Last night was our baby’s first night in her crib, in her own room. (Side note: Her name is Addison, or Addie, or Fattison, or Fatty Addie. I realized in reading previous posts I can only refer to her as ‘baby’ or ‘baby girl’ so many times before it becomes annoying. I’m sure I already exceeded however many times that is.)
Where was I?
Ah yes, Addison’s first night on her own. We fired up the baby monitor, gently placed her in her crib, and tiptoed away. She did wonderfully! Only woke up once during the night for some grub and then fell right back asleep. Her parents on the other hand…
My wife! (Her name is Kate by the way, no cool nicknames.) My wife cried as soon as we were in bed holding the baby monitor inches away from our faces, staring at Addie, analyzing every breath and every stretch. I tossed and turned all night, waking up every hour or so, panicked that I didn’t see a baby in the bassinet.
We all survived the night. We did immediately bring her into our bedroom in the morning for cuddles and coos. Our little girl is now able to survive the night on her own, without her parents, with minimal tears. Guess it’s time to make a new one! One that needs us…we’ve done such a good job raising this one she’s already mature enough to live on her own, at 8 weeks old! God. We are good. I like feeling needed though. I’ll have to approach the wife tonight about making another one, less independent, ASAP.
It was bittersweet as I carried her bassinet downstairs tonight, reclaiming our bedroom, losing a portion of our dining room, and knowing that this is one of many milestones that will fill me with both pride and heartache that I will endure as a parent.
Off topic – I’m re-watching the final season of LOST right now – this was SUCH a good show until this shit season. Woof.
Addison’s Nana and Granddaddy are coming to visit from Florida this weekend, which we are all super pumped about! Nana has been so incredibly excited about the baby that I’m surprised she hasn’t just shown up at our door. She has shown great restraint. Except when it came to our registry, I’m surprised there was anything left on that registry for anyone else to buy. This baby has been so, so loved by these two, long before she was born. A couple of times I was sure the knock at the door was Nana. Nope – Just the grub hub delivery guy. Took so long I thought it could have been Nana from Florida…
We are so excited for them to meet Addison and to get to see them, but it occurred to me that we can’t do the things we normally do when we are visiting with them. Generally we head to the beach, chat, drink a bunch of beers, play some guitar, eat an embarrassing amount of food, hang by the pool, or fall asleep watching Netflix. What more could you ask for? This visit however, they will be here in good ole Upstate New York. We don’t have a pool and the beaches are sure to be crowded over the holiday weekend. Sure, we can drink **some** beers, and we can certainly eat and chat, but what else can we do? There’s a chubby little baby in the picture now. Though I’m sure they wouldn’t be bored sitting in our living room and staring at their first granddaughter, I know it doesn’t get old to me. That said, I’d still like so make sure we do some stuff outside of the house. Not to mention the weather is finally cooling down.
Some prospective outings:
- Indian Ladder Farms – PYO Apples just started, plus cider and donuts duh
- Thacher Park – maybe just the overlook and not the hike
- (really there’s no second t in Thacher)
- Washington Park – Picnic or maybe something at the Park Playhouse
- Café Madison – Brunch, obviously
- Troy Farmer’s Market
- Ice Cream at Kurver Kreme (suck it Snow Man)
- Trip to Saratoga
Any of these would be fun. HOWEVER. I failed to mention that all of the college kids are back in town. Fuck my life they ruin everything. The wait times at all restaurants have increased, including our favorite brunch spot. Plus, once you do get a table you’re forced to sit next to them, and listen to them. It’s nauseating. I know that I was once a college kid, as was my wife, and my daughter will be one as well, but jesus are they infuriating. Maybe I’ll push trade school on Addison.
These young university-attending parasites will greatly impact our decisions this weekend, but I have no doubt we will have an amazing time either way. This baby is about to be showered with love by her Nana and Granddaddy, and her parents were promised a date night to themselves, which I’m not sure we’re ready for yet, but we’ll certainly try!
Oh, and I’ll end this entry with talking about the measles. Are you fucking kidding me? In 2018??!?! Measles: A viral infection that’s serious for small children but is easily preventable by a vaccine. EASILY PREVENTABLE. For all those anti-vaccers out there: You don’t want to vaccinate your kids? That’s fine, go move to a commune together and let nature work itself out. You might as well be a bunch of flat-earthers as far as I’m concerned. Ignoring the professionals because of some crap you read on Google? You’re just as bad as climate deniers. You want to use cloth diapers? Breastfeed until your child is 10 years old? Homeschool them? Raise them vegan? Doesn’t bother me, go you! You want to ignore science and medical professionals and put my child at risk, not cool, no matter how many books Jenny McCarthy writes. GTFOH.
Upstate Dad 
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