No Business like Snow Business

Given the winter we've been having so far, we were actually able to take Little G out in the snow way back in December. The holidays being what they are, however, meant I didn't really get a chance to share the pictures. Like it or not though, it snowed again this past Wednesday into Thursday, so we got her out in the snow again, this time for a bit more play.

Or what passes for play for a 4 1/2 month old.

We've made a lot of progress on putting on jackets and such. Just a few weeks ago, she cried every time you put a jacket or bunting on her. Now it's just half the time. Baby steps, people.

This go round worked out really well.

Then it was into the snow! Here we are discussing the finer points of snowman construction.
Initially, we decided we didn't need a third snowball. We had something else that was the perfect size.
I know it doesn't necessarily look like it, but she really does enjoy being outside. She spends a lot of time just looking around, at the trees, shrubbery, shed, dog running around like a maniac.
Incidentally, I'm pretty sure the dog has eaten the eyes and nose off the snowman by now.

This is just the first of many snow sculptures I'm sure we'll make in the coming years. I already have a plan in mind for an elaborate snow fort/replica of Jabba's Palace from The Empire Strikes Back. And maybe a Dalek. But not at the same time. That would just be silly.

Things No One Told Me About Being a Dad, an Ongoing List

I want to be fair at the outset here. It's possible that someone at some time told me some of these things, but I wasn't paying attention. So to those folks: Sorry, I wasn't listening.

To the rest of you, if you don't have kids, here are a few things I've discovered so far. May they serve as both warning and benefit to you if there are little ones in your future.

1. Your favorite television shows will stop making sense. A quick mental tally of my TV watching habits prior to Little G's birth reveals that I watched more that I realized. (Especially Thursday night programming. Why do you load so many good shows on Thursday, TV?) I like to think that the reason I watched so much TV is because there are so many good shows on the air these days. The aforementioned Thursday night, for example, featured three of my favorite shows last season: Parks and Recreation, Community, and Fringe. All critically acclaimed, all loved in my household (though Fringe just by me). Parks and Rec overcame a pretty terrible first season to become one of the funniest things on TV, rivaled only by Community in terms of outright hilarity. And Fringe last year decided that it was just going to go full-tilt boogie on its sci-fi roots, with pretty spectacular results.

But since Little G was born, it's tough finding time for these shows and others. We're generally trying to avoid plopping the whole family in front of the tube without doing something to occupy or engage her. And the time we do find to watch is usually broken up by little things. A diaper change here, a feeding there, a fussy spell or just playing on her gym mat. You can't devote significant focus to a narrative under those circumstances.

And thus, shows I used to love seem significantly less good, and I'm not sure it's the fault of the shows. Community seems haphazardly funny, probably because I miss half the jokes. (This also seems true of The Office, but it's been less funny for two seasons now, so it's hard to tell.) Fringe makes less sense than normal because I watch the episodes in 10-15 minute chunks on my phone. Parks and Rec has been spared because it's not back on TV yet, but I worry it won't seem as good when it does come back later this month.

In general, this point is mostly about how you have less time as a parent, and to be fair, plenty of people told me that. And I should acknowledge, however, that I'm not really all that broken up about it. It's just weird that I didn't consider how hard it would be to pay attention to other stuff while trying to occupy an infant.

2. Beatboxing is the solution to all of life's problems. Is the baby crying? Beatbox. Need to distract the baby while you get her arm through a sleeve? Beatbox. Mom needs a break from entertaining the baby? Beatbox. Had a rough day and you just need a baby smile to make you feel better? Beatbox, beatbox, beatbox.

Whether it's the sound of popping lips or a clicking tongue, the rush of air in her face, or the spastic facial contortions involved in even the most basic beatbox rhythm, beatboxing will stop Little G in her tracks, nine times out of 10. Perhaps the love of a cappella music is genetic? I don't know, but it works. Learn from my example, parents of the world. Beatboxing will save your life.

3. No way to put the baby to sleep will work for both you and your spouse in the same way, and may not work for short naps the same it works for nighttime. Pacifier in the mouth and a pat on the butt while the baby lays in the crib works for your wife to get the baby down for a nap? Won't work for me. Holding the baby prone while rocking gently gets the baby to sleep for nighttime? Won't work for Hollie, and won't work during the day for anybody.

