Six months, six days

What to write today?

Reid had his six month checkup at the pediatrician yesterday. Doing great, growing as he should be, and got more vaccinations (handling it like a big boy).

It's been fun over this past half year watching the little baby morph in to more and more of a boy.

Even though I haven't had the time that Julie did over the duration of her maternity leave, I have still treasured the two-to-three hours we spend in the evenings together. Our best times are always bath time, in the 7:00 hour and the wee morning hours when mommy gets ready.

Bath time always starts with the changing of the daytime outfit and a ticklefest. When Reid is placed on the changing table, he makes a face, but the second he knows the clothes are coming off it hits him... IT'S BATH TIME!!!

We have a typical drill where I quietly creep up on the bathroom door and say to him, "I wonder if that handsome baby is in here again?" We reach our way into the bathroom and hit the lights while standing in front of the mirror... "THERE HE IS AGAIN!!!" Dad exclaims, and a big smile ensues.

I lay the little fellow in his tub within our tub and he perks up at the sound of the running water. I drizzle warm water all over him and on about the third one, a high-flow stream of pee shoots over the tub and smiling continues. True boy all the way.

I allow Reid to mingle with the crab, octopus, pufferfish, and turtle that reside in his basket of goodies. He's always shocked when they 'spit' at him. He'll continue to smile, kick, and splash until he wears down. Then, it's a quick head rinse and into the froggy blanket.

Reid loves the first stage of post-bath. It consists of drying and lotion application. The massages to the legs, (ticklish) feet and arms are something I know will initiate more smiling and lots of chatter. When the diaper and pajama donning occurs, that's when we run into trouble. It's as if something in his head says, "I'm hungry and I hate you Dad!". I do my best to get him dressed as soon as possible.

Our mornings are another highlight of my days. A typical morning finds us at the breakfast table, discussing politics or baseball. We'll normally sit there for twenty minutes as I eat cereal and he clangs bowls and sippy cups against the tray.

I know the bath time memories are limited, but I do hope that my son always finds time for breakfast with dad.

ac

5 months, three weeks, three days

Sweet little Reid has his first real sickness. He'll be fine, but he's running a small fever, hacks like his Daddy, and has the sniffles.

He started his first full week of day care this week and never did Julie or I realize that it would make such a GOOD impact on him. The nights that I've spent with him have consisted of him sleeping soundly in one of oru arms. On occasion, I can actually lay him down in the crib and we can enjoy some husband-wife time (which means: clean, pay bills, clean more, etc.).

We have also been incorporating solids into Reid's diet. I never dreamed I would be terrified of seeing my son chomp down on some rice-y goodness, but Tuesday night saw me hover around him like a buzzard over a three-days-dead opossum. A lady at the store Sunday gave us a sample of her grandson's favorite rice cracker. It looked like a miniature breadstick and tasted similar to an animal cracker.

I sat in horror as Reid took a Daddy-sized bite from the end of it, chewed, made a face, and threw up. He repeated this three or four times until Mommy relieved my fears and placed a bowl of applesauce in front of him.

If there's anyone out there with experience... what did you do to overcome the developmental fears (eating, walking, puberty, driving, etc.)?

Let me know and put me at ease.

ac (dad)