First father?

Happy President's Day. In my old life I usually had to work on President's Day, and the only difference was that traffic wasn't so bad on the highway. It should of made me happy, but it only really made me feel like a sucker for having to go to work while everyone else was sleeping in. Now I guess every day is like President's Day. I don't have to deal with traffic, but I definitely don't get to sleep in either.

Anyway, in honor of today I suppose, Gallup did a poll asking people who the greatest president of the United States was, and really the results are just the sort of thing that make me depressed about being an American in 2005. The winner was Ronald Reagan, with Bill Clinton coming in second and Lincoln third. THIRD? It's so stupid I can't even make a comment.

Also interesting was the other question in the poll. It asked if parents would want their kids to become president one day. Fifty-seven percent said no, while only 40 percent said they would. Personally, even though she's only 7 months old, I think Madame would make a great president. She's already the boss of me.

Greatest US President? Public Names Reagan, Clinton, Lincoln. [Gallup.com]

I miss the bucket already.

I finally installed Madame's new car seat yesterday and we took it out for a test drive to the grocery store. I have to say the Britax worked great - it feels really secure and she fits in there perfectly. Everything else surrounding the trip however is now slightly more complicated.

This in-between infant and toddler period is a pain. She's too little to walk (I'm afraid she's no Tiger Woods) but too big for her infant car seat. The bucket ruled - keeping the baby in one manageable container had a lot of advantages. Now I've got to figure out if she's going to rock the stroller, the shopping cart, baby bjorn or if I'm just going to pick her up an throw her on my hip. And she's still a baby, so I had to buy this NoJo Secure-Me Travel Seat so she won't be able to move around too much in the cart. Great. More baby gear. Just what I wanted to deal with.

Weaaaaaaaah! What a whiny bitch I am. If I'm complaining in another six months about how she runs around all over the place, give me a slap.

(I have to credit MDD reader Drew for the term "the bucket" which, since I read it, I haven't been able to call the infant car seat anything else.)

Cord cutting clamp.

While cutting the cord after your baby is born might be a fairly safe procedure for dads here in this country, in developing nations it's not that simple. A San Antonio biotech company has apparently thought this through and created the Joey™ Umbilical Safety System (I guess baby koalas are also called "joeys"). It cuts and clamps the cord in onesanitary procedure, while preventing cross-contamination of potentially infected cord blood. The koala-faced clamp then stays on the child until the stump falls off. It will even leave some extra cord for testing, or if you're Korean maybe for gold plating and hanging on your wall.

While it's depressing to think of HIV positive babies being born and potentially infecting health care workers, in some countries I guess it's more common than we would want to believe. Hopefully this will help.

Medgadget.com link via Gizmodo.

News links for a Wednesday.

Stigmatizing Fathers [Reason Online]
A pretty good article about the tough place fathers can find themselves in if the mother of their unborn baby decides to put it up for adoption. "Biological paternity isn't everything; but it isn't nothing either."

Auction To Name Child [Sky News]
An Australian couple decided to put "promotional rights" for their unborn baby up for auction on eBay, but eBay pulled the auction on the last day. When did eBay get a conscience? I must have missed that.

Why do kids get sick? [USNews.com]
The "National Children's Study," the largest long-term study of children and disease is about to begin. It will take 21 years and might cost as much as $2.7 billion, but could you put a price on a good chance for a cure for diabetes, asthma or autism? Me neither.

Name Voyager.

I found this little gem last night while I was supposed to be sleeping - the Name Voyager. It's this totally rad little flash applet that shows how popular individual names were by decade. The wider the band, the higher that name was ranked for that particular decade. You can run your mouse over the whole graph to highlight individual names, or type in a name (or first few letters of a name) that you're interested in to get more specific.

Looking through it made me try to figure out the reasons for the trends, like why some names are incredibly popular for a decade or two and then completely drop off. Check out "Betty." Betty was the ranked 44 in the 1920's and then hit number 2 in the 1930's. By the 60's it went back down to 104. Why? Betty Grable? Or how about the names that come out of nowhere, like Jennifer. Jennifer wasn't even ranked in the top 1000 before the 1940s and then all of a sudden by the 1970's it's the number one girl's name.  Where did that come from?

Anyway, it's kind of cool to look at, especially if you're currently considering names.

Name Voyager on the Baby Name Wizard website.

Journey into videogames.

