Friday night I had baby duty since Mrs. Lessinges went out for the evening to socialize with some friends. Girls Night Out yo! I spent roughly 90 minutes getting Anna to sleep. At first it was an attempt to nap around 5:45pm. Anna’s eye flutter as she nears napping, unfortunately once I put her down in the crib I hear her a few minutes later whimpering via the baby monitor. I sneak in her room, swoop her up in my arms, plucking her out "baby jail". We pace around her room for five to ten minutes while humming Hey Jude before I determine there’s no way she’s will succumb to snoozing.
Breastmilk Now. I wander into the kitchen with Anna in my manly arms and grab a bottle of breastmilk from the fridge. Water is in the process of boiling. A couple minutes later I pour the hot water in a mug and program the oven timer for five minutes. Anna and I pace around the house for five minutes. Minute one we pose in front of her bedroom mirror as dad makes funny faces which go unnoticed by the three month old. Minutes two through five are spent staring at stuff in her crib while I sing about bodily functions. Beeeeeep! Five minutes killed.
I scurry around the living room preparing to give Anna five ounces of tasty lukewarm breastmilk. Remote control and burp rag placed on couch, check! Snag bottle from kitchen and begin to feed our girl with the television on. I notice Anna sneaking a peek at the idiot box while I gaze in her eyes lovingly. TV extinguished. After about three ounces she slows her feeding. I remove the bottle from her mouth, prop her up in my lap and gently tap her back. No burps. I put her up over my shoulder and this produces a mild burp and a bowel movement. We take a short trip to her bedroom and then resume her feeding a few minutes later. Five ounces of breastmilk consumed. Time check: 7:05pm.
The Closer. She’s mine now. A couple yawns escape her tiny mouth and this is my sign she’s caved. I attempt to take a decent photo of her using my laptop computer. Exhibit eh!
We rock for a couple minutes in her dark room, yet Anna isn’t really having it. One more diaper change is in order. Dab some baby powder in my right hand and rub it on her bum. Snap her clothes back together and then lay her in her crib. Commence operation No Free Arms using nifty blanket. Once again I hum Hey Jude and shhhh gently in her ear while the humidifier runs in the background. Anna can’t fight it. Eyes blink uncontrollably. I glance at my digital watch and tell myself "five minutes starting now". Less than a minute later her eyes are fully closed, I continue the rocking for four more minutes. Once the time is up, I slide my left hand under her neck and head and prepare to nestle the very young girl in her crib. It works and she’s soundly asleep. 7:33pm.
Me Time. Three Two hours later she remains soundly asleep as I wind down this post. She’ll likely sleep for another five hours (well she probably won’t now that I typed this). I might blog for two of those five hours… or not. Rrring! Phone rings once, this pre-arranged communication means Mrs. Lessinges is on her way home.
The Continued Life of Monkey Boy 
Getting closer to first.
WAIT! I WAS FIRST! WHAT THE HELL! I LOVE TODAY! Okay, now. I don’t care if you are calling this a ‘placeholder’ post, it still counts. Nice shot by the way EGAN.
Brandy – holy hell, you’re first. I even tried to fake you out with a late afternoon post. Shit, you’re damn good. Now I just have to figure out what to add to this lovely post. Yeah, you’re first. I should send you something to celebrate this joyous event.
That’s pretty Egan, you’re quite the photographer 🙂
Pretty. Also working on the answer to your question in the comments. *evil grin*
beautiful shot – i’m waiting with baited breath for da post
Are you going to tell us that Anna is now able to sing ‘The Itsy Bitsy Spider’ all by herself?
that’s a really cool photo. except i don’t like spiders. at all. i hope you talk about anna a little bit in the next post to take my mind off of eight legged creatures and instead think of cute baby things.
I just love foreshadowing. You’re going to tell us a really awesome story about an intelligent but mildly nerdy who leaves with his aunt and has fallen in love with a girl totally out of his league…
Ah yes… the photo placeholder – would explain the 10 pictures of my kids currently sitting in the top spot on my blog!
Looking forward to seeing if the web ties into the next post.
That’s such an awesome photo! And you’re welcome for the placeholder idea.
🙂
Poopie diapers are stinky.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave.”
This is a placeholder for my actual comment…
If you as me, that shot is so great you really don’t need a post at this point.
Though I’m sure the post will be lovely.
Chris is very clever.
