GERMANY TO IRELAND - BATTLE OF THE BEERS
Left Germany this morning after a week of great sightseeing, company, food and of course, great beer. Each town has its own breweries and the local restaurants serve the local beer. So after 5 days of local PIls, Helles and Dunkels, we left Germany for Ireland. By 1pm I couldn’t stand to wait any longer and when my wife’s father asked me if I wanted a Guinness, I think I answered a little too fast, “Yes.” My son was just as mesmerized at the black gold as I was. We admired its iconic black color and white foam for about 30 seconds then opted for a taste. I don’t which beer I like better. And really, do I have to choose? No, when in Germany do as the Germans. And when in Ireland, do as the Irish. They’re both delicious. And so I leave the toast of, “Prost” in Germany and switch to “Slainte” now that I’m in Ireland. Both mean, “To good health!”
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CONOR CRAWLS FOR THE FIRST TIME TODAY
May 17th, 2012 at 7:37am, Conor decided to crawl for the first time. I happened to be cleaning the camera when I saw him and shot this :10 video as he came crawling to me. I told Valerie to come check him out. When she saw him crawling she started crying. I looked back at Conor to see what had happened that would cause her to cry. But he was just kneeling there smiling. I looked back to see if she was fine but she was still crying. Then I was really confused. Finally, it hit me that she was crying because she was happy and sad that he was crawling. It was another one of those milestones that reminds us that he’s getting older and he’ll never be the baby he was. He’s changing. And when it hit me, I was a little sad, too. He’s been such a great baby that it’s hard to admit we’re moving into the next phase of his life and the old phase is now a piece of charming history.
SEPARATION ANXIETY
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.
HOW MANY BABY CLOTHES IS TOO MANY
My wife and I have worked out a deal; I take Conor to daycare and she picks him up. This enables her to get to work early so she can leave early. That means I get to feed and dress him on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It seems every time I dress Conor for daycare, I can’t find clothes for him. I mean, I know where they’re located but there’s just nothing except clothes that are too small for him. Everything else has food or worse on them. I always say to Conor, ‘Tonight is laundry night.” Question is, “How many clothes do we need so that we’re not doing laundry all the time but we’re also not buying too much stuff?" I mean he outgrows an outfit about every two months. My wife would never let me count the clothes in her closet but she’s never said anything about our 9-month old son so I dug into his closet and counted the following;
1. 9 onesies (never heard of this word until my son was born)
2. 5 shirts
3. 5 short pants ( just bought two of those yesterday)
4. 3 long pants
5. 1 pajama (I forgot to buy 2 more yesterday. He’s outgrown the other 6 that still take up space in his closet)
7. 7 jackets (we live in New England these days)
8. 4 hats (he won’t wear any of them
9. 3 bandanas ( I forgot about them until I wrote this which means he never wears them.)
10. 5 pairs of socks he never wears because he doesn't walk yet and it's summertime
10. 1 pair of sunglasses that he also never wears
This doesn’t sound too extravagant for a 9 month old but it doesn’t sound too bare bones either. After all, a 9-month old can get into a mess pretty fast since he’s on the crawl, eats like a horse, and what goes in must come out. And that can sneak past a pamper on any given poo.
I’ll keep an eye on the intake and outtake of clothes because on one hand, we cant do laundry every evening with two working parents. But at the same time, too many clothes piling up doesn’t seem like a good answer either.
By the way, I’m way over the “Mommy’s little rocker” shirts and “I’m a rock star” baby clothes. Can we please move on to something more original. In that regard, I’ve discovered that 77Kids and Crazy 8 seem to have cool stuff this year.
Links about how much clothing we need:
http://www.keeperofthehome.org/2011/08/an-experiment-just-how-many clothes-do-kids-need-anyways.html
http://moneysavingmom.com/2010/10/my-minimalist-wardrobe-vlog.html
http://www.livingonadime.com/how-many-clothes-do-i-need/
http://www.ehow.com/baby-clothes/
- See more at: http://dadsdecoded.com/blog/index_files/archive-jul-2012.html#sthash.8lIKzwos.dpuf
CONOR DANCES AT HINDU WEDDING
VIMEO VIDEO GOES HERE
Conor wasn't the only one who was alcohol-free at tonight's Hindu wedding for one of Valerie's friends in Montreal. Turns out that alcohol isn't served at Hindu weddings. Nonetheless, we had a really good time and the Indian food was unbelievably good! Conor may only be 10 months old but the little guy knows how to party.
Conor wasn't the only one who was alcohol-free at tonight's Hindu wedding for one of Valerie's friends in Montreal. Turns out that alcohol isn't served at Hindu weddings. Nonetheless, we had a really good time and the Indian food was unbelievably good! Conor may only be 10 months old but the little guy knows how to party.