When I was a kid my family went to Walt Disney World and Epcot Center in Florida, and one of the attractions at Epcot was this exhibit where you could be “in” the movie. It was basic weatherman-green-screen stuff, all designed to make the kids laugh and make their parents look goofy. Unlike a lot of the promises of the Journey Into Imagination, it seems at least one has come true. Sort of.

Hasbro has announced it will launch a new “learning” video game system for kids in the fall called the ION Gaming System (even the name sounds so Epcot). The system has a small motion sensitive camera, which will put the children playing “into” the game so they can interact with it. For instance one game will have kids popping virtual bubbles filled with letters so they can spell a word. It sounds kind of cool, but I bet it feels like playing pong with your hand as the paddle. And no matter what Hasbro says, I don’t think this is going to help stem the problem of obesity in kids.

Who am I kidding? Home electronics/educational toys/video game systems? I think I’m genetically programmed to buy this kind of stuff.

Link via Cool Hunting

Oh yeah. And happy St. Valentine's Day.

Nelson clocks for kids.

A while ago I was thinking about getting a clock for Madame's room - something she could enjoy when she got older but would look great too. Staying with the big dot theme of her nursery, originally I was thinking about one of the George Nelson ball clocks. They look great, but a clock without numbers doesn't seem like a good idea for a child's room (You see sweetie? When the big hand is on the red ball and the little hand is on the orange ball it's time for dinner). Then I saw these the other day.

Vitra is now reissuing three animal themed clocks designed by George Nelson - the "Zoo Timers." There is Omar the Owl, Fernando the Fish, and Talulah the Toucan (pictured). Besides having great names (I think I need a friend named Omar), they're colorful, fun and have big numbers. As is far too often, great design (especially from a big-name designer) doesn't come cheap, but they sure are cool.

Zoo Timer clocks $115 at Unicahome

Sleep.

I've been noticing recently in a few dad blogs (like this entry in More Diapers) there has been some talk of getting the baby to sleep. Not to brag, but we've had Madame sleeping through the night since she was about 8 weeks old. (OK. That was bragging, but I didn't mean it. I swear.) Sure, she's a great baby and I'm sure there's some amount of dumb-luck on our side, but I'm a firm believer that we helped the situation too.

I want to preface this by saying that I'm no expert and obviously whatever works for you is OK. If you want to get up in the middle of the night and wake the baby to change a diaper - I think you're nuts but to each his own. Also, keep in mind that no one actually sleeps through the night. You, me, your dog - we all wake up in the middle of the night and put ourselves back to sleep. The baby needs to learn how to do the same thing. Lastly, I copped most of this from Dr. Michael Cohen's The New Basics - a great book I highly recommend.

OK. Here's how MDD did it.

1. First few weeks do what you have to do. The baby doesn't even know the difference between night and day. Think of it like 9 months worth of jet lag. You just have to suck it up.
2. After a couple of weeks, let the baby cry a little before you rush to pick it up. It might be hard, but don't freak out after every little peep.
3. Once the baby is big enough for the crib (and is out of the bassinet in your room - maybe after a month or two?), put the baby to sleep at night. Once the baby starts crying, let the baby cry for 10 minutes alone before going back. Console and quiet the baby, then if the baby cries again, give it another 10 minutes (from the point when the baby starts crying). Eventually the baby will sleep. If it wakes up in the middle of the night - stick to the 10 minute rule.
4. By now hopefully you've got a baby sleeping through the night. If after 4 months you don't, then drop the 10 minute rule. Put the baby to bed at 7 PM. Say goodnight, close the door and come back at 7AM the next day. No matter what.

There it is. Basically, don't be afraid to let them cry a little. That 10 minute rule worked like a charm for us and honestly I think I've got a happier baby during the day because she's well rested. I'm not crazy about making her nap during the day. If she does (and she usually does) that's great, but if I'm getting a full night's rest I can pretty much handle anything she dishes out during the day.

Housecleaning.

I just read the latest MetroDad entry, and I realized I have to seriously update my dad blogroll in the right-hand column. I'm only going to update it with stuff I'm currently reading, though with that MetroDad post it's obvious I've got a lot of new blogs to check out. New additions are:

• Ideashak. Paul just had his beautiful baby girl and is now, officially, a dad-blogger. I could say that's why I didn't have him in the dad blogs section before, but it wouldn't be true. I'm lazy. His blog was great before he was a dad too.
• Defective Yeti. I just realized I don't have this one in the list.  What's the matter with me?
• More Diapers. A new blog from a dad in my old hometown of Boston that I've been enjoying.
• Genuine. How come when I read his blog, in my head I pronounce it "jen-you-wine" and not "genuine?" Who am I, Sheriff Roscoe P. Coltrane? Regardless, I think it deserves the elaborate pronunciation.

