Category Archives: Dadblogging

Dadblogging

A weekend of Emexperiences

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Wonderful weekend, as have they all been, but full on on four specific Emexperiences.

1) Poop. I got to change them all. No novelties here, except for instructing Aunty Sheila… who got to witness the ever unpleasant mid-change poop. Fortunately a well-located nappy cut collateral damage down to zero.

2) Sleep. On Sat night/Sun morning, Amanda decided I was responsible for all of Emily’s post-overnight feed burping… and where she’d only fed once over night the evening before, she was making up for lost time on Saturday. Every two hours, after Amanda fed her, I’d have to keep her upright for 10-25 minutes without dropping off to sleep myself to help the wind through her. Absolutely sleep-destroying and don’t know how Amanda does it every day, even with late night digestives to keep her energy up. My wife, ladies and gentlemen, is amazing.

3) Smiles. Emily did her first verified non-gas related smile this evening and it was an absolute joy – not only to see her smiling and happy but to witness her development. She’s a little on the early side – she’s 4 weeks old and the majority come in with first smiles around 6 weeks – so it was a delightful surprise. I have a new game – make Emily smile! Although am definitely not wishing the time away (sleep notwithstanding!)

4) Bathtime was fun. She always fusses royally about being bathed but fortunately today, whether through getting her water just right or some other act of fluke – she was pretty mellow throughout it. It’s a wonderful bonding experience – if I can get her to stop crying for long enough to enjoy it!

Anyway, wonderful weekend. Next up; things I’ve learned in early Dadhood…

Dadblogging

Working dad

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pretty Emily in a pretty dress I’ve been back at work for a week and its been a bit of a shift to the paternity routine. Amanda’s graciously taken on the night shifts so I’m not tired (well, no more tired than you normally get when you wake up at 5.45 ahead of a 10 hour working day and 1 hour commute either way!), but it has been hard to tear myself away from my wife and daughter each morning. On the plus side, the excitement I have as I come home each evening is thick and creamy as butter; it is wonderful that just coming home is such a source of immense joy and excitement.

Emily is doing well, as far as we can tell. Her development isn’t leaping and bounding day-by-day – she won’t be doing calculus by the age of two months – but whether its my imagination or not each day she seems to be a bit more alert, a bit better at sleeping and have a fuller head of hair. Of course, every day we love her more as well, so its hard to tell how much of this is just parental goggles!

Emily’s dealt with the routine of taking Daddy to work pretty well. She fusses about like a princess about getting into her winter suit and the car seat but once we get moving she is generally pretty happy. Amanda has been learning all sorts of tricks about temporarily appeasing her – such as giving her a little snack feed and whilst she’s in a milk daze (babies are little milkoholics) getting her strapped in, secured and on the road… perfect for the 15 minute round trip to get me to the station.

I’ve missed my daily calls to my parents with her, and am very much looking forward to their visit. I can’t imagine how tough it is for them to be separated from their granddaughter by a gulf of 6,000 miles, but hopefully when they meet her they’ll understand the need to spend a bit more time over on this side of the world.

I continue to be in a state of impressed awe with Amanda. Neither of us walked into parenthood with any real idea of what we were doing but the way she’s taken to caring for and playing with Emily, it’s like she has a secret set of instructions. Of course she doesn’t, and we’re both muddling through, but I’m allowed to be (not-so-quietly) proud I think. I think I’m getting better at reading her fusses and calming her down as well, but its still tough to tell her “I’m still hungry” face from her “I’m full of gas” face.

Emily turns three weeks old on Sunday, which is around the point at which babies start smiling, apparently. I thought I caught a glimmer of something yesterday. Or was it gas? The perennial question.

In the meantime, I’ve got the weekend ahead of me. Those of you following on Facebook, you’ll have the full set of photos to delight upon and I’ll try to take some more with the SLR this weekend. Aunty Sarah and Aunty Emily are coming to visit today, and Uncle Arvind and Aunty Janine are coming tomorrw, which little Emily (one day) will find a great source of anticipated excitement!

Dadblogging

The NCT experience

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Was not quite what I expected, in phase 1. A few friends I had spoken to in London intimated that many Dads-to-be slacked substantially in the NCT classes, leaving the mums to make friends and the babies ultimately to socialise. Whilst I had no intention of doing that, I wasn’t quite prepared for what we experienced.

