amounts of makeup.  His record for continuous sleep remains a paltry 4.5 hours.  His average is 3-4 hours at a time.   But have no fear, if this oatmeal stuff doesn't do the trick, Thanksgivingis just around the corner, and I'm currently grinding turkey into a mealy mushy mix that's dripping with extra tryptophan!  Get ready Sebastian, I'm sure it will be delicious!

Vote for Change!!!! ... of Diapers

  Sebastian is the one you should be voting for!  He promises "A diaper on every bottom".  He's campaigning on a platform of less naps, and more walks.  You can trust him because he's never told a lie before... mostly because he's never completed a sentence, but still, that's honesty!!     

 Sebastian is not endorsing any candidates this election cycle,... and a closer review of the rules shows me that he is not eligible to become President anyway, so please let's all stop that write-in campaign right now.   But make sure to look for him in the future...

2044--Sebastian Smith for President  

World's scariest Giraffe

Our loyal readers will remember that I was having a tough time figuring out what was not too scary for the day-care parade of costumes.   Eventually we settled on this giraffe.

  Personally I think this two-headed giraffe with one human face and half a giraffe head is a little disturbing, but the rest of the kids didn't seem too frightened... maybe because they were in similar two-headed outfits too.  Halloween is very fun, and we carved pumpkins the other day!  I can't wait until Sebastian can join in and make Jack-O-Lanterns with us. 

  Happy Halloween!!  Coming soon..... First time eating with a spoon!!!

Fairy Godmother or Ruthless Godfather?

NO WAY!!!

Sebastian has always been good in church and this past Sunday was no exception.  He slept through the first half of service, even the loud "Reformation Sunday" hymns.  Then when it was time to feel the water???  He just took it in with a smile.    Special thanks to godparents Susan and Brian!

                                            

 

Choosing the Godparents was very difficult for us.  Some of our own family members have already been named Godparents before... other potential choices live too far away... and others just aren't religious enough for our liking. 

We eventually settled on friends who already were taking a unique interest in Sebastian's life and people who we could count on to be role models or buddies in the future.  Some  believe that Godparents are the people who should take care of the child in case the parents were to pass away, but not us.  We just needed a fairy godmother to sprinkle love, smiles and faith on our boy. 

But what about the Godfather?   There's a completely different image in the world of what that is supposed to be like.  While I recognize that Brian won't require his enemies and family members to kiss his ring... it's still a title that is mis-understood in society.  He doesn't have to be a thug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godparent  Wikipedia describes many levels of Godparents, from pals to priestly advisors.  We'll settle for something in the middle.  What do you think?