The 40YrOldDad

July 26

HAVE YOUR CAKE AND WEAR IT TOO

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years, Uncategorized
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26
JUL

Today marks our little Indy’s three week anniversary of breathing life on this planet.

And what better way to celebrate this occasion, than with a fantastic congratulatory cake delivered right to our door, from two of our close friends in Sydney.

At least, it would be…if the cake was actually here!!

One of the side-effects of being Adventurers Extraordinaire is that, short of having the local vet implant a microchip under our skin or matching his’n’hers ankle monitors, it’s damn well almost impossible to keep track of all the different addresses we’ve dwelled in over the years. We seem to change addresses more often than John Travolta changes massage therapists.

So, it was no surprise to discover our cake was mistakenly delivered to…

The wrong address…

(And incidentally, we’ve actually moved twice since that place).

So, I jammed into gear and trekked back to our old address only to find…

Nobody home. (more…)
July 11

BATH TIME

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, Dad Mishaps, The Baby Years, Thoughts, Tips
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11
JUL

There’s something very spiritual about holding your newborn son in the palm of your hands and watching him melt between your fingers, like a Kit-Kat on a sunny day, as you wash the warm sudsy water across his tiny soapy body. That spiritual bond I felt when his eyes first opened, embraced me again like a soft warm blanket thrown lovingly round my shoulders.

He looks into my eyes as if to say…

“This is the greatest thing I’ve experienced on tour, so far.”

And the feeling is mutual.

This is definitely a “Daddy Moment”. Caring and nurturing the most precious life in your hands, and he places complete love and trust in yours.

And that unspeakable bond has taught myself an incredibly valuable lesson…

Dad Mishap #2…

When you’re washing your son’s little bottom in the bath, if his bottom is OUT of the water…
it means…his head is definitely IN it.

And when I say, unspeakable…I mean, (let’s never speak of this incident, ever again…ever). (more…)
July 10

THE DUMMY DILEMMA

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years, Thoughts
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10
JUL

To suck…or not to suck?…That, is the question.

One thing we’ve learned as new parents, from the actual delivery through to bringing our son home, is that the best made plans are…

Don’t make plans!

As far as our birthing plan went, the only things that went to plan, was the music we had playing during the labour and the fact that…a baby came out at the end. Everything else…went straight out the window.

Same at home. Many is the night we wailed away over the virtues of what good parenting should be all about, and we both agreed…we didn’t want our child to have a dummy.

That is, until…we actually had a child.

Fast forward to 2:30am on Indy’s first night at home (aka: my first night at all, with him). Not since the Spanish Inquisition, has more houses been upturned and lives been uprooted. Like King Arthur’s quest for the Holy Grail, I left no box unturned, no cupboard unrifled, no garage unpillaged…all for the sake of peace, harmony and to…just make it stop! Suddenly there it was. The elusive grail was within my grasp…

I knew we had one somewhere. Like the Incredible Hulk forcing his way against rippling sonic blast cannons, I pushed through the noise and popped the dummy in Indy’s mouth. And there it was…

Hello darkness my old friends, Simon and Garfunkle with…The Sound Of Silence. (more…)
July 21

IT ALL BOILS DOWN TO THIS

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years, Thoughts
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21
JUL

Apart from a couple trips outside for baby health checks and to bring the garbage bins back in off the street, I haven’t moved outside of a six foot radius between the sink, the stove and the laundry basket…in over six days!

Like Lucille Ball in the infamous chocolate factory conveyor belt scene. I’m like the flustered production line worker desperately trying to juggle and manage the ever increasing, non-stop conveyor belt of shift rotations between washing puked-on baby and parent clothes, preparing formula top-ups and my god…

The boiling…What’s with all the boiling??!!

Bottles, dummies, teats, breast pumps, furniture, roofing tiles. You name it, it goes in the pot. I think Starbucks “worldwide”, boils less water than I do. Not since the Three Witches in Shakespeare’s Macbeth or Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction (How do you like your bunny? Boiled, steamed or fried?), has there been so much action around a bubbling cauldron.

I’ve never quite understood the purpose behind ensuring everything that goes into the baby’s mouth is more sterile than a Chernobyl eunuch in a uranium cod-piece. It’s not like you can boil his own fingers or his mother’s nipples for that matter. I mean, look at places like India, Africa or China. I’m pretty sure not everyone there is boiling everything all the time, and they have baby populations almost as big as Frankston. (more…)
July 18

GOING, GOING…GONE.

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years
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18
JUL

Our son’s first week at home has been nothing, if not, eventful. And thanks to my own childhood boot camp Boy Scout training (bar that one embarrassing incident at Brownies), we were pretty much setup and definitely came prepared. But the one thing we weren’t prepared for, was…

The Zombie Apocolypse

I mean, we always knew it was going to happen. People have waved placards about it. There was even that documentary on the subject that Simon Pegg “You’ve got RED on you”, made with his cricket bat. And, low, we did heed the warning signs, but like Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries when hearing the statistics that one-in-one “reality-tv weddings” end in divorce, we too said…

“That won’t happen to us”.

