Liam and me

Oh man, I am dealing with a fussy baby today. Looks like he's going through a growth spurt and could possibly be in the very early stages of teething. He's been drooling all over himself which is a sign of teething. He is also trying to put EVERYTHING, including his whole fists in his mouth. In addition to the growth spurt and potential teeth sprouting, he also appears to be gassy. Poor kid.

Of course, the only thing that calms him down besides the gas drops which can only do so much, is daddy making a complete ass of himself. I'm a husband, a father and now I am officially a Song & Dance man. I've been dancing and singing all day which, if you know me, is REALLY out of character but I'll do anything for my lil' buddy.

First, since we've been watching "Sesame Street" on the reg, I am used to some of their songs. So, I've been singing the "Elmo's World theme" ad nauseum. I swear, if we go to Sesame Place while on a visit to Pennsylvania or just happen to run into a guy in an Elmo suit in some kid's entertainment establishment...I'm going to hit him harder than any kid ever has right in the bollocks (as the Brits say).

Another song which is also featured on another PBS Kids program, "The Cat In The Hat", seems to do the trick. I don't know what this song is called but I know the words and I know them all too well. I'll just call it "The Adventure Song". "We're gonna GO, GO, GO, GO on an adventure! The thingamajigger is up and away!" I swear those lyrics are accurate. I also clap along with each "GO".

Lastly and oddly enough, "Every Sperm Is Sacred" from Monty Python's "The Meaning Of Life" always cheers him up, he even cracks up. This makes me happy, I expect him to be able to recite full Python dialogues/monologues for Show & Tell (teachers are going to LOVE me).

1) I like my coffee BLACK.

2) I hate it when people tell me I look like Jack White. Not only do I look nothing like him, I also despise The White Stripes (mainly for emulating the Pixies and getting away with it).

3) The Beatles mean the world to me.

4) I'm a stay at home dad and love every minute of it (ok, maybe not EVERY minute, it can get pretty stressful but I wouldn't have it any other way).

5) I'm a kid at heart. I still love Batman (my role model), Ghostbusters, Teenage MUTANT Ninja Turtles (THEY'RE NOT ALIENS, Michael Bay. Not only the movies, comics, etc....I still collect the toys.

6) Despite being a kid at heart, I'm also at times an incredibly grumpy curmudgeon. I don't get along with many of my peers as I don't understand many of their "interests" which are severely limited and as shallow as a puddle of piss; barhopping and the overall hipster lifestyle of purchasing a personality.

7) I wear my red and black striped "security" beanie at all times except during sleep and showers.

8) I am obsessive compulsive and spend a lot of time counting and organizing objects. Also get into some arguments with my wife about where I think she should keep certain objects and how they should be faced, etc. I'm a mess.

9) I went to Catholic school (not the only reason, just a little joke) so I am a devout Atheist.

Last week while walking through the park with Liam I couldn't help but feel the piercing stares of all the catty moms falling upon me. I thought several things: my fly is down, I have a boog hanging, etc. But no, my fly was securely fastened and my nose was clean. So what were these desperate housewives (not flattering them AT ALL, they were literally DESPERATE) staring at, what's their collective deal? Then is dawned on me, something people usually blame on my paranoia and social issues.

These people don't like the way I look. After discussing this with my wife and my mother I was told I was just imaging this but I disagree. Look, I have shaggy long hair that is usually wildly unkempt under my red and black striped security beanie, I shave once a week (or two weeks if I'm feeling particularly lazy), I'm not what you would call a "smiler", and I guess my 6'1'' frame completes the whole package, leaving me looking like a child predator. Regardless of my appearance and putting modesty aside, I'm a kick ass dad.

There were a total of three other men in the park not counting myself. There was a cop, a biker, and a jogger. All other males were children accompanied by parents...I mean mothers. Almost all of the mothers were in pairs except for maybe one...I've always been weary of people so dependent on others for company. Anyway, I pulled up in the park which is really nice. They have two dog parks, split by size, two playgrounds which are also divided by size/age, two walking paths, a 1/2 mile and a mile long, and plenty of benches and shaded areas for picnics and such.

As I set out on our mile walk (daddy desperately needs exercise) everything was great, we couldn't have asked for a more pleasant day. The fresh air seemed to be agreeing well with Liam, I was worried with the recent high pollen counts. So, everything was just clicking. Daddy was burning some calories and Liam was getting some sunshine and fresh air, a real win/win situation, right? Right...until the moms came.

Every group I passed stopped whatever conversation they were having, must be hard to talk with your jaw dragging behind you and just stared. Many had the balls, the figurative balls at least, to peak into the stroller. Were they checking to see if I, in fact, had a baby? I had one group of women whose heads were on constant swivels, staring back at me every few feet. Did they think I was going to attack them or something? Perhaps, they were jealous that they either don't have a daddy in their child's life or they do and he's just old fashioned, lazy and not involved. I pleasantly smiled and greeted EVERYONE I passed which, if you know me, is WAY out of my comfort zone. Not one person responded, not even a head nod.

