Today was Luke’s two month check-up, which meant he was due for his first shots. We knew it was coming. We knew it had to be done. We knew it was unavoidable unless we wanted to be known as “those parents”, the ones who don’t vaccinate their kids. I am not here to pass any…
Year: 2017
And To All A Goodnight
Reading Clement C. Moore’s Christmas Classic “‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” on Christmas Eve is a tradition my parents started when I was a baby and now I am proud to pass it down to Luke. From the Gaygen Family to yours, we wish you all a very merry Christmas! Watch us read to Luke…
My IncrediDad
My gramma sent me some old pictures of my mom, my dad, and I earlier this week and it got me thinking of my own IncrediDad. A dad is someone brave and strong. They will protect their kid from bad guys. They’re able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Dads are incredible. Many…
Christmas Presents
To be honest, kids do not need most of the expensive things we buy them, but we get them anyway. This is our first Christmas with a kid but I can safely assume it will only get worse. What two month old, needs two electric cars he can ride in, a train he can ride…
Breaking Up With Sleep
I gave up on my relationship with sleep a long time ago. It never would have worked out between us anyways. I’m a night-owl and an early riser. It would wind up being more of a long distance relationship anyway. Bex, on the other hand, really loves her sleep. I think her secret life goal…
Oh The Places We’ll Go
Road Trips From Reading
”Twas two weeks before Christmas”
Twas two weeks before Christmas, On baby’s first year. It felt like his parents hadn’t slept in a year. Bills left unpaid, presents unbought, even the dog was left there unwalked The laundry was tossed on the floor without care. Why bother cleaning now? Next week our relatives will be there; But Luke was nestled…
Baby-cizing
You know what I loved most about Bex’s pregnancy? Our stomach’s were the same size, at least for a few weeks at the end. It was great. Now we could share t-shirts. What a laundry saver! Right after delivery, her belly was still puffed out. She was so upset about it that she would say…
Daddy’s Private Office
Listen up dearest family of mine; Just because I sit down on the toilet, it does not mean I want to hold an emergency family meeting. Contrary to popular belief, the bathroom is not the family board room. It is my Batcave, my fortress of solitude. It’s where I go to get a moment of…
“Groundhog Dad” Starring David Gaygen
Do you remember the movie “Groundhog Day” starring Bill Murray? I feel like my life has turned into a cruel and twisted version of that since I’ve gone back to work. In the film, a jaded weatherman has to relive the same day over and over until he gets it right. In real life, I…
Let’s Wrap
Just the other day, I found out that some countries think we’re strange for using a stroller. Can you believe that? Do you mean to tell me that Americans are wrong about something? When was the last time that happened? Uh. Hang on, the President just tweeted again . . . I love my stroller….
Sibling Rivalry
Sibling Rivalry
Our First Date
Bex and I had our first date the day before Thanksgiving. Actually it was our first date A.D. (After Delivery). It wouldn’t have happened except that my mom was in town and she offered her services as babysitter. That’s a polite way of saying that she kicked us out so she could spend quality time…
We aren’t fighting. We’re discussing.
“Mommy and Daddy aren’t fighting. We are having a discussion.” I’ve heard that line overused so many times in the movies. The scene is always the same. It happens when a child inadvertently walks in on a possible domestic dispute and the parents have to cover their tracks quick, lest their six year old…
It’s A Walk In the Park
And I thought Bex took forever to get ready . . . One morning, earlier this month, around eleven o’clock in the morning, we decided to take Luke on his very first trip to the neighborhood park. Somehow, we didn’t walk out the front door until three-thirty in the afternoon. Did I mention that the…
Let Them Eat Cake
So, now that I’ve got him home, can someone tell me what the hell I’m supposed to do with him? The care stuff, diaper changes, feedings, I’ve got that. We’ve actually gotten into a nice routine. But how about when he’s wide awake and not screaming his head off? When he’s just staring at…
There’s A Binky In My Batcave
I never considered myself a messy person but I certainly wouldn’t call myself organized either. There’s always been this untidy little grey area between cluttered and coordinated that l like to hide in. Let’s refer to it as, my Batcave. Throughout my twenties I found my Batcave to be a multifunctional space. I always kept…
Baby On Board
