We’re back!

Posted on by madanddad

After a little bit of a hibernation, much like the rays of the sun, we’re back to warm you up your hearts (aww).

Winter was pretty rough to be honest, little bit o cabin fever. Lost a little motivation. But, as soon as the sun came out and the temps rose, I started to feel much better. I could finally get out of the house with the Madster, taking walks along the river and with Grandma. I think I’m in a better place now to try to continue this blog. Perhaps not at the prolific, daily rate I had (maybe presumptuously) hoped for, but at least every few days, just to give any updates and upload pictures of this unrelentingly cute baby.

So rejoice you 13 followers you! Mad&Dad are set to re-enter your pixels!

Here’s what you missed:

Mall Walkin With Mad & Grandma

Posted on by madanddad

So, the mall walking. Not really something I envisioned doing in my life on a regular basis for, oh, maybe another 35 years? 40? But, my life has most definitely changed, not only in the past year with the arrival of the Madster, but changed in a whole different way starting about 5 years ago. That was about the time that my mother called me at work to tell me that she had received the results from a Neurological test she had scheduled after months, maybe a year of feeling cloudy and unfocused at work. She had early onset Alzhiemer’s she said. She was 60 at the time. That was the beginning of a large transition in my life, including being a quasi caretaker for my mom, managing an actual caretaker for her, then finding an assisted living facility when she could no longer live at home, moving her in and finally, clearing out her house and renting it. That transition continues today, and will continue for years to come.

Ok, don’t want to get too low here, just trying to paint a picture, and I wasn’t shooting for an Edvard Munch per say. Part of the reason I decided to leave my full time job and be a stay at home dad was to be able to give my Mother some time with Maddie while she can still enjoy it. With the way the disease progresses, a certain percentage every year, I’m not certain how many more years she will have left in which she can interact with and enjoy Maddie. So, Maddie and I go out and pick my mother up 2-3 times a week and head to the mall (Plymouth Meeting Mall) and do two or three laps. It’s actually kind of nice. Though, when spring arrives, i’m sure we’ll opt for the trails of Valley Green instead of the store fronts of Verizon and Boscovs.

My mom seems to really enjoy it, as does Maddie, and it really makes me feel good to give my mom that happiness, considering she’s lost so many other parts of her previous life.

Here’s a little sample of how Maddie rolls:

(Sorry about the vertical shot. It’s the only way i could prop the phone up in the cup holder of the stroller):

Stress

Posted on by madanddad

I think stress comes in a lot of different forms, and it’s fascinating how subjective and ambiguous those forms can be relative to the arena they are manifested through. Work stress is something that i’ve certainly experienced. Money stress is always there. Relationship stress, though I’ve been lucky enough to find a partner in this life who really may be as perfect for me as I could possibly hope for, so while there are occasional stresses of course, they are minor in contrast to the stress relief that my wife provides.

With all that said, I’m not sure any of those stresses compare to caring for an infant, particularly in the first half of their first year. Especially 24/7 as a stay at home parent. It’s just a different beast. Lets just say the evolutiuonary convention of “cuteness” as a Survival Of The Fittest mechanism is more readily understood. Quickly. Now, granted i’m still a newb, so i’m sure many more experienced parents out there will read this and chuckle at what I don’t yet know about stress! And to further couch the relaying of my experiences, we are lucky enough to have a REALLY good sleeper (with the exception here and there of the last few weeks, when teething seems to have started). She’s slept through the night since almost week 2! So, other new parents may read this and also chuckle, or more likely curse about what I don’t know about stress!!

The odd thing about stress to me is how it sneaks up on you. Towards the end of this past week, my wife started complaining to me about my general attitude. She said that I was in a bad mood, and I was replying to her with ironic and sarcastic barbs. I thought she was reading into the things I was saying and maybe projecting her own bad mood onto me. Wrong! I just couldn’t perceive my own bad mood! When I did realize that  I had been in a bad mood was 2 days later, retroactively, by contrasting how I felt after a day decompressing at my father’s house, to how I felt when Katie was complaining about my tude. Night and day! Stress really sneaks up on you and takes a hold, often times without you even being aware.

The second amazing thing abaout stress, and may be specific to this kind of stress, is the way it strips away your rational way of thinking. I like to think i’m an exeedingly rational person, perhaps even to my detriment at times. So, when Maddie starts screaming 10 minutes after we FINALLY get her to sleep at 3 in the morning (teething), the fact that part of my brain is telling me that she is doing this on purpose is INSANE, and completely irrational. That transfermation in me from rational to completely irational in that circumstance is a testiment to just how strong and far reaching this particular stress is.

So, since I feel it is absolutely my responsibility to try to deal with this baby stress better, for Maddie, myself and Katie, my solution is a simple, but heavy one. Literally heavy. I bought a weight bench. Gonna lift that stress off and get YUGE in the process. Just kidding. Not that kind of dude. Yet……

I think this little girl is worth it though. Don’t you?

BTW – We had our first professional photo shoot done this weekend at Lulubelle Photography (they were great) in Lititz PA, so i’ll hopefully be posting some of those pics soon! I think they’re going to be amazing.

The Honeymoon is over

Posted on by madanddad

Freaking teeth! I suppose they’re essential. Fine. But they’ve highjacked our perfect little angel and made her (gasp!) a normal 3 month old! With the crying, the not sleeping through the night, and the two giant stress-balls she calls parents.

Honestly, we knew she couldn’t possibly continue to be so happy and sleep 11 hours a night forever, even after all the wood knocking we could do. She just changes so much that consistency is a fantasy.

Evidently, according to our slightly judgmental Pediatrician nurse, we should refrain from using both Orajel (Anbesol) and Children’s Tylenol (awesome). Instead they recommend giving her a frozen washcloth that she can gum for a little relief. Results have been less than encouraging. They also suggested that maybe we could feed her more. Is that possible??!

So, she’s a little more challenging right now, but luckily for us, she just as cute as ever.

Witness:

M-2-3