smonk you: the best freaking daddy blog ever

I love the idea of taking a baby/kid with you on a bike ride but I'm not sure when you can take your baby in one of those carriers so this can be filed under way too soon. I'm not really a fan of the bike solutions out there. I do like those trailers that make your bike into a Jury rigged tandem bike, but those are for older kids. And I hate those regular carrier things that look like strollers that you pull...they just seem dangerous. And I'd be lying if I said I didn't almost run one over earlier this summer while pulling out of a parking lot. I couldn't see the freaking thing. Then one day I was reading a magazine, probably Outside...although I was probably inside when I was reading it. Anyway I saw this SideCarrier from Chariot. Yeah it looks like the trailers I just said I hate, but it's a side car. And how awesome is a side car? I'd actually love this one for my scooter but I have a feeling there is some legality/safety issues with putting a baby se...

In about 5 months Staci and I are going to have some sort of kid hanging around. And then a few months later we'll need a place for that kid to hang while we're at work. Society, the law and Staci frown on leaving a baby home alone with a dog all day, even if our dog Kalli is super sweet and would take good care of it, so that idea was out. We whittled out nannies, day care centers and decided on an in-home place. So a month ago we started calling people. And apparently we were months behind on the process of finding someone. Problem is that most places have a waiting list of 1 to 2 years. Now this might be over-sharing, but Staci and I are both humans. That being said we have a gestation period of 9 months. And, to my knowledge, most of the folks in our neighborhood are human. So I didn't get this 2 year waiting list thing...yeah if the places were full that would be one thing. But they were either not full or they had a few kids going in to regular school. They were holdi...

When we started thinking about having kids Staci and I had all the discussions about names. I was thinking that if we have a boy we'd name it after one of the greatest actors of our time, French Stewart. The reason I like French as a first name is that telemarketers and the like mispronounce Friedman and say it like it's spelled Fried-man instead of the real pronunciation Freed-man. Crazy Hungarians are to blame for the odd spelling but I think it's common knowledge that that's how you pronounce it. So the kid would be called French Fried-man...but some folks thought that would be cruel...and Monkey was rejected as a girls name. But Staci had the idea to use her grandmother (Minnie) and great aunt's (Hilda...although she went by Auntie...pictured above) initials as the first and last letter in a name. That's because whether it was to slip some cash in each pocket or to give her a little tap when she was saying things she shouldn't they were always at her sid...

I love gear...it could be photo gear, snowboard gear or maybe just something that has great design like a kick ass walnut opener . And in looking at stuff for the baby I'm kind of geeking out about some of the baby gear. So I thought I'd try to showcase some kid/baby gear that I'm seeing...it might not be for whatever age my kid is (especially since it's in pre-kid mode) but it should be cool stuff. First up is the Bilibo . A few years ago Staci and I saw this at a cool kid store in Stillwater called Red Rover ...they no longer carry it but did help me remember what it was called. Designed by the Swiss, of course, it is a super versatile toy/piece of furniture. It has won a bunch of design and toy awards...check their site to get all the info. It can be used as a seat, a basket, or even a tunnel for toy trains and cars. The woman from Red Rover told me she even used it as a step stool a couple days ago. And if you find yourself without a halloween costume you can wear ...

Yesterday night Staci and I did a quick portrait shoot. She looked beautiful in all the shots, but I think she looks awesome here.

Last week there were a bunch of news articles , or actually one reused many times, on the cost of raising a baby that is born today. With inflation figured in the total through 17 years comes to just under $292,000 for middle income and $367,000 for higher income. So with some fuzzy math that works to between $45 and $59 per day. And since we're figuring inflation in that might just be the cost of some foo-foo drink at Starbucks in the year 2028.

Even though this has been up for a bit under a month some folks have emailed me their questions. And since I was out of town last weekend, I haven't had time to get a post together, so I thought I'd start an FAQ. I'll add to this as more Qs come up. Home come your so nonchalant about having a baby? It's a wonderful thing and you don't seem excited. Was it a mistake? Well you probably didn't read my first post . I am incredibly excited and the kid was totally planned. I just have a different perspective on things and I'm a bit sarcastic, I wish there was a font to express sarcasm but until then you'll have to deal. Plus kids kind of freak me out so there is a bit of that going on...which leads me to my second question: You say kids freak you out. What's the deal with that? Wait a second...you did read my first post (same person asked both questions.) I am kind of freaked out by kids. I am the youngest in my family and there were no young cousins, niec...

We haven't even started setting up the kid's room because it's so early, but we're already thinking of how to decorate....and this is where Staci and I have a little bit of a difference in opinion. I'm a fan of poster art and so I'm trying to include it in what will go up in the room...however sometimes it's not appropriate color or subject wise. Well I just found this poster by Dan McCarthy and I love the message plus it works for a kid, albeit an older kid. But the colors are dark. I'm still going to try and slide this one past Staci without her noticing. Funny thing is my kid will hate Sonic Youth because they'll be an old person band.

When Staci and I were talking about trying to get pregnant we knew that it could take a long time. However we both treated that information differently. Staci being a teacher wanted to have the baby at a time that would coincide with summer break so that was an important factor in when to start. She was betting on it taking a while so she thought she should start early. I was really aware of the fact it could take one time and thought we should figure that into our timing. All those who know Staci know that she is a planner. So we set a month to start. Then she freaked out a bit thinking it would take even longer than she planned (we both realize you can't plan it) so she wanted to start even earlier. Staci won out, but I was right. We realize we're very lucky that it worked out well. So why am I giving you all this info? Well according to a study , since it didn't take long to conceive, it means that we'll have a girl. So there is a bit of science on baby gender...we...