Surly Dad Thread

[Jkwellborn 6686]

It will change. When my little girl was born, I was her favorite. Up until she was 6 or so. Now it’s starting to change a little. My son was the opposite. My wife was his favorite parent, but it didn’t last but till he was two. He follows me around everywhere now.

[millhouse 2603]

Totally normal. My daughter was all about dad when she was born. Then I was gone for a month when she was 6 months and when I came back she only wanted mom. Broke my heart, but they eventually come back around.

[SMUlawUTgrad 81]

Whole milk until they're 2, then whatever kind you like (we like 1%). We started with 25% milk/75% formula for a week or so, then 50/50. Ater that we just tried all milk and they took to it just fine.

We’re at 16months now and right in the middle of this. Kid loves whole milk. We buy organic. It’s obviously more expensive but when compared to formula it’s pennies.

[SMUlawUTgrad 81]

We’re at 16months now and right in the middle of this. Kid loves whole milk. We buy organic. It’s obviously more expensive but when compared to formula it’s pennies.

Also he’s all about mom. It doesn’t bother me a bit. He’ll come around.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4974]

5 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Our 5 yo son is in the “Why?” stage with everything we say. This can be taxing when he surpasses the record for consecutive questions set by McCauley Culkin in Uncle Buck.

"To make little boys ask questions" was always my grandad's  stock answer.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4974]

6 minutes ago, SMUlawUTgrad said:

 

 

We’re at 16months now and right in the middle of this. Kid loves whole milk. We buy organic. It’s obviously more expensive but when compared to formula it’s pennies.

 

 

We had to do the non dairy formula when ours 1.5 year old was younger, but we were able to switch her to an organic  toddlers formula when she turned one or so. We transitioned her to regular milk a month or two before she was one and a half because she was drinking so much formula. We still buy organic milk, but the savings is significant compared to the formula. We had to cut her off cold Turkey because she refused to drink any mix at first. It only took a day or two for her to adjust to the new stuff.

[kmac30 416]

Our 5 yo son is in the “Why?” stage with everything we say. This can be taxing when he surpasses the record for consecutive questions set by McCauley Culkin in Uncle Buck.

Instead of answering, ask him why he thinks ...
My 4.5 is this way.

Him: “Why do we have to sleep at night?”
Me: “why do you think?”

When he ask a question, instead of answering I’ve started asking what he thinks. His answers have been pretty eye opening. Sometimes he’s asking questions he already knows the answers, or thinks he knows the answers. Sometimes he thinks about it and comes up with crazy answers.

[BlueGreySky 1002]

Dad brag:

My 7yo just got into rock climbing and on his second day can already do inverted walls (30ft tall to the top).



Need to do a better job keeping up with this thread. My 4 month old is going through a sleep regression and I just got home after four days back in Coleman TX and guess who’s awake at 1am

[Goofyboy 3268]

Took the boy to play putt putt yesterday. Kid gets a hole in one. He’s 6. It’s all down hill from here.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Freaking. Hate. Pregnancies. Baby had irregular heartbeat today at 31 weeks, doesn't sound like it's too much cause for concern since the bpm is normal, but still... wtf, every appointment has gone well then this little curveball. Any of you guys ever have to deal with this??

I'm starting to think it's pretty rare for a pregnancy to go bump free

[BlueGreySky 1002]

Hardly ever hear about a normal pregnancy any more.  The sophistication of medicine and the ability to test and look and see every little development makes it very tough for anything to sneak past.

I'm no doctor and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, just speaking from personal experience and watching all of my friends and their (their wives') pregnancies.  

Hope it all works out man.  T&p.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

25 minutes ago, BlueGreySky said:

Hardly ever hear about a normal pregnancy any more.  The sophistication of medicine and the ability to test and look and see every little development makes it very tough for anything to sneak past.

I'm no doctor and I didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, just speaking from personal experience and watching all of my friends and their (their wives') pregnancies.  

