Save me Daddy!

We had big plans for today. First Daddy was going to come home for lunch and eat leftovers with Kaylani and Mommy. Then, Daddy was going to watch Kaylani after work while Mommy got her nails done. And at 2pm, everything was going exactly as we had planned. But then the clock hit 2:23pm, and cows, I mean chaos, broke out. Here's what went down:

Daddy's Office, 2:23pm (insert 'dum dum' sounds from Law & Order) - I was sitting at my desk looking over a report one more time before giving the go ahead to send it out when my cell phone rang. It was Mommy. I answered. "Hello?" I asked innocently. "KAYLANILOKINCAR" came back through the phone (or at least that's what it sounded like). "What'd you say?" I asked, but I already knew something was wrong. I was already on my feet. "KAYLANI IS LOCKED IN THE CAR!" is what came back the second time. "Are you serious?" came out of my mouth and my body started moving faster than I could think. I was halfway out of my office when my brain started processing things like "IM Gordon and tell him you've gotta run out and might not make it back for the 3pm meeting" or "lock your computer before you leave" but it was too late. I was gone.

Daddy's Car, 2:28pm - I peeled out of the parking lot and was headed home to get our spare key. Turns out Mommy was at Village Park which is about 8 minutes from the house without traffic. 10 minutes to get home, then 8 minutes to the park meant I'd get there about 22 minutes after "the incident," assuming Mommy called me right when it happened. Mommy called a few more times as I sped down 95. "Don't worry, she's not crying" she would say one minute, but quickly follow it up with "should I call the police?" No, there would be no time for the police. Not on my watch.

Home, 2:36pm - Home at last. Made it home in just over 8 minutes, all made possible by the aggressive move to cut off the 18 wheeler so I could still make the exit ramp going under 40mph. Didn't even have to pass any cars on the local roads...this time. I hopped out of the car and was in the house before the car or the garage door stopped moving. By the time the garage door was fully open, I was back in the car with the spare keys in hand and halfway out of the driveway already.

Daddy's Car, 2:42pm - Some jackass cuts me off when I'm less than 2 minutes from the park and slowed me down from 50mph to 20mph. Good thing since speed bumps were coming up, but that guy is still a jackass in my mind. Mommy has called me 2 more times by this point just to make sure that I wasn't driving "recklessly." Recklessly...ha. She had no idea. As I pull into the parking lot, I start pressing the remote to unlock Mommy's car. I park next to her and hit the remote a few more times since apparently it didn't work. The dash was over.

Village Park, 2:45pm - Kaylani was okay. We opened the door and she was just sitting there playing with her feet. She took one glance at Daddy and gave a smile. Daddy just stared at her. She was okay. Thank God she was okay. Mommy opened the trunk to get her keys. That's when it all made sense. She put the keys down in the trunk of the Highlander to get the stroller out. By some freak accident, she was able to push the lock button on the remote with the trunk door while she was closing it, pushing the keys inside at the same time. If the keys jammed the door, none of this would have happened. But it did.

I stared at Kaylani for a few more minutes before even acknowledging Dorothy and Makayla's presence. Then I gave Kaylani a quick hug, Mommy a quick kiss, Dorothy the spare set of keys, and I was back in my car. As much fun as this little adventure was, I had a meeting to get to, and I only had 8 minutes to do it. But I made it. It was 37 minutes of craziness, but I made it. Made it home. Made it to the park. Made it back in time for my meeting. And made sure my blood pressure was ridiculously high. But that's just another day of parenting. So for all you driving parents out there, remember, it could happen to you so be prepared. Or work close by home and make sure Mommy doesn't go far away. Either one.

Oh, and if you want Mommy's side of the story, you're going to have to ask her. From what I heard, Dorothy did a great job of distracting her with small talk, pointing out hot guys as they jogged by, and keeping an eye on Kaylani so she didn't cry when she saw Mommy. And Mommy did a great job holding it together so she didn't cry when she saw Kaylani. Everything turned out okay. Let's not do it again.

By the way, because I won't write again until sometime Friday night, Happy Fatherhood Friday! Don't forget to check out Dad-Blogs for more great posts from the rest of the family. And while you're there, take a read of my latest Sports IllustraDad post. It's my humorous take on Michael Vick's possible teams! It reads better than that sounds. Trust me, or your money back!

Seat's Taken

It's been 52 hours since we left home on Friday night to head up to Boston for the weekend. And of those 52 hours, Kaylani spent 23 of them in her carseat. To put it in Asian/mathematical terms, she spent nearly 50% of her time away from home (okay fine, it's 44%) in her carseat. 12 of them are accounted for in the drive between NJ and Boston. But where did the other 11 come from?

