Survive & Advance (First Year of Fatherhood)

During the NCAA Tournament, broadcasters often use the cliché survive and advance. It doesn’t matter how teams win the game as long as they win and advance to the next round. Now that my son celebrated his first birthday, I feel like I survived the first year and advanced to year number two.

Let’s start this post with the measurements. At one year, my son is almost exactly at the 50th percentile in both height and weight. While my dream of him being tall is likely over (he was in the 72nd height percentile at 6 months), I think the odds of him being taller than me (5’ 7”) are pretty good.

Although he doesn’t walk or crawl yet, he moves all over the house by scooting on his butt. He somehow drags him right leg on the floor and it seems like crawling would be much easier, but he gets where he want to go quickly. I feel bad for Ziggy since my son constantly chases him around.

We just started giving him milk, and the transition from formula has gone smoothly. I feel like we’re going to save thousands of dollars by not purchasing formula anymore. Now we have to find a way to transition him from bottles to sippy cups.

Like his dad, my little guy loves books. There are times when he’ll sit on the floor with a book in his hands and flip through the pages. It is incredibly cute. He also turns the book pages when I read to him regardless of whether or not we finished that page.

I’m not sure why, but my son wants me to put him to bed. I feel like this is a huge honor. He likes me. Right now. He likes me! (Yes, that’s the actual quote.)



While I still struggle in putting on his pants (Why does he kick and move his legs so much? Just stay still!), I feel like I’ve earned a B+ in my diaper changing abilities. Prior to his birth, I was more nervous about changing diapers than just about everything else. After changing hundreds and hundreds of diapers, I’m now a seasoned veteran.

On weekend mornings, he will often fall asleep while finishing a bottle. While I should probably put him in the crib, I love holding him during these naps.

There are times when I still worry that I’m not a good father and that I don’t know what I’m doing. While I give him bottles without a problem, I haven’t transitioned well into real food. Sure, I can cut up fruit, give him pieces of cheese (he loves cheese; smart kid) and spoon food out of the canned jars, I have no idea how much food he needs or if he has enough food. Plus, I almost always have to ask what he should have to eat for meals. Regarding clothing, I generally put him in whatever is at the top of the drawers. Otherwise, I have no idea what he should wear. It is also a rarity that I would pack a bag for him when we go out, so when I do, I feel like I’m missing something important. This paragraph shows a lot of uncertainty when it comes to feeding and clothing my child. This has to be among my top two responsibilities as a father!

So now that year one is complete, I can write that it went fast. Why not finish this post the way it started, with a cliché?