Hope it all works out man.  T&p.

i think 999 times out of 1000 it works out to be fine after reading about other peoples experiences 

 

I completely agree with what you said about medicine and technology. fuck, no way in hell can one go duckies and bunnies for 40 straight weeks these days.

Edited April 18, 2018 by MNLonghornFUKM

[MadTrapper 152]

i think 999 times out of 1000 it works out to be fine after reading about other peoples experiences 
 
I completely agree with what you said about medicine and technology. fuck, no way in hell can one go duckies and bunnies for 40 straight weeks these days.

Yeah most of the time it does work out well but when you have skin in the game, your mind working wonders quickly. Our youngest, now 1, had a shit ton of amniotic fluid during pregnancy and we were concerned with what that could lead to postnatal even though my wife was healthy and doing all the right things. Now she's a freaking bulldozer, but right after she was born you are hyper aware of all the little shit that could be going on.

It means you are a hell of a dad , MN.

[Homercles 10205]

I tell my buddies who are having their first that having kids in general is terrifying...everything from the initial ovulation/pregnancy monitoring to the doc visits and genetic tests to birth and onwards, it’s a never ending roller coaster.

To badly quote the grandad in parenthood...”there is no end zone. You never cross the goal line, spike the ball and do your touchdown dance. It never ends. It’s like your aunt Edna’s ass, goes on forever and is just as frightening.”

My kids are only 2 and 4.5, but that quote will be with me until I die. It’s the rare movie that changes meaning to me as I go through different life phases.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

13 hours ago, BlueGreySky said:

Hardly ever hear about a normal pregnancy any more.

This may have to do more with how old and fat the average parent is getting.  This leads to more cautious OBs and more tests that freak the expecting parents out.  I could also be talking out of my ass.  

I think we started late and half the parents at the day care look a decade older.

[Amobie 58]

14 minutes ago, Kringelbert Fishtybuns said:

This may have to do more with how old and fat the average parent is getting.  This leads to more cautious OBs and more tests that freak the expecting parents out.  I could also be talking out of my ass.  

I think we started late and half the parents at the day care look a decade older.

I met a 75 year old with a 5 year old son yesterday.  /csb

[LonghornJones 837]

21 hours ago, MNLonghornFUKM said:

Freaking. Hate. Pregnancies. Baby had irregular heartbeat today at 31 weeks,..... Any of you guys ever have to deal with this??

Our daughter was born with SVT (super ventricular tachycardia). Dr's didnt notice anything during any of the sonograms (she must not have been having an episode at those exact times). However when she was born, we couldn't get her heart rate under 250. It was a scary hour, but after being rushed to NICU (mom's still recovering in the delivery room freaking out if her new baby is going to live), everything seemed to calm down. I lost my shit on a couple of people for arguing with each other instead of focusing on my daughters incredibly high heart rate. Probably my only regret. I was lucky they didn't just kick me out, but shit gets real, real quick.

We had to give her Dijoxin twice a day for 9 months and regularly check her heart to make sure everything sounded ok. She's 2 now. Never had any episodes other than the one at delivery.

[pearlandhorn 3269]

Almost two year old puked on Friday after day care, twice on Saturday had had diarrhea as well.  Was fine Sunday and Monday.  Didn't eat much yesterday and decided he was done with dinner, got out of his chair and puked everything from the day up.  Had diarrhea again last night and puked again this morning with another bout of the shits.

Is this rotavirus?  I felt pretty bad Sunday night and had the shits Monday.  Looked online and it looks sounds like it's rotavirus.  Comes and goes for days at a time for a little over a week, adults can get it but it's not as bad (typically nausea and diarrhea).  Feel bad for him.  Sounds like we just need to keep him hydrated.  Wife is taking him to the doc this morning.  Anybody care to share their experience with this type of behavior?

