A Comedian in the House

January 17, 2012 //
1

So all of a sudden, I’ve got a sense of humor. That’s right. Steph thinks I’m funny now. (When did I ever stop?) I’m funny like we’ve just started dating funny. We’ve known each other over 6 years and I’ve seen thousands of rolled eyes and breathy sighs about my lack of seriousness. But, the new Steph laughs at everything I say. Everything. When I say “Honeybaby, I’m going to take out the trash.”, she giggles as if she’s hearing “Honeybaby, I’m buying you a Gucci handbag in cash.”  So now she finds me incredibly hot.

What a difference 5 days and a daddyblog makes. Let me tell you how it’s spiced up our love life. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t.

(Beer brings people together.  Shameless plug for what is one of the best breweries in San Diego: The Lost Abbey)

Do you hear fireworks?

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Categories Random Thoughts

Onaroo Personal Baby Assistant (PBA)

January 16, 2012 //
0

PBA for tracking baby data!

Steph and I got this as a gift from our ex-roommate Patrick.  A thoughtful gift, right?  My immediate reaction was to throw the thing against the wall and scream to the heavens “How did any babies survive before technology?”

Steph wanted to try it out, and being a good husband, I “wanted to want” to try it out too.  I hated clicking the button for the first 2 days, but I soon realized the error of my ways.

Soon after birth (Gavin’s, not mine), we were asked by the doctors (which is standard protocol) to monitor baby pees & poops (there’s that word again).  We created a spreadsheet and taped it to the fridge.  Steph filled out the spreadsheet religiously.  I was too lazy to go to the kitchen every time I changed a diaper in the baby’s bedroom.  Enter the PBA.  Not only was it portable, it required only one hand to search, input, and review data.  It was easy to use and didn’t require any user’s manual.  (I hardly ever read user manuals.  I like to test my thinking skills first…)

Within a couple days of  using the PBA, the spreadsheet on the fridge came down and everything was input into the Onaroo.  Even the dirty details about the diaper mess.  When we needed to make our doctor’s visits, we just brought the handheld with us.

The biggest issues that were solved with the PBA was when we needed to share Gavin’s I/O schedule (I/O = input/output = food/waste) with doctors or caretakers.  For instance, during the first few months, we had two babysitters helping us take care of Gavin.  If we had to log what each babysitter said to us and add our own information to the I/O log and keep handing this stack of information back and forth to one another, you can see how this can get out of hand.  With the PBA, we just dropped Gavin off with the babysitter and she could instantly check what feedings (and other events, like napping) transpired as far back as the data went.

There are plenty of features in the PBA and though we didn’t use all of them, we were happy to have them available.  Extras such as a temperature chart.  If Gavin would have been sick, we would have been able to log and track that information, if need be.

We used the PBA from a few days after Gavin’s birth to about 7.5 months old.  FEED, DIAPER, and SLEEP were the three charts that we used most often.

The PBA made life easier for us and I will definitely use the Onaroo again for our next baby.

———-

Overall Rating:  8 Worms   

Ease of Use:  10 Worms 

Performance:  8 Worms 

Features:  8 Worms 

Durability:  7 Worms 

Manliness:  10 Worms 

Retail Price:  $49.95

———-

Pros:

Easy to use.  One-handed operation.  Display is easy to read.  PC upload and capability.

Cons:

Size.  Buttons are harder to press after ~7 months of use (maybe worn contacts on circuit board?).  Interface can be a little slow to turn on.  Battery life is average.

Things I would modify:

I would probably add some other features in the FEED portion of the PBA, such as charts for introduction of solid foods.  The PBA is a bit cumbersome and a smaller sized unit would be nice.  This is nowhere near the power and capability of a smartphone, yet it’s a good bit larger.  (Maybe that’s done to keep costs down, I don’t know.)  To get the user to plug baby’s data into their PC, get that USB jack to provide power and recharge a battery pack in the PBA.

The Onaroo Personal Baby Assistant can be found here:

http://www.americaninnovative.com/products/pba.php

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Categories Product Reviews

Cow Grates and Cow Boys

January 16, 2012 //
1

Gavin’s crawling. Quickly. He began crawling on Christmas day as his gift to us. Maybe not so much gift as survival instinct. The fear of being buried alive under a mountain of presents and wrapping paper on his very first Christmas was probably the sole motivating factor.

Am I happy about it? Sort of. He was so easy to manage before this. Previously, I would drop Gavin off in the living room for hours at a time and go off mountain biking. (Disclaimer: I never did this without leaving a couple bottles of milk within arms reach.) Upon returning, his little body was precisely where I had left it, having moved nary an inch.  Bottles empty and that drunken milk smile  still stuck to his face.

It’s great that the Worm’s spreading his wings. But, it’s nerve wracking too. I’ve got to watch everything he does. No more video gaming, working in the garage, or blogging on the computer while the baby is awake. He’s fast and furious. And I’ve got to be faster.

Or smarter.  I had a spark of genius (if I do say so myself) while watching Gavin the other day.  So brilliant that I know someone reading this is going to take the idea, microsize it, and make a jillion dollars off of it. Hopefully, they will give me a high-five or something cool in return.

A cow grate for babies!  Of course it would have to be shrunken down a bit to fit inside the house.  All you would have to do is lay down a few baby grates in some sort of closed shape (box, circle, pentagon, if you want to get crazy go for the dodecahedron) surrounding baby and feel comfortable and secure in knowing that your baby will never be able to escape endanger himself by getting (or thinking) outside the box!

Gavin – 2; Dad – 1

I can't cross over to the other side! I'm so utterly bewildered!

