I've posted more pics on G+. That's probably where I'm going to be Annoyingly Proud Dad Man rather than plaguing you all here. Because I'm prepared to dote. There will be much doting. You might say I'm now officially in my dotage.
I've posted more pics on G+. That's probably where I'm going to be Annoyingly Proud Dad Man rather than plaguing you all here. Because I'm prepared to dote. There will be much doting. You might say I'm now officially in my dotage.
YOUR BEBE IS GOOD LOOKIN! Congratulations, and keep posting those pictures so I can daawwww.
I've posted more pics on G+. That's probably where I'm going to be Annoyingly Proud Dad Man rather than plaguing you all here. Because I'm prepared to dote. There will be much doting. You might say I'm now officially in my dotage.
Sending all baby questions into the podcast. Be ready.
I've posted more pics on G+. That's probably where I'm going to be Annoyingly Proud Dad Man rather than plaguing you all here. Because I'm prepared to dote. There will be much doting. You might say I'm now officially in my dotage.
Just went on G+. I can confirm that Jason is a Proud Papa, and has gloriously well-kept hair for a new father.
I have two book recommendations for you, and one general recommendation. First, for everyone that laughs when they see you are reading a book on how to maintain/raise a child and says "hur hur, you're going to let a book tell you what to do," tell them to F off. I mean, what do you see as the preferred method of action when faced with the responsibilities of molding human life: winging it and relying on old wive's tales for advice, or educating yourself while checking references and applying your own common sense filter to the quality of the sources you read. I'm going with plan B.
That being said, here are the two books you won't see recommended many other places that I thought were awesome. 1) The Baby Sleep Solution - this book puts you on a plan for getting your baby to sleep for 12 hours straight (they need 16 in a day) by roughly 12 weeks old. Worked for us. A++ would buy from again. 2) Nurtureshock - this isn't as useful in the first few months but is an incredible book. It uses actual documented science to show why grandma's advice is bullshit and what has actually been proven to work in controlled experiments. The first chapter that pertains to youngin's is about early speech development, which can start as early as 3-4 months when they start oooooing instead of grunting and crying. We're gonna put this into practice and see if it makes her an early talker. The rest of the book is a fantastic read though.
Operating Instructions by Ann Lamott was incredibly helpful to me as a new parent. It's not parenting advice at all, but rather is essentially the diary of her first year as a parent. At the time, there weren't so many "hip mama" and "geek dad" publications out there, and this was the first thing I read that rang true with my own experience. It's funny and bittersweet.
Ann Lamott is one of those people who can talk about certain things that kind of suck and make it really funny to read. Occasionally she will be in the New Yorker and mention her son in her essays. She also wrote "Bird by Bird" which was a good book about writing.
1) The Baby Sleep Solution - this book puts you on a plan for getting your baby to sleep for 12 hours straight (they need 16 in a day) by roughly 12 weeks old. Worked for us. A++ would buy from again.
This! Well, not necessarily this book but in general training your babby to sleep independently is the single most important thing you can do to improve the quality of your life as a parent. A couple things we did:
Treat night time differently from day time right from the beginning, i.e. regarding pacifying, staying in bed, etc., otherwise nothing special for the first couple of months.
Once a daily ryhtm establishes itself, adhere to it as best you can.
Always have a source of noise (TV, radio, friends, no need to be loud) present in the house when you put babby to bed.
We had babby right next to us in bed (get a baby bed with adjustable hight) while he was still feeding nights, minimal hassle for mommy and babby alike.
Mostly, don't get fooled by expediency into doing things you are not willing to keep doing idefinitely (i.e. for at least a couple years).
I have no idea how you guys deal with it. It'd be five minutes before I'd be on my knees going "GODDAMNIT HELLSPAWN WHAT IN THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
I have no idea how you guys deal with it. It'd be five minutes before I'd be on my knees going "GODDAMNIT HELLSPAWN WHAT IN THE FUCK DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"
I'm not good with children.
I'm good with babies, kids under 5 and people over 18. Those people within those ages are scary.
I'm good with babies, kids under 5 and people over 18. Those people within those ages are scary.
I must admit, babies really, really wierd me out. It's a little life, but at the same time, a non-person - it exists literally only to consume and sustain itself until it develops enough to have a personality emerge. Manipulative, evil little fuckers, too. Little kids seem to like me, because I speak to them like people, not idiots.
You mean you don't automatically assume all people are idiots?
No, I generally let them prove it first. I don't mean I'm talking astrophysics with a child - despite my childlike understanding of astrophysics, but I digress - I just don't babytalk them or lie to them.
Dude, that is the stage at which they really start weirding you out!
A little, but that's a different story. They might be a wierd little person, but at least they are actually some vauge form of person at that point. They have a concept of self, they are someone. Instead of what amounts to a slightly creepy hollow shell of a creature.
I just realized how offensive that might be to anyone who is actually a parent, I do apologize - It's just a personal point of view, rather than anything against your podlings in particular.
Parenting tip #1: Remember you're gonna be clueless far more often than you're comfortable with. If you can remember that, everything else gets easier. Who knows, maybe that's just good advice for living.
1) The Baby Sleep Solution - this book puts you on a plan for getting your baby to sleep for 12 hours straight (they need 16 in a day) by roughly 12 weeks old. Worked for us. A++ would buy from again.
This! Well, not necessarily this book but in general training your babby to sleep independently is the single most important thing you can do to improve the quality of your life as a parent.
Different things work for different families. We went in an opposite direction from this, an approach called "Attachment Parenting" or as the sleep trainers call it "martyrdom parenting". Essentially the needs of the baby are put at the centre of the plan, "improve the quality of your life as a parent" is not really a goal... but it does seem to be a side effect later on.
Basically attachment parenting is a philosophy of things like never letting the baby "cry it out" or "Feberizing", things like wearing the baby a lot, extended feeding right up to the first 2 years of life, feeding to sleep is encouraged (a big no-no among a lot of sleep trainers). The net result is kids who have undergone that have been observed to be more self assured and confident. While I would have expected a child to have experienced this to be more clingy, the opposite is true.
Anyhow.... there are a ton a different philosophies out there, pick the best one for your baby.
Comments
I'm sure Kevin will choose it. :P
Well done, sir. Well done.
That being said, here are the two books you won't see recommended many other places that I thought were awesome.
1) The Baby Sleep Solution - this book puts you on a plan for getting your baby to sleep for 12 hours straight (they need 16 in a day) by roughly 12 weeks old. Worked for us. A++ would buy from again.
2) Nurtureshock - this isn't as useful in the first few months but is an incredible book. It uses actual documented science to show why grandma's advice is bullshit and what has actually been proven to work in controlled experiments. The first chapter that pertains to youngin's is about early speech development, which can start as early as 3-4 months when they start oooooing instead of grunting and crying. We're gonna put this into practice and see if it makes her an early talker. The rest of the book is a fantastic read though.
She also wrote "Bird by Bird" which was a good book about writing.
I'm not good with children.
I just realized how offensive that might be to anyone who is actually a parent, I do apologize - It's just a personal point of view, rather than anything against your podlings in particular.
Basically attachment parenting is a philosophy of things like never letting the baby "cry it out" or "Feberizing", things like wearing the baby a lot, extended feeding right up to the first 2 years of life, feeding to sleep is encouraged (a big no-no among a lot of sleep trainers). The net result is kids who have undergone that have been observed to be more self assured and confident. While I would have expected a child to have experienced this to be more clingy, the opposite is true.
Anyhow.... there are a ton a different philosophies out there, pick the best one for your baby.