Final product may not be exactly as displayed..

Wow it's been a crazy week since the last posting - basically been recovering from this darn dental issue, and then i thought 'wow i'm feeling good' BAM, somehow caught a cold this weekend. Been self medicating for the past 24 hrs, and yes i know the labels say every 6-8 hrs but i figure every 4 hours can't hurt right?

Other than my health bad luck, i attempted a few things this week with the baby J. First off, gave him some lentil - one of the other moms said i was brave to do this.. i reckon, more clueless than brave as she began reading off the ingredients i was like 'uh, i was sposed to read the ingredients?' Geepers.

Then i gave Jalen some Tofu - something a good asian kid should love - and he liked it alright but i think it messed with his poo frequency as in, increased it exponentially!

Cripes, 0 for 2 so far.. Today i boiled some broccoli and carrots and he seemed to eat those ok, didn't seem to like i too much and i also gave him some cut up apples which apparently according to Flo i should've softened up first as the hard apple could be a choking hazard. Man.. things she should tell me BEFORE i try it :)

Oh and i also tried cooking some noodles asian style this past week. The results were a bit less than spectacular as you can see from the pic. I swear, isn't it sposed to look EXACTLY like the pic on the box??

On a fitness note, i took out the jogging stroller with Jalen for the first time on Saturday.. wasn't too shabby although i gotta admit i had to be extra careful with the bumps on the road and the stroller vibrated a bit more than i thought it would. Oh and speaking of going out, my gracious brother DID come through and babysat for me on Friday night, or as he put it 'just sitting while Jalen is sleeping', so i did manage to sneak out and watch a movie, namely Thor (it's ok.. besides Natalie Portman, it was a little painful to watch, definitely not worth the 3D option)

But i was extremely excited to go out and splurged on popcorn and a drink and had an aisle seat while the couple beside me probably thought i was a tad pathetic.. oh well, who cares, i got to go out!! woohoo!

Oh and next week Jalen apparently has been requested to appear on Breakfast TV once more, on a baby crawl off for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Here's hoping they give him a Canuck Jersey!!!

Blogging #fail

Holy Crapticus! it's been almost a week since i last posted! Sorry to my many, many fans... the whole 2 or 3 of ya'll (including the SO, i hope!) Welp a lot has happened in the past 6 days.. unfortunately due to my rather short short term memory i've forgotten quite a bit :)

Either way i must admit i've been low on energy the past while due to this really annoying dental surgery which resulted in not 1.. not 2.. but THREE ulcers in my mouth.. according to the dentist, and i'll quote her 'Wow, this might actually be a camera moment as i've never seen anyone had an allergic reaction to the cast we used on your teeth'.. well whoopeee freaking doodie doc! This is why i'm no fan of 'the chair'. ugh.

I think poor Jalen has somehow absorbed my mood as well as he's been cranky as of late - seems extra needy especially when i'm rockin' the xbox! i mean c'mon kid.. when you get older, in your teens, and playing that crazy 5D xbox, i tell ya, revenge will be sweet! To all you gamers out there with kids interrupting you while ya play, ya feel me right?

So i was feeling rather adventurous with Jalens food this past week and i actually gave him some meat the MIL (mom in law) cooked which he readily accepted and seemed to enjoy. I gotta tell ya tho, meat = the stinkiest nastiest poo you will EVER see/smell/gag on. I kid you not, the whole washroom stank and that's AFTER i had closed the diaper and chucked it in the trash. This of course continued for three straight days, adding no doubt to my rather foul mood.

My dabbling with Jalen's food continued as i then gave him mushed up salmon which made his poo less stinky but VERY sticky.. as in, sticking everywhere all over the place.. i think i spent an average of 5-7 minutes just hosing the kid's arse down with water. Ugh.

It's weird tho that he really seems to like the cooked food but would eat very little (relatively) of the bottle food which is actually made for babies. So odd.

i gotta tell ya tho, as a single parent staying home with the kid, one of my BIGGEST worry is him choking on the food i give him. He's already done some sorta gagging/coughing on stuff which does freak me out and today i gave him cut up steamed veggies and he gagged on the green beans which is so weird cuz they're uber soft. Any advice from peeps, would be much appreciated.

I did take him to the dental hygienist yesterday who informed me that his two teeth are too white.. weird i know, and she said that's because it's too white, i'll have to ensure i brush his teeth twice a day. The day time no probs.. the night time he ain't liking it too much as it's changing his sleeping habits of falling asleep right after the bottle. This will be a fun adjustment (deeep sarcasm)

I'm hoping this weekend to actually go out and watch a movie as i've been with Jalen for the past 3 weeks 95% of the time so wish me luck in getting a sitter!

