Day out with Daddy

Ben and I had such a fun day this past Saturday.

We woke up around 7:00 and let mama sleep in for a bit.  A bit being about 4 hours – which is barely a drop in her sleep deprivation bucket.

I needed some new running shorts for my race on Sunday because I got a new black shirt that I wanted to wear and I’m just fruity enough to not want to wear it with navy shorts.

So we went to Kohls and Penneys and Walmart (ugh) and finally found a pair at Target that worked.

Ben was a champ the whole time.  He was wide awake most of the time, “chatting" away and sucking on his hands.  I’m sure I look like a goon “chatting” back at him as we walk though stores.  Yup, I’m *that* dad.

We got home just in time so that mama could get a little Ben time before she headed out for a girl’s night out.

That is when I made a bad decision.  I thought going for a walk would be a good idea.  Outside air for Ben, exercise for our puggle, and a little activity for me before my big race.

Wrong answer Chuck.

I should have known after the first couple of blocks when Ben fussed after after a little bump in the sidewalk.  He does that sometimes if he’s really tired and he gets woken up.  No biggie I thought, he’ll fall asleep here shortly and we’ll be good. 

Nope.

With each bump, the cries got louder and the pacification time got longer.  At about a mile out (yeah, I’m not such a fast learner), I decided to turn around.  By this point, I was carrying him over my shoulder, pushing an empty stroller that had an over-energized, under-exercised puggle attached to it.

And I thought I looked like a goon in the store baby talking.

Ben finally calms down and I’m able to put him back in his stroller after carrying him for about 1/2 a mile.  So we are about 1/2 mile from home, when in a display of my learning disability, I decide that since he’s asleep now, that we can probably continue our walk so I head out for the loop that we normally take.

Bad idea.

About 3/4 of a mile from home, he get’s woken up and it all starts over again.  So I carried him the rest of the way home, feeling even dumberer than the first time, because I should have known better and gone straight home.

We get home and start getting ready for bed.  I’m really hoping that he will fall asleep quickly so that I can get things organized and get to sleep early.  After fighting it for 30 minutes or so, he crashed out.

It was a great day.  Not only did we get to spend so much time together, I also have even more respect for my wife.  It is so much work, and there are so many things to be aware of taking care of a baby, and she does it all day, every day.  What a champ!