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Our daughter was born with SVT (super ventricular tachycardia). Dr's didnt notice anything during any of the sonograms (she must not have been having an episode at those exact times). However when she was born, we couldn't get her heart rate under 250. It was a scary hour, but after being rushed to NICU (mom's still recovering in the delivery room freaking out if her new baby is going to live), everything seemed to calm down. I lost my shit on a couple of people for arguing with each other instead of focusing on my daughters incredibly high heart rate. Probably my only regret. I was lucky they didn't just kick me out, but shit gets real, real quick.
We had to give her Dijoxin twice a day for 9 months and regularly check her heart to make sure everything sounded ok. She's 2 now. Never had any episodes other than the one at delivery.

Good lord...we've already agreed that 2 is enough for us because of this stuff.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Almost two year old puked on Friday after day care, twice on Saturday had had diarrhea as well.  Was fine Sunday and Monday.  Didn't eat much yesterday and decided he was done with dinner, got out of his chair and puked everything from the day up.  Had diarrhea again last night and puked again this morning with another bout of the shits.

Is this rotavirus?  I felt pretty bad Sunday night and had the shits Monday.  Looked online and it looks sounds like it's rotavirus.  Comes and goes for days at a time for a little over a week, adults can get it but it's not as bad (typically nausea and diarrhea).  Feel bad for him.  Sounds like we just need to keep him hydrated.  Wife is taking him to the doc this morning.  Anybody care to share their experience with this type of behavior?

We just had an episode like this on Monday. I had some weird shits. The kind that just come up and bite ya, but I didn't shit my ass off but it felt like I did. That was a week ago -sunday. Then Monday morning my 2.5 yr old looked lethargic, sleepy, floppy etc when my wife got her up for tumbling class. Never acted like this. then she puked up applesauce that we fed her. She started to come around after that so we gave her a mushed banana and she kept that down. Later that day she was her normal self and you would've never known she wasn't feeling good that morning. Virus' can attack adults much differently than our little ones.

 

We thought it was low blood sugar because she had a weird eating schedule on Sunday but then ran a little high temp(99.5) Monday night before bed...Tuesday all was well. Doubt it's anything related with what you are dealing with but words of encouragement?

 

Kids man...

 

[pearlandhorn 3269]

It's just tough because he still can't communicate with us 100% to tell us he isn't feeling well.  Just feel bad for the kid.  Hope he snaps out of this soon and is running around like a moron and being his old self again.  I find it hilarious that before I had a kid, I couldn't imagine life with one, now I can't imagine my life without him.

[kmac30 416]

Clean your house like crazy. Clorox wipes are your friend. I would limit whoever is sick to using one bathroom and make sure they wash their hands really good after. When something like that hits my house it goes through like a freight train. I spend as much time as possible at the office (yes, I’m an asshole). We feel like the cleaner we are the quicker it’s out (probably no truth to it, but it makes my wife feel better).

 

Good luck

[CleverNickname 1308]

I wouldn't sweat the sick kid thing unless they have some other medical condition. My view is that there are dozens of little cold and stomach flu viruses, and sooner or later they'll catch them all. It sucks and you move on. And its better to have it happen when they are young and toughen them up, then constantly be picking up a sick kid from the Elementary school nurses office. The whole "1 day fever free" thing means way more days off. Daycares, in my experience, are more loosey-goosey about it. Sure that means little disease vectors getting sick, but in the ends that fewer days you or your spouse have to take off for work. Kids who never got anything age 0-4 just end up catching every thing age 5-6. It evens out. 

[GSU&UT 1798]

^^

Yep, our daughter was born at the end of last May and was basically constantly sick from mid-October through mid-January and has been mostly fine since then. She must have caught 5 or 6 separate bugs.

[PvilleStang 2875]

Found out I'll be brushing pink icing off my teeth Saturday.

[LonghornJones 837]

Found out I'll be brushing pink icing off my teeth Saturday.