That’s a really great photo… did you shoot that? Impressive…
Lovely image. Nice perspective. Nice textural quality. Nice use of a shallow depth of field. I’d give it an A.
i like the tag of this post.
pretty 🙂
I’m not more technical than that. My depth of field is always shallow 😉
xx
pinks
Very artistic shot. Ahh… Seattle… missin it now. 😦
It’s a lovely photo. Now where is Wibur?
Michelle – thank you very much. I just got lucky on this one.
Meno – I really should get the license plate for you.
Furiousball – thanks dude. The new post is up.
Lynn – I wish. She can coo, but she’s not able to sing yet. Give her a week or two.
Brookem – the best part about the picture, no spiders. I couldn’t find them in any webs the morning I took this photo. I managed to talk about Anna quite a bit in the updated version of this post.
Patches – that’s a great idea. Call me E.B. Singe.
Kristin – I like those placeholder photos much more than I do the Chevy Malibu ones. Keep them coming.
Airam – you’re responsible for all good ideas. Poopy diapers are a part of life. Kind of like burps.
Chris – you always have to make silly spider puns don’t you? I’m on to you sir, placeholder comment or not.
Justrun – gee thanks. I’m glad you do like the post. Maybe you will like the updated post as much. We’ll see.
Airam – Chris knows everything, he’s the real deal.
Carrie – you better believe it, I did shoot this picture. I even planted those blurry plants you can see in the background. Thank you.
*pixie* – it was all luck I tell you. By the way, you sound like Bob Ross.
Brookem – fodder! If you need Darting Fodder, that can be arranged.
Pink – it sure is purty. Merci. Technical smecknical.
A Life Uncommon – a wet spider web makes you miss Seattle? I think we need to chat.
Diane Mandy – Wilbur is trying to convince the world to eat oatmeal to lower their cholesterol. I get the feeling you meant a different Wilbur though.
Yay. I’m sure glad I came back for the finished post.
You got magic in that Hey Jude 🙂
Nice photo. Even purtier than the web.
xx
pinks
Oh no the phone didn’t wake her did it? Every time we put G-man down the phone rings.
We have since unplugged the phone.
Dude, that story is a winner. Loving the use of Beatles song and the shhhh, the rocking, go stuff and cute pix.
Anna will definitely appreciate the details of this post when she is older. It’s so great that you are journaling about the everyday’s in your life together.
when humming Hey Jude to get them to sleep avoid the outro Na Na Nanana na part
Is it me, or do you need a haircut?
Is this your first nite of babysitting. I think it went pretty well.
Oh, and if you have some time, send me and email. I want to give you the password to my now private blog. I tried to email you but it was saying there was an error. Grrr!
I didn’t mean you need a haircut in a bad way. I noticed your hair is longer than normal. That is all, it sounded kind of weird. But i didn’t mean it to be! 🙂
Very cute story Monsieur Singe.
I visited my friend today and her 1 month old. Holy cuteness batman. My friend pulled out a picture of herself when she was just an infant and they look like they could be twins! I was telling her I didn’t know who she looked like … but seeing Nadia’s baby picture … Ava definitely looks like her mom!
I was able to make Ava fall asleep while my friend and I were fooling around on Facebook. She snuggled right into me and fell fast asleep. My arms were killing me after I put her in her crib. You and N-Po must have arms of steel!
So beautiful! I miss the baby days and am very happy to relive them through your stories!
How gorgeous your little Anna is. You know what, the making of funny faces seems to be a universal thing dads do with their babies! My husband still does this with our kids now, haha..they love it!
Nevermind… I scratched the password idea. So you don’t have to email me.
Hey Pops Egan! Well done with “Operation Sleep Time”. I’m glad you are introducing Miss Anna to classic music such as “Hey Jude” at a young age. These things are very important. I’m pretty sure good music raises a kids IQ. That’s a lie but it could be true, yes?
Congratulations! You did a great job!
And, this was a great read. Completely opposite to any night we had when our son was 3months old. I couldn’t leave the room let alone the house when it was bed time.
I just love the way you describe how intimate your moments with Anna are – the burping, the singing, the loving way you cradle her – it makes my heart melt. Go Daddy!
What? Babies aren’t supposed to watch TV? Hmmm…
I agree with Brandy on the song choice. Good call. But I’m biased because I’m a Beatles girl.
And, there are some other awesome comments on this post, too. But I don’t have to point those out. You know what I’m talking about.
