Time For a rebuild

10 Free pieces of (worth what you paid for it) baby advice:

1. Get a car seat for EVERY car you regularly drive, moving the seats around is a major PIA.

2. Learn to put the car seat in the car, first time takes a while and is a major PIA, by kid number two, you can do it in about 5 minutes. Buy one of these for each car seat, they make putting the seat in and out of the car a lot easier. I found these when I had kid number two, I really wish I had them from the beginning.

http://www.target.com/p/diono-carse...1&CPNG=baby&ci_sku=13957931&ci_gpa=pla&ci_kw=

3. Get as much sleep as you can now, because the first three months with a baby can be BRUTAL. The Chinese call the first 100 days, a hundred days of crying. They are referring to the baby, but your wife will periodically join in the crying fest. Post partum depression is REAL, watch for it, don't be afraid to get your wife some help if you have to.

4. Work on the car as much as possible over the next three weeks. Once the kid arrives you won't have any free time for a while.

5. Baby proof the house now, that kid will be crawling in the blink of an eye. It's a cliche but they grow SO FAST.

6. If you need a baby gate, buy ones that screw to the wall, the ones that simply use friction or compression to stay in place don't work very well. If your thinking to yourself, "Hey, I don't want to screw up the paint in my house." Sorry, but within a year, you're going to have a paint destroying, jelly fingered, rug rat dragging there grubby little mits down your freshly painted walls. So what's a few screw holes to fill.

7. If you bottle feed the kid pick a brand of bottles and stick with it, mix and match make filling a bottle a pain in the butt at 3 AM. (FYI, there are titty nazis out there that may make your wife feel like crud for not breast feeding, your job is to be supportive no matter what she decides to do. So if she gets some grief for not breast feeding, be supportive.)

8. You'll get a ton of free advice (like the crap I'm spewing) be prepared to ignore it. Your mother, her mother will say stuff like, "We let you sleep on your stomach and you didn't die...." Smile and nod and then do what you know to be right. By the way the kid should sleep on their back, once they get to six month old they may flip themselves on their stomach and that's okay. They are now old enough to flip themselves over.

9. Dogs will think the new baby is a new puppy, you may see some jealousy. Be ready. The pack simply got bigger, most dogs will adjust pretty quickly and will welcome this ear pulling, tail pulling, little guy into the pack.

10. You might get a golden period when the kid is 3 months to 9 months old where they will sit quietly in a carrier while you and your wife dine out. Once the kid reaches a year dining out can be a painful, nerve racking experience. My kids are pretty well behaved (knocks on wood) but even at the ages of 10 and 7 dining out can be difficult. Picking appropriate restaurants is a key to successful dining. For example, the local hot spot where you have to wait 45 minutes for a table? Out. The local diner where they have crayons and coloring books for the kids, or better yet kids eat free? In.

I love my kids by the way, being a dad is the most humbling and awesome experience.

By the way, the project is coming along beautifully, hopefully your progress won't grind to a halt. Love the look of the car.

Regards,

Joe Dokes