Troy and Melanie (dot com)

It’s hard for me to believe that 50 days ago I started my paternity leave to spend the vast majority of my time caring for our two and a half month old son. Most guys cringe at the idea of caring for an infant and I have to admit that I was a bit scared myself. I knew that changing diapers and warming bottles wouldn’t be difficult… it’s just not that glamorous… until you realize that you are building a lifelong bond with your child while doing those little activities. So along with the not-so-fun things (diapers, spit up, screaming, etc.) we had some amazing times and I loved being there to enjoy the world with him. Walks and book reading took on a new significance.

During this time I kept a running commentary of our happenings on this blog. I suspect that most of you came here not for the witty prose (ha!), but for the photos that I posted each day. Regardless of why you visited the site I’m glad you did, so thank you from the bottom of my heart. This was as much a project for you as it was for me. I do keep track of visitor stats and over the past 50 days this blog has received 2,014 page views from 203 different people in 5 countries (not bad for a family blog, in my opinion).

Over the past 50 days I have learned so much about being a Dad and I have a newfound respect for stay at home Mothers. It takes a special kind of dedication to care for an infant all day, every day. My emotions have run the gamut during my leave… there have been hopeful moments, scary moments, frustrating moments, tender moments, happy moments, proud moments, and unsure moments… and I wouldn’t have traded them for anything.

Some of the things I learned:

• your child’s smile will melt your heart every time you see it
• swaddling makes everything better
• as a parent, you will get pooped on… just deal with it
• a baby’s giggle is the happiest sound in the world
• Baby Mozart isn’t terribly inventive, but it’s like 30 minutes of guaranteed amusement for Cole
• child care is very expensive
• once you learn to be in constant motion while holding a baby it’s hard to not rock/sway even when you don’t have the baby and are talking to adults (it’s a bit embarrassing)
• I’m convinced that formula makers use scare tactics to keep us buying more product (really? it only lasts 24 hours after being mixed even while refrigerated?)
• traveling with in infant is stressful
• nothing brings a family more joy than a baby
• I miss Cole every time I’m away from him
• I love being a Dad

I haven’t yet decided how frequently I’ll be posting going forward, but I do know that I want to do it as frequently as possible (and the grandparents might smack me if they can’t get their Cole fix). I did go ahead and take approximately 325 of the 2,000+ photos I took during this time and put them together in a slideshow. I doubt it will be as emotional for you as it is for me, but seeing all of these photos going by with IZ singing in the background just hits me… every… single… time… I watch it.

I hope you enjoy the slideshow. Please leave me a comment and let me know you stopped by.

I’m returning to work tomorrow… boo hoo.
Cole is starting day care tomorrow (or as I shall refer to it, school)… boo hoo.
The Eagles lost to the Cowgirls tonight… boo hoo.

Not a lot of happy things going on today. A fun thing happened this evening, however. Cole found his feet (see photos below).

I’m going to do a Daddy Days recap tomorrow evening… look for it sometime late tomorrow evening (and expect an emotional slideshow to be included)

Today’s photos
(Cole started doing something new today…)

(If you have an Aaron Brothers in your area you should definitely go do some shopping this week… they are having their famous penny sale… buy one, get one for a penny… we sent shopping today)

This post is very multimedia intensive… photos, videos, and for the first time an audio clip. Leave me feedback on how you like the audio (I know it’s a bit quiet so you’ll likely have to turn your volume up… I’ll see if I can get a better recording another day).

Odd day, today was. Felt like a Sunday, but it wasn’t (thankfully). We relaxed today, did a little shopping at Babies-R-Us, and watched Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (cute movie).

Audio… Cole vocalizing over Mommy’s shoulder.

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Today’s photos

Recent videos

Cole… beginning to sit up from Troy Schneider on Vimeo.

Cole struggles with tummy time from Troy Schneider on Vimeo.

Happy New Year everyone! How did you spend your first day of 2010? (side question… are you calling it “two thousand ten” or “twenty ten”?). I spent the day hanging out with my family… watching football, movies, and making pulled pork. District 9 and (500) Days of Summer were both very good… and on complete opposite ends of the spectrum as far as movie watching goes.

