Tonight we bought our son a larger toy box than we had before. We were in desperate need of a toy box for all the new toys he has received in the last few weeks.  One year olds have a lot of toys!

We bought him a Winnie the Pooh toy box from Toys R Us.  I was all ready to put the toy box together.  I pulled out the directions to take look at how easy it was to complete.  Unfortunately the directions were the worst directions I have ever seen.  Instead of it taking 20 minutes to put together as any man would think, it took me a little less than an hour.

With my son’s birthday a couple of weeks ago, I am starting to realize what my dad went through with six kids.  I am seeing the joys and frustrations of putting toys and other kids things together.  The toys Rylan has received have been very easy to put together.  Now his toy box was more of a chore than it should have been.

I have realized this is just a warm up for the years to come.  As more children come, I will be putting even more difficult things together than a toy box. I love the learning experiences I am getting as a new dad.

A couple of weeks ago our baby started taking his first steps. We did not get his true first steps on camera, but we did the next day. As a dad, having your wife there with you to see his first steps is a blessing. We were so happy to see our little baby seem so grown up. While he is growing up and learning how to walk, I am trying to teach him a major life lesson.

We have been working on the walking for a while before he took his first steps. It started with a walker, moved into finger holding walking and then walking across the couch, to finally him pushing a little kid’s grocery cart. My son is now learning how to walk by taking more and more steps each day.

His first steps started when my wife and I were about to go on an errand. We got Rylan ready to go in the cold, jacket and all. My wife still had to put on her shoes. Rylan was leaning against her and I told him to walk to me. My wife got him standing by himself. Concentrating as hard as he could, Rylan took 6 steps right to me. It was one of the neatest things I have ever seen as a dad or in life in general. I saw my baby boy take his first steps! His mom was cheering him on too.

Now that Rylan is taking his first steps, we have been working on more and more steps each day. He walks to mom and then walks to dad. He is also walking to walk from one piece of furniture to the next. It is fun to see his progress.

What is the biggest lesson a baby can learn when they are learning how to walk? The biggest lesson is to pick yourself up and try again. Every time Rylan falls when we are practicing walking, I pick him right back up and tell him, “What do we do when we fall down? We pick ourselves up and try again!” He keeps on trying.

Too many people give up on themselves. They learn to accept failure and not care about success. Teach your kids to reach for the top and have them learn it is OK to fall as long as they learn from it and try again.

Dads, pick yourself up and try again.

Video note: It is awesome to see my son enjoy his successes in walking.  We cheer him on and he cheers himself on.

1 year old baby cake

Real Dad Blog Version: This dad’s baby boy turns one! This is a dad rambling about his son’s birthday and first year as a baby boy.

Our son, Rylan, turned the big one yesterday. We threw him a little party that involved a lot of his family and friends. The day flew by like a blur because we were hosting a lot of people. At least we have pictures of the memories of the big day of our first child turning one.

Baby Eating Cake

His birthday involved eating of sloppy joes (easy to make for a lot of people) and a lot of other food. Then came the birthday cake. The fun part of the birthday party! I was thinking he was going to make a bigger mess than he did. He sure enjoyed the cake.

One Year Old Baby Birthday Party Friends

If you are a dad and have never experienced your child having a really sugary substance for the first time, just get ready for a child that will not sleep. That was our son! He had energy like he never had before after he ate his birthday cake. Watch out!

Our Baby Boy is One!

Our son’s first year flew by. I cannot believe he is already one. This has been the most rewarding year of my life. One year as a dad is beyond words. Being a dad or a new dad is the best job in the world!

A special thanks goes out to our baby boy’s mom for helping make being a dad the best job in the world.

Baby with underwear in mouth (it is clean) - What dogs teach babies

Real Dad Blog Version:  It is funny when your dog runs around with underwear in their mouth.  It is even more funny when your baby does it and you have pictures to prove it.

It is every woman’s nightmare having a dog as a pet.  They have company over everything is going great.  People are eating and conversing.  All of a sudden, they hear a chuckling and they see their dog run around the house with their underwear!  How embarrassing!  Our dog has not done the embarrassing wife’s underwear thing with company over.  He has done it with company’s underwear that is staying over at our house.   I think he may be out of the stage of running around the house with underwear dangling from his mouth.    There were many times where our dog Tanner would find my wife’s underwear and let it dangle from his mouth while we chased him around the house in the past.  What a fun game for him and a challenge for us to get the underwear from him.

