A Dad’s Blog

I’m a fairly new dad. That entitles me to make stupid puns like it being a “grape day”. Reality would say otherwise… It was a crappy night last night, I got off to a slow start this morning, and forgot a few things I really shouldn’t have this morning.

But it’s a grape day nonetheless. That’s because Cam was all about his grapes this morning for breakfast.

I’ve also been working on a new web site about Boxers. Boxers as in the breed of dogs, not the badasses who beat one another up for the purpose of being compensated for self inflicting brain damage.

So in the midst of my getting my things packed up to head into work, Camden found a book that I’ve been using for research and content development… and well, he liked it. A lot.

Camden loving Boxers, FTW.

Monday mornings. They suck, right?

Sometimes I genuinely look forward to Mondays. I miss working. I miss socializing with folks at the office. And I actually enjoy that Monday also brings a few consecutive days of normalcy and routines with it.

But not this week.

This will undoubtedly be a long, tough, craptacular week.  People I often rely on are cruising it up on vacation (good for them!), so it’s going to be super quiet this week.  I’m a fan of things being quiet. It’s the introvert in me… But something tells me this week will be trying.

That’s why waking up this morning was not easy.

Since my little man didn’t have much of a nap yesterday, he too thought more about sleeping in. These lazy mornings though are what remind you of how awesome it is to be a parent. Just spending about 10 minutes with a groggy Cam before heading out to work is enough to jump start your day.

I snapped a few pics of ‘em this morning, clearly tired.  My favorite is then he just ran up to me and collapsed into my lap with his taggie blanket and closed his eyes… Like he was going to sleep standing up.

I’m quite sure that he was thinking… If I don’t put any shoes on, I don’t really have to start my day, right?

Here he is emerging from his bedroom with one of the taggie’s tags wrapped around his thumb. We’ve found that when he’s tired he’ll play with those tags until he drifts off to sleep.  Does it every night before bed in fact.

Best. Hug. Ever.  Love these. Tough photo to take and I’m sure he wasn’t thrilled with the flash… But I love these kinds of hugs from Cam.

So… With my first cup of coffee nearly complete, I’ll say good morning… Happy Monday… and a Happy Birthday to Grandma who’s probably working her tail off already this morning.

Today we threw a decent sized cookout at my brother’s house up in Attleboro for my mother and aunt. They’re twins and celebrating their 54th 44th birthdays tomorrow. Since my mother hadn’t seen Camden on Friday like she normally does, she was ready to eat ‘em up.

She actually gave him gifts for pimping his eustachian tube surgery with ease.

Here he is trying to get his new Thomas the Tank Engine tee shirt bag into the gift bag. She also gave him a new Thomas book which he was all about reading for a solid 20 minutes.  Kid LOVES his book collection.  It’s only fair that she’d hook him up with a Thomas book.

While we’re on the topic of Thomas, here’s Woogie out on Craig’s patio set with his new travel set. The blue roof opens up and all the track can be stored inside.  The little engines you can see also store themselves inside the house thingie… It’s a pretty cool set.  The fact that it’s portable is fantastic too… He’s never without his favorite toys now.

I love imaginations. Since tracks are limited, Cam decided to take one of his small trains and play over on Craig’s deck while Craig kept an eye on him. While this looks entirely innocent, I assure you Cam enjoyed watching the train roll off one edge and crash down into the patio stones. He did it like 17 times.

With Uncle Craig playing the pimping host, managing grills, the pool and everything else - Cam apparently decided that he’d get his Uncle a beer. He just opened up the cooler, grabbed one, and brought it over to Craig.  Way cute.

What would have made this cuter? If it was a bottle of Sam Adams.

Realizing that drinking might be fun, Camden and I headed inside to get some drinks made. A seriously awesome friend in California recommended vodka and cream soda a couple of months ago. I thoguht it sounded awful… But since I’m on this assanine diet of mine, this combination (with diet cream soda) offered up zero carbs… and one helluva buzz.

Not to be outdone, Camden ordered himself a Virgin White Russian made with Soy Milk. He downed that thing in no time, too.  Should Ibe concerned?

But really… Today was all about Grandma - and Camden did his best to keep Grandma entertained in the pool by giving him swimming lessons and makingup for the lost time on Friday.

All in all, it was a great afternoon…

Friday night was an absolute mess… So I called it a night hours earlier than most and tried to get some sleep.  When I woke up, I felt like trash.  Sore throat. Light headed. Not even remotely hungry, and really just seeking complete isolation.

It was all I could do to get myself together to  make the trip to Attleboro so we could load up on some of Camden’s supplies at Babies”R”Us. (Who, if I may add - has the worst name to spell correctly. Evar.)

A case of diapers and wipes later, the carriage of course had a couple new Thomas DVDs. I’m a sucker for that stuff. I mean, how can you not buy your son SIX episodes ofhis favorite show AND get a free wodden train engine to add to his collection — for just $11.00!?

Yeah, exactly.

On the way home both Camden and I started dozing off.  No worries, I knew an hour before I wasn’t good to drive, and handed the keys over.

It was cool… On the way up the three flights of stairs, he was basically asleep with his eyes open in my arms.  I wish I could’ve taken a photo of that.  It’s the kind of look that just sticks with you and makes you smile on days like this.

Once we got into the apartment, we both passed out… and when I woke up, I found Hermie in Cam’s crib… Which led to these home petting zoo photos.

Whenever we find a cat in the crib, we’re usually quick to get him out of there.  Today though, we knew that if camden saw ‘em… They’d be in for some more trouble.

And trouble is exactly what he found…

Really though, Cam is a saint with these cats.  Aside from trying to pull them by their tail once a week.  The cats have never once shown any aggression either which is fantastic.

You might recall how much I love my mornings with Camden.   While some might be happy that today is Friday, I’m a but bummed in that my morning didn’t include any time with my little man.

Camden got to bed a bit later than normal.  Between the effects of the anesthesia and a later than normal nap, his bedtime was naturally pushed back a bit.  He didn’t wake up at all overnight - so I was really happy with that.  I’m hopeful that the Eustachian tubes aren not causing him to feel any soreness or discomfort from these last ear infections.

While all of that is great… 7AM approached, and while I’m usually beginning my commute into the office, this was all I saw…

Just his closed bedroom door.  No noises other than his humidifier humming away and the ceiling fan making it’s rhymthic buzz.  No lights showing up on his baby monitor…

Going against Bethany’s wishes… I had to crack the door and just make sure he looked okay.  Slipping on my ninja stealth suit, I was able to get this pic taken… Before getting caught.  Camera sounds, FTL.

He did roll a bit when the door creaked open, so I know he was okay.  But it was a drag not getting my morning high five or kiss from ‘em.

We’ll make up for that tonight though, no doubt.