Little Ethan is nearly five months old… which scares the crud out of me.  I swear we were in the hospital for his birth like last week!  It’s funny, I just had my 30th birthday a few weeks ago, and it felt like nothing.  For most of my friends, it was a coming-of-age moment, a huge milestone.  For me though, I feel like I already hit that with Ethan’s birth; after that, my age is simply a number.  Plus I’ll still say I’m 29 for the next few years anyways.

We recently changed car seats from the infant to the older model, and thank goodness for that.  Ethan absolutely HATED his old car seat.  I can’t remember the make and model, because Mrs. Taylor did the buying for it, but I’ll bring it up for a future edit.  Ethan was very atypical; he would scream for at least 2/3 of all car rides, and here’s where he gets a little quirky.  If we were going fast enough, Ethan was quiet and peaceful; but slow down or stop, and he became a banshee.  And the magical number was 80 km/hour (or 50 mph).  I felt like I was in Back to the Future, with a screaming baby in the back instead of the flux capacitor, but the idea was the same; hit 80 as fast as possible to save the world (or in my case, my hearing and sanity).

If you hit a red light… you were done.  He would slowly wind up with a low moan, becoming a mid-range warble, and then finally into a red-faced, tonsil-shaking, glass-shattering wail.  I would grip the steering wheel like a Nascar driver, and then gun it out of the gate to get back to 80… at which point the crying would subside into complaining grunts and unhappy whimpers.  We could never figure out why.

Thankfully, we no longer have to, as the new carseat is much more comfortable.  He actually sits quietly, often SMILING, while we strap him into this one.  And he hasn’t cried once in nearly a dozen car trips!  It’s too bad babies won’t retain their early memories once they’re able to speak, I’d love to pick Ethan’s brain and figure out why Back to the Future became a metaphor for our travels together.

First of all, his sleeping habits.  Ethan sleeps better than I do!  After his late-night bottle, usually between 10-11pm, we change him and put him down (swaddled, as his arms are still very active).  He usually falls asleep with minimal complaining… and stays asleep until 6am or 7am!  Usually he wakes up at 6am with a yelp, but putting a soother in his mouth knocks him out again for another 60-90 minutes, like a Baby Snooze Button.  I am very fortunate here; I honestly haven’t had more than 2-3 nights with Ethan awake between midnight and 5am in nearly two months.

The second is his eating habits.  Because of complications during delivery, Ethan is bottle-fed rather than breast-fed.  While this has the consequence of VERY high food costs (he uses Nestle’s probiotic formula, typically $30 a can), it means I can do feedings without my wife Mrs. Taylor being involved.  This allows for some quality father-son bonding time.  And he eats like a CHAMP.  Some of our friends still have 3-month-old babies eating every three hours.  Ethan however has a breakfast bottle (8am), a lunch bottle (12-1pm), a dinner bottle (5-7pm) and a late night bottle (10-11pm).  That’s it: four feedings of a whopping 7oz per feeding.  It also has the added benefit of some hilariously potent and forceful belches coming out of the little guy.  But his schedule is fairly consistent, which makes him wonderfully predictable.  We now know that if we feed him, we have a 3-4 hour window to do any errands.

And finally, we have Ethan’s temperament.  He is most agitated when he’s tired or hungry, and slightly upset when his diaper is wet.  Other than that, he very rarely cries.  We brought him to a family reunion this past weekend, and he was golden.  He met (and was passed around by) 25-30 different people, and for nearly four hours he barely made a peep (except when he was hungry).  At the end of hour four he started to have enough and became a little cranky, but by that point it was more than understandable.  He’s such a happy baby: the first thing he does when he sees my face in the morning is break into a massive grin and start cooing.  I’ll tell you, that is THE best way to start the day; you can’t be in a bad mood after having your baby son flash a huge grin simply because he’s aware of your presence.

If this sounds like bragging, it isn’t… much.    It’s more to share how happy I am with my son, how lucky I am that he’s the way he is, and how much I’m enjoying being a father.  And really, that’s the entire reason I started this irregularly-updated blog in the first place!

I should be able to update more than bi-weekly now that work is quieting down.  I’m also working on a few sports-related articles to mix things up.  Thanks for stopping by!

Firstly, the vacation.  Mrs. Taylor, Baby Ethan and I went to my in-laws’ cottage for the long weekend to spend some quality time together.  Ethan was able to meet some of my wife’s family’s closest friends.  In particular, my mother-in-law’s best friend was Ethan’s favourite.  He absolutely lit up every time she came near, and he couldn’t stop smiling at her all weekend.  It was hilarious!

