Dine N Dash

You become aware of an interesting paradox when becoming a parent: deciding to create children is a selfish decision, raising them on the other hand requires a great deal of selflessness. I would have never thought of Jennie and I as selfish people really, I do now see us as formerly being pretty self-centered. We used to just get up and do whatever we wanted, go out to dinner, go to a movie...sleep on weekends (weeknights to for Jennie). Now we cherish those things when they happen. A simple meal together outside of our house used to be a common  occurrence, it is now a luxury item.

Last Thursday we decided to indulge ourselves. I decided to take Friday off because things have been slow at work, Jennie had been cooped up in the house all week and were hopeful Ada would co-operate. So we loaded ourselves into the car and set off for Chili's (now the pinnacle  of fine dining for us). Another thing that has changed is the way we view crying babies in restaurants. We used to get upset that someone would be so rude to us childless people as to bring out their screaming baby when were trying  to enjoy a meal. Now we realize how important those precious moments before the wailing began were to those people.

As we approached the restaurant it became very clear from the squeals in the back seat that we were not going to be having our own "precious moment" that evening. So we turned around and picked up some carry out on the way back home. So last night we decided to have another go at it. Without boring you with the story of our meal, basically we left with the intention of having a near by fast food back up plan in case things went wrong. For the most part, everything went okay. She fell asleep on the car ride over and stayed that way right until the food was brought to the table. So we very quickly scarfed down our food while I rocked her in her car seat under the table to try and prevent our first, embarrassing barrage of stares from the people seated around us. Fortunately, for us she waited till we got in the car. The important   thing is that Jennie and I got some much needed time together, even if it was just Chili's, one handed. For a few minutes we got to be selfish again.

Now for the cuteness:

Day 1

4 weeks

"I SAID MILK NOW, OR I'LL EAT YOUR NOSE!!!"

Sill having fun with Dolly everyday

Bill Cosby Wasn't Joking

One of my favorite comedy routines of all time is when Bill Cosby talks about having kids. I always assumed that he was taking some comedic liberties and using hyperbole when describing the whole birth and new parent process. You always hear comedians telling tall tales about exploding diapers, projectile vomit, demon like wailing and as a childless person you laugh along thinking that these things can't possibly be for real. Alas, I have been to the other side and can attest to their reality.

So I am sure you can tell from the introduction that the last few weeks have been interesting. I wouldn't call them bad, but character building for sure. Ada has been teaching us all about her needs and wants, and in no uncertain terms. She is quite a demanding teacher, especially at feeding time. But she more than makes up for it in cuteness and kisses. We are still trying to figure out how to calm her down, mostly in the evenings. It's probably normal for babies, but it seems that she is so awake and active during the day that by night time she is very tired and frustrated, and she just needs to cry/scream it out.

It hasn't all been tears and screams though. She has a brand new belly button which is very cute. On Saturday in an attempt to calm her down we went on our first walk as a family which was pretty pleasant until the end of it when she started to get hungry. She has started to use a pacifier sporadically, and that has helped in the pacifying department. Just today we got her social security card, so she is ofically a United States citizen, which is quite a relief since I am pretty sure the kitty was planning on reporting her to Sheriff Joe. So, I guess it continues, a series of ups and downs, sleeping and eating, smiling and crying. Everything considered, I think we'll keep her...

kitty feet

My new Tattoo

finally using her pacifier 

I am learning to be a multi-tasking daddy