The bittersweet man-truth of breast-feeding (pun intended)

Contrary to a common male myth gone viral long before the days of internet, a woman's breasts serve a far greater purpose than the average mans sexually explicit mind takes him...they are in fact baby food producing machines. All men should thank God they do not have breasts, because while breastfeeding may be one of the most intimate experiences a woman can have, it also has to be the single most time consuming and inconvenient practice one could do. I was all for it when I heard we'd save hundreds of dollars in formula, baby would receive much needed antibodies, and last but not least, I wouldn't have to get up in the middle of the night to feed him! But, alas, it seems it would be too good to be true. The hundreds of dollars I'd thought we'd save went to a hands free breast-pump, which coincidentally sounds like a cow when it's running (moo-moo-moo-moo) and it's not like she's going to be able to do anything with her "free hands"...but I must admit the moo aspect was and still is very humorous, even just thinking about it makes me laugh. While it's perfectly legal for a mother to breastfeed her child in public, it's not like that's actually going to happen. Be prepared to stop what you are doing (WHATEVER it may be) and find a private, suitable feeding location for mother and child to partake in the "beautiful bonding experience" they share. You can't convince me that is as convenient as carrying around a bottle. Take the time feeding, coupled with the time pumping, and you have a very time consuming endeavor on your hands (or not on your hands, because you won't be touching her breasts in the foreseeable future).  Several hours a day were/are spent a day either feeding, pumping, storing, cleaning, freezing, thawing, pouring, measuring, and documenting the feedings....it's much more than just "whipping out a breast." You (and her of course) will literally spend more time doing these things each day than you spend doing any other thing throughout your day, including sleep. But after it's all said and done, I wouldn't change a thing...after all, baby is happy and healthy and most importantly the machine or the baby wasn't hooked onto me one-third of my waking (or not so waking) hours. Just don't get used to sitting down for more than five minutes during that time (or anytime for that matter) when your child is awake.

It's getting better (sort of) by the minute

We're fast approaching 4 months since Finn was born and things seem to be getting better, maybe those veteran "true adults" were on to something. Before you try and fetch your phone out of the gutter or think you might have some "you" time, let me elaborate. I liken parenthood to running a marathon every day without ever having run a day in your life. Now that it's been several months, I've grown a little more accustomed to the pace....I might even be close to hitting my stride. I'm still running a marathon everyday, but now I've had 4 months of training! It's not that things have necessarily have gotten easier mind you, but my pain threshold has increased. Carrying around an 8-10 pound watermelon doesn't wear you out as much after you've done 600,000 times. Waking up early or operating on little sleep isn't as difficult to do anymore either. So now that I am up to par with the initial demands of parenthood, let me explain why it is truly becoming better (not easier!). Finn rolled over for the first time the other day, and I must admit that was the most amazing event since his birth. Finn has become more aware of his surroundings, making it a much more enjoyable experience for us...more particularly, me. It seems all the sleepless nights and sore backs are beginning to pay off. He's starting to raise his little baby butt and scoot; it won't be long and he'll be crawling! He smiles when you smile, and coos when you coo. He wakes up grinning ear to ear and doesn't cry nearly as often. His personality is beginning to show, and he's finally becoming HUMAN! It makes all the hard work worth it. Now, if everything continues to progress, I should be eating my words in a few weeks when he starts teething...

The Running Ogre

Let me share with you a humorous short story about an outing Finn and I recently experienced. As a stay at home dad, I have to find ways to fill 12 hours a day for 4 days a week with new and exciting antics for Finn and myself. One of the things I like to do that takes up a small chunk of that time is taking Finn for walks, or should I say pushing him around in his stroller. We usually just walk around in our neighborhood checking out the sights, sounds, and smells of God's work. This particular day, I needed to go up to the grocery store for some tomatoes and thought that it would be a fun experience for Finn since he's only been to the grocery store once or twice. This was a little further than we normally walked, but I figured we were up for the challenge. I knew the weather forecast had called for rain most of the week, so I, like any good parent, checked the current local Doppler radar. Everything looked pretty good, I figured we had an hour or two before it rained, but I brought my rain jacket just in case. So we make it to the store, do our shopping, and start heading home. We get back to our street and I could tell we were quickly running out of time before the rain arrived. I took out my rain jacket and put it over Finn's stroller and by this time he was fast asleep. As I picked up the pace, a neighbor driving past us stops to talk. This particular neighbor likes to talk A LOT. He's an old preacher who lives across the street from us and ALWAYS chats it up when he sees any of us. Not a problem, but on this particular day I didn't have the time...it was starting to sprinkle. I told the preacher (when he stopped talking long enough) that I had to be on my way and he obliged. At this point the rain was becoming heavier and I'm still several blocks from our house, so I pick up the pace even more. Halfway down my street I see another neighbor standing in front of his house in the rain. He sees us coming and slowly starts heading to the street to greet us. As he approaches, I'm wondering why he is standing outside like it's not even raining...then it dawned on me, he hadn't seen the baby yet. So I rush over to his driveway, quickly offer to lift the rain jacket for a quick peek, and tell him I've got to go. By now, the bottom has dropped out and it's raining cats and dogs. I still have 300 or so yards before we're safely home and I decide to make a run for it. It really didn't matter by now, I was completely soaked and the baby was just as dry as could be. Never the less, I ran all the way home pushing the stroller. After all the commotion of the rain, running, and carrying the stroller up the steps, I uncover the baby to find him sleeping like (you guessed it) a baby. The next day I'm taking Finn for another walk and a neighbor who I've waved to for years, but never spoke to, stopped to talk to us. He asked me how tall I was, which I thought was an odd question at the time. Turns out he saw me running down the road pushing the stroller in the rain the day before and he said I looked 7 feet tall. So not only did I look like an idiot for running down the street in the rain pushing a stroller, but apparently I also looked like an ogre.