A couple of weeks ago, Penelope and I added something new to the mix at the dinner table. We began to give Finn Gunn his first solid foods. This was no small event in our household—it was something for which we had a carefully-crafted plan.
Back when we were planning what to feed Finn (other than boob), we attended a class appropriately called, “Introducing Solids.” I’m a big fan of classes like this—we’re practically full-time students we’ve taken so many classes. When Penelope was pregnant, I took a class specifically for dads taught by Armin Brott, author of The Expectant Father, The New Father, and several other excellent books. I jokingly called it “Don’t Drop Your Baby 101” but the class was full of serious learning.
I don’t know why this surprised me, but for the entire duration of that half-day class about baby food I was the only new dad in a roomful of new moms. I make no judgment about this fact, but pass along to new dads this small piece of advice: when you’re asked to accompany your wife to a class like this, do it. You’ll learn a lot. As a bonus, you’ll be surrounded by women. I’m married—not stupid—and when given an opportunity to be surrounded by women, I try to take it.
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Traditional or modern? Focus on the meaning of the name, or name him or her after a family member? Now pregnant with my second child, I’ve been spending a large percentage of my brain power focused on the question of what name to pick.
The options are seemingly endless when looking at the books proclaiming 100,001+ names to choose from, but would I really choose Bertha or Butterfly? (no offense to any Berthas or Butterflys out there). I could go the route of the famous and pick a name like Alchamy, Apple or Freedom, but I really don’t think we’re cool enough.
So while searching for the perfect name, I’ve come across two favorite sites that I’ve been using to help me narrow down our list. First, Baby Name Voyager with their namevoyager and namemapper, and my newest find thanks to Nick: Appellationmountain.net, a highly addictive blog where we’ve found endless ideas previously not considered (and many that – although we’d never think of using – are incredibly interesting to read about!)
And then of course my husband and I need to agree…
“I think he’s teething.”
The first time I heard my wife make that statement—she’s said it many, many times since—I was incredulous. Our son was not yet six weeks old.
Although I’m hopeful Finn Gunn will be an incredibly precocious young man—reading at a twelfth-grade level before he enters preschool, for example—I was not looking forward to the prospect of having a teething six-week-old baby. My wife was a little panicked. Okay, maybe more than a little panicked.
He couldn’t be teething so soon, could he? No, we agreed, not possible.
Sleepless and dubious, we turned to the Internet for answers and were horrified—according to some of the resources we found, our boy was definitely teething.
Low-grade fever? Check. Excessive drooling? Also check. Irritability, fussiness, and crying? Check, check, and check. Gads.
As it turns out, all that crying, irritability, interrupted sleep and what-have-you was due to the fact that he’s a baby. The more technical explanation—offered to us by our pediatrician about a week’s worth of Mondays later—is the so-called fourth trimester. According to her, this is a period of development that used to take place in the womb. Yes, apparently a yearlong gestation period was the norm before humans stood on two legs. Fascinating what you learn when you listen to an expert.
We learned that during the fourth trimester, it’s a good idea to do things that emulate the womb. Shushing, pulsing, and knocking sounds have a magical effect. Hair driers, fans, and other such machines are wonderful. Doesn’t necessarily keep him asleep, but those sounds sure do get him there. Movement is also important—this explains why every nursery I’ve ever seen has a rocking chair, and why I’ve heard (dozens of times) from my own parents that I was a sucker for a late-night care ride.
So over the course of the next few months we did a lot of experimenting; learning some of the best ways to soothe him. Sure, I had to deal with two months of waking up in the middle of the night, plopping our beautiful little man into his stroller, and carving ruts in the sidewalks of our neighborhood, but at least I knew what the heck was happening—the fourth trimester. At least it wasn’t the dreaded teething…
Well, now Finn Gunn is a little more than six months old, drooling, crying, and gnawing on everything he touches.
I think he’s teething.
In December 2008, Doug Wyllie became a first-time dad. A veteran of more than ten years in corporate communications and journalism, Doug was writing about streaming video before YouTube, digital music before Napster, and wireless technology since the original Palm Pilot debuted. Doug presently serves as the editor of PoliceOne writing on a broad range of topics and trends that affect public safety professionals. Here, Doug writes about all sorts of poop.
