I can't believe it's been over a year now since my little Princess has come into my wife's and my life.  I also can't believe that our gracious host would actually allow me to post on here again after my original post here at MTAG.  Thanks Again Keri, you're just the awesomest (it's a word...really it is)

This whole being a dad thing has really been a bit of a shock for me...but also quite the learning experience.  We have had a lot of ups and downs over the last year.  Some great firsts, some awesome adventures, some even more awesome misadventures and the whole thing smattered with bits of geeky-goodness.  So without further ado....here are just a few things I have learned, in no particular order.

1. Babies Bounce.

Ok..let me qualify this.  I am a very attentive parent and a very nervous one at that, but as any parent can tell you, it doesn't matter how closely you watch one of these little squirming bundles, accidents happen in a nanosecond, not often...but they happen.  My little honey has rolled off a couch at 5 months old...off a bed in a hotel room in Cuba at 11 months and since walking has conked, bonked, nailed, clobbered and knocked herself 6 ways from Sunday.  All these times (sometimes to my amazement) she has come out of these things relatively unscathed.  Now she's starting to climb stairs...I may develop a nervous twitch...or an ulcer...or a drinking problem hahaha

2. Getting Puked on isn't that bad.

at around 6 months old my little Q got a stomach bug and wasn't keeping anything down except pedialyte.  I'm pretty sure I was puked on no less than 5 times in a couple of days.  And I'm not talking a little bit of spit-up here.  I'm talking entire feedings of formula when I tried to give her something other than Pedialyte.  All over me..all over her, the nursery floor, chair, change table, crib. But all in all, it's not really all that bad.  It was warm, wet and messy, but I always pictured myself puking on her immediately after she pukes on me.  Hasn't happened so far :)  Doubt it will...stomach of steel. *sidenote..I also don't have any problems now with poop, pee, boogers, or any of the other assorted grossness that comes out of my kid on a daily basis.

3. Traveling with an infant is a whole other Ballgame.

Just prior to Q's first birthday, and the end of my wife's maternity leave, she and I decided it would be a good idea go away for a week.  Somewhere hot, somewhere all-inclusive.  This was the first time either of us had traveled with a baby, so we had no idea what to expect.  So we did our research, talked to people about tips and tricks for not only traveling with her for the first time, but flying with her too.  Now she was on full food and formula so all we had to bring was a can of formula powder and the hotel should have all the food we need for our little princess.  Thanks to a bottle at takeoff and some wonderful flight crew the flight there was relatively uneventful.  The trip itself was a lot of fun, aside from all the extra luggage I had to carry.  It was crazy that way, all the stuff we had to bring "just in case" filled up an entire suitcase.  An relaxing?  not really, it was a full time job to keep up with this kid, the only silver lining was that she wasn't really walking or crawling yet (she refused to crawl for the longest time) so it wasn't as tiring as it could be.  The only real challenge was on the way home she had the runs.  I'm guessing from ingesting just a little too much pool water (she loves to splash, which makes her laugh, which opens her mouth so guess where all that splashed water goes)  Every change a diarrhea filled diaper in an airplane bathroom?  not fun, not ventilated, not recommended.  In the end we came out relatively unscathed.

So that's all I have at the moment.  Now I'm sure that there are many many other things I've learned but none as interesting as this.  The adventures continue.  Next month Q, Wife and I are attending our First Comic-Con in Toronto.  We have all bought Star Wars themed t-shirts for the occasion, even booked a hotel room for the weekend.  Hopefully I'll be sharing some photos on my own blog.  Ohhhh...what a cleaver segue.  Shameless promotion, Shameless promotion!!!! :)

Check out my own Blog at www.geekydadsden.com and  follow me on Twitter too

MAY THE FARCE BE WITH YOU