Dear Madelyn ~ ONE. 💕

Dear Madelyn,

On the eve of your first birthday as I sit here nursing you to sleep I can't help but have all the emotions run through me. Weren't you just born? Seriously, one whole year already. My sweet baby girl, you have stolen our hearts from the moment we found out we were having another baby and let me tell you from day one, you have owned your daddy. With that I give you this....

....

#maddiedaddymonth

This is only coming about 4 (now 9) months later, thanks to our crazy life with two kids, both working full time, and completing my final semester of grad school, BUT, I had so much fun with my special guest blog entry after Madelyn’s birth that I wanted to take another stab at it. Below is my reflection on my time home with baby girl, which we’ll call Maddie-Daddy month.

I was fortunate enough to have the entire month of September home with Madelyn when Tess went back to work. School also began for Nolan and I had one-on-one time with Maddie each day until we picked Nolan up at 3:00 (which had its own obstacles). Enjoy our not so adventurous adventures:

Forewarning: 75% of this is about poop.

Day 1: I figure I’ll just dive right in to being a stay-at-home dad for a month...let’s run some errands after dropping Nolan off at school. After all, daily Target visits are essential to becoming a successful stay-at-home parent, right?? Why does my car stink suddenly? Ohhhh the baby pooped, no big deal, I’ll just change her at the sto……….where’s the f%&#ing diaper bag?! Time to go back home, we’ll try again tomorrow. Maddie - 1 Daddy - 0

Day 2 : This girl has more blowouts than the USA basketball team. Another explosion causes us to be running slightly behind schedule for getting Nolan to school. Luckily we made it and I was able to convince Nolan to do the drop-off line instead of walking him into school so Maddie doesn’t get wet in the rain. I’m feeling adventurous so I even take Maddie out to lunch later in the day and survive without incident (screaming, crying, or explosion). I think I’m getting a hang of this thing until I proudly send Tessa a picture of Maddie and the outfit I selected for her. Mommy’s response was just “LOL”. Dressing baby girls is much harder than boys….

Day 3 - I’ll have mommy pick out Maddie’s pants with her onesie today so I can avoid another “LOL”. Another smooth drop-off for big brother so I’ll try errands again. We stare at some awesome TV’s at BJ’s, but made it out of there with only the essentials. It’s much easier to control spending at a store when you shop with a tiny snap-N-go instead of a cart. However, I’m also surprised at how easily a 3-gallon tub of peanut butter fits in the bottom of a snap-N-go. I consider today a win. Maddie - 1 Daddy - 1.

Day 4: Pretty much an uneventful day, which I think is a good thing. The battle for naptime begins and I eventually get her to fall asleep on me (100% the best way to ever take a nap, I don’t care what Ross and Joey say). Of course once she’s actually asleep I only have 20 minutes until we pick up Nolan. So much for that….

Week 2!

Day 1- The nap battle continues as Madelyn decides she only needs one hour of sleep. I take her to her doctor’s appointment and she screamed on the scale, but didn’t flinch at her first shot. She’s already tougher than her brother (and me).

Chicken in crock pot and two loads of laundry done and folded. But, dishwasher and sink are both still full…..Househusband skills - 2 out of 3..

Day 2 - Cool, look at this onesie with shorts! I don’t have to match anything or judge colors. I learn that this cool outfit is called a romper.

Time to try laying her in her crib for both naps, wish me luck….....Maddie - 2 Daddy - 0….enough said….

Day 3 - We always played Bob Marley to calm Nolan when he refused to nap, and it seemed to work 90% of the time. Maddie wasn’t a big Marley fan, but I rediscovered the Sublime lullaby playlist and it’s amazing!

Day 4: It’s 7:30am and both kids are still asleep, I should probably wake them. Despite the late start, we still make it to school on time. We met Mommy for a lunch date, which I’m sure was the highlight of her day. And mine too. I continue to lose the crib nap battle. Maddie - 3749 Daddy - 1, maybe 2.

Week 3

Day 1 - Nolan decided he didn’t even need to say bye to me at drop off and ran straight into his classroom. I love how much he has grown since his first year of pre-school. I decided to go get tires on the car, resulting in having to kill two hours with the baby until the car was done. Maddie did her part to take care of at least 20 minutes by destroying another diaper and outfit. We survive our two hours, and meet about 50 super nice old women while walking through various stores. I tell myself it’s 50/50 baby lovers vs. cougars.

Day 2 - I laughed at something on TV and Maddie giggled afterwards. Maddie - infinity, Daddy - melted.

Day 3 - Another day of errands, this time with a run to Dick’s Sporting Goods instead of Target. Since we weren’t home, Maddie decided to do what she does best. This is also the day that I learned that Dick’s Sporting Goods does not believe in men changing diapers. Why would we need a changing table in the bathroom when changing diapers in a hot car is so much more fun?! Thanks, Dick’s!

Day 4 - I see a new stain on the floormat in my car (thanks again, Dick’s Sporting Goods!)

Week 4

Day 1 & 2 - Nolan got sick and stayed home with us to begin the week. He was the sweetest to make sure he only kissed Maddie, after asking permission, on the top of her head and not her face in order to keep his germs away.

The rest of the week was much smoother with Madelyn only ruining one outfit. Although the explosion also took a pair of my basketball shorts as an additional casualty. Gross.

I am happy to say that I survived a month of being a stay-at-home dad and am very fortunate for the special one-on-one time with Maddie. I loved every second that I was able to spend home with Maddie bug and wouldn’t trade if for anything, even clean basketball shorts.