We drove around quite a bit while we were in Boston, but everyone we visited was within a 15 minute car ride. So the fact that we made 5 different stops, most of them being back to back instead of roundtrip, totals to just about 2 hours. That leaves about 9 hours that Kaylani spent in her carseat, and none of those 9 hours were actually in a car.

Being away from home meant that we were limited to the places we could put Kaylani down. Sure she could lay on a couch or a bed or even a blanket on the floor while we were out, but there was little possbility that she would have napped in any of those places. That meant Kaylani's naps while we were out (which was all the time) were in the comfort of her carseat. And I use the word "comfort" in the loosest of terms because each time went something like this:

Go in the carseat and look around. Get out of the carseat and get held by people. Get real tired and get put back in the carseat. Cry a bit and get swung around in the carseat. Time to go and get put back in the carseat. Fall asleep in the car for about 5 minutes. Get woken up because we're at our next destination and start the cycle again.

On the rare occasions Kaylani would fall asleep because she was so tired from us screwing with her nap schedule, it would be in her carseat. Since it's not particularly comfortable and she's used to moving around in her crib, each nap lasted no more than an hour in length, and more often than not, lasted about 5 minutes. So 9 hours of Kaylani's weekend were spent napping, swinging, or just sitting in her carseat. Sounds like a blast right?

After Kaylani finally fell asleep on our ride home (after Mommy nursed her because she cried for the first 30 minutes), she woke up 2 hours later which was great, except we were still 2 hours from home. We did our best to distract her, but when she cried the last 40 minutes, even after we stopped for a quick dinner because she was crying already, we didn't complain. I would have done the same thing if I was in her position. But now we're home and we promised Kaylani that she wouldn't have to go back in her carseat again...until Tuesday.

Anyways, I'll try and post pictures from the weekend tomorrow. It's pretty late for all of us and I have to wake up Mommy and Kaylani and put them both to bed. Hopefully I can do it gently since Kaylani and Mommy are both sleeping while nursing. Luckily for Kaylani, she gets to sleep in her own crib tonight. Hopefully she'll actually sleep for a long time so Mommy can sleep in her own bed tonight too. But whatever happens, it's still better than being in a carseat.

A Chinese New Year to Remember

Our weekend in Boston concluded with a Chinese New Year celebration at Saint James Church in Chinatown. We've gone to this celebration a few times over the last few years, but this was the first one we've been to since we were married and obviously the first since we've had Kaylani. Like all things that we've done with and without Kaylani, it was different, but in a good way.

Not only did Kaylani get to wear a gorgeous red Chinese dress that Yin Yin bought her, but she also got a little bit richer. As part of Chinese New Year, single people (mainly kids) get to go around to any married couple and say "Kung Hay Fat Choi", and in return, they receive a "lai-see", or lucky red envelope filled with money. Since this was our first celebration while being married, we were all of a sudden on the giving end instead of the receiving. But, Kaylani was on the receiving end, so all in all, we made out pretty well. Okay, "we" did not make out well, but Kaylani sure did. If I was more concerned about "recouping my losses", I could have taken some from Kaylani's stash, but we're also pretty good about making sure Kaylani's money is her money.

Unfortunately we missed the lion dance (or scary lion dance as Cousin Connor called it), and the martial arts display because Kaylani had to nurse, but we did get to see some funny speeches that involved white people speaking in Chinese, and some good authentic Chinese food. And of course, we got some good quality family time in there as well before we had to make the drive home.

The drive home ranked 2nd best in terms of time (5.5 hours), but probably 3rd overall. Again, we pushed Kaylani a bit too far since she had been awake for 5 hours by the time we got in the car, and she cried a few times. The worst part was she woke up for the second time with only 45 minutes left in the trip which meant we were so close but so far. Luckily she nursed quick, pooped quick (and cleanly) and we were back on our way to Rob and Jen's house for some Super Bowl fun (and was only an hour late).

All in all, this Chinese New Year definitely ranks among the top of my Chinese New Year experiences, and that's of course because of the wonderful family I have, from my beautiful daughter and wife all the way to my loving parents, sibling (and sibling in laws), nieces, and nephews. A special thanks to my family for spending the new year with us, and also to Rob and Jen for feeding us after a long drive home (go Steelers!)

And most of all, thanks to Kaylani for being such a great girl and sleeping most of the car ride, not having any blow outs, and for staying asleep in the always tricky car seat to crib transition once we finally got her home tonight. To wrap up the weekend, I'm going to head to bed, but for all of you, don't forget to check out pictures from the last 4 days. Good night!

