5 Reasons Why September Will be a Month We Won’t Forget

This is an update I really should make Garrett write. After all, it is his success that warrants our first blog post of the summer. (Chasing after a one-year old is, in fact, all-consuming). But in fairness, I probably instigated the original discussion that led us down this path, so here it goes…

5 Reasons Why September Will be a Month We Won’t Forget

1. Garrett has accepted a position of Video Production Specialist, which is the next step for him after an awesome run with JaxParks and the City of Jacksonville.
2. The new job is in county government, which continues Garrett’s government-employment streak (previously: Navy & City), via Clackamas County.
3. My hometown (Molalla, Oregon) happens to reside in Clackamas County, along with some of my favorite parts (and people) of Oregon.
4. Mathias and Garrett will become adopted Oregonians as we leave Jacksonville next month and resettle in the Willamette Valley (the land of milk and honey…and craft beer and marionberries!)
5. The dreams we have for our family outweigh the dream job I have had these last six years. It’s the right time for the Teagues to go West on our own Oregon Trail.

We are still working out the details, but Garrett will start mid-September after the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs conclude. I’m a free agent, open to new opportunities but also the possibility of taking time to find the right next step for me. There’s enough to be done between checking off the Jax Bucket List and saying goodbyes to starting fresh and finding the perfect home on the best coast! 

Coming soon: the “buy our stuff” and “where should we live” posts that accompany any cross-country move. We will keep the blog updated as our zip code changes…and share a few more photos of Tiny Teague too!

Dear Mathias (on my first Mother’s Day)

Dear Mathias,

Today is your 10-month birthday, which coincidentally falls on Mothers’ Day. Since you were born, I have wished to write you little letters to capture my favorite moments and memories from your new life. One month goes by, and then another and it’s all I can do to write down milestones in your calendar. So I promise to write you a letter on Mothers’ Day each year. After all, it wasn’t until you arrived in life that I could lay any claim to this day.

These last ten months have flown by so quickly. Everyone warned me of it, but like most things in life, we don’t truly understand until we experience first-hand. You have grown from my tiny, floppy baby into this ball of personality, smiles and shrieks who looks more like a little boy every day. I remember the first time I held you (sleeping) in my arms and saw a little boy where my baby lay. It scared me so. The last time we flew to Oregon (April, for Easter), I was struck by just how small the counter space was in the airplane bathroom, where I changed your diapers on your very first flights. But even as you grow, you still manage to fit in my arms and on my shoulder, and fill up my hugs. (Speaking of hugs, you give really good ones first thing in the morning.)

Before I became your Mom, I didn’t know how I would adjust to the demands of a life that wasn’t my own. But you know what? Instincts took over, along with some coaching from your Nonna and Nonie, friends and Google. Truth be told, I still don’t know how to do this Mom thing some days. But what is different now is the knowledge that there isn’t much you and I can’t handle together, or that some dancing and deep squats won’t fix. (And when all else fails, you really like milk.)

When I say prayers with you at night, I thank God for the blessing of you in our lives. And when we pray for all the babies and mommies, I squeeze you tight. I never knew how one little person could make life so rich. I marvel at your penchant of “making friends” wherever we go. Dad and I make silly noises to make you smile and laugh. Your curiosity about the world is contagious. There is only one food (eggs) that you won’t eat. And you’ve been a great travel buddy (25 flights down!) as I’ve zipped you across the USA and back again.

Mathias, I am so blessed to be your Mommy. Each day is a new and wondrous experience. While I may not take a daily picture or document your milestones each month, I hope you understand it is because I am choosing to live in (and enjoy) the moment with you. In just two months we will celebrate your first birthday and I will surely have to stop calling you a baby. But Matty, you should know that you will always be my sweet boy, my little love and my baby. I love you! Thank you for allowing me to be your Mom.

Xoxo

The First Noel

Merry Christmas, baby.