Congrats dad! Father of two girls, here, and wouldn’t change a thing.

[irishtexan 11511]

More than one-third of the kids at our daycare had hand, foot & mouth. So they just shut the whole goddamn thing down Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the week to stop the spread and clean the place. I'm fortunate that I have a job that allows me to work from home in situations like these. They're not offering a pro-rated rate this month, of course. I think that's kinda bullshit, but it's not really their fault. Guess I'm just sorta pissed because the daycare is trying to take 24 work-week vacation days this year - every federal holiday, an entire week in the middle of summer for professional development, wed/thur/fri of thanksgiving, and the whole time between christmas eve and new years day. They think they're a school and don't understand they're a daycare. That's a shitload more days than most of the parents at the school get between PTO and regular vacation days. Basically, you either have to hire a nanny or use up all your vacation days to take care of the kids when the daycare closes. Oh, and they charge as much per month as my mortgage. I cannot fucking wait until they're out of daycare. I'm gonna be rich.

[EE2B 1565]

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

Potty training for the youngest began this morning. Our house will hopefully soon be diaper free for the first time since early 2013.

Praise Xenu

[pearlandhorn 3269]

On 4/20/2018 at 1:50 PM, irishtexan said:

More than one-third of the kids at our daycare had hand, foot & mouth. So they just shut the whole goddamn thing down Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the week to stop the spread and clean the place. I'm fortunate that I have a job that allows me to work from home in situations like these. They're not offering a pro-rated rate this month, of course. I think that's kinda bullshit, but it's not really their fault. Guess I'm just sorta pissed because the daycare is trying to take 24 work-week vacation days this year - every federal holiday, an entire week in the middle of summer for professional development, wed/thur/fri of thanksgiving, and the whole time between christmas eve and new years day. They think they're a school and don't understand they're a daycare. That's a shitload more days than most of the parents at the school get between PTO and regular vacation days. Basically, you either have to hire a nanny or use up all your vacation days to take care of the kids when the daycare closes. Oh, and they charge as much per month as my mortgage. I cannot fucking wait until they're out of daycare. I'm gonna be rich.

HFM is awful. My wife caught it from our son and it spread to happy fun zone. I was cock blocked by kids who weren’t even mine.

Edited April 22, 2018 by pearlandhorn

[berlinerbaer 670]

 

On 4/18/2018 at 9:44 AM, pearlandhorn said:

Almost two year old puked on Friday after day care, twice on Saturday had had diarrhea as well.  Was fine Sunday and Monday.  Didn't eat much yesterday and decided he was done with dinner, got out of his chair and puked everything from the day up.  Had diarrhea again last night and puked again this morning with another bout of the shits.

Is this rotavirus?  I felt pretty bad Sunday night and had the shits Monday.  Looked online and it looks sounds like it's rotavirus.  Comes and goes for days at a time for a little over a week, adults can get it but it's not as bad (typically nausea and diarrhea).  Feel bad for him.  Sounds like we just need to keep him hydrated.  Wife is taking him to the doc this morning.  Anybody care to share their experience with this type of behavior?

Vaccines for rotavirus are routine nowadays, so it's likely one of the other dozens of causes of viral gastroenteritis.

[hornian 5210]

13 hours ago, pearlandhorn said:

HFM is awful. My wife caught it from our son and it spread to happy fun zone. I was cock blocked by kids who weren’t even mine.

My kiddo got it and it was hand, foot, and junk disease for him.

It wasn't horrible - but I'm going to embarrass him with that story when he's a dad. My daughter-in-law to be will love me, I'm sure. 