During this weekend (where Ethan hit the 10-week mark), Ethan also discovered TV.  Apparently baseball is a huge hit; I suspect it is all the bright colours (blue seats and walls, white and dark uniforms, bright green field) that caught his eye.  But whatever it was, he would go virtually motionless in his bouncy chair, and stare wide-eyed at a baseball game for 20-30 minutes at a time.  My father-in-law was thrilled, since baseball is his favourite sport (after golf).

Then my wife and I got a nice treat; as an anniversary gift (we have been married for five years now), my in-laws took Ethan back home and watched him for four days.  The wife and I were then able to enjoy the cottage on our own (well, plus the dog too; she didn’t fit in the in-laws’ car with all the baby gear and their dog).  I know some new parents go through crazy baby-withdrawal, and we were expecting that.  But while my wife would look at pictures on our cell phones occasionally, we were pretty much okay.  We definitely missed him, but it wasn’t the “oh my god, we need to get to the baby!!!” hysterics that some people have warned us about.

It was also nice to have the break, and go back to “just us” for a few days.  Don’t get me wrong, we completely love Ethan, and I wouldn’t change a thing about him.  But it was great to be able to sit and read (I polished off nearly three books during the week off), or watch a 20-minute TV show without interruptions (typically it takes us 50-60 minutes to watch a 20-minute program with all the pausing to take care of Ethan).

My in-laws loved having him over, but they were completely exhausted when we got him home.  We had them over Sunday for a thank you dinner, and they could barely keep their eyes open.

That’s all for now; thanks for stopping by!
Jason Taylor (New Dad J.T.)

Week 6 saw Ethan make the lives of the Mrs. and I MUCH easier with one key change; he slept five consecutive hours in the night.  I felt like I’d awoken from a coma, completely refreshed.  And the best part is, his sleeping habits have only solidified over the past two weeks; he now sleeps 6-7 hours straight.  And typically he wakes up after that nice long sleep, fusses until he gets a pacifier, and then goes back to sleep for another 1-2 hours.  It’s a FANTASTIC change from the up-three-or-four-times-a-night marathons we were engaged in during his first month.

The second change is his eating habits.  He went through a big appetite increase, and now seems to have levelled off.  Instead of 6-8 feedings of 3oz or so, he’s now down to 4 feedings of 5.5 oz.  He’s practically on our schedule now; breakfast, lunch, dinner and then a late-night meal right before bed.  And after that late-night bottle (and requisite belch-fest), he goes into an utter milk coma (and enters into the terrific sleeping patterns I mentioned earlier).

So we’re on the verge of Month Two, and our we’re settling into a routine with him.  It almost makes Mrs. Taylor and I feel like we know what we’re doing!

He has however greatly affected my eating habits as well.  I lost a fair amount of weight myself during the pregnancy, mainly due to stress.  So now I’m trying to focus on putting some pounds back on (I know, not a typical problem, and one that some would love to have).  But one of the biggest adjustments to fatherhood for me has been dinnertime.  I NEVER get to eat my dinner hot, and it takes 2-3 times as long as it used to.  For example, Mrs. Taylor and I will sit down to watch a little TV and unwind with an inexpensive meal (e.g. pasta) once I’m home from work.  But little Spencer will want a bottle, then need changing, then fuss, then want attention… and by the time it’s all said and done, it’s taken 50 minutes to watch a 22-minute TV episode, and I’ve only had three or four bites of hot food.

This is definitely not meant to complain; the wife and I try to rotate our attention as much as possible so that we can enjoy hot food.  It’s just funny, because it was something I had never considered, yet should have: the disruption of an everyday activity because my life is now completely different than it was before Ethan arrived.  Watching TV is also now a luxury; if we can make it through an entire half-hour program (or 22 minutes, since most of what we watch is either DivX or a DVD box set) without interruption, we count ourselves lucky.

On another note, we’re getting ready to take Ethan to my in-laws’ cottage this weekend, and it’ll be his first extended trip away from home.  We’re going to have so much luggage and equipment that people will think we’re either moving in, or establishing a base camp.  Hopefully the weather holds, and Ethan can enjoy the experience as much as a six-week-old can.

That’s it for now!

Cheers,
New Dad J.T.

Little Ethan was born just shy of 7 lbs, which meant that Size 1 diapers were a non-issue (they’re better for babies that weight 10 lbs and up).  We therefore had to use Newborn diapers.

