It’s the eve of L’s second official road trip (south again, this time to Pasadena), and preparations feel a lot different.
Last time, when the baby was about ten weeks old, we packed nothing but the basics: diapers, wipes, clothes and some Woolite for soaking poopy stuff. This time, now that she’s four months old and [...]

They sounded like bleating lambs, crying over and over again from places we couldn’t see.
Occasionally, we’d hear an outright shriek, followed immediately by the soothing tones of a grown-up (A parent? The nurse?) trying to reassure the terrified child that somehow, in some way, this torture would be worthwhile.
Yes, Tuesday was L’s second trip [...]

This past weekend comprised three full days of family and extended family for L and the rest of us.
On Friday, Powergirl attended her best friend’s bachelorette party (and I dined with the bachelor) in San Mateo County, while my mother-in-law watched the baby for a while. On Saturday, the three of us (with mother-in-law in [...]

My existence as a stay-at-home father has given me three full months of fodder for this blog. Here, in descending order, are my ten favorite aspects of spending the better part of every day with my little girl.
10. Working less.
9. Indoctrinating the baby with a love for baseball by watching the Yankees religiously.
8. Taking the [...]

It’s fascinating to me how quickly the “routine” of our (now) four-month-old changes.
For the better part of the last month, L was waking up every morning around 6:30 a.m., at which point I’d take over for Powergirl, play with her in her room and then bring her into town for a trip to the coffee [...]

Either I’ve got a second career as a stand-up comic, or my baby daughter thinks I’m a professional clown.
Since the girl started laughing (oh, about ten days ago), she quite literally cracks up every time she sees me or hears my voice. It doesn’t matter if she’s eating, crying or completely distracted by the ceiling [...]

Big news from the ranch this afternoon was that L has taken her vice-grip grabbing technique to new heights.
She grabbed my shirt. She grabbed her seahorse rattle. She grabbed her stuffed humpback whale. She grabbed her bottle. Hell, she grabbed my hair a bunch of times as well (if it weren’t so damn cute, it [...]

The downside to Powergirl feeling under the weather today is that she essentially has disappeared, sequestering herself in the bedroom and sleeping the day away. The upside? I have gotten to spend a bonus day alone with my baby girl.
We played. We laughed. We watched some college football (Go NU!). We even made a mid-afternoon [...]

If you grew up in the 1980s and 1990s like I did, you probably remember the catchy Poison song, “Look But You Can’t Touch.”
Say what you will about Bret Michaels (as in, “he totally wears that bandana because he’s bald”), but the guy knew how to write some killer songs. The chorus of this particular [...]

It’s hard not to crack a smile when someone else is laughing hysterically. But when that someone else is your 15-week-old daughter, it’s hard to avoid smiling so hard that your face hurts.
Such was the case in our living room tonight during (an otherwise boring episode of) “Top Chef.” I was sitting on the couch [...]