Hmm i think that's about it.. 15 mins till bedtime so i'm gonna go chillax. Blog ya later! *gawd i'm a nerd*

Baby J vs Mike Tyson

Alright so maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but it looked it... not gonna bury the lead here but our little tyke had a bit of an accident with the glider chair, and unfortunately the glider won. He's sporting a black eye but is no worse for wear, just had a good cry for about 2 minutes and then was back to his gassy talkative self.

Started the day off well too, what with that crazy dancing mother goose class where he was quite happy to crawl about while everyone sang as can be seen in this pic.

Followed mother goose with a nice hour long nap and then a trip to the park where he smiled for the camera..

So yeh... such a good day only to be spoiled by some slippery laminate flooring and a onesie which offered no grip.. thank goodness he seems to be ok and there's only some small bruising. I tried to ice it but he was having none of that so his temperament is as per usual.

I AM exhausted tho i must admit.. i may have to adjust my bedtime to flo's usual bedtime which is about 10pm.. just bonkers i tell yas!

Ooh and i also managed to trim Jalen's fingernails.. was super uber nervous about it but between some tough love and cheerios, we managed to get it done.. man if i had cut him and then the thing with the eye, i bet ya family services would be here by now. Geepers!

I gotta say tho, i'm beginning to really realize what single parents go through.. it's amazing that they can actually have a life being a lone dad or mom. Just boggles the mind.. Much props to all the single parents out there.. really really freaking amazing.

My observation of the day is that i predict Jalen will either 1) be a stuntman when he grows up or 2) be so injury prone we'll have to encase him in a big ol bubble.. mwhahahah!

Mr Mom vs Baby vs THE DENTIST!

Ok full disclosure - i hate the dentists.. apologies to all the dentists out there reading this but honestly, other than the taxman, and quite possibly the tow truck driver, who else would you go to and expect bad news 99.9% of the time?

As you can imagine, i had to spend time in the 'chair' today. Got there around 9:30 and didn't leave till about 12:30. They had to basically cut the bone in the back of my mouth where the molar meets the gum in order to create enough room for a crown. If that wasn't bad enough, that just means that i've got at least another 2-3 visits to the dentist once more in order to follow up with the crowning! argh!

To add injury to insult, while the dentists was suturing me up, the freaking anesthesia wore off and i actually felt the last suture go in and out! She was extremely apologetic but it wasn't pleasant! Lucky for her, she was kinda cute so i let it go (hides from wife) hehe kidding!

Either way, i'm relegated to soft foods basically for the next week and as the SO so eloquently put it 'Ha ha, so you'll be eating Jalen's food along with him?'.. Gah, i say.. gah!

Didn't get to spend too much time in the morning with the ol diaper filler and in the afternoon we both took a well deserved 90 minute nap. He seems to be eating a LOT as of late, and his eating habits include eating a meal, and drinking a full 8 ounces of milk about 45min to and hour later. Anyone think this is kinda abnormal? Is my kid becoming the Chickety China the Chunky Jalen? (apologies to the Ladies)

Tomorrow being Wednesday i get to go to the dreaded Mother Goose once more. Man, i really hope they don't make me dance again. And being that my jaw hurts about as much as a $10 walker on seymour street, maybe i can't sing either. hmm.. food for thought!

K that's pretty much it for tonight - lotsa whinging i realize but hey, YOU try being a lone parent to a 9.5 month old!

No observations today, due to head fogginess from the copious amount of medication i've been taking!

The Week-End

So today marks the first week w/out the wife and mother of my kid - it's definitely been an adventure, an eye opener and a revelation all in one. Jalen so far is doing well under my somewhat haphazard caretaking but it's early yet!

Spent the weekend cleaning.. well.. Saturday at least... freaking don't know why we don't live in a 600 sq foot apmt.. took just over 3 hrs to do everything and i was wiped! Lucky for me the in laws took baby J to the mall but i think he proved a challenge to them as they came back pretty quick going 'oy, he's so grumpy!'

Which begs the first question - how do you get your kid to like the stroller? Jalen does ok in it for about 10-15 minutes before he gets super cranky. Either that or you've got to be constantly moving for fear of stopping and hearing him practice his soprano.