Even though our dog is out of the stage of underwear stealing, our son Rylan must have learned the underwear dangling from his mouth trick from somewhere.  The other night we were folding clothes and left the clothes basket on the floor.  He must have grabbed my wife’s underwear when we were not looking.  The picture is how we found him.  Thanks, Tanner!  I just hope Rylan does not do the underwear trick with underwear dangling from his mouth with company over.  OK… Maybe I do.

It is great being a new dad and watching your son and dog grow up.  It is also great to get funny baby pictures.

If you like this post, you may like Baby Plumber’s Crack or Dad’s Best Friend

Dada I'm One

Real Dad Blog Version: When a child does something new, it makes this dad talk about it like a women. The feeling behind it is incredible.

My son is approaching the age of one. Each day it seems he learns something new. What I have heard from other dads and moms is it is going to be this way for the next few years. Every day there is new happiness when I see or hear Rylan do something new. It can be a word or an action.

Today he learned what an owl says. We tell him, “What does an Owl say?” He then goes “Ooo ooo.”

Rylan has learned a lot in the last couple of weeks that have became my favorite things to talk about with people. I guess you can call me a woman in that aspect. He claps and claps and claps and then claps again. It can be from hearing someone clap in the background to him getting buckled into his car seat. When he wants his hair brushed, he will brush his hair with his hand. He can throw a ball a couple of inches. He tries to throw it to me, his mom or the dog. He also likes to share what he has. The list can go on and on.

When you hear your son do something new, it actually does melt a dads heart. It is a rare experience. It is like the day he was born and marrying my wife. It feels that good. It puts a huge smile on my face.

My little boy is turning one. Guess what he has learned? Yep, he can do the one with his pointer finger.  Being a new dad is the best job in the world!

As time goes on, you may brush your baby’s teeth with a baby’s toothbrush.  Start this when your baby gets their first teeth.  Our son Rylan loves getting his teeth brush with a baby’s toothbrush.  We tell him that we are going to brush his teeth and he throws his hands up and down in the air with excitement.

When you watch the video of us brushing our baby’s teeth, you can tell Rylan enjoys it. We did things to help with his enjoy of getting his two baby’s teeth brushed.  We brush our teeth around Rylan.  It got him intrigued with us brushing our teeth and he then gets to join in on the fun.  We also have been doing this since he has born starting with the washcloth cleaning his mouth.  He has been exposed to good oral baby hygiene by having good adult oral hygiene.  This new dad likes to have clean teeth and a clean mouth.

Baby Peeing

Real Dad Blog Version:  New dads do not be surprised that your baby’s favorite toy might be their pee-pee.  Don’t worry, you can correct it.

Yes ladies, a man’s fascination with their penis starts at a young age, actually when they are babies. If you are a mother, you already know about this. If you are a dad, this is just second nature. Your baby, probably at 4 months of age, starts exploring everything that is around them, even their privates. This happens more so in boys since they have a package to grab and marbles to roll.

As months go on, your son will be grabbing their balls and penis more than Al Bundy on the TV show Married With Children. My son Rylan sure has. It will happen any time the diaper is off. Once I get that diaper off, it is a fight with him.  He is like, let me play with my balls!   The worst is when he has a poopy diaper. He tries to grab it and I have to do best to keep his hands off the poop. I swear that the private area is more fascinating to him than the toys in the bathtub. The bathtub is when he plays with it the most.

Baby boys are discovering things and the penis is one of those “thingies.” As times goes on, they will play with it more and in some unfortunate cases it does not stop even to adulthood. It is our jobs as dads and moms to tell our boys what is appropriate. As our babies get older, we can talk about what is socially appropriate. It would be something like, “No, it is not OK to take your penis out at the restaurant. You only can take it out in the bathroom to go potty. etc etc etc” You are both reprimanding the behavior and correcting the behavior.

One way to correct too much playing with the pee-pee when your baby boy is young is to distract them with toys. It is redirecting them to something different. You can do this when your baby boy is in the bathtub or when changing diapers. Is it going to prevent them from totally stopping? No! Boys will be boys! It is healthy for them to discover their parts. Someday they will be standing up and peeing. Again, it is our job as moms and dads (not the schools… and that is coming from a teacher) to teach our children what privates are and what is socially appropriate as your child ages.

The talk is going to come sooner than later by teaching your kids what is socially appropriate. You will have many talks about the privates as kids age. With boys the talk starts after they discover their pee-pee.

