The busiest "unemployed" man I know

I always have said that if I stopped working, I'm sure I would have plenty to fill my time.

YES.

Before anybody says anything, I am fully aware that being a stay-at-home dad counts as a job. I am definitely working every day, even if that work involves being with the cutest baby of all time every single day. He still can be a demanding boss - crabby and cranky for no apparent reason, switching your schedule without prior notice, etc.  However, the stay-at home dad of today always gets asked the same few questions: What else do you do? How long do you plan on doing that? When do you get to return to the workforce? I don't know if the questions are as prevalent with the stay-at-home moms. Though we all know raising a child is all-consuming work, there seems to be an expectation that men still must win a little bread - bring home a little bacon - other food/money reference.

So, whether it is from innate peer pressure, ingrained gender stereotype, or just my own need to feel like I am contributing monetarily to our household, I have found some ways to bring home extra cash and that count as "employment" to others caught in the same stereotypes of yesteryear. I guess I have 4 jobs in addition to watching Sam, and they have been keeping me so much more busy than I could have anticipated.  Those jobs are marketing for the Boston Choral Ensemble, cat sitting for several residences, babysitting twice a week, and managing a back bay property for a wealthy family. These jobs on top of caring for our baby Sam and our house have me absolutely straight out! It is fun juggling all of the competing priorities, but when you add my choir practices, living room musicals, and time with friends and with my wife...let's just say that I'm glad to have a Google calendar synced with Liz or else I would not know which end is up.

Well, Sam is screaming right now for me to not have this moment to myself, and I have rehearsal in an hour, so I best wrap it up.  I will include one new picture now, but will update the photo section soon with a barrage of good ones.

The Daily (tooth)Grind

Teething comes with a distinct set of challenges, both for Sam and for me.  Sam's challenges are pretty straightforward.  His mouth hurts. This mouth pain causes multiple side effects such as fussiness, inconsistent naps (both short and long), random crying, eating little bits at a time, frustration at hunger, and excessive drooling. My challenges are all about attempting to foresee his needs/figure out what he wants when he fusses.  Is he hungry for another sip of milk? Is he in need of a piggybacked nap due to his short previous nap? Does he need some Tylenol? Does he need something to chew on? Does he just need to be held?

Adventures in "Solid" Food

Sam turned 6 months old on the 17th of June, a big milestone for the little shaver! Liz and I had discussed what we wanted to do to celebrate the occasion with our little boy and we decided that he would get his first taste of solid food on his 6-months-since-birth anniversary.  I know, not overly exciting, but this brings me to an important point I wanted to discuss, which is the over-celebration of milestones in a baby's life.

Sam's new tricks

It is crazy to watch how quickly our little boy is growing. In every way. I mean, the boy is huge for his age. He is wearing 12 month clothes, and at last check is 28 inches tall and 20 pounds.  He will only be 6 months old this Thursday, so he is just a big boy.  I guess it's to be expected, as I'm no small fry, and my family is a bunch of Swedes and Scots (among other origins).

Happy Independence Day!

Hello friends.  Sorry it's been so long since my last update.  I keep meaning to share pictures and stories, and then, for some reason or another, I just don't get to it. Here are a list of my excuses, none of which exempts me from the true reason I haven't updated, which is number 10 on the following list:

April Update

Hello friends.  It is funny how time can get away from you when so much attention is given to a little person. This last month has been crazy busy, and I have not found much time to keep up with the blog, so I am going to try to recap the major happenings by categorizing them into several buckets.  Let's start with the beloved boy, as that's who you really want to hear about.

THE BOY

A Normal(ish) Schedule

We're about two months in at this point, and it seems that Sam is really beginning to adhere to a schedule that is fairly regular. Leading up to this point, I remember having multiple moments when I wondered when this day would actually come while starting out at a foggy world through my third cup of coffee and rocking, rocking, rocking...

82 hours is normal? News to me...

Reader, please be forewarned.  I am about to talk about one of the unpleasantries that accompany all babies.  Yes, this is the inevitable poop post.  I am not writing about poop because it is fun...we all do it, it shouldn't be noteworthy, right?  WRONG! There are several myths about baby bowel movements that expectant parents have heard, as well as other misinformation, and I wanted to stand on the soapbox, share firsthand experiences, and shed light on the darkness and lies that have been spread re: baby dookie.

A Quick Heads Up about Babies and Breathing

I think one of the reasons that so many people love babies is that they are not mouth-breathers.  Have you ever been around somebody who has a cold or allergies?  Of course you have.  That was a leading question.  When it is quiet, you can hear their gaping mouth swallowing waves of air, and if you close your eyes you can imagine any multitude of strange creatures are in the room with you.  Zombies, even though they don't breathe in most urban legend, make that wheezy moaning sound.  You could imaging the Boogieman, the monster under your bed, or even ghosts uttering the guttural and rattling mouth breath.  Babies are obligate nasal breathers, meaning they prefer breathing through their nose (though they can mouth breathe if sick or crying most of the time). Babies are not mouth breathers, but therein lies a problem from time to time.

Anxiety, Nightmares, and Sleep Deprivation...Oh My!

Elizabeth awakes with a start, which wakes me up.  She starts freaking out, looking at the floor next to our bed. My mind races.  She's fallen asleep during feeding and accidentally rolled Sam off of the bed and onto the floor, a drop of several feet! I fly out of the covers and hustle over to Liz's side of the bed, and I see what she sees.  There is a pile of clothes on the floor, and in those clothes somewhere must be our ailing child.  He's not crying...is he ok, or is it something much worse? We both in our semi-conscious states endure each other freaking out and swearing when one of us comes to our senses and looks in the bassinet next to our bed, where Sam sleeps.  He is lying there in the bassinet peacefully napping.  We breathe.

Is your unusually tight Lingual Frenulum causing Ankyloglossia?

They say you learn something new every day...I guess that the old addage changes once you are a father. Now it seems that I learn something new almost hourly, and now I have the chance to share this knowledge with you. I will bold all the questionable vocab and create a glossary page with definitions after posting this entry. Our topic today: Frenotomy.

The Long Anticipated Birth!

After all the waiting and anticipation, my boy Samuel Grey Swift was born on January 17th!  He was born at 4:24 am, weighed in at a healthy 7 pounds 11 ounces, and was 21 inches long.  That was 11 days ago, and we have been home from the hospital since last Sunday with our beautiful boy.  As you may have noticed, I have not had the chance to post anything up to this point about the event.  It turns out that nobody was exaggerating when they said how much time and energy it takes to care for a newborn!

The Waiting Game

Imagine being a child on Christmas Eve eagerly anticipating the arrival of Santa Claus and his reindeer, waiting for him to pop down your chimney and bestow unfathomable gifts upon you.  Imagine how that sleepless night feels, crawling by at the speed of an obese snail.  Now replace Santa with a baby, and replace one night with many...