 

[GSU&UT 1798]

On 4/20/2018 at 2:50 PM, irishtexan said:

More than one-third of the kids at our daycare had hand, foot & mouth. So they just shut the whole goddamn thing down Tuesday afternoon for the rest of the week to stop the spread and clean the place. I'm fortunate that I have a job that allows me to work from home in situations like these. They're not offering a pro-rated rate this month, of course. I think that's kinda bullshit, but it's not really their fault. Guess I'm just sorta pissed because the daycare is trying to take 24 work-week vacation days this year - every federal holiday, an entire week in the middle of summer for professional development, wed/thur/fri of thanksgiving, and the whole time between christmas eve and new years day. They think they're a school and don't understand they're a daycare. That's a shitload more days than most of the parents at the school get between PTO and regular vacation days. Basically, you either have to hire a nanny or use up all your vacation days to take care of the kids when the daycare closes. Oh, and they charge as much per month as my mortgage. I cannot fucking wait until they're out of daycare. I'm gonna be rich.

I don't think the full-time daycare we had shut down that much. We're using an hourly not-super-terrible part-time daycare now since my wife cut back on her work hours. That sounds bullshit regardless, I'd bitch at them quite a bit if they didn't pro-rate.

Edited April 23, 2018 by GSU&UT

[Bo 139]

Healthy 8 month old boy addicted to the boob. Happy to join this thread and follow. Cheers and Hook’em!

[plvhorn 25]

Proud dad moment: Our 16 month old daughter found a UT blanket in a closet and now drags it around the house so she can lay on it. 

Im already stressing about her making top 6% (or whatever it is now) so she can get into the school. 

[BlueGreySky 1002]

second game of the season and little BGS took an outside pitch, stepped toward first, and drove an opposite-field home run. gave him a swat on the butt as he sprinted around first.

[BigDHornfan 6545]

keep us in prayer tonight. 
Lil BgD had a seizure tonight at dinner and we had an ambulance ride to Children’s.
2 more seizures here.   
Had a cat scan and it’s all normal. Gave him some oral anti seizure medicine and admitting him overnight and will have an eeg in the morning.
Don’t know what’s causing them since it’s not fever related.  He previously had 2 febrile seizures a few years ago.
Dr isn’t overly concerned since they are about a minute long and he’s coherent immediately after.
Ugh.  Scary shit for a 5 year old to go through.

 

[3adays 454]

Prayers sent. Hang in there. I can only imagine how painful it is to see him going through this. 

[PvilleStang 2875]

So, Surly Dads of youngin's, what's the best baby monitor?  Trying to register for one, but there's just too many damn options.  Under the mattress motion sensor, handheld monitor, wifi with phone app (which seem to charge for cloud connectivity / storage), IR, PTZ, temp / humidity sensors, 2-way comm, etc.

[Kringelbert Fishtybuns 943]

This is a trick question.  The correct answer is the most expensive one provided there is a receipt.  

Unless you are using it to spy on your nanny, baby monitors are terrible and will only prevent you from getting good sleep.  If your child is upset in the middle of the night and wants you to come, he/she will scream loud enough to make it happen.  

[mdmost 42997]

Big week in the most household. Youngest turned 8, got a new bike, and finally rode on her own. She couldn't stay upright on her old, hand me down bike (older one's bike). Got on the new bike and after some coaching, was off and running. It's going fast, boys. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by mdmost

[LonghornJones 837]

1 hour ago, PvilleStang said:

So, Surly Dads of youngin's, what's the best baby monitor?  Trying to register for one, but there's just too many damn options.  Under the mattress motion sensor, handheld monitor, wifi with phone app (which seem to charge for cloud connectivity / storage), IR, PTZ, temp / humidity sensors, 2-way comm, etc.

We have this one and love it:

https://www.motorolastore.com/baby-monitors/video-monitoring/mbp-36.html

I would recommend staying away from 2-way audio. 

[Lobwedgephil 1139]

3 hours ago, PvilleStang said:

So, Surly Dads of youngin's, what's the best baby monitor?  Trying to register for one, but there's just too many damn options.  Under the mattress motion sensor, handheld monitor, wifi with phone app (which seem to charge for cloud connectivity / storage), IR, PTZ, temp / humidity sensors, 2-way comm, etc.