Oh. And I also updated the CDs I'm listening to while I as at it.

Babies behind the wheel.

You know, why am I so concerned with getting my baby a new car seat, when I could just let her sit up front with me and steer? Apparently it's all the rage these days.

Dad who let son steer gets 9 months in jail [Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel].
Spend some quality father/son time? Check. Realize you're too drunk to drive? Check. Put your six year old (and sober) son on your lap so he can steer the car instead? That gets you nine months in the hoosegow.

Mich. 4-Year-Old Does Late-Night Driving [Washington Post].
This one is unbelievable to me. Not because the the kid actually got the car a quarter of a mile to the video store, and not because the mom was stupid enough to put him on her lap and teach him how to drive (see news story above). But because this four year old knew enough to throw it into reverse and back up after he hit a parked car. If I'm the kid's dad I'm proud and horrified all at the same time.

Armshell rockers.

I noticed the other day in a Design Within Reach catalog that Herman Miller is once again producing licensed Eames armshell rockers (and other plastic armshell pieces). I can only guess that the Eamesian (is that a word? It should be.) fiberglass armshell rockers being produced by Modernica were so popular that Herman Miller decided to get back into the business. DWR has them for only $379, which is pretty competitive with Modernica, though they only have four colors to choose from (Modernica has every color you can imagine) and they're made of some sort of new, enviro-friendly plastic. Personally I think the fiberglass looks way cooler.

The modern day dad suggestion? Get a vintage one if you can find it, or if you're too lazy to hunt one down, get one from Modernica like I did. Honestly, it's a chair no modern nursery should be without.

"Baby's fun" rattle.

You know, you can buy all the Lamaze and Baby Einstein crap in the world for you kid, but sometimes it's the random stuff they love the most. My parents went to Japan for a vacation last year, and while they were there they got a couple of toys for their grandchild-to-be. One of them was this simple rattle (pictured), made by this company called Toyroyal.

It's cute, but not anything you would think was that special. There's no black, white and red stripes; no crinkly flaps; and if you can believe it, it doesn't even speak Spanish. All it is is a basic, plastic rattle that makes a chiming noise when you shake it. And right now it's pretty much her favorite thing in the world. I can surround her with all kinds of stuff while she's sitting on the floor playing, and all I have to is hold it up, make it chime and she kicks her legs and yelps like it's the coolest thing she's ever seen.

Then she grabs it and tries to put it in her mouth.

I'm pretty sure you can't get them in America, but it you've got a friend (or a mom and dad) who are going to Japan anytime soon, I'd recommend asking for one.

Here's the Google translation of the Toyroyal page where the "baby's fun" rattle "Super chime" is found (750 yen = a little over $7.00).

Take it from me. Shingles sucks.

When I was a little kid (about 8 or 9) I got the chickenpox really bad. Besides the rash I had a digestive system that refused to function and I pretty much lost all muscle control in my legs. In fact it was the first time I can remember thinking that it was possible that I could die. Not that I was going to of course, but it was the first time I ever thought about my mortality. Anyway it sucked, so I can understand why people are making sure their kids are getting the chickenpox vaccination that's now available. I was into it too, until I read this article in the NY Times.

Apparently researchers are worried that by immunizing children to chickenpox, we are increasing the risk of adults contracting shingles. Shingles is basically a reactivation of the chickenpox virus that lies dormant in adults who got chickenpox as children (which is most of us). Adult exposure to children with chickenpox boosts the immunity to the virus that we already have in our bodies, and helps to prevent us from coming down with shingles. But if kids aren't getting chickenpox anymore, adults aren't exposed and therefore might be more likely to come down with shingles.

Big deal you say? It's better to keep a child healthy? I know what you mean, but besides having one of the worse names for a condition ever ("shingles" just sounds nasty), let me tell you from personal experience shingles sucks too. I got a somewhat mild case of it about a year ago (luckily in a pretty discreet place - my lower back) and it hurts. At it's worse it burned like hell, and anything touching it - even my shirt - just irritated it more. It went away eventually, but my doctor told me that in extreme cases a person can develop nerve damage (post herpetic neuralgia) that can last forever. I was confident that wouldn't happen to me, but there was always that worry that it might not go away - which was pretty frightening.