Chris started The New Dad Guide 2 months ago.  The New Dad Guide is exactly what it states it is, an informative new dad guide.  Chris writes about what to expect before a child is born like labor contractions, birthing positions and even facts about babies.  His facts are entertaining and beat the books that many doctors suggest a father and mother reads.

Now that he is a real dad, I am excited to hear about his new dad stories and helpful information he has for everyone.  The journey has begun for his family.  The let fun begin!

New Dad Blog Prayer Request:  God bless the new family Chris, Amber and Allison.  May the most special journey of life, that being a parent, be a blessing like no other.

Reald Dad Blog Version: Congrats Chris, Amber and Allison.  Parenting is the best job in the world!

Minnesota State Fair

Real Dad Blog Version: This new dad took my 10-month-old son to get fat at the Minnesota State Fair.

Ever since I was a boy I have been going to the Great Minnesota Get Together better know as the Minnesota State Fair. I remember my parents taking me there, eating as many corn dogs I could and riding rides to my hearts content at the Mighty Midway. I have probably only missed five or six state fairs throughout my life. I love the people watching, the food and just walking around the fairgrounds. These memories I want to past down to my kids. My wife has agreed to join me on this venture since she loves the fair too.

Rylan and Jack, Friends at the Minnesota State Fair

Every year and every future year, I want to go to the Minnesota State Fair with my family. I am going to instill this yearly trip to my kids. It will be an annual thing we do. We took Rylan to his first Minnesota State Fair yesterday. Being only ten-months-old he had his first taste of a corn dog and a chocolate Dairy Barn Milkshake. These are the two things I get every year at the fair. A milkshake is probably not the best thing to give to your 10 month old but he sure loved the thing. That is one of those things I will not tell the doctor at his 1-year-old doctor appointment.

Going around in style at the Minnesota State Fair

Even though Rylan will not remember a thing about going to his first Minnesota State Fair, I will have the memory of sharing one of my favorite things in the world with him, going to the Minnesota State Fair. I hope someday my love the State Fair will be passed to Rylan and our future kids. I am excited for them to remember their trips.

I just hope that by the time my kids get into their 20’s and 30’s, every single thing at the fair, is not required to be on stick. I can’t believe that almost everything is made on a stick. When I first started going to the fair it was still just the corn dog and pronto pup.

Time for me to start running off all those calories I ate yesterday. Since being a dad I honestly cannot eat like a 17 year old anymore.

A little side fact about the Minnesota State Fair: It has the largest daily attendance of any the states fairs. Texas has the most per fair, but Minnesota has the most people per day. 1.6 million people visit in the 10 days it is open.

Master of the Remote - This Dad lost his title!

There is a time in a man’s life when he gets the TV of his dreams.  My TV is a 65-inch DLP.  I love the thing.  It is perfect for watching football on Sundays and baseball games throughout the week.  As I kid, I envied my dad, as he was the master and king of the remote control.  He got to watch what he wanted to watch.  He came home from work, ate dinner with us, sat himself in the recliner with the remote glued in his had and then he clicked on the news.  As a younger kid and even into my teenage years, I found the news dreadful and boring and wined about it.  It was a loosing battle on getting the remote.

The last 10 years I have been living on my own or married.  I have been able to be the master of the remote.  For the first few years I was able to watch a fair amount of TV especially with the release of high definition.

I do not watch much TV now, even with the big TV in the house.  When I do it is usually football, baseball or movies.

Dad's little baby with remote

During the TV show season I do enjoy watching Lost and 24.  Let’s get it right though, kids should not watch too much TV.  Melissa and I rarely have the TV on when Rylan is awake.  I honestly can’t remember when we’ve had the TV on besides sports shows and Wheel of Fortune when Rylan is up.

But tonight, I saw myself loosing the master of the remote title. I didn’t think I would lose it for a long time.  Let’s be honest, I didn’t think I would ever lose it.  Look at the pictures!  He is ready to own the remote.  He already knows the buttons work and can do magical things such as turn the TV or make the remote light up. Oh no!  Soon will come those learning TV shows such Barney, Sesame Street, Bob the Builder and Dora. I give it two years and my title of the master of the remote control is gone.  Thanks Big Bird!

Taking the remote away from a baby - Temper Temper temper!

Suggestions for New Dads:  If your wife hasn’t gained the title of the master of the remote control, your kids sure will.  Get ready to lose your title!   The little one has got their eyes on it.