Happy holidays from the Teague’s!
Mathias’ first Christmas [2013]

A lot of people go to college for 7 years…

…but it only took Garrett three and a half!
Without further adieu, the moment his mother waited 29 years for.

Graduate March

Little man watching for Daddy

Yay, Daddy!

Our little family

Wanna be like Dad when I grow up!

So proud of him!

Worth the wait to see their graduate!

Brandon, Maria & Annabella came to celebrate with Uncle Bud.

“Say…M.J.” (JU soccer pals)

Life after the Klakring isn’t so bad.

Wonder Weeks are for the Babies

I have been at this dad thing for an entire 19 weeks and the thing that sticks with me the most is that your baby changes… constantly.

They are experiencing everything for the first time and developing new skills each days.  It’s awesome and wonderful to see how my little man gets bigger and starts realizing stuff like he has hands… feet… and even crazier… he can control them!  A lot of these new developments come in what has been humorously coined “wonder weeks” by researchers in the Netherlands.  After experiencing a couple of these weeks I am not too fond of the misleading notion of this term.  It makes it sound like a glorious time for everyone involved.  Alas, it may be a wonderful time for your child but the periods of fussiness before and during these weeks will not always have you using those words to describe these times in your life.  Maybe… Exhausted Weeks or Emotional Surprise Weeks or my favorite You Will Have No Idea What Your Baby Wants Week.

So, why am I making such a big deal about this for dads? Well because these new wonders and realizations for your child cause things to change in their brain and how they react to the world which means that technique you use to get your child to sleep… well, it will just piss them off.  Holding him and swaying… oh he hates it now.  Humming and the rocking chair… yup… hates it too.  I have had to figure out on the fly what is going on with Mathias and try to find new ways to help him figure out the world.  It hasn’t always been pretty either and it won’t be for you.  This is the challenge out there for you dads during this lovely time in your child’s life.  Learn to adapt! Try to read all those articles and books your wife will ask you to look at.  Know what is coming… this article breaks down the changes and when they usually occur.  Don’t think for a moment you have it all figured out because your kids like to flip the script on you in a heartbeat.  So, remember wonder weeks are for the babies…

Down with the Sickness

Wake up… feed… playtime… get ready for day care… get stuff done… pick up baby… feed… go to sleep.  Throw in eating somewhere in between and you have as normal a day as you can with a little one in the ranks.  As Lauren and I experienced this past weekend… that intricately simplistic equation cannot compute when both the parents are suffering from food poisoning.  Yes… on the weekend I should have been saying “Hooray me for my service” (Veteran’s Day), I was instead finding acceptable receptacles for the food my stomach deemed not worthy to be in my system.

And you know what… Mats could care less.  He still wanted to eat… he still wanted attention… he is still a baby and for all you parents out there, your kids will be no different.  Don’t think like I did that your four month old will cut you some slack.  They pity no fools…

Living in Florida with both our families in other states makes life being sick even harder.  The best I could do was just call my mom for some pity.  She couldn’t come baby me like she did when I was younger!  It was an absolutely awful weekend but does our plight mean you are you just on your own when sick with a kid?

If you’re lucky, only one of you will get sick.  So, first off hope and pray that’s the case.  That way the other one can pick up the slack with baby duty.

If not… try our method.  Make really good friends.  Call in all the IOU’s, show them only photos of your kid smiling, and get them over to bring you some sustenance, to check in on you, or to just hold the baby for 15 minutes while you become way to familiar with the tile on the bathroom.

That’s it… no magic remedies or list to follow.  Know good people, have cute kids, and then you can get down with (and over) the sickness.