So I'm not sure where I stand on this, or even if there's any point to an opinion. Even a researcher in the article says that it's just a hypothesis now and needs to be looked at more closely. Maybe I'll just get Madame the vaccine but invite any neighborhood kids with chickenpox over instead for a "Let's Boost Dad's Immunity!" party.

Chickenpox Vaccine Cuts Deaths but Raises Questions on Shingles [NY Times]

Some product endorsements.

So like I blogged about a few days ago, I went out and got the Baby Einstein "stationary entertainer" (don't say exersaucer™ - or onesie™ - or binky™) for Madame. A few days later and I can safely say she loves it. She really seems to love playing with the things on it, and will often stay interested for over an hour. It's sturdy, isn't overloaded with too many toys or electronic noises, and the primary color scheme is just nicer to have in the house.

In the spirit of more endorsements, Greg at Daddytypes has reprinted an funny email from Matthew Baldwin of Defective Yeti, who defends the Fisher Price Laugh & Learn Learning Home, and endorses some other products for your baby. He also warns about some other stuff you'll be happy to steer clear of.

Knock, Knock: We're From Defective Yeti, And We're Here To Help  [Daddytypes]

Time for a new car seat.

At 19 lbs. 2 oz., Madame is a mere 14 oz. from being too big for her infant car seat. The weird thing is this fact kind of snuck up on me. I think I spent so much time before and right after she was born trying to research the best stuff for her - car seats, swings etc - that somewhere in my brain I figured I was all done. But now my little baby isn't so little anymore, and I've got to do some new research. I guess with kids you are never done.

I looked up Consumer Reports' ratings for what I'm learning is called "convertible" car seats, and they recommend the Britax Roundabout, which is also one of the most expensive models, selling for around $200. A lot of the seats were very competitive in their rankings, but the Roundabout edged out the competition because it had "somewhat better side-impact protection." The cheaper Evenflo Titan also performed well.

I figure I'll go with the Roundabout. Car seats don't seem like the sort of things you should bargain shop for if you can help it, and it gets overwhelmingly high Amazon feedback. Does anyone have any opinions or advice that I'm missing?

Mapping high school relations.

Here's something to scare the crap out of a dad on a Monday morning. Researchers from Ohio State University mapped out the "romantic" and sexual relationships between students at an average (and anonymous) high school. They expected to find a core group of students who were sexually and romantically active, but instead they found out that, well, almost everyone was. The article is actually quite interesting, trying to explain among other things that one humongous chain where more than 52 percent of the students were inter-connected.

I'm really starting to see the appeal of home schooling.

Researchers Map the Sexual Network of an Entire School [OSU Research News]
The Structure of Romantic and Sexual Relations at "Jefferson High School" [link to the full page chart]

via Boing Boing

Kind of ignoring Oscar.

I was looking at this list of Oscar nominees yesterday, and it occurred to me that I haven't seen (almost) any of the movies. People told me before the baby but goddamn if it isn't true - once you have a child you can forget about ever going to the movies. But that sad fact wasn't the biggest self-revelation I had. The fact is, before the baby arrived I would try to see at least all of the best movie nominees before the awards. It usually made the show more fun to watch and more importantly talk about at work the next day. But looking at the list I realized that not only had I seen only a couple of the movies, this is the first year in a while that I just don't give a crap.

Anyway, here's my 2005 Academy Award breakdown by movie and where/how I saw it, and if I did or would like to see it. I'm going by not just the best movie nominees, but all the movies associated with a nominee on the nominees page - a total of 57 by my lazy count.  Continued for those that give a crap...

Movies I've seen:

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (DVD)  It didn't change my life, but I enjoyed it.
• Shrek 2 (DVD). I thought it sucked.
• Spiderman 2 (Theater). Good movie for a PG-13 action movie, but I'm not rushing out to buy the DVD.
• I, Robot (Theater). I'm a sucker for Will Smith action movies, but seriously, the CG looked as good as my XBOX. This was the last one we saw before the baby.

