Category: #DadLife

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My #Dadlife Car

Yes…we bought the Honda minivan. It’s been a little over a year since we transitioned into the “family car” and I’ve found it interesting how many of my dad friends were into this car and how many of the moms I knew seemed allergic to it. Growing up many of us go through phases about our ideal car. For me at first it was just any car. I remember my rice rocket phase, my rally car phase (Initial D!), the manual vs automatic, etc. All of this usually also driven with my desire for something practical.

In the most recent iteration of this I was thinking I’d get my Model 3. I had my deposit down, my turn finally coming up…and then we found out about our second kiddo. I really tried to make the idea of a Model 3 fitting 3 adults and 2 carseats work, but after seeing one in person I knew we needed something bigger. It’s minivan time, sure I could have gone with a 3 row SUV, but if I was going to go practical I might as well go all the way.

Funny thing about the minivan class of cars is kind of how opinionated people are about it. Like I mentioned some of the folks who were most into the idea of the minivan were fellow dads, while many moms I spoke with did not want to be associated with that car. Thinking about it more it kind of makes sense. If the car is somehow an extension/reflection of you I can understand some of the common reactions. Phrases like “Soccer Mom” can pigeon moms that do so much more nowadays, and I think many dads nowadays are more involved in kids into that aspect of their lives. I know for my parents’ generation it was still mostly the mom managing the house and family.

It’s been a while since we got the minivan (my car, not my wife’s lol) and I don’t regret it. I am strangely satisfied when we put 7 people into it comfortably. It has enough space and flexibility. And ironically I’ve gotten more comments about this car than any other car I’ve had before.

Anecdote: I was at a Costco getting gas the the guy at the stall over goes “Nice car. What year is it? My sister has a 2018 and it looks different.” Thanks Costco gas guy for the kudos on my #dadlife car. I’ve found it pretty nice in a lot of ways. We might change it out in the future, but for now I’m happy with my decision.

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I hate it when this happens

Noooooo
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Daddy Daycare Finley Edition Day 10/11

Day 10

Carin was swamped with work today and tomorrow, I had some work deadlines this week as well, and Preston’s daycare had a family day event. Let’s say it was a filled day for everyone. Also if you don’t like poop talk don’t read today’s episode.

Finley started off by waking up ass early. Carin tried to get some rest by swapping with me but P peed his pants while getting up during his mid poop flush. After getting everyone ready Finley, Preston, and I headed out to drop p off at school. It was of course raining today.

Finley’s Day 10

Finley actually had 3 naps today because he woke so early. Overall thought he got enough rest so I’d call today a win day in the nap category. His eating was ok. He’s still on milk strike so refused it both times. The big loser today was his poop. 3 leaks today. 100% leak rate. I either need another washer or is time to move him up a size. Oh yea one more thing. Finley got called a girl again when we went to Starbucks to take a break. I don’t understand why everyone thinks she he looks like a girl…I don’t mind, but I totally get the girl thing like 80% of the time lol. On the flight to HK I talked with a lady for 10m on the plane before I corrected her.

My little girl

We both headed over to the Family day event after he finished up his last nap and prepping his 4 pm food. Preston did not make an accident today…but it’s because the teachers asked us to bring back the pull-ups and his pull-up was full. Carin met us at the school a bit later and we got to play around before heading home for the kids’ night time routines.

Day 11

Finley’s Day 11

Second day of busy mommy. As you can see it was a pretty decent improvement in all categories except the napping.

After dropping Preston off in the morning Finley fell asleep like 2m before we got home. It was kind of a later nap today so I just decided to keep driving around after grabbing his diaper bag thinking he’d wake up in 45m like usual. I parked by a local coffee shop after driving for 20m and waited for him to wake up. The nap ended up being a 1.5 hour one. After he woke up I drove home to get his milk ready (which he promptly refused). He did end up drinking a little bit of milk later in the day after offering a few times. The doc swears milk strikes are normal and he won’t starve himself. He’s normally a pretty good eater if not a little bit picky. He has favorites and his likes. You can see today he was not into his solids as much. Poor guy can’t appreciate the fancy egg yet.

It’s not avocado and I know that Onsen Egg is more cooked than usual…but it’s still good!

Went to get P at school and I was surprised to see some dirty laundry…again. Teacher said he took off his diaper and proceeded to poop and pee on his bedding…I swear every morning he tells me he’s not going to poop on his diaper or the floor. I’m going to have to modify the statement to only poop and pee in the potty. I even forgot to ask if he had a nap today. I later deduced he did not because he saw cookies and wanted to eat it and threw a shitfit about it. He was even mad at Carin, which rarely happens. He didn’t calm down until I took him outside and he then pretended to eat a cookie. He also almost fell asleep at dinner.

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Daddy Daycare Finley Edition Day 8

Finley’s early nap was later partially partially because he’s a punk and partially because he had a poopsplosion right as we were planning to put him down…these always happens right when you want to do something else. I found myself in a situation I never would have imagined pre-kids. Washing clothes in the toilet…weird, but genius? I then began to wonder if there’s a weird subreddit where child caretakers share weird hacks they have, but when I searched I just find compilation images of folks doing funny stuff with their kids…Anyone else have good tips or hacks?