There were two brands to consider in this area: Huggies Little Snugglers, and Pampers Swaddlers.

Mrs. Taylor and I initially went with the Snugglers, mainly because that was the brand we’d seen at the local Costco (we were new parents, but we knew full well we’d have to buy in bulk to keep up with the pending poop machine).  We figured that if Huggies was the one we could reliably get in large quantities at a decent price, we might as well try that out first.

Ethan however had other plans.  Ethan was born 19″ and 6 lbs, 15.4 oz.  He was a fairly lanky baby, with thin legs.  We didn’t think much of it; we started using the Huggies and everything was fine.  Then we started noticing that he would suddenly be drenched; his onesie would be soaked, and the mattress cover from his bed would have a large circle.  And this wasn’t happening once in a while; it was happening fairly frequently.

On a whim, we switched to Pampers Swaddlers.  We opted to try the Sensitive ones, because of the indicator strip.  Again, being new parents, this was something we’d never considered.  Both the Snugglers and Swaddlers have a yellow strip up the middle of the diaper that turns blue when the inside of the diaper is wet.  Let me tell you, that’s a HUGE headache- and time-saver.  Being able to instantly see if diaper changing is a potential concern for a crying baby helps you address the real reason why the baby is crying ASAP.  And when a baby is screaming his head off at 5am for the third consecutive hour… ASAP is pretty critical.

Anyways, we noticed right after a few days of switching between the two diaper types that the “leaks” never happened while he was wearing Pampers, and that they only occured (if at all) while he was wearing Huggies.

After going through approximately 12,563 diapers in the first two weeks (it may have actually been a lower number, but it felt like that many), we believe it had to do with Ethan’s legs.  Because his legs were very long but thin, the Huggies (ironically enough) didn’t “hug” his legs tightly enough.  As a result, when he peed, it would escape between his legs and the diaper.  As a result, his bed and onesie would be soaked.

Once we discovered that little tidbit, we switched almost exclusively to Pampers Swaddlers, and haven’t had a problem since.  Now in the tail end of Ethan’s fourth week, our Swaddlers supply ran out (we’ve been waiting for them to go on sale, which they did yesterday).  To be fair, the Huggies Snugglers seem to be fine now that he’s bulked up.  However, I can still say that the Pampers are MUCH easier to put on.  They feel sturdier, the adhesive seems to be better, and for some reason the Huggies material at the back seems more prone to folding up under Ethan when he squirms.

Test things out for yourself to see what you prefer; but if you have a boy who is very thin during his first few weeks, I highly recommend Pampers Swaddlers over Huggies Snugglers.

Cheers,
New Dad J.T.

Okay, so a few developments to share.  After being fairly agreeable during his first two weeks of life, little Ethan suddenly turned into a tiny creature capable of being louder and more annoying than a car alarm.  Poor Mrs. Taylor had to contend with him at his worst; one day last week, Ethan was purple-faced screaming and crying from 10am until just after 4pm.  Our doctor said that, while he wasn’t 100% sure if it was colic, Ethan was displaying colic-like symptoms and recommended that we change his formula.

The first step was the formula.  Up until now, we had been feeding Ethan Similac Advance (the liquid version that you add water to).

Now, we’ve switched to Nestle Good Start (with probiotic cultures - the powder version that you mix into water).

The intention here is to eliminate the possibility that Similac was hard on his system, while at the same time switching to a formula that should help out his struggling little digestive system.  The downside is that the Similac was very convenient to prepare; my wife would make 8-10 bottles first thing in the morning, and we’d put them all in the fridge.  That would cover all of his feedings for 24 hours.  However, with the Nestle powder, it specifically says that you should mix at time of use.  So no more stockpiling.  We still keep bottles of sterilized water in the fridge, but now we mix the powder in and shake it before warming up the bottle’s contents.  It’s not a huge pain, but it’s another step for my already-low-efficiency brain when I get up for a 3am feeding.

The next step was changing his bottles.  We had originally been split 50-50 between two brands: Dr. Brown and Born Free.  The Dr. Brown bottles are made of glass, which we felt more comfortable with from a cleanliness and sterilization standpoint.  Plus we also received the Dr. Brown microwave sterilizer from my wife’s baby shower registry.  The Dr. Brown bottles also feature this effective bubble-breaking device inside; as a result, Ethan seemed to have less gas (and vomited less often) than he did with the Born Free bottles.