Movies I would like to see but don't really care if I do any time soon:

• Hotel Rwanda - Cheadle.
• Sideways - Paul Giamatti rules and got robbed of his own nomination this year. At least that's what I want to believe.
• The Aviator - If it wasn't for DiCaprio, I'd probably actually try to go see this soon. It seems like the sort of movie you should see in the theater.
• Ray - I know, it's a whole lot of Jamie Fox, but I usually like musician biopics - especially when the actor actually plays the instrument.
• Collateral - Just seems like a good rental.
• Supersize Me - I actually half-heartedly tried to see this in the theater before the baby was born.
• The Incredibles - I figure there will be a time in my not so distant future when I end up seeing this over and over again, but it still sounds good.

Remaining number of movies I don't give a crap about: 46

Helping out single dads in NY.

It might suck right now dealing with the cold and snow if you live in New York, but you should be proud to live in a state that cares about dads. I read last night that NY Governor George Pataki (R) is proposing legislation that will give a tax credit to low income fathers who don't have custody of their children but are current on their child-care payments. Currently single, low-income parents with custody (mostly women) benefit from such a tax credit, but this would help out both people responsible for their children. The tax credit is supposed to not only encourage young men (the first implementation would affect dads 18-30) to work and pay their child support, but also hopefully encourage them to participate in their children's lives.

What can you say about something that sounds like such a great idea you're surprised it's a new idea? If  these are the kind of republicans you are growing out there in the blue states, could you send some of them out here to the red states?

In New York, a welfare experiment for single dads  [Christian Science Monitor]

(By the way, let me pat myself on the back. Congratulations to me on my 100th post!)

Exersaucering decisions.

In the post-Christmas haze that my household has become, the baby stuff we have is just now beginning to take over. I'm not slipping on roller skates or stepping on Legos like some sort of cartoon (yet), but the blankets to roll around on, activity gym, baby swing, and seemingly endless amounts of toys all take up room. I realize I only have myself to blame, but it's starting to get out of hand.

I suppose all of this is why I was resistant to getting an "excersaucer" (which is apparently an Evenflo trademark) or "stationary entertainer" (as Babies R Us classifies them) for the baby. There's no way I'm getting her a walker which just seems dangerous, but something where she can safely hang out (no pun intended) and play while I deal with dinner sounds pretty good to me. It's going to take up even more room, but I'm now to the point where I think the good is outweighing the bad.

So I did some research on-line which wasn't very helpful (I think they created the expression "take it with a grain of salt" specifically for Amazon feedback), and I went to my local Babies R Us to check them out. I think I'm going to go with the Baby Einstein Caterpillar Discovery & Play Center, mostly because it doesn't have a million things on it like the Evenflow Exersaucer, and the sounds it makes are in multiple languages (and I'm definitely down with that). The guy-who-used-to-be-in-a-band in me wanted the Leapfrog Learn & Groove Activity Station (dude - it's got a kiddie turntable), but the dad in me realized after a day or two those noises would drive me nuts.

So the Baby Einstein version it is. I'll let you know what I think of it in a few weeks.

Sixth month developments.

Well, we just passed Madame's sixth month birthday and we've officially begun what is usually described to me as "the best age." "Wait until they are six months old," people say. "That's the best age."

I have to say I can understand where they are coming from. Right now everything for her is brand new, and she's interacting with just about everything within her arm's reach. At the same time she's not old enough to speak or be intentionally obstinate and willful. She's mostly happy to sit and play with some toys, or smile at anyone who smiles at her. It is a great age, but I'd like to think it's going to keep getting better (though I know there will also be some rough times ahead too).

Anyway, her six month developments are some big ones. They are:

• Sitting up: She was close last month, but for a week or two now she's been sitting up on the floor completely unassisted. Spread some toys around for her to reach and grab and she's a happy girl. She can't get back up on her own if she falls over, but all of her struggling to sit up on her own these past few months has paid off.
• Rolling over: This one has been a worry of mine, but the other week we came into her room in the morning to find her sleeping on her stomach. It's now to the point that she's on her belly about 30-40 percent of the mornings. She's not rolling around all over the house yet, but I think this is a step in the right direction.
• Grasp and release: She was reaching and grabbing things last month, but now she's learned to release whatever she's holding onto, especially if she wants to pick up something else.
• Shaking her head: I'm not sure if this is a "development" or not, but it's something that's turned up recently that she keeps repeating. Occasionally when she's tired (in bed or in her stroller or swing) she'll whip her head back and forth, and when she's half asleep it looks kind of like she's possessed. I'm guessing she's just uncomfortable and is instinctively shaking her head to try to settle down, or maybe it has something to do with rolling over - I'm not sure. I'll be sure to keep the Ouija Boards away from her a while though - just to be on the safe side.