Day 6: Sleeping Off A Late Night Of Hoops And Charlie

day6-1As I said, one week is in the can. One week down 26 to go on this gig they call parental leave.

Today was pretty much the laziest day yet since leaving work. Two reasons. Late night hoops and good ol’ Charlie boy.

Last night I was up until the wee hours of the morning watching my Michigan Wolverines lose a close one in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final.

It was after 1:30 am by the time I made it into bed. It was hard getting to sleep with “One Shining Moment” in your head but I got there.

Then less than 30 minutes later, Charlie started to sputter, warming up for full-on eruption. What? I thought we had made it past this stage. Oh well. Before he exploded with annoyance, I was up and had him in my arms. He was unhappy and soaked and I am sure was hungry.

I am sure I could have taken him down to the basement and wrestled him back to sleep, but I had just left the couch from where I had been sitting all night. By body could not take sleeping there until morning.

Day 5: Giant Giraffes And A Whole Can Of SpongeBobs

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Well in a few more hours, I can officially say that one week of parental leave will be in the books. How has it been so far? Pretty great.

I am still figuring a few things out, trying to accept that everything does not have to get done and trying to relax a little more. I will get there.

On a side note, you might be wondering why this is Day 5? I am not counting weekend days as part of my leave, as my wife is home to help and really, it is not part of it.

Back to business.

Today was my first Monday since last week was a holiday. The day started early, just before 5 am, with Charlie doing  A LOT of sleep kicking. That is his new thing. Kicking the sides of his crib while still asleep. I was awake, knowing it was only a matter of time before he actually woke up. That was just after 5 am. The good news, I managed to change him and get him downstairs to the couch and back to sleep without the help of a bottle.

Day 4 – If I Were A Wrestler My Winning Move Would Be The Sleeper

day4Good afternoon to those taking the time to follow my journey through stay-at-home parenthood. It is Friday and that means my first week is almost over, even if it was a short week.

My brain is a bit mushy this afternoon and I really should be napping, but the readers want what they want. So I am writing from the top floor of Red Fern Towers. Charlie is off in dreamland, hopefully thinking to himself, man that Dad guy, he has it going on.

Today has been pretty easy and boring but that is okay because it started early, 4:45 am early. Remember yesterday when I said we got Charlie down to five bottles again? Well I think he missed it because he woke up in the middle of the night looking for a little something, something to fill his belly.

As the home parent now, I was on duty and after getting woken up by my wife (who is always on duty I think), I was off to see what was up. For a brief moment I thought I was going to pull off the magic trip of the year and get the baby back to sleep without a bottle. He tricked me and just when I was feeling pretty good, he unleashed his fury.

Before it woke up the whole house I was off to get the bottle. I gotta say, making a bottle in the dark with one hand is a skill I may put on my resume one day.

Day 3: Following A Routine Is Key

like a dadGood day parental travelers, how are you doing? I just finished watching the latest episode of The Following and figured it should play into the title of today’s post. No, this is nothing to do with a cult or Kevin Bacon, the following I am referring to is following a routine with your kid and sticking to it at all costs.

Today is Day 3 of many and I would have to say I have adjusted nicely to being home instead of the office. I still have a lot of anxiety about getting stuff done, but I am working on it.

Today is just one boy, the baby. So that makes it a little easier to handle. Sadly for the adults in the house, our other kiddie was wide awake before 6 am so it has felt like a long day so far.

I have managed to: clean my desk area, clean the cat box, put out the garbage, do Harry’s laundry and tidy up the kitchen and living room. Yes, yes I have been taking care of Charlie as well.

Day 2: All Day Long, All Day Long Son(s)

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Yep, this is real. This staying home to take care of the kids is a thing. No turning back now. The wife seems pretty happy to be at work and coming home to cooked meals and tired boys.

So as you read, Day 1 was a  success. Every lived, nothing burned down and I still managed to get dinner ready before 10pm.

So what do we do for an encore? We add another kid into the mix. Yep, Monday’s and Wednesday’s Harrison stays home from school. So today was my first day with both boys, alone, all day long (son).

Day 1: Getting Everything In Order

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Today is the first day of my parental leave and so far so good it has been great. As expected, our baby boy is stuck on a routine, so all you have to do is follow it and he is a breeze.

He is currently napping, which gives me some time to update. I have decided that I will do one post today that deals with the day-to-day of the parental leave. That way, those who want to follow without the rest of the stuff, they can.

I will add updates to the same post as the day goes and as I have time to add. So if you read the post early in the day, it could change.

So here goes, Day 1 as of 1:30pm local time.