Best two I found in the last year or so are these. I stay away from ones you can view on your phone as those can be hacked easily, if you want to go that route, would go with a Nest Cam. Can't go wrong with either of these. 

https://www.amazon.com/Infant-Optics-DXR-8-Monitor-Interchangeable/dp/B00ECHYTBI?tag=thebump-generic-20

https://www.amazon.com/Project-Nursery-Definition-Monitor-System/dp/B01H0RB496

Edited April 26, 2018 by Lobwedgephil

[solamente73 1132]

On 4/25/2018 at 10:56 PM, BigDHornfan said:

keep us in prayer tonight. 
Lil BgD had a seizure tonight at dinner and we had an ambulance ride to Children’s.
2 more seizures here.   
Had a cat scan and it’s all normal. Gave him some oral anti seizure medicine and admitting him overnight and will have an eeg in the morning.
Don’t know what’s causing them since it’s not fever related.  He previously had 2 febrile seizures a few years ago.
Dr isn’t overly concerned since they are about a minute long and he’s coherent immediately after.
Ugh.  Scary shit for a 5 year old to go through.

 

Praying for all y’all.  Update when ya can.  Scary stuff to be sure.

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4974]

13 hours ago, Lobwedgephil said:

Best two I found in the last year or so are these. I stay away from ones you can view on your phone as those can be hacked easily, if you want to go that route, would go with a Nest Cam. Can't go wrong with either of these. 

https://www.amazon.com/Infant-Optics-DXR-8-Monitor-Interchangeable/dp/B00ECHYTBI?tag=thebump-generic-20

https://www.amazon.com/Project-Nursery-Definition-Monitor-System/dp/B01H0RB496

I think we have the first one listed. At 19 months we can tell our daughter to go back to sleep when she is standing next to the rail on the crib crying and she will usually lie back down and go to sleep. And we don't have to get out of the bed or anything.

[BigDHornfan 6545]

On 4/25/2018 at 10:56 PM, BigDHornfan said:

keep us in prayer tonight. 
Lil BgD had a seizure tonight at dinner and we had an ambulance ride to Children’s.
2 more seizures here.   
Had a cat scan and it’s all normal. Gave him some oral anti seizure medicine and admitting him overnight and will have an eeg in the morning.
Don’t know what’s causing them since it’s not fever related.  He previously had 2 febrile seizures a few years ago.
Dr isn’t overly concerned since they are about a minute long and he’s coherent immediately after.
Ugh.  Scary shit for a 5 year old to go through.

 

Well we finally have answers.

MRI didn’t show anything but an EEG did.   Lil Man has epilepsy with a tendency for General seizures.  Not great news but it’s treatable.  Twice daily doses of Depakote should prevent seizures from happening.   50/50 shot of him outgrowing it by puberty.  

I’m handling it better than Mom is.  She had a terrible time after seeing him in a seizure.  Most helpless feeling in the world for a parent.  You just can’t do anything until they come out of it.

I’m just relieved we know something now and have a plan going forward.  

[bernorange 8359]

Sorry to hear that BDH.  Be sure to read up and understand the side effects from Depakote.  The drug may be necessary, but the side effects are real and something you will all have to recognize and deal with.

[solamente73 1132]

BDH, sorry to hear but at least you have an answer and hope.  Good luck.

[LonghornJones 837]

Closure is a good thing. The medicine doses will become part of the routine and really aren't a big deal. Just be sure to have backup meds in the event of running out on the weekend or going out of town and leaving it behind. From experience.

[MNLonghornFUKM 8817]

Man that's rough BDH. My aunt had/has it and she could never drive until later on in life. Not sure if she does today or not.

 

Here's to the little shaver outgrowing it. I'm a huge believer in that stuff. Hopefully  the few years in between spells is a sign he will outgrow