Co-Sleeping Smear Campaign

This morning while watching the Today show there was a discussion on the Milwaukee Health Department public service ads regarding co-sleeping. If you haven't seen them this is what one looks like.

As an extremely caring co-sleeping Father that had spent a ton of time educating myself to make that decision... I am offended. My experience is that my Daughter has slept great since birth, has an extreme bond with us and feels safe and secure. Are these ads saying that my Wife and I are potential weapons to our child? Perhaps if we were heavy drinkers, into drugs or perhaps had some sleeping disorder, but we wouldn't have decided to co-sleep. How about an ad like this instead...

When is a Baby a Toddler?

I'm trying to figure this out, can my baby already be... say it isn't so... a Toddler? Well, to me she will always be my baby, but I had to do a little searching on the (oh, so all knowing) internet, to see how much longer they say I have. As with just about everything you look up using a google search, there are tons of answers, and a decent amount of them are pointing toward the beginning of *sniff, sniff, cry, cry* Toddle-dom. Let's talk this through, ok?

•I'm seeing some statements that it happens at the first birthday.... AHHH!!! wait a minute, Addy's first birthday is one week from today! We even had a shared birthday party over the weekend, for the big baby boom that happened last year in our hood. (thanks Jen, for capturing this)

•These "experts" are also saying that she is a toddler once she is walking. Let me tell you, she is loving running around holding nothing more than Daddy's Pinky. And, at the party over the weekend there were multiple times that she took 3 (unassisted) steps. So, not full out walking yet, so we are in the clear... for now!

•How about being a toddler when she speaks? Well, she is definitely very vocal and expressive, but What is the real sign that your child is speaking anyway. Is correct grammar important? I could possibly be safe in this one too, I haven't heard any verbs yet... mostly nouns... and it's mostly Dada, which rules!

•My favorite statement is the small number that are saying 24 months, that would give me one more year with wikipedia allowing me to call Addy a baby. Hey, who am I kidding, she is and always will be my baby. And I am loving every step of the way. If you asked me at any point of the last year what my favorite stage in Addy's life has been... I would have said "this very second", and I probably always will.

This Is Who We Are

I recently overheard a friend and fellow new parent talking about things that she does to hold onto her pre-baby identity. I thought about that later on, and how important that can be. You never really can be prepared for how having a child with change your day to day life. In so many ways, Addy has made my life better and more enjoyable, and at the same time made it hard to do some of the things that formed who I was most of my life. You do need to set aside some personal time, but as Addy grows, I see more and more that I can share who we are with her. When I sit on the couch with her, guitar in hand, I'm not playing in a packed club late on a Saturday night... it's 10:00am on Wednesday and I'm strumming and my wife is singing "John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt" while Addy smiles and watches. I may be doing more Baby & Fashion Blog design than Hardcore band shirts and album art these days. I can, however, honestly say that where I am right now is the best place I've ever been. You know what... This IS who we are... and I Love it.

Those little things.

Yes, having a new baby has made it harder to smoothly do things that were so simple before. I must say, that it has made some very simple things into great triumphs. Think of losing something very important to you, you search all over for it, with no luck. A week later you accidentally find it in a place you never thought to look, you are never more happy to see it than at that moment.Yesterday we went to the camera store, got a new lens and went out to a nice dinner, and actually pulled it off very smoothly! What a great night. Next week maybe we will try to go to the bookstore to pick up a new read, now that will be when we have arrived.