Anyone make any resolutions for this year? I’ve decided I’d rather set goals than resolutions (goals have more resilience and aren’t things that either you do or don’t do… you have to work to achieve them). I have 3 goals for my personal and professional life:
1. Give more… not to give more of myself at the office, but to either volunteer my time/talents to worthy organizations or donate whatever I can.
2. Feel better about myself… this mostly applies to my health and physical appearance, but also to my emotional well being… more smiling, less complaining.
3. Love with all of my heart… be the best father and husband I can be, be caring in a world of callousness.

Undoubtedly these goals are all intertwined, but I can work on each individually to make 2010 the best year of my life . I have to admit, though, 2009 kind of rocked!

Today’s photos

2009 was an amazing year and we know that 2010 will be filled with lots of firsts, fun times, and memories. Tonight we’re hanging at our house with our good friends enjoying a movie and conversation. We hope that whatever you are doing tonight that you are making memories.

Happy New Year everyone!

Today’s photos:

(Cole recently started sucking on the fingers of his left hand)

Today is officially the last “home with just Daddy” day *sniffle* (Mommy is working from home tomorrow and has Friday off… and I go back to work on Monday). As much as I’ve complained to Melanie when she gets home from work about how Cole wouldn’t nap or how many diaper changes I had to do or how much Cole cried during the day nothing can diminish the satisfaction that I get from knowing that I had this opportunity to bond with my son. This isn’t a recap post or a post reflecting on this experience (that’ll come in a few days), but I just wanted to mark the final day of just the two of us (and Bella of course).

I wish I could say that we had a magical day, but the reality is that he’s just getting over being in PA for 10 days and having his 4 month vaccine shots so he’s still a bit on the cranky side. We did manage to get in some playtime in the morning, a lunch date with Mommy, a bit of shopping at Babies-R-Us, and an afternoon walk.

Today’s photos:
(Bella got a little closer than normal to us today while we were playing on the floor… and Cole took the opportunity to show her how good his little grasp is)

I don’t have terribly much to say today. We had a decent day. Cole is getting over his shots pretty well though we could tell that he wasn’t completely himself today. He did sleep last night, but not in his bassinet. He needed the comfort that only a mother can provide so he slept in the bed with us. Tonight, though, he’s back in his bassinet.

We finalized our mortgage refinance today… wiring the closing funds to the title company. It feels good to get that all finished. We’ll be saving a few hundred dollars a month going forward and don’t have any mortgage payments until March.

Today’s photos
(sometimes it takes 3 shots to get the photo you really want)

(Cole may look cuter in my hat, but it fits me better)

(B-girl)

Today was a busy one, and right now it doesn’t appear that Cole is going to let us get much sleep. He had his 4 month vaccines today and he just isn’t comfortable and won’t sleep for longer than 15 minutes. No fever, just general malaise. It’s a shame too… he was quite the happy baby earlier today. Let’s hope he gets some sleep and feels better tomorrow.

On a happier note we picked up Bella today and she was ecstatic to see us though you might not know it from the photos (she’s becoming camera shy)

Today’s photos

“All good things must come to an end”

- English Proverb

Alas, this is true. Our Christmas vacation to PA ended today as we flew back to Austin. We had a wonderful time seeing family and friends and hope that it won’t be too long before we see y’all again. The flight back wasn’t as nice as the flight up (longer flight due to flying into a headwind, longer runway taxi time, Cole didn’t want to sleep or sit still, evening flight), but we survived and made it home safe and sound… and Cole conked out shortly after we got home. Here’s to hoping that tomorrow’s busy day goes smoothly (picking up Bella from the “spa”, closing on our mortgage refinance, Cole gets his 4 month vaccinations, picking up all of our held mail, and somehow balancing all of this while Melanie works).

Today’s Photos (I didn’t take many today… too much to manage while traveling)

It’s hard to believe that our trip is coming to an end. The time flew by so quickly. The only thing on our agenda today was a party at our friend Alison’s house. We did get to swing by Grandma and Opa’s house to say hi to them before heading over to the party (Opa was feeling a little better today). Cole had a good time at the party and then conked out. Once we got back to Nonni and Pappy’s house they bathed him before he crashed for the night. Tomorrow we travel… wish us luck.

Today’s photos
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