Fatherhood Friday: Dads are the Best!

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I decided to take this Fatherhood Friday and focus on dads (wow! What an innovative concept, Isabella!).
Back story: I felt bad last night because I inadvertently made ShankRabbit feel "not good enough" in relation to parenting Peanut. It was certainly not my intent...and I want all the fathers, not just ShankRabbit, to know how important your role is in your child's life.

I don't want to bore you with my never-ending emotional babble (seriously, falling asleep at the keyboard is never recommended), so I'll just inundate you with photos...sound good? Here we go -

Why Dads Are The Best

No one can do nap time quite like a dad





And even when he's not sleeping, he's still great to fall asleep on





He doesn't just feed the child...he bonds, he connects



And he can multitask like a mo fo (dishes AND baby wearing)!









He is passionate about his interests and eager to share all he knows







even making sure the child has a "well-rounded" experience (e.g. cheesy cover band at State Fair)




He knows how to have fun (photo shoot, FTW!)












No matter the time or place, he'll get right in and play








even coordinate costumes on Halloween...'cause he's just that cool

Simply put...there is no one like you.

I'd say I'm more turquoise...

I'm not "green." I don't use reusable grocery bags, I use paper towels like a fiend, and plastic sandwich bags are a hot commodity in our household.

Now, before the environmentalists out there beat me over the head with a tree branch, I'm not a complete dolt when it comes to the environment. We recycle, I use the "light" setting on the dishwasher and clothes washer, and I save the various containers from Peanut's baby food for reuse...but that's about as far as it goes. However, there is another big step toward the "green" arena that I'm contemplating. Something that could be groundbreaking in this household.





Cloth diapers.

I was a first-hand witness to the prefold cloth diaper days of my cousin P.J. (who is turning 18 soon...geez oh Pete!). They were ugly, cumbersome, and created an unnecessary amount of work. Knowing all this, I didn't even consider the cloth diaper option...even after seeing the "new and improved" options.

Here we are, a couple weeks away from Peanut's 1st birthday, and I'm seriously considering cloth diapers. A list of the reasons why this popped into my head all the sudden:

1. Buying disposable diapers takes a nice size chunk of cash every month
2. Now that I'm at home during the day, I have more time for washing the diapers consistently (and spending 11.5 months on the front lines of baby mess, rinsing the cloth ones out in the toilet doesn't gross me out in the slightest)
3. For a few months now, Peanut has been using the potty on occasion (don't get me wrong, I'm not potty-training her. I just know when she's gonna go and take her to the toilet. Much better than cleaning up a stinky crap diaper, in my opinion). Usually the diaper we remove is barely soiled...and I feel like I'm just throwing money away when I trash it.
4. Gone are the days of ugly white, plastic covered cloth diapers. They come with easy closures, fun colors, and uber-soft fabrics.
5. They can be saved and used for the next munchkin.
6. If I have any issues whatsoever, there is an insane amount of information online to help me out.

So, there you go. I'm thinking we'll start with 3 or 4 and see how that goes. I've talked with ShankRabbit and I think he's gotten past the "what the...?" stage and is on to "well, if that's what you want..."

We'll see what happens.