The Born Free ones were plastic, and they were not compatible with our sterilizer (the directions for sterilizing them in the microwave were contradcitory).  But the key is that the Born Free does not seem to restrict or slow the flow of formula into the baby’s mouth in the slightest, despite a special filter inside the bottle.  As a result, Ethan would belch louder and more frequently.  He was also fussier, and he was far more prone to being sick after eating.  We’ve now shelved all of our Born Free bottles, and replaced them with a new round of Dr. Brown purchases.

We saw a change virtually overnight; Ethan’s disposition in particular has been much better over the past 48 hours or so.  He’s also easier to burp, and calmer during this process.  Oval had helped somewhat before we saw the doctor, but it didn’t make a significant impact.  The formula and bottle change however appears to have truly made a difference.  Not that I’m a spokesperson or an advocate or anything, but from my own personal experience, I’d recommend Dr. Brown over Born Free for sure.  The formula is likely a trial-and-error process; I’m sure every baby will react differently to those formulas on the market.  I prefer the convenience of the Similac, but I can’t argue with the results of the probiotic-touting Nestle product.

That’s all for now; I’ll post my experiences with various diaper brands in the next week or so.

Cheers,
New Dad J.T.

• I was always following orders while being screamed at (change me, feed me, etc.)
• I had no concept of time
• I always felt grungy, even if I’d just showered
• Sleep deprivation definitely hit me
• I was in training from experts (nurses and Ethan’s grandparents) for my duties and responsibilities (i.e. diaper changing, swaddling, and feeding)

We had an extended stay at the hospital (four days), mainly for my wife’s benefit: Ethan was born via Caesarean section.  Tangent: It’s funny, I hadn’t thought much about that, but it really is major surgery.  My wife’s recovery timeframe is about six weeks, and with my being back at work, we had to do some rearranging of furniture so that she wouldn’t have to leave the ground floor of our house all day.  As a result, family room is more daycare centre than recreational area these days.  But I digress.

Anyways, the hospital stay was somewhat stressful, but we were fortunate enough to have a pair of fantastic night nurses who helped us along and made sure nothing was unbearable.  Then the big day came: we brought Ethan home.  The first two nights with Ethan were absolutely nightmarish: he was up straight from 9pm until 6am.  My wife and I were crashing hard.  Fortunately I had given myself an extra week before returning to work, so we were able to tag team on all baby duties.

By the third and fourth nights, we were starting to get at least 90-120 minutes of sleep twice a night.  Now, with Ethan nearing the two-week mark, we’re in a virtual utopia; this past Thursday night he slept from 11pm to 3am, and then again from 4am to 8am.  The mere fact that a 3-hour sleep is enough to make me thank virtually every deity that I know of should be a strong indicator regarding the current state of my sleep habits.

That being said, it’s pretty much impossible to be in a bad mood when you wake up and see your tiny son squirming and stretching in his bed.  Plus now that I’ve gone through the basic training that was Week One, the past week has felt like a breeze!

On a non-parenting note, I can’t wait for Game 4 and Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.  I can’t STAND the Philadelphia Flyers, and I have a soft spot for the Original Six teams, so I’ll be rooting pretty hard for the Chicago Blackhawks.  Unfortunately, I have a strong feeling that the Flyers will continue to be in that scary zone they hit in the third period and overtime of Game 3, and I suspect the series will go back to Chicago tied 2-2.  I sincerely hope I’m wrong.  I’d also love to see the Celtics kick things up a notch and take Game 2 to tie up the NBA finals.

That’s it for now.  I hope you enjoy the weekend!

Cheers,
J.T.

So what is the purpose of this blog?  Self-expression, and (hopefully) connection.  On May 23rd, I became a father when my son Ethan was born.  Calling this a life-changing event would almost be an understatement.  To futher complicate matters, Ethan was born during a small 3-week window between my graduation from university and starting my new job.  Suffice to say, my head has been spinning with all of these changes.

I’ve always found that writing was an effective way to both clear my head, and also to express my creative side.  So why not find an outlet?  That’s where this blog comes in.

This blog (NewDadJT) will be a place for me to share my thoughts and experiences with anyone who is interested.  Sometimes it will be about fatherhood: the burgeoning relationship with my son, the “joy” of changing diapers, etc.  Other times it will focus on areas of personal interest, such as movies, the NHL and professional wrestling.  And if nothing else, hopefully this blog will act as a journal for my son, so that he can one day catch a glimpse into how his arrival affected me.

I hope you enjoy visiting New Dad JT’s blog!

Cheers,
Jason Taylor (New Dad J.T.)