Genius parent hack?

Headed out to run a few errands with Finley today. I feel somewhat guilty because Finley doesn’t go out as much as P did and I think as a result as more anxiety around strangers. We went to the market to grab some avocados and I promptly forgot the coupon and to buy yogurt. He also had a nap that was totally off so we had very little time to go out and then rush back for lunch. He will randomly grab stuff and has a strong grip so I have to constantly check he didn’t knock something over or is squishing produce if I put him too close to stuff. We also made a run to the doctor’s lab for some blood tests. He was not a fan.

He randomly grabs at things

Weekend was good and we enjoyed Mother’s Day by spending some time outside. Preston had a rare treat when we went to Somi Somi for taiyaki and soft serve. He normally plays with his toys and “cooks” us food, but recently he’s been making ice cream topped with strawberry with fish and yaki so I think it left an impression.

Mother’s Day

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Daddy Daycare Finley Edition Day 4

Today’s edition should be called what Finley ate.

Finley’s Full Course Menu

  • Amuse-bouche: The finest corner cut of Black and White board book
  • Soup: Mother’s Milk. Locally sourced, freshest, and most nutritious (not pictured)
  • Salad: Organic Deconstructed Green Goddess (Rice and Oatmeal, Avocados, Snap Peas)
  • Main: Center cut of our secret in-house faux meat (Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes board book
  • Dessert: The fluffiest foam pad you’ve ever had
Finley’s Courses
Aaaand it’s back

Other less interesting things from the day. I had to put back our gate. It was a good few months without that barrier.

Finley had crappy sleep because his schedule is messed up.

Preston lost his no accident streak at school by peeing today. Apparently the teacher asked if he wanted to potty when he woke and he said no. Then peed his pants 10 minutes later. When Grandma talked to him and asked if he pooped and peed in his underwear he said “No poop, just pee.” True…clever…sigh

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Daddy Daycare Finley Edition Day 3

No injuries today minus a light bump when I lifted him up, but I don’t think that really counts. Finley also started his bottle strike again today. Carin had work things today so I knew I would have to get Preston from daycare with Finley in tow. That was the plan anyways…

Finley started the morning off by surprising me and gnawing at the sticker on our foam roller…I told you he likes paper.

Guilt free
Look at that guilt free face…
Sticker nomming
Look dad, I’m taking the sticker off for you…

He woke up late today so he also had a late morning nap, but it was a full nap so he was a pretty happy camper. Unfortunately he was not a fan of the afternoon nap and cried, then discovered he could grab the curtains near his crib. I went to get and and let him play a bit. It was almost milk time so I tried, but apparently he’s on bottle strike again. Oh well, time to sleep. It worked and he went down this time. Perfect…except I have to get Preston in 30m.

So I’m sitting there watching it get closer to pickup time and trying to decide if I wake him or call the daycare and tell them I’m going to be late. I then remember my neighbors have volunteered to watch the kids for short periods before (they’re really so nice). I ask her to just sit in our messy house while I make a P pickup run. Of course Finley wakes up 5 minutes after I leave. Luckily P had no accident today and was excited about the neighbor in our house I got him to the car in record time. Got back and Finley wasn’t crying, but wasn’t happy either (he’s a little picky about people still). P got a Kit Kat from the neighbor (I told you he’s always excited to visit the neighbors) that she must have prepped for P on the way out. Luckily I was able to coax the Kit Kat and focus P onto his after school snack.

Rest of the day was pretty uneventful. Preston did notice that his and Finley were matchy matchy (they both had car shirts…not planned) so I had to take a photo. And for reading to the end. Here is a bonus photo of my kid looking like a mess in a Canada hat (Carin’s cousin is from Canada).

Twinsies
Twinsies!
Oh Canada
Oh Canada
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Daddy Daycare Finley Edition Day 1, Day 2, and Conclusion from last Daddy Daycare

Happy time…for now…

BLUF: Carin’s mom is gone for roughly a month so I’m taking some WFH time to watch Finley until her mom is back.

Day 1

Really more of a half day since I dropped Carin’s mom off at the airport. But it was not the best start. Finley had an accident involving fingers in a doorway. He moves pretty quickly now when he is motivated. Luckily it was a light squishing and he was fine after a few minutes…also he did not learn anything as he still goes straight for the doorway whenever we open it.

Carin’s still be back most afternoons so we can tag team once P gets back from daycare which is great because depending on whether he had a nap in the afternoon things can get hairy. I feel slightly guilty because Finley doesn’t really get a “Days Without Accident” thing like P did. But I think that’s because he’s the second kid and I’ve become selective about what to worry about.

Day 2

A relatively peaceful night with both kids, but Finley woke up later than usual causing a bit of a mixup in his normal sleep schedule. That’s my nice way of saying that he had crappy naps today.

I’m actually trying to do work some of the time while I’m watching the kids and I wonder how that comes across when I’m in a meeting. I can’t tell if I’m self conscious and people are trying to focus and ignore the kids or if they just don’t notice that much. Our kids don’t get screen time yet so he’s not on the screen, but may be part of the background noise when I’m unmuted.

