I'm the daddy

Yesterday, big V left me alone with little G for almost a whole hour. This was huge.

V came home from work, fed G and then headed to Mary & Denny's to drink a beer and chop veggies for our stew.

The previous night had been, how you say, a freakin' nightmare. G had screamed her cute little head off, which left V 6 feet, 2 inches of frustration.

It should be said that G's not a big fan of being held by anyone other than her momma, so for V to leave G with me alone for that long was a big step for all three of us.

Before V left around 5:45, she told me I could not show up at Mary's before 6:30. Then the sliding door shut behind her and the game was on.

I vowed I would keep G happy.

Luckily, my girl G loves books, so I gathered up an armload of Baby Einsteins, and a few others, grabbed the green Boppy, and plopped down on the couch.

I didn't even leave Sports Center on mute.

In my sweetest voice, I read to G about animals and shapes and about some lame, blobs of color called the Kidgits.

My favorite book, one of the Baby Einsteins, had pictures of cows, ducks, and even a mirror.

The cool part was that it said things like "I am a cow" and then had it translated in two or three languages.

I could handle the Spanish but the Japanese or Chinese or whatever the heck language it was made me sound like an idiot. G didn't seem to mind, though.

At 6:30, almost on the dot, G got all shaky and red. The screaming ensued. I walked her around. Bupkus. I laid her on the bed and gave her the ol' pinkie. That worked for a few minutes but soon she was crying again. Finally, I headed to the living room to pop her in the battery-powered swing. Thank god, she liked that.

Then, before I knew it, V returned to a quiet house. Man, I have to admit that 45 minutes felt like two hours. I really don't know how V does it all day and night. She's a superhero in size 13 running shoes.

On a side note, V told me this morning that G had been fussy, occasionally screaming her head off, last night. That is until - that's right - her daddy came to bed. I fell asleep fast so I didn't get to hear G giggle and then slide off to sleep herself. What a sweetheart.