Maybe it's just rare to not only have a father who is around in a child's life but also a stay at home parent. They obviously didn't know I was a stay at home dad but maybe they saw I was involved enough to go on a solo trip with my son without my wife. Again, they don't know if I have a wife/husband/girlfriend/boyfriend/etc but maybe it really is that rare to see a solo daddy pushing his child around in a stroller, toting around a Gerber diaper bag. If that's the case then I feel sad for the state of the children in this country.

We need more men stepping up and I feel all warm and fuzzy inside knowing I'm a pioneer of sorts. Don't get me wrong, there have been many great men (stay at home dads, single dads, etc) before me, including the best (my father) but I am happy to be amongst great company. There are many great dads here on Tumblr who I follow. Don't want to embarrass anyone but please check out the following blogs here on Tumblr (I'll remove any who wish not to be listed): Lazy Dad, Dad...you're a discoball, The Daddy Complex. Superb. I really like these dudes. Anyway...

Daddy: So, are you done spitting up now?

Liam: ::spits up::

Daddy: I guess that's a "no".

Liam: ::spits up some more, this time getting some on daddy::

Daddy: And I guess that's a confirmation. You little stinker.

Hey, sorry for the long response time. I meant to respond on Friday but the weekend was hectic, I'm sure you understand, haha. Welcome to Tumblr, there's a lot of good daddy/stay at home parent/parenting blogs here. I understand completely being hesitant to release pics/info of your children. However, I feel pretty comfortable releasing his name and photos, I never release other details like where we live or say if we're going to the park, maybe I'll discuss it but not the name of the park. Reblogs don't bother me, if I'm already posting it and making it public there's no further harm in someone else passing it on, it's still just as public. Maybe I'm naive but I just feel comfortable, plus I post a lot of pics because I live about 800 miles from my whole family and I like them having a spot to go to check out regular pics and updates. Luckily you can block users (in case anyone weirded you out/rubbed you the wrong way) and if you ever got bugged out enough you could go back and edit/delete posts accordingly to share what you feel comfortable sharing. Hope this helped.

Baby powder is vital to your baby's comfort. Well, maybe not. I don't want to sound preachy. If you don't indulge in the powder, that's fine. I just know it's vital to Liam's comfort. Some people actually avoid using baby powder because of the fear of the baby inhaling some, it does go airborne very quickly. We lean away from Liam and tap some onto our hand then apply it; wax on, wax off.

This morning after changing Liam (mommy was getting ready for work), I noticed a little dusting here, another there. Then I noticed a pile here and a pile there. I instantly thought it looked like Scarface was hanging out in our home as we slept. Some people may have a mouse or ant or some other kind of critter infestation. We appear to have a coke addled drug lord rifling through our home as we sleep. If we didn't have obvious evidence of a baby living in the home, people would swear we were running with the cartel.

So, yesterday began in the usual fashion. The whole family woke up before the sun came up and we drove mommy to work as usual. Upon returning home, I left Liam in the car seat (NOT IN THE CAR) and enjoyed my hot coffee and did some internet browsing. First site I visited was Tumblr in order to make a post. After I made said post, I browsed my dashboard just to keep up with various Doctor Who and comic book news.

While I was extremely excited to come across the teaser trailer for the upcoming season of Doctor Who, I stumbled upon something more interesting: one of my posts had been reblogged. Nice. Someone thought something I said was interesting enough to share or perhaps shared a cute picture (they're all cute) of Liam. Then I saw the name of the user who shared my post which was the same as the name of their blog: "Hot Guys With Babies!" Huh? Obviously curious, I clicked the link and saw my ugly mug smack dab on their site. Below, you will find the image I am discussing.

I didn't let this go to my head. The blog should really be titled "Photos of Dads With Their Kids". They have a disclaimer stating that they will remove any pics if requested but I'm not going to bother. I don't know if it's some part of my ego clinging to this attention, laziness or perhaps I'm just proud that others on the internet are getting a chance to see how adorable Liam is. Maybe a mix.

After keeping up with this blog fairly consistently for about a month now I've decided to make some slight changes. Pic of the Day is over, largely due to the poor Facebook integration. I don't like how small the thumbnail is when posted on my Facebook timeline and I also really don't like how all of my Tumblr posts are lumped together, sometimes burying brand new posts way down in my timeline to lump it with an earlier Tumblr post. Pictures will be strictly posted on Facebook, it's just easier for everyone trying to keep up with Liam and they will not be set to any kind of release schedule. Just posting them as I see fit.

I will, however, continue to post interesting journal like entries from time to time, some of which will feature pictures. I just want to focus on actual content and that can be tough when trying to post a different, somewhat unique picture everyday. I know not everyone on Tumblr can follow my Facebook timeline which I like to keep private (restricted to family/friends) for the most part. But if someone from Tumblr, especially someone I follow myself (preferably other stay at home dads/parents), would like to be Facebook friends, I have no problem with that.