Babies

Terrible Twos, I Think You Arrived A Little Early

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If you’re like me, then when you had, or have, your first kid, you told yourself that the terrible twos would never arrive for your sweet, little baby. And, if you’re like me, you would have been dead wrong. Dead.Wrong. I thought there was more time. I thought it wouldn’t

I don't trust you, snow. Not.One.Bit.

I don’t trust you, snow. Not.One.Bit.

happen, until, ya know, Sophia actually hit two! Nope. They seem to have arrived a little bit early.

It’s not that she behaves badly, it’s just that the reactions, and of course, overreactions have gotten a little over-the-top. She’s also not a fan of listening when we tell her not to do something. Then again, Sarah tells me I don’t listen, but I usually don’t hear her tell me because, well, I’m not listening…
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Words, Words, Words

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“Do you understand the words that are coming outta my mouth?!” — Chris Tucker in Rush Hour

Learning to talk is a big deal. Heck, I’m 30 and I barely have a handle on the English

Sophia eating her ‘fren fwiiis’

language when I speak (and write…). So, needless to say, witnessing and helping Sophia learn to talk has been fun, awesome, entertaining, and sometimes, downright hilarious.

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Who’s the Boss? Not Me… (or Tony Danza!)

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Growing up as a kid in the 80s, I was treated to what could be considered a great age in

The Boss

TV sitcoms– The Cosby Show, Who’s The Boss, Family Ties, Growing Pains… and the list goes on… Like many other people my age, I was a huge fan of The Cosby Show, and I honestly couldn’t even begin to count how many lines I quote from the show, but there are a lot. I’m pretty sure you’re sitting there right now, thinking to yourself, “Nick, is there a point to this??” Obviously, the answer is no, I just wanted to tell you what my favorite shows were when I was younger… Of course there’s a point! For whatever reason, and I don’t know remember the season or the episode name, (If I did, I’d have the clip and the full quote on here) one scene and conversation has always stuck out in my head. I mean, aside from the classic “I brought you in this world, and I’ll take you out!” The scene has Cliff and a soon-to-be dad, Mr. Lee, talking in his office. The conversation goes something like this:

Mr. Lee: “I’m an old fashioned guy. I want my wife barefoot and pregnant. My wife and that baby are gonna know.. I’M the boss.”                                                                                        Cliff: “Mr. Lee, I’m sorry, but you are not the boss.”                                                                  Mr. Lee: “Doc, I’m tellin you, I’m the boss!”                                                                               Cliff: “No, that BABY is the boss!” Continue reading →

A Daddy’s Poem

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The birthday surprise poem

I wanted to do something special, something that nobody else could do, for Sophia’s first birthday. I’ve always considered myself somewhat of a poet (go ahead and laugh if you must), and thought one of the best things I could do would be to write Sophia a poem, from me, for her birthday. Yes, I know I wrote a letter from myself and Sarah, already, but this was a surprise from me that nobody, not even Sarah, knew was coming. You can see over there to the right, or above, wherever the picture loaded, what the final, framed piece looks like. I wanted to share it with all of you. Sophia owns my heart like no one else ever has and I wanted to share, what I think, is the greatest piece of writing I could ever pen. Enjoy! Continue reading →

Nonsense Poopy Pants!

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Before I jump into this enthralling, harrowing, and hero-building story, I will warn you: It involves poop. Lots and lots of poop. There will be other stuff too, so don’t leave. Stay. STAY! I said STAY HERE! That being said, time to dive right in.

As the parent of a baby, certain things are inevitable – crying, sleepless nights, throwing up, poopy pants – but enough about me! Joking aside (which clearly is something I know nothing about), you know when you become a parent to expect messes everywhere, anywhere, at any time, day or night. Babies don’t know they shouldn’t spit up all over your suit before a wedding, they don’t know they aren’t supposed to poop through their clothes. And why would they, THEY’RE BABIES! Needless to say, I’ve grown very accustom to quick wardrobe changes for Sophia when we are out in public thanks to those messes. At home, it isn’t nearly as difficult to get those messes and wardrobe changes taken care of quickly. This story involves just such a public mess and wardrobe change, unfortunately, Sophia wasn’t the only one in need of new clothes.

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The Early Arrival

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Sophia Marie Browne, born Feb. 24, 2011.

Now that the end of March is here and I can now consider myself a “veteran parent” of a month, it seems a good time to start updating this site again. I was all set and ready to write a post in late February about nesting. Not that Sarah was nesting as normal pregnant women do, but in her own, very special way. That is, making a list of things to do and handing it to me… Well, that intent came and went REAL quick on February 21. That’s the night our lives went from “preparing for two more weeks until our daughter arrives” to “well, guess our little lady is tired of waiting to come out and say hello!” Continue reading →

The Not So Short Introduction

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Hello all! Times being what they are these days, many dads are living the life as a stay at home dad mom or “Mr. Mom”. As it stands now, with my wife, Sarah, due anytime in the next three weeks with our first child, a girl, it looks as though I’ll be the one staying home with baby and teaching her all the great things I learned as a kid. That is, once Sarah returns to work from maternity leave.

That being said, let’s jump right in to where we sit right now. Sarah is 37 weeks pregnant, the house is an ever-changing mess of new baby clothes, toys, car seats, diapers and everything else under the sun the baby gadget engineers have come up with. Take one step into a Babies r’us and you’ll know you’re in for a long day of shopping, staring blankly at shelves with things you didn’t even know you needed and, of course, avoiding being run over by the thousands of other newly crowned mothers-to-be or brand new mama’s with baby strapped to their chest.

When we first found out Sarah was pregnant and we would be parents, the first thought that flashed through my head was “awesome, I’m gonna be a dad!” Quickly followed by “Wait, WHAT?!!?” I had no idea what I was in store for or what the last nine months would entail. Of course, we ventured out to Babies r’us to register for “everything we need”, because, of course we knew exactly what we needed.

I’m not lying when I tell you, I’e never been more intimidated in my life than when we walked into the store to register. When I think of registering, I think of registering for our wedding, which was fun. “Hey, look a giant flat screen TV, don’t mind if I do!” “Oh, you mean someone is going to consider buying us this great wrap around couch? Well, add that to the list!” Yeah… registering for baby things does not equal the experience of running around and scanning anything and everything for a wedding. So after approximately 63 hours of scouring, searching and scanning, we left the store thinking we were set. Yeah, like there was a chance of that! We’ve since been back and forth at least 38,000 times adding, subtracting, adding, doing long division and adding some more things. Thankfully, after our baby shower and the approximate 49,362 bags and boxes of baby gifts later, it appears the never-ending trips to the baby store are over. Right?? I’m pretty sure I’m wrong on that one, but I’ll wait til Sarah tells me I’m wrong. Which should be as soon as I publish this post…

Let’s fast forward to today. Driving to Sarah’s parents for dinner with her brother, Sarah says to me, “I’m pretty sure Braxton Hicks contractions aren’t supposed to last all day…” I’m sorry, you said what now?! Knowing that my 37-week pregnant wife is now considered full-term and being told by the doctors last week that the baby had dropped into torpedo position, the first thought that popped into my head was CALL THE DOCTOR!!

As is turns out, it is not yet time for the baby currently known as Baby Browne to come popping out to say “Hello World!” I can only imagine that the time is coming and sooner than the March 6 due date we have been planning our lives around…