Daddy Tree: Tiny Footsteps

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...