My New Favorite Number - 6

I always knew that once Little E was born, that sleep would become a thing of the past. In fact, Riley Armstrong has a song called “Sleep.” Once of the lyrics is “Sleep, no I never get enough. Always waking up tired. Sleep, no I never get enough if I don’t show up I might get fired.” There has been many a day at work that I’m sitting at my desk, looking at my computer screen and wishing and praying that it was the end of the day only to realize that it was 8:45 am.

I do however see a silver lining. Last night Little E slept for…wait for it…6 hours. Yes, 6 continuous hours of sleep. Wifey slept for 6 hours, I slept for 6 hours, Little E slept for 6 hours. I knew that this day would eventually come and I could not be happier. Does this mean he’s at that point where he’ll be doing this every night? I don’t know. In fact, I don’t really care.

We’ve been working the Baby Wise system. It’s difficult, but it has some pretty good results. My niece was sleeping through the night at 6 weeks. Several parents in the church have used it and their kids were sleeping through the night by 9 weeks. The book actually says that between 7-9 weeks is the average time frame for getting your child to sleep through the night.

I know there are naysayers out there who say that it’s not possible. Or that you must have a special baby. Or you’re just lucky. It’s not luck, it’s working a plan. I’m so happy to see that our efforts are starting to produce some results. I did say efforts, this plan is not easy and you have to be true to the schedule, but the results are definitely worth it.

Good, restful sleep is on the horizon for Daddyland. Thank God!

First Date

A first date take on a whole new meaning after you have a baby. As you many know, Little E turned 6 weeks old last Thursday and Wifey and I planned an evening out. Our First Date…well since Little E was born and even a bit before that.

We got a babysitter (Grammie & Puppa), planned the evening (dinner & a movie) and even got out the door on time. So as we packed up Little E’s diaper bag, we were giddy with excitement. Some may say that 6 weeks is too soon to be going out on a date, but I say “WHATEVER.” We were a couple first and if you want to stay a couple, you have to do couple things.

That’s probably my biggest piece of advice. Never forget your spouse. Keep doing those special little things that got you together. Little E is an addition to our family, not the center of our family. I think it’s a shame when couples become baby focused and forget about their relationship. I want to shake them and say, “don’t you realize that your kids are going to grow up and all you will have is your spouse?” Duh!

Well back to the date. Had a great dinner at the Japanese Steakhouse then off to the movies, Alice in Wonderland in 3D. This is the first movie we have seen in the theater since January. That’s hard for a couple that loves going to the movies. At this point, most of the movies that we want to see are on DVD now, so Red Box, here we come.

Before we left Grammie & Puppa’s, we asked how long they were willing to look after Little E and Grammie said, “As long as it’s before 2 AM.” We took this to mean, they were OK. So after our dinner & movie, we did what all young hip couple do. We went to Wal-Mart. Oh yeah, we are party animals.

After Wal-Mart, we decided to have a night cap at TGIFriday’s. Daddy-O had a couple of beverages (only 2) and apparently am now a lightweight, so Wifey had to drive home. As we sat at TGIFriday’s we did what all parent’s do on their first night out, we talked about Little E. We scrolled through the pictures we had on cell phones, made Little E faces and gestures to each other and actually called Grammie to see how he was doing.

We made it home well before our 2 AM deadline from Grammie and had a good time. I’ll admit it, it was weird to get out of the car and not grab a diaper bag, the stroller and the car seat. I also looked back several time while we were driving to make sure Little E was OK, only to realize he wasn’t there.

So all in all, our first date was very successful. I’m looking forward to a second date with Wifey in the future. Is it too early to call her.

Go Butler!

Daddyland was once again unified with one goal. Defeat the Devils. Once again, Wifey, Little E and I were on the couch watching intently and cheering for the Bulldogs. The game was close, but a missed shot at the buzzer by Hayward caused the Blue Devils to take the championship.

I have to say that I'm proud to have Butler alum in my family. She's proud of her Bulldog heritage and Indianapolis is such a great city. Good for them to have the Final 4 there. Good for them to have a real home team playing in the Final 4 and the championship game. Let's hope that with the success of Butler this year, more quality athletes will pick smaller schools over the powerhouses like Duke.

Easter Yum!

Family gatherings are GREAT!

They are definitely different now that I'm older. Back in the day, we'd go to church, mom would make a HUGE dinner and then we'd open our Easter baskets. Now my mom knew how to make an Easter basket, full of candy and few toys, wrapped so nicely it looked like it came from the store. My siblings and I would sit in the living room, dump out the baskets and would begin a trading routine that would make Wall Street floor traders step back and say "Wow." You would never have know that money was tight. Easter dinner was also as amazing. Glazed ham, potatoes, veggies, etc. Honey Baked Ham would have been proud.

We had these dinners and Easter baskets well into adulthood. When I was dating my wife, mom even made one for her. So here I am, in my mid twenties and married and still getting an Easter basket from my mom. Life was good. Then it all changed...

When I was 27, I got diagnosed with "the Sugar." So my mom, being the great lady she is continued the Easter basket tradition, but instead of all the great candy that I had been accustomed too, it was replaced with Sugar Free versions. No one wanted to trade with me anymore and to top it all off, sugar free candy gives you a bad stomach ache and several visits to the bathroom (if you know what I mean).

So that was it, the last year of the Easter basket for Davis kids. It even translated to Christmas with our stockings. No more candy there either. But I digress.

Now back to the present, I said that family gathering are different now that I'm older. Well here goes. We still go to church. We still have a HUGE dinner, but now we all participate. We bring dishes to pass, luckily Mom still takes care of the ham. And one thing that was new this year, Easter baskets re-emerged. Now don't get to excited because it wasn't for the Davis kids, it was for the grandkids. Little E and his cousin got Easter baskets from Grammie and Puppa. These baskets were bigger than any basket I ever got as a kid. Thankfully there wasn't any candy in it, since Little E is a month old and his cousin is 22 months old, but they were full of toys, books, games, etc.

Apparently my mom didn't forget how to make an Easter basket, she was just waiting for grandkids before she resurrected her talents. It was fun though watching the grandkids "open" their baskets. They had no clue the long tradition of the Easter basket, they didn't know that Daddy and Mommy and Auntie and Uncle got them growing up. They just enjoyed the moment.

So even though I don't get an Easter basket anymore, it's really great seeing the excitement in my niece's eyes as she played with a carrot shaped bat. Little E was pretty much oblivious to what was going on, but I know in the future, he'll have the same excitement. Who wouldn't?

A House Divided

So Daddyland is divided.

Who would have ever thought that Butler and MSU would be playing together in the Final 4 and that I (a Spartan alum) and Mommy (a Butler alum) would have to take sides with Little E in the middle. I've gotten a lot of trash talk from my Butler friends, but in reality they are a good team this year. They are on a huge winning streak (23 games, I think).

So as a family, we watched with rapped attention. Me in my MSU t-shirt, Wifey in her Butler t-shirt and Little E in his MSU socks (he has a MSU onesie, but it was too warm). Funny thing was that we had to DVR the game because we were out running errands getting prepared for Easter, so we had to swear off the text messages and in coming phone calls because we were about an hour behind.

Well as most of you know, Butler won. The game was very close and it was very intense. It was a milestone for Butler, so I wasn't too upset. Don't get me wrong I'd love to have the Spartans playing Duke, but what a great achievement for one of the "small" schools.