My Experiences as a Father... September 5 to October 4, 1999 (5th month)

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Saturday, October 2, 1999
Mom left us alone tonight so she could have a "Girl's Night Out" with April (the person, not the armadillo).  Maeve and I were on the bed asleep when she left.  I was supposed to get chicken croquettes and gravy for dinner, since it was Jill's night to cook.  Just before she left, Jill came in and was whispering all sorts of stuff.  First she said I'm only getting mozzarella sticks (she may as well have just left a bucket of lard and a spoon - it's about the same nutritional value).  Then she asks if I can give Maeve a bath by myself.  She knows, from years of experience, that it is not effective to talk to me while I'm sleeping.  Of course I said I could bathe Maeve, just so she would leave me alone and let me go back to sleep.  I found that we still need two people to give Maeve a bath in the big tub instead of in her little tub in the kitchen sink.  I ended up getting a bath along with Maeve, even though I wasn't in the tub.

But I'm sure Jill and April had a splendid time.
 

Friday, October 1, 1999
Maeve likes to stay awake when she's with me.  My guess is that too much fun stuff happens when dad is around, so she fights to stay awake and see it all.  She only took a 15 minute nap in the morning.  Then she was awake.  I kept waiting for her to fall asleep again.  It wasn't until after we ran some errands that she fell asleep on the way home, and I was able to put her into bed without waking her up.  Then she slept for 3 hours straight, and still looked sleepy when she woke up.
 

Thursday, September 30, 1999
I was home with Maeve today.  Carol was supposed to be out all week, so Jill was home the first three days, and I got to stay home Thursday and Friday.  I keep overheating her milk.  The milk won't be warm enough, but then I wait another 60 seconds and it's too hot.  For instance, I might go talk to Maeve about a computer program that we are working on, and it takes more than 30 seconds to check the bottle again.  Too hot.  Then Maeve is ticked because she's hungry, and she won't help with the program any more until she's fed.  So I stick an ice cube in the milk.  It melts quickly enough, I think, but not quickly enough for Maeve.
 

Monday, September 27, 1999
Yesterday Alison wanted to hold Maeve at church.  Maeve wanted to stand on Alison's legs.  Alison said what I have been saying for months, that Maeve will walk before she crawls.

Nanny Carol is off for the week, so Jill is home with Maeve until Thursday, when it's my turn.  Jill has been hesitant to agree with me about Maeve walking, but today's behavior made Jill agree.  Jill would be helping Maeve to stand, and Maeve would cry as soon as Jill sat her down.  Maeve hates being on her stomach - she can't see anything.  So we can't get Maeve on her stomach for her to learn to crawl.  She loves to stand, and takes steps.  Maeve was just over 2 weeks old when I predicted she would be walking before crawling.  Balance is still a little problem, but it looks like it will happen.
 

Wednesday, September 22, 1999
Whenever we give Maeve a bath, Jill undresses Maeve in the living room and carries her into the kitchen.  I have always said it's a bad idea to be carrying a baby around without their diaper area being wrapped up.  You never know when they will choose to go to the bathroom.  I was laying on the floor, playing with the baby and watching the news.  Jill took the baby, undressed her and told me it was time for me to get up and help her bathe the baby.  I didn't get up right away because I was watching the news.  After Jill thought she had waited long enough, she said, "I know how to get you up", and she held naked Maeve over me.  She guessed right - I got right up.
 

Sunday, September 19, 1999
I just posted some new pictures.   When Todd saw the pictures of Maeve reading, he said reading was nice, but if I really wanted to improve my life and Maeve's, I should teach her to cook and change her own diaper.  Jill caught me teaching Maeve to cook.  She's only tossing a salad, but it's a start.

I also have pictures of my "Increased Capacity Diaper Genie".  The standard Diaper Genie will only hold a day or two's worth of diapers.  By taking off the bottom and mounting it on a chair frame, my "Increased Capacity Diaper Genie" is only limited by the amount of liner in one refill.  I have pictures of Maeve with two weeks' worth of diapers.
 

Thursday, September 9, 1999
Jill was reading Maeve a book and Maeve was holding on to the book, also.  Jill asked, "Oh, you think you can hold the book better than me?"  I told Jill that after having a book "dropped" on her on Tuesday, I would be holding on to it also.  At least then you have some control of it hitting your head.
 

Tuesday, September 7, 1999
When Jill and I hung up the shelf above Maeve's changing table, Jill explained that it had to be well secured, because we couldn't drop things on the baby's head, "not even once".  I found out yesterday that Jill dropped a book on Maeve's head.  I wasn't there, so she might have thrown it at Maeve, but Jill, of course, denies that.  At least I had my chance to say, "What did mommy do to your head?" like Jill did when Maeve, of her own volition, decided to find out how it feels to ram your head into motorcycle handlebars. After that little incident, Jill said, "What did daddy do to your head?"  There were no good answers to that question.
 

Monday, September 6, 1999
When I got Maeve this morning, the word "galubrious" jumped into my head to describe her.  All morning, I thought that my daughter was very galubrious.  I thought galubrious meant something like "ebullient".  I later found out that galubrious isn't a real word.  I haven't decided yet if that means that she couldn't possibly be galubrious (because the word doesn't exist) or if it is for me to define, so she can be galubrious whenever I say.
 


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