Daddy Tree: Tiny Footsteps

Lily is such a loving child. She almost always has a big and bright smile to share with anyone, especially Mommy and Daddy. She'll also give you all the excitement you deserve by kicking her feet vigorously as you approach her (she loves seeing your face). And she has decided, for reasons unknown to big sister Willow, to sleep through the night, letting her parents catch up on some much-needed sleep (three months of sleep to catch up on, folks). But for as much as she loves Mommy and Daddy, Pop and Nanny and Mimi and Papa, and for as much as she loves you, she adores nobody on this earth more than her sister. Willow turns her world. They will be as thick as thieves. I won't waste any more words on trying to explain this. These two pictures will suffice.

SPRINGFIELD -- Two-month-old Lily Grace Dunn stunned the world Wednesday night and Thursday morning by granting her father a break from a mandatory midnight feeding. Instead, she allowed Mr. Dunn more than eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. "I opened my eyes, and I saw sunlight shining into the bedroom," Mr. Dunn said. "I thought I was dreaming. I mean, the sun was out! It was, like, after 7!" Mr. Dunn rose from the bed and looked in the bassinet, surprised to see his daughter slumbering peacefully. "I just couldn't believe it," he said. "She always wakes me at 3 or 4 in the morning, wanting a bottle." Lily kept her father up later than usual, until 11 p.m., but she didn't wake until almost 8 a.m. "Oh, I just wanted to give him a break, you know," Lily said. "I mean, have you seen him lately. Whew-ee! That man is tired! "I'll be back to my old ways tonight, don't worry," she added. Despite Lily...

I hope you've been enjoying my daily Facebook postings of Lily's good-morning smiles. Lily is a happy baby, especially in the morning, after she's had a good bottle. And she smiles big and wide to show your how happy she is. Willow smiled too, but not nearly as much and not nearly as big (I don't know what this means, if anything). The smiles are infectious, of course, and they've helped me ease into days on my own with my two daughters. I've been a lucky stay-at-home dad so far, getting the benefit of having the mommy be home for nearly three months during her maternity leave. But now that she has returned to work, I've feared being run down by caring for two young girls. All by myself. These first few days haven't been easy, but they haven't been hard either, and they surely haven't been as hard as I imagined they would be. And part of the reason lies in those smiles (and another part is Willow's general cuteness and observations; it a...

Newly born Lily cuddles with Mommy. Whew! Things got crazy there for a while, during the Summer of George (AKA the Summer of Lily). Cherish returned to work today after a lengthy maternity leave (but not nearly long enough), and with that, I returned to my job as stay-at-home dad. We did tons this summer -- Cherish declared it the best summer ever. We trekked to places unknown, ate at places well known, and we uncovered places in ourselves we hope will be better known. We had good times and bad, but almost all of the times were good, and that was a great achievement during this, the Summer of George. I won't recall it all here, but here's a taste of what we experienced: Foremost, Lily came into this world, all 8 pounds, 5 ounces of her. She rang in smaller than her sister, who topped 10 pounds, but she was no less a bundle of happiness. Lily has a touch of red hair like her sister, and she has bright blue eyes (they are smiling Irish eyes, believe me). The sisters a...

I don't recall nights like this with Willow, but maybe I can blame "dadnesia" (a blissful forgetfulness of the wee weeks of our oldest's life). Cherish and I are splitting overnight feeding and diaper-changing duties with Lily. Cherish will get the "first shift," for example, which is the hours of 11 p.m. to 3 a.m., and I'll get the "second shift," which is from 3 to 7 a.m. These shifts provide each of us a good opportunity to sleep five or six hours straight. The idea is if Lily eats at 11 p.m., 2 a.m. and 5 a.m., I'll get to sleep from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m., and Cherish will get to snooze from 2 to 8 or 9 a.m. Lily hardly follows the plan, though. This morning, my shift started promptly at 3:11 a.m. I made the bottle and fed Lily. I also changed her diaper. That's bad enough, getting barely four hours of straight sleep. But Lily didn't want to go back to sleep, so I soothed her and rocked her and held her for two hours, until about...

Lily measured in at 8 pounds, 2 ounces, just three ounces shy of her birth weight. She was 20 3/4 inches long. Both measured about in the 75th percentile (but she is WAY behind where our giant Willow was at two weeks, in the 95th percentile). The doctor was happy with Lily's growth and her color (she had a touch of jaundice in the hospital). The doctor also humored us when we exasperatedly asked for help getting sleep at night. "Congratulations, you have a normal baby," she chuckled. You see, Willow wasn't a normal baby, and she spoiled us with her sleeping several hours straight every night. "Willow was a freak," our nurse told us. Well, Lily is not a freak, though she seems to eat freakishly at times. Last night, for example, Lily chugged bottles at 12:15, 1:45, 4:15 and 6:15 a.m. And diaper changes and rock-a-byes accompanied all those. Yawn.

Lily loves her big sister, Willow. We think. Experts say when a newborn smiles, she really isn't smiling, she just has gas. That might apply to Lily's responses to her big sister. She lights up when Willow comes around. But maybe Lily is just having gas every time Willow happens by. I sometimes get a pain in my side when Willow comes near me (groan, toddler). We know Willow loves her little sister. Our oldest loves to help in any way she can with the baby, and she loves to touch her and hug her and kiss her. Lily is the best doll in the world in Willow's eyes. And, if it isn't the gas, Lily's eyes widen when the bigger kid is around, though that might be alarm at what's coming next, whether it be a forceful push of the pacifier in the mouth or an accidental sitting upon. Whether it be adoration or gas, I have a hunch: One day in the near future, Lily will idolize absolutely her big sister.

My newest daughter, Lily, is 5 days old today. It didn't take that long for her to capture my heart ... all of it (in this aspect, she is no different from her big sister, Willow). They are my everything. And so, as promised, I've created this space for Lily, just as I have a spot for Willow, a place devoted to my experiences and adventures with them. I hope Lily comes back to this place one day to relive (or to remember for the first time) the times she had with me, her dear old dad. And so I say ... Welcome, Lily (and all who want to share the ride), to these memories I have of you. We're going places!