The Rest Stop

Its been awhile since we've had a good poop story to tell. And its been a while since we've had to make the drive home from Boston. Funny how those 2 things would come together for us today. Funny in retrospect that is. Not so funny during....for Mommy.

It happened halfway into our journey home. It was our very first stop of the trip. In fact, it was the first time we had to stop for Kaylani this entire weekend. It started off innocently enough, with Mommy using the bathroom first. Daddy, being the responsible father that he is, thought he would help out and change her in the backseat so she would be ready to nurse once Mommy got back. Well, part responsible father and part father who wanted to get back on the road as soon as possible.

Changing a diaper in the backseat is not a comfortable thing to do. There's limited space to work with, and its slanted back so Kaylani would keep sliding back and to the right. It took a little work and adjustment, but the diaper was back on, two onesies buttoned back up (not 1, but 2), and pants were on. So far so good, but there was an odd feeling going through my mind that it wasn't quite right. The velcro from the changing mat got caught on the diaper on her way back to an upright position, but there was something out there bigger than that. Whatever it was, Daddy's turn was over, so now it was Mommys turn. Kaylani was almost through her first 10 minutes and then IT happened. This time, IT turned out to be a bit of spit up (or syrup as Cousin Alisha calls it). Well, that's what the initial IT was. IT was followed by a series of fireworks (not the big boom explosion ones, but the longer crackly/sizzly ones). A few more of those and then came the big boom explosion as a finale.

It was a little loud, so Mommy held her up for inspection. A tiny spot was on the back of her pants, but that was enough for Daddy to record a Code Brown. And when the pants came off, it was immediately clear why there was a Code Brown. And that reason was Daddy. Apparently if the diaper is a bit sideways, the coverage isn't as good as if it was on correctly. Oh, and where Daddy describes it as "a bit sideways," Mommy would describe it as "one of her butt cheeks was completely out!" Anyways, when you combine lower coverage with firework type poops, you get a Code Brown.

So Mommy had to change Kaylani again, but this time, she had to remove 2 poop stained onesies, the diaper that bore the brunt of the incident, and do all of this from the uncomfortness of the backseat of our car. After using the majority of our wipes (we had 5 remaining for 3 hours of driving which luckily we ended up not having to use), putting on a brand new outfit, and wiping down the changing mat, we were back in business. Of course, with all the excitement, Kaylani took twice as long to finish nursing as normal, so we stayed at the rest stop for a solid 45 minutes. So much for a quick trip home. Oh, and it was snowing again by the way so we hit traffic the rest of the way too.

All in all, our first trip to Boston consisted of 11 hours of driving time, 13 hours in a car, 165 people at a restaurant, 1 Code Brown, and a whole lot of fun. Kaylani behaved better then we could have imagined during both car rides. So well in fact that the 45 minute poop stop was well worth it since she spent the other 7 hours in the car sleeping. To help you remember/experience it, here are some pictures we took over the last 3 days. Enjoy!

Road Trip!

I'm pretty sure that having Kaylani has prepared me to handle times of stress, or more specifically, times where I need to function on little sleep. This morning, Kaylani woke up around 2am, and after Mommy finished nursing her, my brain apparently thought it'd be a good time for me to get up too. Of course I rebeled at first, but when it started churning non-stop about all the things I had to do at work, I knew it was time to suck it up, and get up. After all, I'm fairly used to being semi-awake in the middle of the morning now, so who's to say I couldn't be productive too.

Well anyways, I rolled into my office around 4:30am and somehow I lasted until 6:30pm. In fact, it's 9:30pm right now and I'm still going, and going pretty strong too. I'm convinced it has to do with the irregular sleep I've been getting since Kaylani was born. Some nights she's great (and Mommy is great) and I don't notice a thing, but other nights I'm up at least once (even if there's little I can do to help Mommy and/or Kaylani). All of this has apparently prepared my body to be fully functional even though I'm really tired.

Being able to function on little sleep is great, but it doesn't exactly help me get through tomorrow's task. Tomorrow night after work, we're all going on our first road trip of over an hour. We'll be making our first trip back to Boston in roughly 4 months, and this time we're going to bring a crying baby who may or may not have to stop regularly to pee (and no, I don't mean Mommy...maybe).

I've never enjoyed making the drive between NJ/NY and Boston. It's far, it goes through Connecticut (sorry Connecticut residents), and there's pretty much traffic at at least 3 different spots along the way. Add to that the potential of a baby meltdown in a car, and it's really not the most exciting thing to look forward to. I'm completely afraid of Kaylani being fussy and us having to pull over and stop every 30 minutes just so she can take a breath. Or even worse, if we hit traffic and there's nowhere to pull off except the side of a highway, which is never a good place to stop.

