That's Hot!

Caroline is officially teething. And it seems she's unhappy about it. So after she wouldn't go to sleep last night, we tried to drive her around a bit to get her to nod off, and decided to run by Target to pick up some infant Motrin to alternate with Tylenol if needed.

It wasn't until I was halfway into the store when I realized what I was wearing -- when we left I had not planned on seeing anyone other than Caroline and Melissa:

==Birkenstock sandals
==Gym shorts
==An Obama '08 shirt that has admittedly shrunk to the point of not wearing it ever in public.

I was watching my fellow shoppers to see if they nodded in approval or acknowledged my hotness. Nothing! I guess when Target's about to close in 15 minutes people are on a mission. As was I. Got the Motrin, but Caroline was already asleep in the car. Now we're prepared at least.

(Pre) Dawn of a New Day

Before I go any farther, let me say that in no way will I complain about becoming a parent. We're lucky to have Caroline, Melissa is fantastic and has taken on more than the lion's share of the work for taking care of her-- and to boot, Caroline is a fantastically well-behaved, sleepin'-all-the-time baby.

But here's an observation today as I was driving Caroline to daycare this morning, and then back to the house to get the her milk that I left, and then back to daycare, and then to work (yeah, its Friday.)

I'm an adult now. No going back.

I know, you'd think that would have hit me earlier.

See, I love sleeping late and assume my genetics are part of the reason God has blessed us with a baby that sleeps a lot. I also love staying up late for no reason. I'll watch movies I own and have seen 1,000 times before for a reason to say up, even if it is on TV with commercials. This has yielded a well-practiced and extremely efficient morning routine. I can pretty much wake up at 7:00 and be out the door at 7:20.

No longer.

I love Caroline and I wouldn't trade her for millions of dollars (really!) but she requires us to change some things. Until now I've been largely unaffected because Melissa has been at home. But now, I need to get up earlier and help with Caroline before daycare and I'm up and ready way before I need to be at work.

(Yawn) Sorry, I need more caffiene...

But today, when I was stupid and forgot to take Caroline's milk with me, I had ample time to go back home and back to daycare. I still made it to the dry cleaners and was at work with time to spare. There's a whole new world of life now open to me -- the ability to run errands in the morning, or heaven forbid, go to work earlier and go home earlier.

But I'm tired at 10. I made myself stay up until 11:30 for no reason last night and will likely crash mid-afternoon, which used to be my best time of day. Letterman's "Late Show" is really late now.

Its not a bad thing, just a turning point I'd avoided for so many years. So look for me at the Piccadilly at 5:30 tonight. We'll enjoy the early-bird special and get some mac and cheese for Caroline...

P.S. In related news, I discovered 5 gray hairs last week.

Merry Christmas from Caroline!

It was a big day for Caroline, one that I can only imagine will be bigger next year and off the charts beginning in 2010 or 2011.

Caroline slept through the present-opening part of the morning, which is logical given that she work up screaming bloody murder twice the night before. "Nothing was stirring, not even a mouse..." Right.

Anywho, here are some photos of the big day, capped off with one of her 'Uncle' Max, Grammy's dachshund, who has taken to protecting Caroline from us. Apparently when she cries, he thinks we're hurting her, which is cute, but a shade insulting. :) I'm apparently feeling an inferiority complex about my parenting skills, brought on by a dog.

This was my doing:

Godparents, Ashley and Matt

Max:

Caroline finds her voice

As I crawl through the fleeting memories between sleep amnesia last night, a special question from around 2:00 a.m. comes to mind. How can so much volume can come from such a small thing?

Really. I don't think I can yell that loud as an adult. In fact, if I tried to just wake up and immediately scream my head off for sixty seconds, I'd get so tired I know I'd go back to sleep.

I think the makers of the Bose Wave System must have researched babies to boil down so much sound into a small container. Its the only way and a true feat of nature.

Karma is real and we are living proof

I couldn't hide my enthusiasm early on for how well Caroline was sleeping. I feared the impact of that pride.

Let's just say I watched Dr. No between 3:30 and 5:30 a.m. last night.

Mid-morning update

So its 3:04 a.m. Handing off responsibilities to Melissa. I think Caroline should sleep from here on -- let's just say we went through 3 diapers in 20 minutes, preceded by about 2 hours of what I now know is the buildup to that little masquerade.

The DVR is key to my life already. Not only does it have entertainment better than the garden-variety infomercials at this time of night, I really needed the ability to pause tonight.

I'm thinking of songs that I like that might be soothing sung as lullabyes. Here's what I tried tonight:

U2's 'MLK' (from Unforgettable Fire)
Oasis - 'Wonderwall', 'Acquiesce'
Tom Petty - 'Crawling back to you'
Ryn Adams - 'When the stars go blue'
Whiskeytown - 'Excuse me while I break my own heart'
Wilco - 'Dash 7'