Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Elijah’s first shopping cart ride.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Let me begin by thanking everyone for the many wishes of congratulations, condolences and offers of help. As most of you are aware Melissa and I have a wonderful new addition to our family. Elijah Benjamin Feldman, AKA Eli, AKA The Grasshopper, was born on February 5, 2009. He was 6 lbs 7 oz, happy and healthy. Unfortunately our wonderful news was tempered by the loss of my Mother. My parents had been on a long planned vacation to Puerto Rico. They were scheduled to return prior to Melissa and Eli being released from the hospital. The night Eli was born my mother was playing blackjack and according to our cousins who were vacationing with my parents, repeatedly looking at the the photo of Eli I had emailed them. She was having the time of her life when she had a massive aneurysm at the tables and was officially pronounced brain dead and removed from life support about 36 hours later. My mother was a huge part of our lives and I do not have the words to describe the combination of one of my highest highs with my lowest low. I am still trying to figure out how to embrace the joys of having a newborn and grieve for my mother but if there is one lesson she taught me it is you put your children first. So for now that is all I can do.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Say what you want, but I got myself a new Diaper/Man Bag.  I know, I poo-pooed the Ju-Ju-Be on twitter. Actually, I admitted it was a great bag and my wife had and loved it, but I was looking for something a little more masculine.  We went to Great Beginnings on Saturday, can somebody please explain to me why a large retail story is not open on Sundays.   After trying multiple bags including some book bag backpack style bags, Ju-Ju-be was the clear winner.  Not only is it a backpack, but with a simple pull of the strap it becomes a shoulder bag.  It has two side pockets for bottles and two large pouches on the front that close with magnetic snaps, which is seriously convenient if you need to grab something quick.  Main compartment is zippered with lots of organizer compartments for baby stuff.  On the backside there is a pouch for the changing pad, as to not take up precious interior space.  This bag was seriously well thought out, spacious and comfortable.  Fully stocked I can still drop in my Macbook and a hardcover or two.  They actually had a couple androgynous styles to choose from but I decided to go with something fun.   

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Looking for a recommendation of a good diaper bag for daddy.  I currently have a messenger bag style bag but it is a little too small and I really want a backpack.  I am hoping to find something big enough to hold my macbook as well.  I would appreciate any recommendations.  Thanks!

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Melissa and I, well mostly Melissa, had our sonogram last week.  There was a beautiful heartbeat and everything appears to be on track for baby number two come February.   I’m really glad we are settled into our new place. The desire for baby number two was one of our primary motivations for moving in the first place and we found such a wonderful neighborhood.  I always wanted children, but the actual experience is so far above my expectations that I truly don’t have the words to describe.  In some ways I think I am more excited this time around.  Well that isn’t actually fair to say.  It is a very different experience on multiple levels.   Since we have been through this before, the fear factor is kept in check.  I am doing a much better job of finding a work/life balance and I am really just more present on so many levels that I can’t get into without completely over sharing.  Suffice it to say, I am in a much better place emotionally then I have been in sometime. 

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Joshua is going through a mommy only stage.  If Melissa is home, he wants nothing to do with me.  We are fine if it is just the two of us, but if he knows Melissa is anywhere around, he will have a fit until she picks him up.  I know I am not around as much I would like.  But it is not like he doesn’t know who I am, he sees me every morning. I try to give him his bottle.  And at least once or twice a week I get home in time to see him before bed.  While I may not be so good at the work life balance during the week, I am home most weekends.  My two working theories are 1) he remembers that I am the one who held him down when he got his shots. 2) He associates me with Melissa leaving e.g. she will need some down time on the weekend, or is teaching toga class at night, and he he knows he is getting the B team.  Of course there is also the third possibility that it is just a phase and he will be back to Daddy Daddy Daddy in no time,  well Dada was his first word.   

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Kidville is coming to Rockville.  My sister in-law and fellow blogger just posted some exciting news on the ways to entertain, education, exercise and socialize your child front.  I briefly looked through some of the classes, they do look fun.  To bad they don’t seem to offer any weekend programs; I would love to do something like this with Joshua. 

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

This morning we took Joshua for his Varicella (chickenpox) and the third and final installment of his MMR vaccinations.  I know, there is no solid clinical evidence of a correlation between Autism and the MMR vaccination.  What can I tell you, Jenny McCarthy scared the crap out of us, so we split and spaced the Mumps, Measles, and Rubella vaccinations.  When it came down to it we decided if there was even a slight chance that the anecdotal reports of a connection were not spurious, a couple extra needle pricks wouldn’t be the end of the world.  However, it was very hard to watch.  As soon as the nurse walked in the exam room Joshua started to wail.  Now you have to understand Josh is one of the mellowest sociable kids you will ever meet.  He rarely melts down and when he does it is always when he is very tired and/or hungry.    As soon as he saw her – boom.  He knew exactly what was going to happen and was terrified.   What’s worse, I get to be the bad guy.  I get to hold him down while the nurse sticks him and then hand him to mommy to make it all better.  It would be nice to occasionally get to be the one that makes it all better. 

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Home: Closed on both places – moved in and mostly unpacked.  Well, the essentials are unpacked, I am afraid we will be living with boxes for sometime.  Our new dinning room set will be delivered tomorrow.  We had the baby proofing service out this weekend; they will be back to finish the job tomorrow.   Our new couch and Chair & ½ should be here sometime next year (or the end of March).  I am very happy to be able to grill again. 

Josh:  Josh was cleared by both the Pediatrician and Pediatric GI for all foods except shellfish and nuts. Yeah! No more liquid gold formula.  More importantly it has been so much fun seeing Josh discover all sorts of new eats.  We had a nice little family get together for his first birthday.  He cried his way though his first haircut.  He is still not walking, which is surprising since he has been cruising (walking along the edge of furniture) and walking if you hold his hand forever.  Maybe now that he has some carpet to play on he will take some unassisted steps.  Personally I think he just realizes he can get from point A to B much faster by crawling…   

Melissa:  She wonderful as usual.  She has been a little stressed about the move and unpacking, but now that things are really coming together she is finally starting to relax.  She has had a couple problems with her eyes and the Doctor said no contacts.  She hates wearing her glasses but I think they are totally geeky hot.  

It has been an extraordinarily hectic month and I am working on my third cold of the season(this is crazy not sure what’s up with my immune system).  I plan to get all flickred up shortly with some pictures of the new digs and various recent events.

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Happy Birthday Joshua!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Originally published at Corey J Feldman. Please leave any comments there.

Thursday is Josh’s fist birthday.  I can’t believe he is going to be one.  This year is just –wow- I don’t have words

Friday we close on our current Condo.  It going to feel weird renting back, but we still have a few weeks before we can close and move into our new townhouse.

Saturday is Josh’s birthday party. 

Unfortunately Josh won’t be able to eat any of his birthday cake.  He is still on a no dairy or wheat diet.  Now that he has reached a year we can start introducing the restricted foods, but it is a slow process – table spoon here and see how he reacts. Most kids with dairy/wheat allergies outgrow it after a year and we are really hoping that Josh has as well.  It will be nice when he can get him off the special formula we refer to as liquid gold, but more importantly I want him to be able to have the ice cream, cake and pizza … the normal birthday party meal.