Or maybe I'm stressing over nothing and she'll stay asleep the entire time and we'll get there with no problems at all. But the bottom line is, I just don't know. I'm hoping everything goes real smooth this first time thought, because if it doesn't, then it's going to be really tough to convince me to head back to Boston on a somewhat regular basis. Unfortunately, there's only one way to find out, and it's never the easy way. Any tips on infant long distance car rides would be greatly appreciated.

But as is customary here before I embark on adventures that will likely result in lots of pictures, here are the latest pictures of Kaylani. Enjoy them, and have a great Friday! Hope it's filled with less dread than mine is.

The Tam Cousins

We had a Tam family reunion in NY today to celebrate Thanksgiving together, but also to welcome Baby Zoe into the family! This also marked Kaylani's first long distance car ride, and she behaved for the entire 1.5 hour drive!

I've got some great pictures of Zoe and Kaylani together, and can't wait to get back home to upload them. I also can't wait to get back home because I'm dead tired right now (and still at Jeph and Shan's). Going shopping on Black Friday is tiring under any circumstance, but going with a baby just makes it downright exhausting! Granted, we only wernt to Babies R Us, but still, it was exhausting.

Anyways, check out pictures from our trip to NY now! And of course, check back tomorrow for some more great stories from The Daddy Diaries.

The Long Arm of the Car

Today we took a trip to the airport to drop off Abuela, and in doing so, experienced 2 significant moments in Kaylani's life. The first is that as of 3:45pm, Mommy and Daddy were alone with Kaylani for the very first time since she was born. We're actually alone for the first time in almost a month since my mom was here 10 days before Kaylani was born. Since then, we've had one of our mothers, or various guests, stay with us (and take excellent care of us). It's been a long time coming, but we're officially on our own with our baby girl. Yikes! So far so good though.

The second is that when Mommy went inside with Abuela to help her check-in for her flight, Daddy drove around for the first time with his baby girl all by himself. The monkey mirror attached to the back seat helped me see her while I was driving (of course while keeping my eyes solidly glued to the cars in front of me), but it's not exactly the best way to see what she's doing. And wouldn't you know it, as soon as the car stopped and Mommy got out, Kaylani started crying.

It's like she knew. It's like she has a sixth sense (okay, it's probably a combination of her normal five senses), but she knew that Daddy was in the front, and couldn't do a damn thing except drive around hoping that the motion would calm her down. It didn't. I then did the next thing that I knew. I tried to reach back to her and calm her down. I've seen it done so many times by so many parents that it just seemed like the right thing to do. What I didn't know is that it's IMPOSSIBLE!

Let me set things up for you a bit. I drive a Toyota Highlander. Kaylani sits in a Graco SafeSeat that rests on a car seat base. The seat is anchored in on the rear passenger side. Got the picture in your head? Okay, now we can proceed.

So at the first red light I came to, I had my own little fire drill (you may call it a Chinese fire drill) and ran to the back seat to get her pacifier out and give it to her. Success! It was quiet...all the way until I got back into the driver seat. Inevitably, out comes the bobo (which is Spanish for pacifier by the way), and back come the cries. This is when the "reach around" comes in (funny how expressions change once you have kids).

I, with my eyes focused on the road ahead and my left hand steadily on the steering wheel, reach back to the rear passenger side, push down her car seat shade, and begin my blind search for the bobo. No luck. In fact, I couldn't even feel her head. It's like I was reaching in the back seat but she was actually in the trunk. She was SO far away! I gave up and started to wonder if I had abnormally short arms, a long car, or a ridiculously tiny baby who hides her bobo from her Dad while he's driving.

Now I know parents who can do this. I know parents who drive SUV's and can do this. I know parents who have shorter arms then me, and bigger cars then me, and can do this. What's wrong with me? Did I miss the training class at the hospital? Actually, come to find out that this type of behavior is actually frowned upon by the hospital. Well what the hospital doesn't tell you that while you shouldn't do it, it's really the only way you can stop the crying!

Anyways, I did what anyone would have done in this situation if they were given the option. I didn't pull over and get the bobo. I didn't turn around and look for it. Instead, I reached for my cell phone, called Mommy, and said (very calmly), "Mommy, we're gonna have a meltdown...and then Kaylani will start crying."

Mommy finished getting Abuela settled and then came out to meet us. She put the bobo in place and we had an uneventful car ride home. That was car ride alone #1 for Daddy. Car ride alone #2 is gonna go better, even if it means I have to get one of those mechanical extend-o arms from the toy store. I'm serious! Wait for it...