I Did It All For The…

After re-reading my first few posts I started thinking that I may not be making this whole dad thing sound so cool although everything I said has been true.  Babies do make scheduling things difficult and they don’t care that the hockey game is on when they don’t want to sleep.  They cry when they are upset, tired, annoyed, and sometimes when they seem to be happy.  Babies also don’t like to sleep for very long periods of time during the early months so when I tell you that you are not going to get much sleep early on…. well, it’s true.  All of that truth can lead parenting to be the most frustrating and humbling experience in your life.  In a society built on winning it hurts when a baby has more determination to stay awake then you do to put him to sleep.  When both parents throw up their hands and put a bottle in his mouth… it’s tough… it’s demoralizing… but what I haven’t talked about yet is those brief moments that make all the work, the lack of sleep, and the frustration worth it.  It starts with a smile…

The Smile

At the beginning your child seems to only have two modes.  Sleep or cry.  And they will switch through this quite frequently.  Every now and then you’ll get a smile though which is mostly from them passing gas but it still will make your day.  As they get older and begin recognizing you… nothing is better than coming home from work to see their eyes light up and their smile beaming up at you.

The Snuggle

When your dance moves, bouncing, and rocking lead to a quiet, sleepy baby.  Early on, I would leave Mats on my chest when I was able to get him to sleep mostly because I was scared that he may decide to wake up if I so much as thought of moving.  When your son or daughter is content to lay their head against you or sleep in your arms for a nice snuggling session you’ll forget all the time it took for them to calm down.

The Laugh

My personal favorite and I love it so much I try anything to get my son to do it.  He could spit up on me 20 times in an hour, have a massive diaper blow out, squeal and scream all he wanted, and as long as I could make him laugh afterwards… all is forgiven.  I mean come on… you try to stay mad at this kid!

See… it really is completely worth it and it’s only going to get better as my kid gets older.

Mats’ First Pumpkin Patch

Fall has arrived in Jacksonville! For the past few days we’ve been sleeping with windows open, breaking out the long sleeves and enjoying the respite from a hot humid summer. The weather turned just in time for Halloween, which will be Mats’ first big holiday. We don’t have much planned this week for Halloween, except a lineup of themed outfits to dress Mats up in, but one thing I wanted to do was take him to a pumpkin patch.

The church attached to Mats’ new daycare is locally known for going all out for families around holidays, and the giant pumpkin patch they set up has been calling our name all week. This afternoon we loaded up Mats and his stroller for a quick visit. All of the pumpkins that were lined up Friday afternoon had disappeared, save a few that were better for photos than taking home. That probably worked out better for us, since carving pumpkins with an infant would have taken more arm-twisting of Garrett than is necessary. But we did snap a few photos of Mathias’ first pumpkin experiences to share…

Happy Halloween (and Mathias’ 16-week birthday) from all of us!

The Good, The Bad, The Daycare

As the last few weeks of Lauren’s maternity leave dwindled down, we had to figure out what we were going to do with Mathias as we both headed to work.  This was a very difficult decision to make and it’s not a decision dads can treat like most others.  Choosing daycare or in-home care isn’t just like shopping at the mall for guys.  If you are anything like me you pick the first thing up that you like and keep moving so you can get the hell out of there as fast as possible.  I don’t linger, I don’t compare, and I don’t wait for a coupon.  Try something on in the store?  Hell no, I like the color… let’s move!  Well, I didn’t have that luxury this time.  This is my only child (so far), my son, I couldn’t just say yes to something because it was the cheapest option.

Luckily, I have an extremely smart and diligent (slightly obsessive) wife who was able to scour the local area for childcare and there are plenty of options around Jacksonville.  If you are looking for a basic rundown of the types of childcare and the pros, cons, and costs of each I recommend this article from Baby Center.  It helped get us started with the search and thought process.  We based our decision on three main factors, but these vary depending on the priorities for your own family.

Location

For us, convenience was key.  Lauren and I head opposite directions from our house to go to work.  She heads east to the lovely beach and palm trees of Ponte Vedra while I head to west to the concrete jungle that is downtown Jacksonville.  Having some sort of care at or near are house was important since that was the midway point from where we both our work.  That way any drop-off and pick-up driving for each of us would not add much time to our commutes.  Knowing we wanted to stay close to home, we started looking at the next factor.

