Blog - The Daily PoopThe little stinker did it again

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Daily blog from a first time dad

Flying with our 11 month old is a pleasure

22/09/12 22:40 Filed in: babies | infants | travel | flying | Parents

Is having a kid supposed to be so much fun or have I just lost my marbles? I remember when I was afraid to fly with my family the first time. Screaming babies who rattle my nerves and those around me was a complete waste of energy thinking about. Conor is now 11 months old and a blast to be around. Our 2 1/2 hour flight from New Orleans to Boston was really a pleasure. Seeing my son look out the window of a plane traveling 37,000 feet above the Earth was like being a kid all over again myself. And when he'd get tired of playing and come over and crawl on me like he's a little monkey just makes me laugh. And makes me proud to be a dad.

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Separation Anxiety?

01/06/12 23:25 Filed in: infant | dads | sleeping | separation anxiety
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6 and 7 months is the time when some kids get separation anxiety. This can manifest itself by being shy around strangers or getting upset when you leave the room and they don’t get to come along.
While our son, Conor, has a very happy disposition and loves to meet strangers, he is showing some signs of separation anxiety when we leave the room. If he’s playing with a toy, there’s a good chance he won’t cause a commotion. But if he’s between toys and realizes that he’s on his own, he begins to cry. At night, Conor does not like to be put in his crib and have us walk away. We have tried leaving him in his crib to cry but 15 minutes is about as long as we care to hold out. After that, it just seems cruel to him and irritatingly noisy to us. It’s easier to pick him up after a cry and within 5 minutes he’s asleep in our arms and can then go back to sleep in his crib.
I don’t think I’m necessarily strict with Conor, but at the same time, I do think there has to be some boundaries. But at 7 months, I’m still trying to decide what they are. And wanting to be held by his dad right before bed doesn’t seem too outrageous.

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Father and son's first transatlantic flight

10/05/12 18:01 Filed in: travel | europe | father | son
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36,000 feet above the Atlantic and Conor and I were on top of the world. The gate agent at Luftansa in Boston had taken good care of us and with only three empty seats on the plane, she worked enough magic that Valerie moved into a middle seat one row away while Conor got her seat for no additional cost. This meant we got to use our car infant seat to wedge into the cramped quarters of the economy class at seat 19A. The 25-year old sitting in the seat directly in front of Conor was the only loser in the equation. Not because Conor cried because he didn’t. He slept soundly from take-off until an hour before landing. But because the seats were so cramped, the guy couldn’t recline his seat even one inch. He eventually stopped looking back in frustration and fell asleep.
Cleverly, Valerie had booked a flight that didn’t leave Boston until 10;20pm. This was two hours after Conor’s bedtime and sure enough, he was fast asleep for takeoff. And as we landed, I gave him a bottle of milk to ease the pressure in his ears and he flew like a champ. Within no time, we had switched from plane to train and was on our way to Kassel, Germany. Flying with my son has always been a fear of mine but after today, I have to say that it was relaxing and even fun. The flight attendants and even fellow travelers are much nicer and gives us all something to talk about.

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My son says "daddy" when I return from Europe

01/05/12 23:20 Filed in: father | son | talking

After 14 days in Europe on business, I came home at 6pm and my wife came down the stairs to welcome me home with our 6 month old son in her arms. My wife told Conor, “Look who’s home, Conor. It’s daddy.” And my son look confused for about 10 seconds and then he got a giant grin on his face and his arms started flailing. Then his feet started kicking. Suddenly, his jaw dropped and for about 10 minutes, he couldn’t close his mouth. He was smiling with his mouth wide open. When he finally was able to close his mouth, he started saying, da da. I had never heard him say it before. My wife said that he had started saying da da only that morning without any coaxing from her.
I took this recording later that same evening when we finished eating dinner.
I looked online to see if there is some sort of magic age that an infant starts talking. It looks like about as early as 6 months but most start around 9 months. So if you’re child isn’t saying words by 6 months, don’t sweat it.

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