But low…it did happen. Hypnotized by a tiny invader, he infiltrated our defenses and we’ve both been bitten. (more…)
July 9

HOME BOY!!

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years, Uncategorized
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9
JUL

Dun-dudda-dun-dadda-dun-dudda-dun-dun-da-daaa…Dun-dudda-dun-dudda-dun-dudda-dun-dudda-dun-dudda-dun-dum-daaa!

Round ’em up Hoss, the Cartwrights are finally back at the Ponderosa – “Yeehar!!”

It’s a Bonanza day because today’s the day we all get to come home to begin the next chapter in our lives…

“FAMILY LIFE”

That means our name will be forever etched in the mahogany trophy cabinet in the sky, alongside family greats such as;

The Brady’s
The Cosby’s
The Seaver’s
The Cartwright’s
The Robinson’s
The Ewing’s
The Cunningham’s
The Cleaver’s
And even…
The Kardashian’s
(Full points to you if you can name each TV show)
**And thank heaven’s you have a life, if you can’t. (more…)
July 8

FIRST PEEKS

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, The Baby Years
6 Comments

8
JUL

I know, I know…it’s been three days already and still no pics?

Well, I just needed to find a little time to post them up, when I wasn’t being all Super-Dad, flitting between hospital and home and sleeping during whatever free minute I could find. Some days, I even sleep in the car during “Mother’s Time” at the hospital, when they kick all the dad’s to the curb for a couple hours. Where’s the Dad’s Time? When do we get to sleep?

I have a kid now, so I already know the answer…NEVER!!!

But without further ado, exclusively to the 40Yr Old Dad…

I proudly present, our son…Indy (more…)
July 8

GETTING TO KNOW YOU

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, Body Functions, Dad Mishaps, In the Womb, The Baby Years
4 Comments

8
JUL

Nothing can quite prepare you for your first encounter with your child. I really didn’t expect to be so attached to him. I kind of expected the feeling would be the same as when I meet other people’s kids…

You know, they’re fun and interesting…now, who’s for Cribbage…anyone?

But I can’t explain the change that occurs when he opens his eyes for the very first time and you lock eyes for…one minute. His tiny deep blue eyes scanning your face, peering deep into your soul. It touches you in a way that doesn’t require Investigative Journalism. Instead, it bonds you for life. Like Superglue and Araldite…(I loved their show in Vegas, btw).

And there’s no greater bonding experience between a man and his son, that makes you feel like…the worst dad on the planet, than when you’re changing his little nappy. And as you clear away his troubles, he looks up at you with the purest of love and trust that would melt Wolverine’s Adamantium claws. You turn to reach for a clean nappy…and that’s when the screams begin…you turn back with horror to see little Indy…

Peeing on his own face!

It makes your heart sink, and makes you want to run crying from the room like a school girl. But you have to suck it up “Mary-Ellen” (your nerve, that is…not the pee. Use a cloth for that…and wash your hands afterwards), because you’ve got to rebuild that bridge of trust. The one bonded by Superglue, which apparently can lift a one-tonne sedan with only 7 drops (I saw it on Mythbusters), yet, completely disintegrates under the influence of baby urine…go figure?

(more…)
July 5

LOST VS SCHNITZEL

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 3rd Trimester, In the Womb, Thoughts
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5
JUL

D-Day+11…(and counting).

Well, you wouldn’t read about it, except…you already are.

The final conclusion to the ongoing schnitzel saga…is being strung out longer than the final episode of LOST.

I mean, come on…we all want to know…

What’s in that damn hatch?

Who’s behind all this?

What in the hell is going on??!!

Even with a tiny Jack Shephard and John Locke on board to lend a hand, we’re still none the wiser.

It’s just like the end of each LOST episode. At last…we’re finally getting the answers we’re looking for. And that answer is…

Revealed next episode…NOOOOOOO!!!

And just so everyone’s up to speed… (more…)
July 5

INDY-PENDENCE DAY!

AUTHOR: 40YrOldDad // CATEGORY: 0-6 months, 3rd Trimester, In the Womb, The Baby Years
4 Comments

5
JUL

It is with enormous pride and unbridled love and appreciation that we FINALLY present to the world, our miraculous SON…

Indy Wayan Bechtold

Born today, July 5th @ 7:26pm

Weighing 8lbs13oz or 4kg bang on the knocker…(thanks McPuddingPop, you were way off!)

Both mother and baby are doing very well. Daddy needs a spatula to peel himself off the ceiling.

Thank you so much to all our family, friends and strangers all around the world who have been touched by our story and flooded us with love, support and best wishes along every step of this incredible journey. And an extra special thank you to the amazing hospital and midwife staff for helping to bring little Indy into our world and into our hearts.

I feel like he has been one of the most anticipated arrivals on the planet, and I can hardly believe he’s here!

My biggest thank you of all, goes out to the most amazing woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. Your continued love, strength, passion, thoughtfulness, guidance, support and belief in me and our desire to be the Love of the Century, inspires me every day. How did I get so lucky as to wake up every morning to that gorgeous heart-shaped smile and soft beautiful eyes. You are the spark that ignites my heart that makes me feel like the most special man on the entire planet. I just wish I could remember your name… (more…)