Congratulations Nightcap! Stefan
Congratulations!!! As from now, you may take a pinch in public.
thanx everyone! just finished giving 'Mish his 1st bath. He’s off to bed and I’m not far behind!
@PieterClaassen Dit sal net werk as die vrou is nie rond!..
Lovely! God bless you.
Congratulations, and I hope you get a good night’s sleep. Most likely it won’t be long before those are in short supply.
Hamish is a masculine given name in English. It is the Anglicised form, of the vocative case, of the Scottish Gaelic Seumas: Sheumais. The Scottish Gaelic Seumas is the equivalent to the English James. Long live Hamish!
Congrats sir. 
@Juxtaposer: Do you mean Seamus a Caca?
Hey, I might be related (hominoid), but the kid is not mine!
Nice job, Nightcap… and good luck on your future as a DAD!
Congratulations! Mine are both grown up. Its easy when they are small, they just need a lot of love and security. The challenges come later. From my own experience; don’t work too hard on making them turn out a certain way. All you can do is demonstrate the right values at home but there is a whole bunch of peer learning and their own experiences going on and its easy to forget that, because they generally won’t be sharing it with you, whatever you think. Despite the fact we were all kids once, parents on the whole do a good job of acting as if they were born at 30. Let them make a few mistakes but always be there. My son, 19, just went travelling in Europe for the first time with friends - the temptation to get over-involved was big, but he came back tanned and happy. I realised somehow we brought up a smart and capable kid.
Most practical advice I can give. Get plenty of cloth diapers/burp cloths. I mean use disposable diapers fine but these are great. Best use for them that no one tells you, if you have a boy, one day while changing him you WILL get hit by “the fountain”. While changing him lay the burp cloth over that area as piece of mind and you may avoid that incident. I did, and I have three sons. Congrats, it is a great journey. Oh and some other advice. You will screw up, that is just a fact, every parent does in unpredictable ways, so you can stop being neurotic about it if you are that type. Ken
Well we’re @ 3.5 months, or so, into it and here he is. He looks like his mother. Not a trace of me at all! Here is the reason I’ve not been around for the last 3 months or so… His first month he had colic, and the second was the recovery poeriod (thank you Oval!!!). Month 3 he starts to smile, recognize me when I enter or leave a room, he starts to baby babble… at 5am…, and now he can hold his head up and sit in a Bumbo. What a rush! Everyday My wife and I look at each other and still can’t believe we’ve got this beautiful boy! @devilock76 I did screw up a little bit. He was half asleep and I was changing his diaper, I VERY gently tapped his head on the wall, (as our change table is located in a corner), and he was up, not upset, but up for the rest of the morning… this started @3am… tuesday!!! Work was fun at 7am that day.
Cool have fun, once you get used to waking up that early it will take a long time to get back to sleeping in, lol. edm
Good job and good luck. As much as the new child is going to monopolize your time, remeber to still take time for just you and his mother. Grandparents are always willing and trustworthy baby sitters, and its nice to get away for a time, keeps you sane; although count on worring the entire date.
just a quick re-open of an old thread…
this is Haimish @ 7 months.
Just a proud dad posting his son.
nothing more.
Nightcap.
It’s amazing how fast they grow up. It feels like my daughter was just born yesterday and she’ll be 20 months tomorrow.
I live every day to its fullest with her, she’s only that age once, and every day can be a new adventure.
Congrats night cap! We have one due in June. Another boy, my five year old son can not wait to meet him. My only advice to you is this, ear plugs. Now do not get me wrong, they are for the mommy. Moms are hard wired to listen for every peep a baby makes. That makes it hard for new moms to get a good power nap in. So when she is wiped out tired. Present her with the ear plugs and send her off for a nap reashuring her you will wake her if any thing happens you can not handle. You can handle what ever comes up and a well rested mommy makes for a happy house. Also take the baby in the stroller for walks around the block. This also gives mom some time to do what ever she needs to do to feel human again.