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Categories Random Thoughts

Guest Blogger (Chef Steph): Pears, Parsnips, and Green Beans Puree

January 16, 2012 //
0

In the beginning of Gavin’s introduction into solid foods, we simply followed the advice of internet pediatricians. We gave him a single fruit or vegetable puree every 3-4 days, and noted which he liked and disliked, and any noticeable reactions (incidentally, plums gave him diaper rash). Considering he ate pretty much everything with the same gusto,

Nomnomnom

we were able to try close to 3 dozen different fruits and vegetables over the following 3 months. Just recently, I’ve been mixing and matching various produce and really getting into the fun part of making baby food.
The following is a recent recipe that Gavin gives a baby thumbs up. As I mentioned in my previous post, we have one of those do-it-all baby food makers, but you definitely do not need one to make these concoctions (and honestly, considering the portion size of the thing, I don’t even use it anymore). All you need is a pot and a metal colander (or sieve) that fits over the pot without touching the bottom, and a food processor or blender.

Ingredients:

  • 3 ripe pears (I use Bosc, but Bartlett is also a great choice)
  •  1 medium parsnip
  • 1/2 cup frozen green beans, defrosted

Preparation:
Peel and chop the pears and parsnip into small cubes. Place the parsnip in the colander or sieve over a pot of boiling water. Cover with a lid or foil and allow to steam for about 5 minutes. Add the pears and steam for another 10 minutes or until the pears and parsnips can be smashed with a spoon. Check the level of water in the pot periodically to make sure enough remains. Add the green beans and steam for an additional 3-5 minutes. Take everything off the stove and place the fruit and veggies in a blender or food processor. Add a bit of the remaining steaming liquid (this has lots of the flavor from the veggies in it) and puree to the desired consistency. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool completely (it’s a good idea to cool in the fridge to avoid bacterial growth).

Bon appetit!

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Categories Food

Eating the Squid

January 16, 2012 //
1

Wow! It has the slight flavor of dog biscuit to it.

Really Gavin? Duncan just finished slobbering all over that rubber squid this morning.

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Categories MVG Oddities

Guest Blogger (Chef Steph): Enter the Culinary Centerpiece of Gavin’s Gastrointestinal Gaiety

January 16, 2012 //
1

I love cooking food!

I used to be a pretty fine cook.
 
Not to say that I lost the ability, but my adventures into the culinary arts of late consist of dumping a premixed Ziploc bag of defrosted vegetables and meat into the crockpot. With working 9 hrs a day and actually wanting to spend some time with my son before he goes to bed 2 hrs after I get home, my BC (before-child) habit of delving into a frenzy of chopping, mincing, and sauteing in the hopes of producing the perfect blend of flavors every evening has fallen to the bottom of a very long list of wish-I-had-the-time-to-dos.
 
When I was pregnant with Gavin, a friend of ours introduced us into the world of home-made baby cuisine. Armed with a cookbook and a Kalorik babyfood maker, Dylan and I joked that he would become the ultimate Daddy chef (we already knew that he would be the primary caretaker). However, the task of making Gavin’s weekly food rations has been not-so-subtly hijacked. I love to cook; it is my stress relief. And since I can’t create nightly masterpieces for my husband and I without being wracked with guilt over abandoning what little time I have with my child, I have taken over cooking his baby food. At least I’m doing SOMEthing for him, then, right?
 
Making baby food has turned out to be quite fun. I still get to muse over the flavor components and acidity:sweetness:umami ratios. It’s just in pureed form. Each weekend I determine what blends of organic produce I will create, and Gavin and I chat (his is more of a babble) away in the kitchen while I peel, chop, steam and puree, and he sits on the floor eating the every piece of grass, insect and dirt he can find (I call that gross, he calls it an appetizer).
 
So, over the life of this blog, I’ll share with you some of my creations. Baby food making can be as simple or as complex as you make it, but for me, I just like getting the chance to cook something that doesn’t involve the crockpot.

Categories Food

Daddyblogging…

January 15, 2012 //
1

…is a problem.  Especially when it keeps you up at night.  But, how can that be?  I’ve only been at it for 1 day.  Yes, ONE day and it hasn’t even been a full day.

Really?  Well, it’s mostly Duncan’s fault for my insomnia.  Here’s what happened.

I woke up at 4:30am to let Duncan out to pee.  Out of bed for less than 3 minutes, I purposely kept one eye closed to keep the opposite half of my brain sound asleep.  (Just something you learn along the road of life, my friend…)

I swear it wasn't my fault!

[Walk to back door. Open door. Exit Duncan. Enter Duncan. Close back door. Walk to bed.]

Getting back into bed for a couple more hours rest was the plan, but the right cerebral hemisphere had other ideas.

What am I going to write about in the morning?  Should I do it now?  What if it’s not funny?  Who cares?  A sandwich would be great right now.  Ok, close my eyes.  But, I’m inspired to write!  No, I need to sleep.  But, let me just get to my computer and see if the words pour out from my fingers.  Too much effort to get up.  Let me just stare at the twinkling Christmas lights still hanging outside the window.  When are we going to take those damn things down?

My brain couldn’t stop ruminating about this stupid interesting, witty, and occasionally educational blog.  Even with only half of it turned on.  Just thinking about daddyblogging made me nervous and giddy like a teenager on prom night.  And I couldn’t stop thinking about it…for the next 2 hours.

I’ve never found anything to be so darling and captivating.  It’s addicting.  I mean, I tried pot once.  Well, maybe a couple times.  But I never inhaled.  I’ve got blogging under control.  I just need to pace myself, right?  I’ll see the danger signs and quit my daddyblog when it takes over my life.  I’ll never let it get to me.  Yeah, never.

Well, as I said before.  If Duncan hadn’t woken me up, I’d have gotten a full night’s sleep.

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Categories Random Thoughts
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