No accidents for Finley today except that he got into his brother’s book and decided to taste the paper lettuce in his brother’s flip book…oops. He’s really into tasting paper…or anything new really…they go right into his mouth. Luckily P didn’t try to open that book today…he can be anal sometimes.

munch munch indeed

Bonus task for the day was replacing our HVAC filter. Unfortunately the old filter was a 16×25 and the new one is a 16×24. Luckily removing is easier than adding and I think it’ll work ok.

Fits just right…

Conclusion from previous Daddy Daycare

I realize I never posted a conclusion from the previous stint. The summary was basically 3 more days of poop in the underwear for P and a bottle strike that lasted for the same 3 days from the little guy. On the upside Finley slept really well at night. They both got out of their funk on Thursday right before Carin came home on Friday.

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Daddy Daycare Day 0

Carin is gone for the week to London for work. Her mom and her brother are around to help so I can still do some work during the week. This isn’t the first time we’ve been without mom and 2 kids, but after the first day I hope the rest of the week is less busy.

Rough chronological summary of the day as I remember it

  • ~8 am – Get coffee and fold kid’s clothes
  • ~9 am – Head out and drop Carin off at airport with Finley
  • ~11 am – Change and wash Finley’s poopsplosion pants and put him down for a nap
  • ~12 pm – Change P’s pants since he peed while he was eating
  • ~1 pm – Put P down for nap
  • ~3 pm – Change P’s pants and sheets since he peed after he woke up
  • ~5 pm – P didn’t make it to potty in time and peed his pants
  • ~6 pm – Barely enough for dirty kid stuff for another run of laundry
  • ~7 pm – P’s bedtime routine
  • ~9 pm – Fold kid’s clothing
  • ~3 am – Finley is up for an hour
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It just ain’t true

Slept like a baby

Whoever coined that must not have meant it in the literal sense unless they meant woke up hungry and covered in poop every few hours. If that was the case sorry…your true intent was lost to the winds of time.

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P Daycare Update: Week 10 (Adjusting to Daycare)

It’s been about 2.5 months since P started daycare and it looks like he has finally started adjusting fully to daycare.  What does that mean to me?  I have a pretty low bar I think, but it was primarily three things I was looking for:

  • He generally isn’t fussing during drop-offs or pickups
    • He was fine week 1, but likely wasn’t sure what was happening as he started getting teary week 2 (apparently this regression is normal).  By week 4 he started to understand the routine.
  • Getting a normalish nap (we’re just looking for an hour and no tears)
    • He used to sleep no more than 30 minutes and start crying once the lights went out.
  • He isn’t scared of heading to daycare
    • Luckily we didn’t have to deal with this, but there’s a reason we considered this important.

The following info were things that worked for us in getting P acclimated to daycare so YMMV.  Also, note that in general we had the most control over the first point.  A lot of the other ones were just things to wait out or look out for.

First point – No Fussing:
Why? I think most parents don’t want to start their day with a fight against their small humans (they can be strong when they want to be).  Crying and the like is also a good way to guilt many a parent into staying longer than need be during drop-off.
Tips:

  • Decide on a consistent point person for drop-off:  We decided I would be doing drop-offs as I would be less likely to dote during drop-off during the beginning.
  • Tell your kids what’s going to happen on the way out:  I’ve heard kids understand a lot more than we think they do.  I have no idea if this worked, but we do it in case he understands so he’ll know what to expect.
  • Tell your kids what’s going to happen during drop-off:  Same as above.  Let them know you’re leaving, but you’ll be back.  We will tell him which one of us will come.
  • Have a routine on the way in: After a few drop-offs P and I started to get a routine on the way into school.  I think this helps them acclimate and they feel like they’re somewhat in control over some stuff (they have so little control).  Our routine was as follows: I would carry him while we were in the parking lot until we got to the sidewalks where he would get to walk to the classroom at his pace.  We stop by and say hi to the tortoise.  He gets to put his lunch on the shelf, he gets to take off his jacket, he gets to put away his water bottle, and then we say bye.

Second Point – Getting a normalish nap:
Why? I think we all know why.  We don’t want a crazy kid come bedtime.

Tips:

  • Home comfort item: If the school allows a little lovey it can help.  Preston doesn’t really have anything he’s attached to, but we gave him something he knew was his anyways.
  • Time:…sorry folks, I felt like this was more on the teachers and time to fix.

Third Point – Not scared of daycare:
Why? I don’t think most parents would feel comfortable making their kid go to a daycare that they seem scared of every day.  We discussed this prior and thought this could be a sign of something else going on that the kid did not like

Tips:

  • Have a backup plan: We luckily didn’t have to deal with this, but we did discuss other daycare options should this one just be a fantastic failure for our kid.  We think not all daycares are suited for all personalities.
  • Be ok with sunk costs: It would have been painful because we waited soooo long for this spot to open and there’s the registration fee, etc.  But after discussing it we felt that if it were so bad that we really felt the need to pull P out, it was probably for the best.