Congratulations Nightcap! You have just embarked on the most stressful and rewarding journey of your life. One never really understands what love is until you hold your child for the first time. I have 3 between the ages of 6-17. I thought I knew what it was to love someone until I held them for the first time. I never really wanted children until then. Now I wish we could have more. I find myself dreading not having them in the house anymore and that’s still at least 12 years off. As far as advice…
I agree with the poster that said not to get the most expensive of everything that is available. Most of it is not necessary and is no better than a less expensive model. The exception I would make is the carseat, which I’m pretty sure you already have. Avoid most anything with a “celebrity” name brand such as Eddie Bauer, Maclaren, Fararri, etc. With few exceptions, items such as strollers, carseats, cribs, etc. that have these names on them add significantly to the price but are no different than their “nameless” counterpart. Also seriously question what is necessary and what is not when purchasing things like wipe warmers and the like. A lot of things like that are totally unnecessary and only cost you money. If you think the wipes are too cold just blow on them for a few seconds like you would if you were trying to warm your hands. The baby doesn’t really notice anyway. Their systems aren’t that developed yet. But It does make us parents feel better.
Also, don’t be afraid to let the boy cry sometimes. You don’t have to fix everything. A baby that can self-comfort it a joy and usually grows to be a much better adjusted kid and on into adulthood. You’ll learn the difference between a cry that needs attention and one that just needs to work itself out. There’s also a difference in a cry because they’re hungry and one that needs a diaper change, etc. Sometimes they just need the comfort of being close to mommy or daddy. Yes they do sound different. After a while you’ll start to notice a difference. Also on that same idea, don’t be afraid to put him in a crib or playpen and leave him for a little while. You don’t have to entertain him all the time. If you try to keep him entertained all the time versus letting him entertain himself sometimes, you will set a precedent that you can never live up to and will come to regret for many years to come.
Also, make sure to allot time for you and mommy to get some rest. Offer to take him out for the day, maybe to the grandparents, so that she can rest. Even a few hours can make a world of difference. Dont be afraid to ask for the same in return. It doesn’t make you a bad parent to want to send them to the grandparents, or auntie’s for the day. You will need that from time to time, as individuals and as husband and wife?
Once he starts on baby food, don’t be alarmed if he starts to turn yellow or orange if he eats a lot of vegetables of those colors. It is normal. When our first was starting on baby food we noticed he was developing an orange tint to his skin so of course as new parents we freaked and called the doctor. Her very first question was “does he eat a lot of carrots?”. He couldn’t get enough of them. Had to have them at every feeding. The doc just laughed and explained it to us and it was nothing to worry about. It was because of the carrots. It will go away.
Mostly, don’t take it too seriously or stress over it. I know that can be difficult but have fun with it. When one of mine was just an infant, he was running a low fever and fussy so we called the doc. The docs response sounds uncaring but it had a message. She asked… 1.“Is he breathing?”, 2. “Is he bleeding?” and 3. “Does it seem to cause him pain when you pick him up?”. The answer to these was yes he is breathing and no he is not bleeding or in obvious pain. So her advice was give him some Tylenol and don’t worry about it, if he gets worse call. Sometimes they run a low fever for no reason. Their body is learning to regulate itself. Sometimes they just get fussy for no reason. They’ve just been through one of the most physically and emotionally demanding experiences a human being can experience. You don’t have to rush to the dr for every little thing. Tylenol and the like can work wonders. Conversely, don’t be afraid to call if you’re in doubt. Sometimes we parents need a little comfort and reassurance too.
Again, Congratulations! You will never regret having them. You will make mistakes. It’s normal. Don’t set expectations of yourself that you cannot keep. none of us are perfect parents. When you realize you’ve made a mistake, recognize it, own it, and learn from it. I assure you that as long as he has loving and supportive parents as he grows up, most if not all of those mistakes will be long forgotten.