Daycare, FOMO, and hangovers.

This morning we met the staff at the daycare who will be taking care of Addison once she starts in a few short weeks. I thought for sure Kate would burst out crying as soon as we walked into the building, but she didn’t. She was strong. Being a Mom has made her much tougher and much more sensitive at the same time. It’s a funny thing. There was a good possibility I might start crying as well but I didn’t, I was strong. Being a Dad has made me…more sensitive and the same level of toughness (because I was already pretty tough obvi). There was a good chance Addison might cry but she was…asleep…for the entire visit. Her fate has been decided without her input. That’s what you get sleepy baby. The daycare is nice, new, everyone is very friendly, the kids all look happy, and it’s clean looking. We visited another daycare that just looked kind of rundown, not reassuring when you’re thinking about sending your child there all day, especially for new parents. The thought of other people taking care of our baby all day though is hard to stomach, no matter how much you like the place and the people. Luckily we live and work close by. We might be those weird, annoying parents that pop in unannounced all the time. I have no doubt we will be those parents. So we are all set for daycare next month. All it took was a 6-month waitlist, and an extra mortgage payment each month. Saweeeet! They accept payment via PayPal – hey Grandparents looking for a good Xmas present – here’s the link to daycare! Save the sweaters, socks, and pajama pants for another year.

Our sweet bundle of joy is now over 2 months old and had a wonderful check-up. She’s a good length, has gained a great amount of weight, and only 1% of babies in the world have a bigger head than her! Figures. She’s cooing, smiling, and has giggled once or twice. I think she knows who I am, or thinks anyone with a beard is her Dad anyway.   She definitely knows her Momma, and can’t stand to be away from her or her homebrew. She keeps trying to watch TV! Doesn’t matter what’s on, just loves to watch it. Just like her parents. So we face all of the baby furniture away from the screen, while she struggles to twist her giant head around to see what’s on. She eats like a little piglet all day, everyday. Just like her Dad! All in all she’s the perfect little girl and she’s happy, or seems it anyways. Today she’s a little cranky but that’s probably because she didn’t get a say in her daycare options. She sleeps wonderfully for the most part, or so I’m told! Ha! She does have FOMO though.

For those of you who don’t know…GTFOH you know what FOMO is. On my birthday some friends came by and we all enjoyed some beers on the back deck. Anytime Kate tried to put her to bed in her crib, she would hear that there were people still here, hanging out, laughing, and having a good time, WITHOUT HER. She would not stand or sleep for this! She demanded to be out on the deck, being cuddled by people and enjoying the conversation. She’s going to be a little socialite I’m sure. Speaking of beers on the back deck…the following day I had my first hangover since becoming a parent. My advice on that – don’t do it. Woof. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy a couple of beers of course, but I’m not sure if it’s my age or my new found Dadliness, but more than a couple of beers hit hard. Not worth it – until the opportunity arises and we are comfortable with family watching her overnight – game on! For Mom maybe anyhow, she’s earned it. This Dad is going to take it easy for a while. Also it’s hard to tell friends and family that you’d like them to wash their hands or use sanitizer before holding the baby. Because of some of our parent friends, we’ve read these awful stories online about babies that catch herpes and die from the unwashed hand of an uncle or a good friend…so anyone we ask should be totally understanding of this precaution but something about asking makes me feel guilty. Then I feel the need to explain that I read online that some baby died because Uncle Bob didn’t wash his hands and gave the baby herpes, and she died. Then I think, do they think, that I think, that they have some disease that may kill my baby?!? Then I think – Do they? I need to get over it though, or stop reading awful stories online.

At just over 2 months old I can’t say that too much that we didn’t expect or plan for has occurred. I’ve learned that some parent friends like to repeatedly say things like, “you can forget about doing this or that,” or “say goodbye to sleep,” “welcome to being poor,” “kiss this or that goodbye,” or “get used to….” This list goes on. I don’t know…we kind of knew what we were getting into. Babies are expensive. Everything about them. Babies require the majority of your time and attention. Babies restrict (although not as much as some parents like to claim) the things you can do. Babies will test your patience and you have to change a ton of diapers! Having a baby changes your whole world! As time goes, and the baby gets older, I’m sure there will be new challenges and obstacles to face, but not without the joy of seeing her grow and loving her endlessly. It may be that since we are in our mid 30s we got to see other friends have children and because of such were mentally prepared for some of what comes along with it. It may be that we like being stuck at home binge watching Netflix or singing pop punk songs into the face of someone who can’t tell us how awful we sound, or spending money on things like butt paste, or getting out of plans because “the baby” is cranky and tired! Or maybe I’ve only been at this for just over 2 months and it really does get awful later. Or maybe some parents just say stuff like that to be funny and like the sense of camaraderie. At least for the time being we get to choose what other kids Addison “hangs out” with – sleeps next to or shares a lap with. I imagine it’s downright awful when they are old enough to make their own friends, and you’re forced to hangout with their parents who might be the absolute worst. Don’t have to worry about that for a couple of years, sorry Addie your friends are our friends’ kids. Don’t care how much older than you they are.

Oh and the only Upstate thing we’ve done in the last couple of weeks was take Addison and her Grandparents to Indian Ladder Farm. Which was more of a treat for the adults. The only thing miss Addison did other than sleep, was kick my delicious cider off of the Adirondack chair and into the grass. Not everyone is a cider person. I get it.

Closing thought: The new iPhone XS Max was announced today. I want it REAL bad. It costs as much as five weeks of daycare. Seriously. Well I can kiss new iPhones goodbye! (see what I did there)