Guest Blog Today

Today's blog is from a special guest. G.G., also known as Grandma Wanda (on Abbie's side), emailed me the following blog for your reading pleasure.

**Cooper’s world is being rocked this week! Abbie started back to work and the family is going through major transition. I went over to help Jim yesterday and Cooper was definitely giving him a bit to deal with. I have to say Jim handled every situation very well even though Cooper was going through his “Mommy D.T’s”. My funny story about Cooper occurred after Jim had placed him in front of the TV to watch Baby Einstein ---which he loves! After he had finished, he was in a great mood. I decided to give him some attention. I leaned down a few times to kiss him like his Mommy does and he smiled……..but then all of a sudden he really looked at me and his eyes popped wide open with a look of terror, his arms went over his head, face turned red, and he screamed (but no sound would come out). He looked like he was going down the first hill of a roller coaster. I realized that he was screaming, “You’re not my Mommy. What have you done with my Mommy?” He soon calmed down a bit and went to sleep sniffling in my arms as I rocked him in his rocking chair. I thought to myself as he layed there….”Grandson, your world has definitely been rocked and this is the way life is. Just know that you can make it through this and other trying times because you are very loved.” **

To bring everyone up to speed on Wanda's words...Abbie started back to work this week. If you thought giving birth was traumatic, try separating a first-time mother from her only child because she has to go back to work. It's not a pretty site, I tell ya.

Anyways, I have responsibility for getting Cooper off to our daycare provider, Cheryl, on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, with me covering Tuesday at home and G.G. covering Fridays. By the way...G.G. stands for Grandma Goat...it's an inside joke between Abbie and her mom, so don't ask any further...just know that Wanda is G.G. and Cooper will grow up knowing her as G.G.

Soooo, Monday comes along. Abbie left for work by 7AM, so I was by myself. Cooper is to feed between 08:30 and 09:30 before I take him to day care. 09:00 rolls around, and I get him ready to eat. Pull out his bottle, fill it up, and sit down with him. To which he begins to scream bloody murder. I think he's just hungry, so I put the nipple in his mouth. Nothing...he sucks for a few sucks, then begins screaming again. This goes on for about 5 minutes. I'm starting to get a bit frazzled. By 20 minutes of his blood curling screaming, I'm completely ready to lose it. After the first 30 minutes, I'm sooooo far gone, that I can't think straight. I call Abbie. I don't remember everything about this morning since it's all a blur, but she tried to explain to me what to do. I remember telling her that I'm at wit's end and that I can't do it and that I don't know what to do and that I need her to help me out! She tries to talk me through some steps, and I'm just not hearing it since I already tried it. The only solution ended up being going back to a method we used to feed him in the first two weeks of his life...finger feeding with a syringe.

After an hour and lots of frustrated weeping and sobbing (both Cooper and I), she finally calls me back and tells me to get him ready to go to Cheryl's. She called her, gave her an update on the situation, and Cheryl agreed to take care of it however she could. After some resistance and constant feelings of complete inadequacy on my part, I finally get him in the car and take him over to Cheryl's. She explains to me that he was probably scared because it wasn't mommy feeding him, which, up to this point, has been the only person feeding him. She explained that Cooper won't allow himself to go hungry. Which he didn't since he ate some more later with Cheryl.

Dad Tip: if your wife is breast feeding, expect some resistance when its time for you to bottle feed your baby. Your baby's primary caregiver has been mom, and now dad is going to feed him? Baby's like consistency and routine, not change...so they respond the only way they know...they wail!

Tuesday, we called in a big gun. Wanda. She stayed with me all day to be that little voice of help in the back of my head. She kept me calm and provided great feedback. Her help yesterday made this morning 100% better. He wailed this morning, but staying calm was what I did, and it helped because I was able to ascertain items that would calm him a bit until settling on the fact that he was hungry earlier than usual.

Dad Tip: Be calm. Your baby's like an animal...it smells your fear. Likewise, your baby can sense your anxiety and will feed off that. The more anxious you are, the worse his crying will be. If you're like me and have a hot temper...well, do like I did, and learn to get over that junk quickly.

Dad Tip: When you pull out a brand new bottle and nipple, ensure that there's been a hole poked into the nipple end. Otherwise, your baby's going to get jack crap and will get very frustrated very quickly. Yes, this is what I did.

Hope you enjoyed hearing about my plight with truly being a dad for the first time. I told Abbie, Cheryl, and Wanda that one hour on Monday was the single hardest thing I've done in my life yet. You know what they all said? "It only gets better from here." Thank God because if it gets worse, I'm going to impale myself with my letter opener.