Daddy Day Care

Well, today Meggan had to go to work, so I got the chance to try my hand at stay at home dad. Let's just say I was a bit apprehensive going into this. It's not that I don't love Amelia. It's that I didn't have the least bit of confidence in my abilities at the small things. Roughly halfway through the day, I have a few observations for any dad out there trying his hand for the first time.

1) It's completely possible to work from home while watching the baby. You just have to be prepared for intermittent breaks for crying, feeding, changing, etc. It's actually less interruption than I normally face in my office.

2) Tummy time is a great way to strengthen the baby's neck and get her tired for her nap. However, I learned a tough one today... tummy time happens BEFORE eating. If you do it afterwards, you apparently have to call it "barf on dad's hand" time.

3) Babies are deceitful when it comes to bathroom breaks. Today, Amelia thought it wise to wait until I had her diaper off to start peeing. Oh, isn't that cute? Also, don't let the sweet face fool you. She is not staring at you lovingly, she is trying to poop.

4) Speaking of poop, don't believe the hype about bicycle kicks. I can tell you from today's personal experience that all doing bicycle kicks for 15 minutes while saying "let's work out that poopie (on a side note, spell check can't find poopie or poopy, but it thanfully was able to find 'Poo Pie'. What in the world is Poo Pie?)" does is make you look like a jackass. Amelia did seem slightly amused, which made it worth it, but 3 hours later, I'm still waiting.

5) Lastly, its not as easy as it looks. I have been guilty at times of saying it is easy to stay home with the baby. So far, I have been peed on, farted on, and spit up on. I did manage a shower, but shaving was out of the question. I think I ate breakfast, but I can't remember anything prior to the last bottle feeding. My hat goes off to all the moms and dads who stay at home with their kids. It is certainly much harder than any day job I've ever had.