After The Tenth..... When The Fun Really Begins

I am currently in the middle of my longest stretch of unsupervised Macy time. I'm pleased to report that things have gone pretty smooth and there are no permanent marks or injuries to mention.

The afternoon was mostly uneventful, but I am even more impressed with my wife today than I already was. I can't imagine how she gets anything accomplished during the day, and yet I know she does. My day was spent preparing to feed Macy, actually feeding Macy and then cleaning up after Macy ate, repeated over and over.

This evening will by my first official overnight alone with the baby and I'm really hoping she sleeps through. Annie is in Connecticut helping to celebrate Tori's big birthday. (I won't say the exact number, as I know enough not to ask a woman her age and to NEVER post it on the internet). Happy Birthday Tori!!!!

I actually just got home from a birthday celebration as well. My great-aunt Dottie is celebrating her 90th birthday and a good portion of the family got together at Carrabba's to party with her. Crud..didn't I just say that you NEVER post a woman's age on the internet? And then in the very next paragraph I go and do just that. I'm hoping there is an "89 and over" exception to that rule.

Dinner was lovely and my great-aunt is just that...doing great and looking nothing like her age. That was especially true as I watched her practically RUN across the restaurant when she saw Macy arrive. 

I do have a small bone to pick with the restaurant though..something I never gave a second thought about until recently. Changing tables in the Men's room..why aren't they standard? Especially in family oriented establishments? I tried to be a good father and change my daughter's diaper, but discovered that the men's room didn't have a changing table. I wound up having to ask aunt Bobbi to check the ladies' room and thenshe did me a huge favor and changed Macy in there for me. Now I just have to find some free time to draft a polite but stern email to some big shot about how narrow-minded and biased their senior management must be, to think that a father would never need to change a diaper. Then again, maybe I should apply the "never send an angry email without waiting 24 hours" rule to this situation and work on it in the morning.

Anyway, the evening was a lot of fun and I got to see a number of people I was hoping would be there and a few I never even expected. Some of the surprises were Aunt Marla who happened to be down from New York and cousins Phyllis, Kenny and Andrea. As expected, Dottie's grandson Greg was in attendance with his "new" wife Allison, whom I have not had the pleasure of meeting before this evening. I didn't really take a lot of pictures, as I was a bit pre-occupied with being the good dad and taking care of my child, but I did get a good one or two. (If any of tonight's attendees want to email me a few of their pictures, I would be more than happy to add them to this post.)

By the way...if you think Macy looks cute in the photos...I picked out the outfit all by myself.

Oh...and there is one non-party picture, which demonstrates how awesome my wife is. That's our freezer, with Macy's homemade food, frozen, organized and labeled. Talk about making things easy on me....NICE!!!!

Once Macy reached 6 months (Uh, how did that happen?) she met the minimum age requirement for the local swimming class. I was afraid that it would be a little boring for her, since she's already logged hours in a number of pools and the intracoastal, but it really turned into a fun time. Class was Monday thru Thursday for 2 weeks and Macy signed up with two of her closest friends, the Wagner twins, who you can see in two of the pictures below.

I was able to leave work early enough to join the fun a few times, once just in time to take photos and the other times to actually get in the pool and participate. There are a few pictures where it looks like Macy is under the water, and it is not an illusion, she was. I can't say she it was her favorite thing, but she certainly didn't hate it. When you lift her up out of the water, she gives you a sort of "What the F&%# did you just do to me?" look, but after a second or two, her classic smile return.

After a few classes you could actually see some changes in her comfort level in the water. Some of her classes happened to coincide with grandma's visit, so there are a few really good shots that I thought about posting and letting you assume I took. But then I decided to be upfront and honest, since I'm trying to set a good example for my daughter.

[Before anyone goes and calls DCF (Department of Children and Families) about us being cruel and dunking our baby, you'll notice that the first person to do it is wearing the "official" Lifeguard t-shirt, so we were acting under the guidance and suggestion of an expert!!!!]

My name's Scott and my daughter is addicted to TV.

There, I've finally said it and I already feel better. I cannot explain it. Ok, that's not entirely true, since I truly enjoy lying on the floor watching TV.

However, Annie and I are both well aware that all recommendations are not to let your child watch TV before they are two, but somehow Macy has discovered the boob-tube, and she LOVES IT. It doesn't matter if we turn her around and face her in the opposite direction. She will twist and contort her body so she can get a good look at the the TV.

We think this might be the true reason she taught herself to roll over so soon. She also seemed to easily roll from her back to her tummy, which just happens to put her in perfect TV watching position. We've been  told that babies normally go from their tummys to their backs first, but with parents like us, is it any surprise that she's "different?" 

Here are two images, one which clearly shows Macy enjoying her favorite hobby. Since we take so many pictures of our adorable little angel, I can't remember for certain what she was looking at in the second image, but does anyone want to venture a guess?