I still can’t believe they let us walk out of the hospital with him. There must have been some mistake right? How could they trust someone like me to be responsible with someone so important? It was easy to look like a semi-competent parent when a team of nurses was present to supervise. But once…
The Secret Superpower of IncrediDad
Ever since I was a little kid I’ve wanted super powers, which is the coolest thing in the world. But before I could possess great power, I needed to become a superhero. Every superhero has an origin story. By now, you’ve read mine. If you haven’t, then what the hell are you doing? Go back…
NICU – The Sitcom
Ladies and Gentlemen, please pardon the interruption. We now return you to the number one sitcom in America – The NICU. Starring Luke Gaygen as a fictional version of himself, the show revolves around a handful of newborns and their hilarious hi-jinx in the hospital. Luke is a strong and healthy baby who wound…
This Turkey Ain’t Flying
There’s a lot to be thankful for at this time of year. There’s food, my loving wife, there’s freshly baked cookies, there’s our baby boy, there’s . . . oh is that pie? Cut me off a little slice, would ya? A little bigger. Bigger. Yes, I am aware that’s a whole quarter of…
Delivery Day (Part IV): Didn’t They Tell You
I spent two hours in the NICU. When I went back to Labor and Delivery, a nurse stopped me in the hall just outside of Bex’s delivery room. She had a very confused look on her face, and I could see her trying to figure out why I was back here. “Didn’t anyone…
Delivery Day (Part III): Welcome To The NICU
The Neonatal Infant Care Unit (I’ll call it NICU from now on) is a few hallways over from Labor and Delivery but at the time I wasn’t sure I could find my way back without dropping a trail of breadcrumbs. To further my confusion, they lead us in the nurses door which is accessible only…
10/30/2017 Delivery Day (Part II): It Went Great, Until It Didn’t. Then The Shit Hit The Fan.
Around two a.m. I was rudely awoken from my nap. The epidural had done it’s job and Bex was ready to push. So I groggily stood up, stretched, and wondered if I had time to take a seventh inning piss. She wouldn’t mind right? Wrong. We were in the bottom of the ninth with…
10/29/2017 Delivery Day (Part I)- The Waiting Game
Waiting is hard. I’m not a very patient man. Just ask my wife. She’ll tell you it’s true. Case and point, I am writing this in the delivery room. When I say that, what do you picture? Probably a scene from a movie if you’re anything like me. Picture it, in all it’s celluloid glory:…
Daddy Support Group
Bex pointed out a sign up sheet for Mommy and Me classes the other day. I acknowledged it with my customary cave man grunt but I really didn’t think much about it at the time. The class was called Mommy and Me, not, Mommy, Daddy, and Me. Until Bex recruits me to chauffeur, I have…
What’s In A Name?
William Shakespeare asked, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Oscar Wilde said, “Experience is the name we give our mistakes.” Even old Teddy Roosevelt got in on the philosophizing when he said, “Never throughout history has a man who has lived a life…
Diaper Doody
Fun fact – I went most of my life without changing a diaper but I promise you, I wasn’t actively avoiding it. The opportunity just never presented itself and that was fine by me. I grew up in a large family. My mom was the oldest of seven and my dad was the oldest of…
Gender Reveal
For months, people had been asking us what we were having, a boy or a girl. Bex had it easy, she was at home with the hyperemesis, throwing up all day. But I was out there in the world fielding all of the questions that came from well meaning busy bodies. The early but all…
Sleep While You Can
Some days are easy. I can kick back with a frosty beverage and watch the Bills make a late third quarter comeback. Afterwards, I enjoy a celebratory nap until Bex puts dinner on the table.My favorite is when she makes a rack of beef ribs. If you’ve never had them, try them. I didn’t even…
I Guess You’re Next
All this trouble started back when my cousin Steph announced that she was pregnant. I congratulated her because I was very excited to have another baby in the family but secretly I prayed to the saints that I wouldn’t catch whatever disease was in the water back home. Still, Steph delivered kiss of death by…
The Nursery or Let’s Move Before He’s Old Enough To Know He Sleeps In A Closet
We used to live in a big three bedroom condo across the street from Disneyland. No really, it took us ten minutes to walk from our front door to the park gates. It was a great, lively area, close to food and entertainment. The best part was that we had new neighbors every week because most…
A Letter To My Wife
October 21, 2017 – California Dear Bex, This may come as a bit of a shock but — Surprise! You’re pregnant. Okay, so it may not be as shocking as it was back in March. You have grown, incubated, and carried around our future child inside you for almost nine months now. But do you…