First Post - Five and a Half Weeks

Okay, a little background. Alison and I started this whole parent thing at the age where most people begin experiencing lower back pain. Although there are many reasons to bring a child into this world, we did so partly because we talked a little too much about our cats, and frankly it was getting a little creepy (even if they are the cutest kitties in the world). Also, I think Alison thought we should have a child so I would feel guilty buying expensive computer gadgets. Anyway, we made the decision to have a child. We chose a night when there were only reruns on TV, opened a bottle of wine, and nine months later we have a little Zoe.

And, wow, it's been five weeks already! Here are a few things I've discovered in those five weeks. I've remembered none of the advice I received before hand. Reading "The Baby Book" at 2:00 AM while the baby is screaming does not really help the problem, it just gives Dad the sense the he is helping Mom while she is pacing up and down the halls and whipping out her breast every five minutes. Oh, and don't let anyone tell you different, mothers do put the diaper on better than fathers.

As Zoe approaches her sixth week birthday she is winding up a week of fussy days and nights and appears to be sleeping a little better. We are all about sleep these days. We ('we' being Alison) have been reading a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth. The book is all about routines. He stresses that when the baby is tired, or looks tired, or looks hungry, put her to bed. So this afternoon, for the first time, we left her alone in her crib. We turned on the new, untested digital baby monitor and we went upstairs where Alison’s three young nephews where having a ho-down.

Later this same evening we finally got little Zoe to calm down and decided we should try the crib again. After fifteen minutes of peaceful sleep we decided we weren’t ready to sacrifice our child to the cold, barren room next door and now Alison and Zoe are head to head asleep next to me. And here I am wasting precious sleep time entering this first post. In my next post I will tell you how much smarter our six week old is than everyone else’s six week old.

See photos of Zoe at "http://picasaweb.google.com/dbglass"