I call this "Garage of a One-Year Old"

This is my garage...it once was the home to my car. It is now the home of my eleven-month-old's outgrown toys.

We Have a Crawler!

Bud crawled for the first time today! Until now, she's gotten around by some kind of modified reach/roll maneuver, but today she full-on crawled across the kitchen floor. Over the last few weeks, she has been attempting to pull herself up on furniture to a stand position, and I thought she may be one of those babies who walks without crawling first. Guess not.

What was interesting was that she crawled the day after I removed the baby swing and bouncy-seat (both of which are outgrown...) from the kitchen. Maybe she needed the runway space!

Eww-yew Boo-boo Dew-dew

I am not a dog person. Even before Newmommy got pregnant, I have been scheming my side of the "Can We Get a Dog, Daddy?" discussion so that the end result is not one where I pick up an animal's feces with a plastic bag. Honestly, do you see those doodie-handlers? That's grosser than diaper changing, hands-down!

Good friends of ours got a dog two days ago. This dog happens to rank pretty high on the cuteness scale and, coming from me that's pretty huge. Not having been around dogs for much of my life, I didn't realize that getting a dog is a lot like bringing home a baby. First of all, a once one-language household becomes dual-language: English and babytalk. People talk to dogs as if they are babies..."whose mommy's good boy?" "Did shumone go pee-pee?" Second, dog responsibilities seem very similar to baby responsibilities. Last night, the couple we were with had to return to their home because the dog was alone. And, when we got there, they had to clean up doggy poop or puke, or whatever that brown stuff was. Third, dogs require "stuff"...squeeky toys, a bed, special food...soon, the owner's stuff is displaced for stuff for the new arrival. Finally (and to round out this nicely-structured third-grade-style four-point paragraph), dogs seem to instantly become the object of the family's affection, over everyone else...just like when you bring home a baby. I don't want to steal Louis C.K.'s bit from "Shameless", but it basically involves a once-close married couple bringing home their baby...their flesh-and-blood, the person for whom they would take a bullet, and then looking at each other asking, "who the fuck are you?"

So, no, we're never getting a dog. I can list the reasons (responsibilities, walking, the smell, etc.) But it's mostly the handling of dog poop. And, in the immortal words of Sarah Silverman, "I don't need two reasons when doody's involved."

Happy Blog-o-versary to me

Today, I (and, you, I guess) celebrate the one-year anniversary of Newdaddy! What will the next year bring? Will I post the definitive treatise on how to stop a crying baby regardless of the circumstances? Will Bud write her own guest post before her second birthday? Will I learn to accept and not be annoyed by jerk-offs in parking lots who see me folding up a stroller and say, "Hey, Dad...having fun? I remember when I was doing that."

Happy Blog-o-versary, my faithful readers. (Including you, Mr. Google-search-for "fake breast in the movie Meet the Parents.)

Then & Now

Wow, what a difference five years makes...the 2002 trip to Cape Cod is quite different than this year's. Let's look at the most memorable differences, shall we?

Total # of Children:
2002: one, a dog, if you consider that a child. I don't.
2007: three.

Song Stuck in My Head Throughout Trip:
2002: Nelly's "Hot in Heere" [sic]
2007: Laurie Berkner's "Let's go Swimming"

Most Common Reason for Leaving the Beach:
2002: Miller Time
2007: Nap Time

Most Frequent Program Played on TV:
2002: "American Idol" (Not my choice).
2007: Sesame Street's "Beginning Together" (Not my choice).

Most Frequent Game Played:
2002: Backgammon
2007: "Bud has a cup on her head"

Wake-up Time:
2002: There was one?
2007: 7am