Had a bit of that actually today.. decided to myself 'Hmm.. self, let's try bring Jalen to the mall and walk around etc'.. yeh.. not the best idea i've had. As mentioned, freaking kid was wailing within 15 mins and I gotta tell ya, carrying him and pushing the stroller with one hand proved to be quite a challenge.

On the positive side, nothing parts the sea of crowd like the wailing of a baby moses.

Also noticed we've been going through diapers like no one's business.. by last count, we're averaging approximately 6.5 diapers a DAY!.. at approx 50 cents per diaper, that's freaking pricey!.. i'm going to be accepting donations soon, believe you me! Also if you know a casting agent specializing in kids, let me know! Daddy broke!

Didn't do too much on Sunday - i'm actually dreading this next week as i've got dental surgery tomorrow and as per the dentist will be unable to exercise nor eat solid food for the next week. So basically i'll be eating baby food.. oh the irony.

With this in mind, i gorged myself on sushi from the mall. Once again, the irony. Ugh.

I think that's pretty much it.. observation of the day is that one perk of having a kid is getting the sweet parking spots at the mall.. - parked right at the entrance of superstore altho the security guard was giving me the stinky eye. Sheesh, so the sign says 'New Moms or mothers to be' - a little sexist don'tcha think?

Mooooo...

Today's big adventure has been brought to you by the letters P for Poo, C for Cattle and the number 6 which was the total number of babies i had at my place today!

But i'll get to that later. First off, my lovely wife once again sprung to me in the morning that 'yay' i get to bring Jalen to a photoshoot for the company Agoo. Considering i've never heard of em, i was a bit less than thrilled but oh well.. s'long as the kid learns to pay his way, might as well start em young i spose!

Left home a tad late as most unprepared Dad's are known to do, and along with my usual stash of 6 disposable diapers, i made my way to Kits for the photoshoot. Holy mother of Cattle Calls Batman! There must've been at least a dozen to 15 parents and kids lining up in this modest little studio with a photographer and her two assistants making goo-goo noises to some not surprisingly frightened little kids!

Luckily for us we had a total Modern Family moment where Jalen seemed to be the only ethnic baby there so the photographer took to him uber fast. Got him in a green diaper and flash! flash! flash!, 10 mins later we were done. Shouldn't have put that 2 bucks in the parking meter i tell yas. Altho i must admit i was glad we were done quick as i overheard one of the other mom's telling the secretary they had driven all the way from the Valley to make this photoshoot. Now i'm all for the kid earning bucks early but c'mon.. a possibly 4 hr commute here and back? Geepers!

Rewind back a couple hrs and i had the pleasure of hosting my very first baby gathering - not really quite sure of what to do at such things, i generally just sat back and let the mothers talk and the kids crawl. Was grateful to Tina for bringing a fruit platter and even more so when she was keeping Jalen entertained for a bit while Daddy got to chill out on the couch and actually not have to DO something. That was very very good. I wonder if i can pawn the kid off to a different mother every week? hmm, food for thought indeed! :)

Otherwise the kids were all pretty awesome.. was interesting to get feedback and hear stories about other kids and what to expect. I am not looking forward to when Jalen get's more of his teeth in, as my already limited hours of sleep nightly looks to be reduced even further. Bah, can't return 'em i spose!

This weekend will be another beast entirely. As our housecleaner was unable to make it on Thursday, i now have the pleasure of cleaning the entire house by myself, including mopping, sweeping, vacuuming, doing the laundry etc etc.

So if i don't blog this weekend, chances are i'll be passed out on the couch or something.

Oh and i promised myself i'll try and limit Poo talk but i just have to say, you know a kid has a big poo coming when he goes 'grunt, grunt... ah......grunt, grunt... ah...., grunt, grunt, *smile*, ah... ' which is what Jalen did moments before he flooded and leaked his diaper into ruin!

and that folks is my observation of the day, so till next time on Mr Mom Vs Ba..zzzzzzz

Man Vs... Pug?

In today's epic episode, a child get's gassy, a dad goes wonky and a pug goes.. well.. he just went.. no 2 that is.. at 5 freaking 30 in the am!

So it wasn't enough that Jalen had a multi-poo day yesterday that stretched our diaper budget (hey at 30 cents/diaper it adds up!), but our pug Scrabble had to get in on the act and deliver his own version of the Hershey squirts. Woke up to the little pugger scratching furiously at the bedroom door - after i took him out, i was relieved to see I still had approximately 30-40 mins till Jalen's official wake up time.