For us, the first class was a welcoming experience. All the dads were incredibly engaged, even those trying very hard to look blas̩ and cool about the whole thing (yes, well, maybe this includes me). The excitement of the life change had taken over us all. A Haynes manual for a baby was lying around and we discussed what spanner rating changing a baby would be, traded pram choices and rationales and tips on how to get Mothercare to pricematch any online store (they do, if you take a printout apparently Рamazing!).

We’d all experienced the same kindness of friends and family that had resulted, broadly speaking, in free stuff and other offers of advice and support. And we were all glad of a room full of people that shared the same hopes, fears and discomfort.

Interestingly, as we were doing the course in our new domain of Basingstoke, half the men in the room had some kind of tech-related job. Thoughts that I was moving to the Silicon Valley of Southeast England were dismissed, though, when I also came to realise that they all, like me, commute into London!

Really good on a number of fronts. Tomorrow I return for the breastfeeding course (!), before the final full day session in a week and a half or so.

In other news, Ricky Bobby is now a dad! To the lovely Megan! And tomorrow, we become homeowners, a month and a week before Hippo is due to join us!!!

It’s all getting incredibly real!

Dadblogging, Shopping

Brand shopping for Hippo

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I’m, for my faults, a brand shopper. I look for brands I’ve developed some affection, respect or trust in over the years and go to them as a repeat customer. All the clothes I’ve bought for the last 3 years have come from White Stuff – they make things that fit me and I think look pretty wonderful. Similarly, when we got the new car for me (less so for Mrs D), the reputation – in terms of safety, driving, reliability, resale value etc – meant a lot to me. And whilst I diverted from my family automotive history, there is a certain safety in the choice we made.

With Hippo, everything’s new. Silver Cross vs. Phil & Ted’s vs. Bugaboo? Baby Bjorn vs Tomy? Mothercare vs. Mamas and Papas vs. Cosatto vs John Lewis vs…? And so on. The few familiar brands bring some comfort – but they’re not specialist, so you wonder if they’re good at this. The prestige becomes generic.

And I remain clueless.

Anyone with any insight, or blogs I should read – please let me know… As well as all the baby stuff, with the house move we’re looking at Liebherr fridges and Bosch dryers – and need to take the great Flymo vs. Bosch Rotak lawnmower decision.

There’s entirely too much to think about!

Dadblogging, Personal

Planning for Hippo

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10 weeks till I become a Dad. I’d be anxious if I wasn’t so busy getting stuff sorted. It’s weird, only a few years ago and I’d have thought this wasn’t something I could do, and yet here I am, more excited than I have been about pretty much anything in my life (with the exception of my wedding). My brother and sister and brother-in-law are getting used to the idea of becoming uncles and aunt. Our parents are getting used to the idea of becoming grandparents.

I’ve made endless spreadsheets of things we need to do and buy before the little one, code-named ‘Hippo’ until s/he arrives, which Amanda is doing her best to ignore (the spreadsheets, not the nickname – Amanda came up with that).

And we’ve had dozens of lovely conversations with interested friends and family about the new arrival. I’ll answer some of them here for you, beloved readers.

1. Do we know if it’s a boy or a girl?
No. We’re excited about the surprise, and would decorate neutrally anyway!
2. Have we discussed names?
Yes, we’ve started to, anyway. No final decisions taken as yet, except definitely *not* Hippo.
3. Are you telling?
No.
4. Are you going for the classes?
Yes, we’re doing the NCT classes in Basingstoke in a few weeks time.
5. Basingstoke?
Yep, we’re moving. S/he will be a Hampshire Hippo. I’ll still be commuting into London as I love my job.
6. Are you going to get any sleep when s/he arrives?
Probably not.
7. Will you go running with the child?
No. See this post.
8. Are you anxious?
As above, kind of too busy to be anxious. Recent experience babysitting my cousin tells me that I will be anxious, but as the Hippo’s Mormor (Danish for ‘mother’s mother’) will be 5 minutes away, we’re reassured that experienced wisdom is nearby.
9. Have you bought/chosen…?
Virtually nothing yet, except for the car (my fault). Our friends Farrah & Vik sent some lovely gifts and we’re getting some lovely offers from some of my Brands2Life colleagues for the kit you only need for the first three months. I am seeing the pram as yet another car purchase, but this one Amanda is leading. Advice on everything appreciated.

More fatherhood posts will ensue in the fullness of time; in the meantime if you’re interested in parenting blogs, my friend Ricky Bobby has started one over here.