7 Habits of Highly Effective Babies

Ben is officially out of his "Fourth Trimester." He sleeps through the night, we have a feeding schedule down, and he's stopped grabbing his belly button while screaming "why did you take me from that wonderful place!" I think all males live their life trying to get back in the uterus. It's not that we want to mate with anything that has boobs, it's the hope that we can "go home", so to speak. Too graphic? This isn't my point anyway...
Getting on with it, Caryn and I have started realizing that now is the time Ben will start to form habits; habits that can become VERY hard to break if continued. You start thinking "Am I letting him sleep in my arms too much? Should we still be swaddling him less? Should I not feed him when he's crying? What about the pacifier? How long should he nap? Is he too young to let him in the crib to cry it out? When do I go in and help him vs. leave him alone?" It's really starting to fill my mind with thoughts of a warped teenager who still sucks his thumb and needs to be wrapped up to sleep. You think everything you do will have long term consequences. Unfortunately, his "User Manual: The Guide to Bennet" got lost somewhere so we're flying off the cuff. I think every parent can sympathize with this. Wait until he starts eating real food. Do we go organic? Low sodium? Low sugar? Home made? Who knows? Ralph Wiggum for President.

Cat Coping Skills

Ladies and Gentleman, the Duchess of Sass (Reese) being escorted by Lord Bennet (the Duke of Pampers). From Ben's shirt, you can tell he's as cool as a cucumber. And Although Reese looks calm, I promise you the only thought in her head is "must resist eating baby's face...why is it touching me...find a happy place."
The cat actually seems to be ok with her demotion down the family hierarchy. She does miss the attention but rather than take it out on Ben, she's just been sleeping more...in her dreams, she is the almighty queen, ruler of all things fleece.

14 Weeks

Back To Work

Well it's been 3 days since Caryn went back to work and Ben went to "camp." He spends the day at a friends mothers' house and seems to be doing fine. I'm not surprised. She's great with babies and Ben has no idea where he is. As long as he's got a clean diaper and a bottle every few hours, he'd be happy being held by Hannibal Lecter....babies are so stupid. Caryn is doing great; happy to be out of the house conversing with adults but wondering why her arms feel so light. I went home for lunch the other day and it was so strange walking into my EMPTY house. No Ben, no Caryn, just the cat licking her butt...I didn't know what to do with myself (actually I danced around the living room ala "Risky Business" minus the tighty whities...minus Rebecca Demornay as well).

Iron Fist

Just yesterday Ben started gripping objects (mostly our fingers) and holding on tightly. It may seem like a small, forgettable skill but to people like Tiger Woods, grip is everything. Of course to an unladen swallow, it's not even a question of whether it grips...it's a simple weight/strength ratio. A 5 pound bird cannot grip a 10 pound coconut. Regardless, unless you're looking to migrate with a coconut, grip is important. I always fall back on Monty Python references, it's my safety net.

By the way, I think I have an idea who "commented" on the last blog entry about me selling more product and spending less time on the Internet. Maybe next time I see you, I'll be too preoccupied about the blog and forget your precious donuts...

So Much For A Dry Run

It has been exactly 12 weeks since Fee became Bennet. Because of that, Caryn had to go back to work today. This is the first time we both have to leave the house for work in the morning. We haven't figured out who does what yet. So, yesterday morning (Tuesday) was a rehearsal. Caryn pretended she was getting up for work and I actually got up for work. Things went pretty smoothly until I got an hour from home and realized I had forgotten to shave (I did however have pants on). I know what most of you are thinking, "Eric, you have the facial hair of a 17 year old." I admit I am no grizzly-man but there are certain places on my face that grow hair and need to get shaved every day. I don't have that cool, Jake Gyllenhaal unshaven but trendy look. I have the uneven, 17 year old, my parents haven't bought me a razor yet look. Oh well. I actually took the rest of the week off so we can do more practice runs. I took Ben to the grocery store around 11 and had no less than 3 hot moms tell me how cute Ben was. He's a total babe magnet...way more powerful than a puppy.