Price

It turns out you can put a price on happiness or at least the price of care.  If you want your child to get one-on-one attention at your house…well, you are going to have to pay for that.  We flirted with the idea of in-home nanny services for awhile due to our hectic schedules since I am finishing my last semester at Jacksonville University and working full-time. We even brought in a babysitter to watch Mathias while Lauren started back at work part-time, with shortened days or just a couple days a week in the office. In the end, although the care would probably be great, the price was too rich for our blood and we began looking at daycare providers in Jacksonville which leads us to the third factor.

 

Quality of Care 

This is the tricky one.  Where mother’s intuition, Google reviews, and daycare visits combined to help us decide where we wanted to send our son.  Lauren looked at every aspect of the facilities and the personalities of the teachers/directors she met.  We did eliminate a few based on our feelings of how well kept the buildings were or what the classrooms looked like but when we finally had to make a choice on what we thought would be the best quality care we had to trust that our choice was the best Mathias would get.

No matter what factors you use to decide on what type of care your child gets just know that you will have doubts, that you will feel guilty, and that is normal.  Even after making the decision to place Mathias in daycare it has still been difficult dropping him off or picking him up.  I know he is not getting the same attention he gets from his mom and I when we are both around but he is getting the chance to interact with new people, observe older kids, and it gives Lauren and I the chance to find a new normal routine.

Good luck on your own choices whatever they may be.  There is no one right answer when searching for childcare.  Find what is right for you and your family and if you do choose childcare outside of your house then here is am informative video on what to look for and questions to ask during your search.

No Sleep Till…

As a parent it doesn’t matter where you are.  You don’t sleep until the baby sleeps and babies are pretty good at making sure you hear them.  It seems like every week Mathias not only gets bigger but learns how to increase the volume of his screams (not cries) to a completely new level.  Nothing creates a tense situation like two parents scrambling to get a baby to calm down from DEFCON 4.  That’s why I decided to go over some basic tips to help get your child to sleep under dire circumstances as well as keep mommy and daddy sane.

Note: These are not fix-all methods nor is this a discussion about sleep schedules/routines.  This is what to do when the baby poop hits the fan and you for the love of everything holy just need to get that baby to sleep.

Note Duex: Check the diaper, check the diaper, check the diaper.  I have spent far too many minutes of my life hopelessly trying to put my son to sleep to finally have the notion to look under the hood to see if there was a leak.

1. Movement

Don’t stop moving!  Bounce, sway, walk around the house… hell, prance around it if it works.  Even when you think you have them asleep keep going.  They know you want to sit down, they know your back hurts, they are waiting for any sign of weakness to start wailing once again.  Find something your baby likes no matter how ridiculous it looks and stick with it for a good 3-5 minutes after eyes are closed.

2. Sleep Props

When the baby figures out your moves or if your back is giving out from the “jitterbug” technique then go for the big guns.  Bust out that rocking chair, pacifier, or swing.  One of these devices can be the key to unlocking the meltdown that is occurring.

3. White Noise

Nothing gets Mathias quieter then some good ol’ extreme rain noise.  It’s like flipping the volume switch from 11 to 0 when it gets turned on.  This low cost option is great for long car rides or just bring them down from the brink.  You can buy plenty of battery powered noise machines, find hours of white noise videos online, or download one of the many apps on your phone.

4. Swaddle

You may feel like you’re at the rodeo hogtying your child but swaddling works.  Might Mats can get so worked that he forgets those hands and arms of his hurt.  So, when our son starts boxing himself into a rage we head to the swaddle.  This keeps his arms and legs snug while he is flailing about and for some babies is vital to getting them to go to sleep.

5. Patience!

I talked about it a little when discussing movement.  Babies are going to test you in new ways every time you try to put them to sleep.  They won’t go to sleep immediately so take some deep breaths and stick it out for the entire game.

6. Mix It Up

Your baby will grow rapidly and change by the minute.  One day they will love the rocking chair and the next day they will hate it.  Try not to depend on the same gadget or method during their scream-athon sessions.  They’ll figure out what you’re trying to do.  They are smarter then they look!

