In celebration of Father's Day we are showing a little love and appreciation for our #tubbytodddad community and all they do. In the next few weeks we will be featuring some of our fav Tubby Todd Dads on our Day With The Basics Series. We reached out to MyronNilsson, a dad to one, and asked him to take us through a day in the life with little one and lovely wife in Stamford, CT.
Q: Tell us about your life with Maggie and Walker Gray. What is your dad to day like?
First off, I've been taking Tubby Todd bubble baths for years, so I feel very honored to be featured in this series. I'm also very excited to finally have a little one who shares my enthusiasm for bath time.
Our little man Walker Gray has an unconventional story. He was created by an embryologist, carried by an (incredible) surrogate, born in Texas, and is sprouting roots in Connecticut. Because he spent his first three trimesters in TX, we wanted to give him a *cool name that would link back to his big beginnings.
Walker is almost 3 months, so our day-to-day is basically a perpetual state of exhaustion. We've decided to embrace the phrase "early to bed, early to rise." Right now I rise between 3:30 and 4 AM.That's when my Walker shift begins. I rescue him from his bassinet for cuddles, feed, and dipey change. From there we wiggle and grunt (i.e. torture sleep) until 6 AM when he usually wakes for "the day." I know when he is ready to wake up because he opens his eyes ultra wide and smiles for miles. He loves mornings and will giggle and throw out happy squeals until I leave for work.
I work nearby and have the luxury of coming home for lunch. Maggie can use that time to recharge (she's not as enthusiastic about mornings as Walker) or we will all go out to lunch. After work, we like to go for a family stroll along the harbor. Walker loves being outside, especially when he can feel warm breezes on his little facey.
We're still working out our bedtime routine, but so far it consists of giggles, baths, songs and cry cries because Walker already hates when playtime is over.
Saturdays are the best. We spend extra time snuggling with Walker in bed (i.e. stretching our sleep as long as possible), then we find a destination to explore - the city (NYC), the beach, or upstate to a farm. Getting out is a whole production, but we try to make family adventure time a priority.
Q: How are you and your wife a team in raising Walker Gray?
Maggie and I decided long ago that we wanted our parenting to be a team effort. I've always wanted to be as involved as possible in the day-to-day raising of our family.
Because Walker was carried by a surrogate, he is formula fed, which means I get to tag team the feedings, which is very fulfilling for me.
We also tag team the night shift. Parenting is exhausting, so rule number one is to help each other get "enough" rest and nourishment (there is never enough rest, and Maggie's primary source of nourishment is 5 hour energy). We know the better rested we are the better parents we are, so we both try to tag in when the other needs to tag out.
Q: Being a new father, what are some of the joys fatherhood has brought to your life?
I have been thinking a lot about this lately. Life before Walker was pretty great. Maggie and I had a ton of fun and lived a fulfilling life when it was just the two of us.
People kept telling us we wouldn't even remember life before kids. Since it's still a little fresh for me, I definitely remember that sweet, easy, carefree life of going anywhere at any time and taking gloriously long Sunday naps.
People also told us (warned us) that everything would change after Walker was born. Now people keep asking us how we're adjusting to all the changes. But recently someone asked us simply, "how's your new life?" I think that's the best way to describe our transition to parenthood. It's a new life.
This new life makes us laugh every day at all the adorable things Walker does. This new life makes us deliriously exhausted. It makes us celebrate a "good poopy diaper." It makes us perfectly content calling it a night before the sun sets. In this new life, my favorite things are Walker's smiles, Walker's sleep laughs, Walker's squeaks during tummy time, Walker's splashes during tubby time, and of course the few minutes of quality time I get to spend with Maggie each day.
It took some time for us to get Walker here. The fertility process is a rollercoaster, and we experienced some very crushing lows. But the joys I've felt as a dad in the first 3 months of Walker's life have already made up for the lows I felt during those hard years of trying to get him here.
Thank you Myron! You are all so lucky to be surrounded by one another!
