As part of our continuing effort to build a parenting community here at Baby-Place.com, we’ve decided to add a Parenting Blog.

My name is J.T. Parker and I’m a 27 year old father of two. They are Tehila, two years old and Ben, five moths old. I’ve been married to their mother, Julie, for three years.

I intend to write about problems and solutions (or attempted solutions) that I, as a young father, who is still pretty new to this whole parenting adventure face.

Right now i have two issues that I’m dealing with, one with each kid. Our two year old is a real daddy’s girl. I give her her bath and put her to sleep most every night. It’s our special, just the two of us, time together everyday. The problem is that as of late, she has started waking up in the middle of the night and she won’t calm down and stop crying until I come into her room. That I can deal with, but there are nights when she won’t fall back asleep unless I lay next down to her and talk to her in a calming voice. This can be a hard thing to do at 3:00 a.m. especially when I have to get up in a few hours. I know that I need to be firm with her and let her cry it out or else she’ll have sleep problems if I’m not around to comfort her. The thing is, she has me wrapped around her little finger and it BREAKS my heart to hear her crying in bed.

My second problem is with Ben. Thank God, he is nursing and so spends the vast majority of his time with his mother. I feel that it is hard for me to get close to him. Almost every time I hold him, he starts crying within five minutes and won’t calm down until Julie takes him. I know this is silly to be worried about this and that it will change as he grows older, but it doesn’t make it any easier to deal with.

I welcome any comments or suggestions on either or both problems.

That wraps up my first blog post. Hope you enjoy it and the many more to come.