 

Think I am full of it?  Well, listen to the tips from some of my fellow Dadventurers.

 

 

Bigger Every Day

A funny thing happened midway through our ten days in Columbus last week. Without warning, Mats’ pajamas, the kind with footies, didn’t fit anymore. Never mind that he wore them the week before and I packed them just days ago. Suddenly, our pjs count went from four to two and having just two of anything is a dangerous game, in the case of a twelve-week old who has a tendency to drop the occasional blowout diaper.

The other clue I discovered that my baby was growing before my eyes came in the Presidents Cup golf shop. I picked up a warm onesie made of sweatshirt material labeled 6 months that looked HUGE on the hanger and even when I put it next to Mats. But sure enough, when Mats came to visit me in the media center with my mom wearing the onesie, it was barely too big, not even stretching past his toes. (As and aside, he was super cute and most of us were jealous he got to rock a sweatshirt onesie in our workplace.)

I forget how big Mats is getting until I look back at our weekly photos and compare them side by side. Here’s a look back at the little guy at four, eight and twelve weeks and how he’s grown.

Schedule Me This, Schedule Me That

Mathias has already turned into quite the jet-setter.  At three months old he has been across the country to Oregon and attended the President’s Cup (USA vs the World (except Europe)) in Ohio.  He and his mom spent nine long days away which was certainly a shock to my system.  In the short time I have been a father I have become accustomed to life with Mats and the scheduling riddle (get the title now?) that kids cause.  In that nine days, I was reminded of how quickly I can move when I decide to go somewhere or how light my arms felt when walking out the door.  If I wanted to go eat, I just grabbed my keys, wallet, phone and out the door I went.

With Mats home there is a little bit more involved in the whole process.  Just look at this checklist!  The amount of things required to walk out the door suddenly explodes into car seats, strollers, diaper bags, diapers to go in said bag, wipes (more then one type for some reason), pacifiers, toys and more! Of course don’t forget the small human being that doesn’t always want to do what you are doing.  They might hate the car seat or the stroller.  They might have an upset stomach, be tired, or they may have pooped their britches.  All of this is random and can cause some stress when planning out your day.  So, be prepared to have any of your usual daily schedules blown to hell the second a child arrives.

Just listen to one of our DADventure contributors sharing how scheduling has changed for him since having a baby.

Now, the point of this blog was only to slightly scare the bejeezus out of you.  There are ways that you can set yourself up for a little more success.  Here are three tips that I think will keep you and your wife somewhat sane.

1. Don’t Plan Too Much

At first you are going to have a tendency to overbook yourself.  You have a new baby which all of a sudden means people really want to see you.  People want to come over, you want to get out of the hosue, your wife wants to shop, you want to watch the game and y’all will be so used to how it used to be that you will schedule out your entire day.  This will all come crashing down like a house of cards right when the baby has a diaper blowout in aisle #12 of Babies ‘R’ Us.  Keep your schedule open and light.

2. Baby Routine

Try to get your baby on a routine that works for your family.  Babies love routines apparently and dads love knowing what to expect.  There is plenty of information online and at the bookstore that will help you find the right routine.  This article from “Parenting” sums up some pros and cons of different baby schedules.  I personally recommend being flexible in your routine especially if you have extremely hectic lifestyles like mine right now. but to each their own.  Research and decide!

3. Pre-Pack

Always have that diaper bag fully-stocked with supplies.  This is something you can do the night before or right after you get back to the house.  Rather than scouring the house going over what you are missing you can be prepared and be that much closer to walking out the door.

If you have some good tips on creating a routine or if you think everything I said is hogwash then feel free to leave a comment.

Morning Rituals

In the hotel each morning, Nona reads the paper. Mommy reads on her phone. And now Mats “reads” his book!

Mighty Travels

Mats and I dominated our first solo long range trip together, mostly because he looks like this when he flies!