Sleep is a biological imperative, baby! Do it! Do it now! And continue doing it at regular intervals for predetermined amounts of time so that we can get things done and be assured that you are receiving the right amount of sleep for proper development!

In all fairness, Little G has been sleeping through the night since week 7. She's 16 weeks old, and we haven't gotten less than six hours of sleep since late October. Most nights we get eight hours. In that respect, we know how lucky we are. That doesn't make it any less frustrating when her cues tell us she's exhausted, and she just won't go down for a nap.

4. Next to beatboxing, Paul Simon's Kodachrome might be the most effective way to get a baby to smile. There's not much more to say about this, but suffice to say that it works every time.

These are just a few things I've learned in the last couple of months. No doubt I've already forgotten a few things I've learned, and no doubt I'll learn more. And now that I'm on the subject, what things did you learn in your first year as a parent? What surprised you? What didn't anyone tell you?

Christmas Fashion Show 2010: Casual Division

I did not anticipate the sheer breadth of outfits that would present themselves this past Christmas season. So for this first holiday post (ironically posted after the holiday season is over) here is a selection of casual Christmas outfits.

Here we are decorating Little G's first Christmas tree. All in all, I think she enjoyed the experience.


And in its natural habitat, we see the the Holiday reindeer. Little-known fact: reindeer need to be restrained in a 5-point harness, for their safety and the safety of those around them.

Another little-known fact: most reindeer are actually Christmas donkeys with antlers and fuzzy costumes.
This was Little G's first Christmas present, a few days before the holiday. For those keeping track at home, yes, that is a stuffed Opossum.


And here she is on Christmas morning, enjoying her first pile of presents. Well, maybe "enjoying" is a bit strong. She's intrigued by the paper, at the very least.Stay tuned for another post covering the fancier side of Christmas.

Christmas Fashion Show 2010: Fancy Division

I'm trying to remember how all this started. One day back in October, Hollie and I asked each other, "What will our daughter wear for Christmas?"

Our first thought was this dress, given to us by one of Hollie's childhood friends before Little G was born:

It's cute, it's red, albeit not terribly Christmas-y. And based on Little G's ever-lengthening frame, she wouldn't be able to wear it much (if at all) past the holidays anyway. She wore it to my office Christmas party.

But of course, we realized that having just one dress probably wasn't going to work, since we'd have multiple parties and functions through which to parade our daughter. So we got this cute sweater dress from Old Navy.
You'll note that the tights, socks and bolero are the same for each of those dresses. It's important to have versatile separates, or so I've been told by various and sundry fashion reality shows. We had planned for her to wear this to my parents house on Christmas Eve, but that changed, as you'll soon see. Instead she wore it to a housewarming for some friends.

In any case, the purchase of that cream-colored sweater dress opened the floodgates. All of a sudden, dresses were raining down on us, like manna from heaven, or, you know, rain.

First Hollie's sister surprised us with this little number, which you may recognize from Little G's session with Santa. I really liked the tights.
Hollie had actually planned for her to wear it again at her office Christmas party, but when I ran it through the washer and dryer (my mistake) it shrunk a bit. I will swear, though, that in addition to the dress shrinking slightly, Little G grew an inch between December 5 and 16, rendering my drying mistake slightly worse than it might have been.

So, the morning of Hollie's office party, she went shopping and found this getup, which turned out to be a pretty big hit, both at the party and with Hollie's family late Christmas Day.

The addition of the leggings from the elf outfit really completes the look.

I'm not exactly certain when it happened, but at some point, my mom decided that she was going to buy Little G a Christmas outfit, and so instead of wearing the sweater dress on Christmas Eve, she wore this.
It's like she's Santa's Little Helper, so long as the only thing Santa needs help with is holding down small objects by laying on them. She's sitting rather nicely with my grandma in that photo, illustrating that baby + plush collar = no neck.

Lastly, Hollie's mom bought Little G a dress for Christmas dinner at their house. Admittedly, she wasn't awake for much of it, but she looked fantastic nonetheless.
So there you have it. What was one dress became six. It's like the loaves and fishes, except with infant wear.