I love that you sing Hey Jude. I seem to always revert to Margaritaville.
Pink – do you think I need a haircut?
JQ – the one phone ring was planned. This way I wouldn’t have to run for the phone. I knew it would be her and that she’d be home in about 20 minutes.
Chris – I have no idea why Hey Jude is stuck in my head, but it is. It’s all about the humming with Anna. I also have Lean On Me in my head.
Lynn – yeah, I think it will be fun for her to see someday. I sure as hell hope Typepad never goes belly up.
Furiousball – that’s a great tip, one I will utilize.
Naynayfazz – well I wouldn’t call it babysitting since Anna is my daughter. It’s not the first time. I’ve been alone with her probably five times. It usually goes very well since I just put her to sleep for the night.
Naynayfazz – nice observation. I think what you’re witnessing with my hair is the net result of a new parent. Weekends are so damn busy I don’t have time to get my haircut. I might sneak off at lunch today and get a trim. Don’t worry, it’s all good.
Airam – my back and arm muscles are getting quite strong. Too bad the stomach muscles aren’t following suit. I will change that though. Ava? Who are you, Armalicious?
Tori – I get a sense they will be gone before I know it. It’s so precious to have her fall asleep in my arms. When she wakes up, she always has a smile on her face when we walk in her room. I love it.
Cazzie – I think dads like to be really silly with their kids. Making faces is akin to fart jokes right?
Naynayfazz – why would you want to password protect your blog?
Brandy – no, I think there’s scientific proof that listening to the likes of Milli Vanilli and Tom Cochrane will raise your IQ two fold.
Amanda – really? Why were you afraid to leave? Did your son have colic?
Princess Extraordinaire – that means a lot to me. The time I spend with her is very special. As we get closer and closer to sending her to daycare, I’m feeling more like a parent.
I Pity the Fool – you have an impersonator too. I love that I know exactly who you are without checking Typepad. Babies will try to watch tv no matter what. It’s my job to make sure she only watches fine shows like 90210, The Amazing Race, 24, The Hills, and World’s Scariest Cats.
Eunice – that Jimmy Buffet loves kids … and booze.
You guys have a pre-arranged telephone ring signal? That’s really cute. My dad used to do that back in the day before people had cell phones and everyone had to pay for regular long distance on their land lines.
I’m glad that babies grow out of the bowel movement via backslap thing. That could make manly back slapping a pretty nasty affair.
L – we did for that night. It didn’t work so well as Mrs. Lessinges called again. Then I scampered over to the phone to call her. The one ring idea is to not wake Anna up, but let me know she’s coming back. We have to perfect this communication.
Backslapping equals nasty bowel movements. Point well made.
A tip for you, from a mother to a new dad.
The first time I heard my husband tell one of his pals he couldn’t go golfing because he had to “babysit”?
Yeah.
Was the last time.
And the pic of you two together is absolutely gorgeous. I like your curly hair contrasted against her sleeker look. 😉
Jennifer – hey, I never used the term babysit. I actually corrected a commenter above who used that term because watching your own kid isn’t babysitting, it’s parenthood. I’m glad you like the photo. I did get my hair chopped today since it was quite unruly.
Yes, I know you made the correction, and I applaud you. ‘Tis a smart man who knows the difference and doesn’t slip up in front of his better/other half. Was just reinforcing the notion against confusing parenthood with the other business.
And your link in your last comment?
MADE ME SPIT WATER AT MY COMPUTER.
🙂
Well played, chief.
sounds like a good friday night, and well documented.
i just saw a cute man pass me by. im in the library on my lunch break, don’t ask.
Dude it’s November 13. What’s been going on in the last 5 days?
Jennifer – I’m glad you saw the correction. I would never say “babysitting” when it comes to my own daughter. You got that figured out though. I’m glad you liked the link. I thought you might not even notice it.
M – merci mon amie. How’s my accent?
Brookem – are you researching pickup lines?
Airam – I know, but the cool thing is I’m not obligated to post every day.
awwww, Egan! You’re such a good dad, just wait til you have more little Egans running around, heheheh 🙂
Michi – we’re not even discussing additional children until this time next year. One is heaps of work.
Why did I call it babysitting? Duh, thanks for correcting me. I sometimes write weird things. 🙂
Naynayfazz – I don’t know, but I had to make sure you know I don’t consider it that. Parenthood is a far cry from babysitting as there’s no handing the baby over at the end of the night.