Today’s trip took us from Jacksonville all the way to Dublin, Ohio, site of this year’s Presidents Cup tournament. Along the way we knocked out his fifth and sixth states visited if you count airports (all before 12 weeks old!). I definitely was thinking in the last 24 hours that I had bitten off more I could chew. Garrett can attest to the tears and stress that hit hard last night as I faced packing both of us and the prospect of taking Mathias on my nine-day work trip, alone.

I shouldn’t have stressed so much. Between the two flights, we made friends, stretched and played together in the IAD airport (and mom even got to eat a little). Mats even got his first experience in first-class thanks to a United upgrade. Too bad it was literally a 44-minute flight! On both flights he did great, mostly sleeping and eating a little. Mainly though, he put up with my fumbling and cramming blankets and burp clothes and Boppy and baby in one single seat, with very little fuss. He’s now at the stage where he is aware of surroundings, so when I was moving through the airport (as long as we kept moving), he was content to watch everything around us with big open eyes.

I was so thankful the guardian angel I prayed for did appear in Columbus. Another mom, who was going home to see her one-year old after being gone for two weeks, was brilliant. She switched me seats on the plane, and then met us at baggage to help pull off all FOUR checked bags (three of them were for Mats. Just sayin’) and arrange them on a luggage cart, pointing me in the direction of the rental car garage.

It took me a little extra time to load in all our bags, install the car seat base and change Mats’ diaper before hitting the road, compared to last week when I went to Atlanta overnight on my own. But by the time I was steering a luggage cart into the hotel with one hand while packing Mats in his car seat in the other arm, I was thinking to myself, “Mats mom is a bad ass.” (I should have snapped a picture of the bags on the luggage rack!)

So now we’re settled into our hotel room, two beds and a crib and all of those bags we brought in a semi-organized fashion. I’m so grateful for a baby who loves to stretch out and watch, content with my talking to him as I criss-cross the room and sing along to our Raffi station on Pandora. We’ve both had our dinners and he fell asleep on his own tonight in the hotel crib. That alone is a huge win for the trip, and hop fill a good omen for the start, as I didn’t know how well sharing a single room with him was going to work.

Tomorrow morning we pick up Nonna (my mom) from the airport and will check out the golf course to get our bearings before the Presidents Cup week starts. If today was any indication it’s going to be a great week–not without its stressful moments–but one to build a ton of memories (and hopefully a few blog posts) to take away with us.

My DADventure Begins

What now?

Recently Lauren and I became parents to a beautiful baby boy, Mathias a.k.a. “Mighty Mathias, Buddy, Squirt, Mats”. We have suffered sleepless nights, frustration, absolute joy, and everything in between while learning how to take care of another human being.  I had read up a little before Mats arrived but it seems like it all went out the window when I was holding a screaming baby in my arms, bouncing up and down, and wondering, “What the hell do I do?!”.  Just as Mathias is learning about the world around him now, I am doing the same thing from practice and experience.  My trials and tribulations being a father are sometimes not that funny to me but when I think about it later it is pretty damn hilarious.

So… it’s with this new section of the blog that I will mock myself and give you the chance to do the same with a glimpse into my adventures figuring out what I am doing as a dad.  DADventures, get it?  Yes, I know that I am not that original but originality is so last year or whenever someone found out that A and D connect both words! On top of all the witty commentary I will also bring my own take on how I have dealt with becoming a new parent and the resources I have used to get by in a somewhat sane manner.

Anyways, stay tuned for discussions about diaper changing, all the other bodily functions that come along with kids, links to helpful resources and hopefully hilarious videos like this!

Doesn’t being a parent seem fun?  I’ll also dig down into my emo side and share all the changes in my life that don’t involve getting poop on my hands on a daily basis.  That’s right, we’re going to talk about feelings gentleman. This is a safe place!  I hope this can be a thoroughly entertaining view of life as a dad that can be used as a resource for those preparing to get in the trenches or those already standing with me.  So stay tuned for more real dad tips and share some of your own in the comments.  Us dads can use all the help we can get.

Here we start our Journey!