Mommies and Daddies can be bumbling dorks. Babies get that.

Even though the Caveman show was a bomb, Geico keeps their marketing machine revved with those funny, prehistoric unibrows.

I for one am a cromagnon-skull daddy who enjoys good physical comedy and proud to sport the thick skull that keeps me a tad dense from day to day (not to be confused with a narcissistic big head).

I am also proud that I’ve passed this genetic “safety” trait on to my baby daughter – to protect her against her bumbling parents not paying attention to where she is in time and space.

For example:

Slide Bang Smack – playing with baby on the floor while baby slides off the pillow support and into the granite fireplace.

Spin Whoosh Smack – spinning baby into the open car door while trying to navigate into the car seat.

Flop Freefall Smack – sitting next to baby on the couch while baby slides face first off the couch and onto the floor (sometimes catching her in midair - that's a trick).

Cradle Plop Smack – gingerly placing baby into car seat or cradle or high chair or bouncy and always, and I mean always, hitting the back of her head somehow, someway.

I know we’re not the only parents to have inadvertently and unintentionally banged our baby’s head, but it can be very scary in the moment. The only levity after the fact is that everyone’s okay, especially baby.

Mommies and Daddies can be bumbling dorks. Babies get that.

And thank goodness they don’t remember anything until they’re 3 or 4.

Happy Fatherhood Friday! It’s a hip place at Dad-Blogs.com for dads and moms to share stories, ideas, photos and movies with one topic in mind – fatherhood. Good times.

Cross-training with Baby (feel the burn)

I love to exercise. Whether it’s weight lifting, jumping on the elliptical (and actually using it), hiking or running – I love to exercise. The endorphin-vanity smack is a high I just can’t resist. My wife and I both are very active kids.

After high school, very many years ago, I left myself go to hell and a hand-basket. I was overweight, a smoker – basically the barely breathing/walking dead of America.

Very many years later I changed all that, but I’ve always been a plain-jane trainer. And then the women of my dreams and I had a baby.

And then the cross-training with Baby began. Rock on.

You know what I mean daddies:

• The Jogging Stroller Stroll – This one’s pretty straight forward. Take baby on a short run in the jogging stroller. Run for at least 30 minutes or until she’s crying uncontrollably for mommy’s breast (you know, the way you cry uncontrollably for mommy’s breast).
• The Airplane – Carrying baby sprawled flat on her stomach, right arm under baby, left arm supporting back and shoulders. Then you run around the room yelling “zoooooooom!” Or something like that. Do 3 sets of 2 minutes each and switch sides and arms.
• The Silly Daddy Lunge – Baby plays on the floor while you lunge, alternating one leg at a time, at baby making silly daddy noises. Be careful not to be too aggressive as you may make baby cry and mommy mad. Do 3 sets of 10 lunges each leg. For an additional workout, pick baby up after each lunge and push over head.
• The Bouncy Bounce – Simple yet highly aerobic. Place baby in portable doorway bouncy and jump along with baby’s attempt at River Dance. Do in 5 minute intervals or until baby is all done.
• The Backpack Jack – Go for a hike with baby in backpack. Simple enough. But, when baby pulls your hair and that one Terminator nail that just can’t be trimmed or filed digs into your back, shoulder shrugs and deltoid flies are free of charge. Hike for 30 minutes or until baby fall asleep and drools down your spine.
• The Raspberry Curl – This is a fun one. Hold baby across your arms, lift in a curl and blow raspberries on her belly. Do 3 sets of 10. Mommies will dig the love guns.

These are just a few examples. If you have any more baby cross-training exercises, please share!

Happy Fatherhood Friday! It’s a hip place at Dad-Blogs.com for dads and moms to share stories, ideas, photos and movies with one topic in mind – fatherhood. Good times.

Monitoring the Bea-Hand-Foot-To-Mouth Action

Argh. The week got away and my grand aspirations of posting a variety of posts were usurped by work and then sucked into my baby’s mouth.

Why? Because Bea’s at that oral exploration stage where everything she get’s her hands on – including her own fists and feet – go into her mouth.

When Bea is happy – mouth opens wide – fists fly into the mouth. And when Bea wants to learn about a new object – and everything is new to a baby – she puts it in her mouth. We have dozens of drool rags around the house for these moments.

No teeth have broken the gum line yet, but we know that’s coming soon now that she’s on her way to 7 months next week.

Ah, from the mouths of babes…and into the mouths of babes...

So a little levity on Fatherhood Friday is in order after a busy week. The hip cats at FF at least get me motivated to share some fatherhood fun!

Here’s a list of items we don’t allow within the vicinity Bea-hand-foot-to-mouth action:

• Very small toys she could choke on
• Toys with removable or breakable parts she could choke on
• Toys we haven’t boiled in a pot of water yet
• Toys with lead content (which we bought a kit to check for this)
• Peeling paint (which thankfully we don’t have)
• Push pins
• Writing pens
• Power tools
• Spackle
• Motor oil
• Vegetable oil
• Household cleaners
• Other people’s feet
• Fresh diapers
• Not-so-fresh diapers
• Letter openers
• Scalpels
• Japanese throwing stars
• Chinese throwing stars
• Indian arrowheads
• Chicken bones
• 300-year-old cats (ours is named Chelsea)
• Remote controls (keep yelling at Mama about this one)
• The California state legislature
• Toxic bank assets
• The seceding of Texas
• And lastly Rush Limbaugh or Ann Coulter (remember, hydrochloric acid burns)

Have a great weekend and be safe with the little ones!