Jalen had other ideas.

5 minutes later, yep, you guessed it... another diaper change.

And here I was hoping for a slow day.

Fortunately, Jalen was feeling a tad bit better today, no explosive poo's and he only had 2 bowel movements. I wonder, 12-13 years from now, if he'll appreciate me blogging about his no.2's? hmmm.. food for thought.

Either way, was an ok sorta day.. we were expecting the cleaning lady to show up, but she never did so Jalen and I took a well deserved 1 hr nap.. did that ever feel good. Felt so good that I even summed up the courage to delve into cooking and serve up a dish so succulent it would drive Anton's out of business.

Yes I made pasta... from scratch.. well.. mostly.. i mean.. i bought the noodles and yeh the sauce was out of a jar but hey, i cooked the lean meat myself! Wasn't too bad, although i think i made enough for a small army, so if anyone's hungry, feel free to let me know!

In other news Jalen also farted on my face today. Good times.

It was a tough day missing my wife tho i must admit.. we only got to skype for a few minutes so that was good but considering this is day 4 we've been away from each other, it was pretty difficult. Thank goodness the Canucks were playing today! :)

My observation of the day : I now understand why Flo relegates tasks to me or leaves stuff for me to do. With all the OTHER crap that needs to be done which i never really see to appreciate, it's nice to be able to leave the simple stuff for the other half to do so you can get some moments of relaxation. As it stands right now, i've got a huge clean up job to do this weekend since the cleaning lady didn't show up so it will be exhausting. Anyone want to come help feel free, you'll get pasta :)

oh and Jalen had the garbage fell on him and like any good parent, first thing i did was take a pic :)

Enjoy!

Mr Mom's first post

Hello world!

I've decided to set up a new blog. No it's nothing to do with fitness, nor is it to do with my beloved Canucks (altho both will make frequent guest appearances!)

The point of this blog will be to chronicle the next 10.5 weeks as I take on the duties of Mr Mom. My beloved wife is unfortunately away at this time and I have taken the task to take care of our just turned 9 month old baby boy, Jalen. This will also allow me to share with my wife our daily lives.

More than just for record keeping, this will help recount the events on a daily basis and as I have found out just 3 days in, everyday is an adventure!

To catch up, i'll give a brief breakdown of the past 3 days

Day 1 - Wife leaves, Jalen is sad. Jalen eats a lot. I try frantically to keep track of feedings/grocery lists/cleaning and my own workouts which unfortunately is a fail for this Monday.

Day 2 - Lack of sleep as Jalen was awake for the better part of the night and it's a 5:30am wake up call as we're going to be on TV on Breakfast television today. It's a tv bit about the latest political elections and the baby's are due for a crawl off. I'm super nervous as this will be my first outing with Jalen by myself and I suspect I may have over-compensated as i brought 6 disposable diapers with me. Oh well. Jalen slept well once we got home and he was gracious enough to give me a 15 min nap.

Day 3 - Oh man the kid can poo. First off, I had to bring him to Mother Goose which is a community based gathering where I guess mother's go to bring their kids to socialize. There's singing and snacks and oh yeh, my wife 'forgot' to tell me.. freaking dancing. I mean c'mon, not only am i the only guy there, now I gotta hold my kid and dance to 'you put your left foot in, you bring your left foot out'..!

Either way, we survived that.. barely. I think Jalen got the worst of it unfortunately as they were giving out cheese and I don't think Jalen has had cheese before so he poo'd 5 times today. Not diarrhea kinda poo thank goodness but some pretty solid masses .. and the smell, geezus! Kid owe's me BIG time!

So that's it in a nutshell.. there's more I could've put it but it's almost 11pm and close to my bedtime *sheesh*.

Some observation's I've made tho

1) Jalen eats a lot - i'm always feeding him and when i'm not feeding him i'm preparing for the next feeding!

2) I suspect i'm going to get addicted to TV. The current fav is Man Vs Food. I mean c'mon.. how can you NOT watch that show? The guy eat's anything! It's also the current inspiration for the blog title!

3) To all those dad's out there wondering if their wives have it easy.. believe you me.. it isn't. Even if they make it seem easy.. it isn't. Just 36 hrs in and I'm suffering from lack of sleep, lack of personal time and probably getting fat. Not complaining, just stating the facts.

I love my son but I gotta say.. this'll be an interesting 10.5 weeks.

oh btw, the Canucks won against the Blackhawks!! woohoo Round 2 baby!!