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Photo Diary: January 2017 Part 2
NYC
Photo Diary: February 2015 Part 1
Hi Gang, I’m trying something new because I am SO behind in posting Photo Diaries. Instead of doing several per day until I get caught up, here are the first 14 days of the February 2015 — including February 1st, which was already published. Just click on an image, it’ll embiggen and you can actually scroll through from there!
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 92
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 92 covers the great time I had at Toy Fair followed by the far less first half of the week where I tried to write about it.
Kid O is awesome, do yourself a favor and check out their stuff.
Here’s the poo mug I mentioned. I still haven’t been able to figure out which booth it was at.
If you’re unfamiliar, this is what LEGO Friends sets look like. The characters are a bit more doll like and the colors more in the pastel spectrum. The woman I talked to told me they spent four years researching the kinds of LEGO sets girls would want to play with and these were the results.
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 81
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 81 was recorded right after my experiences down in Manhattan during the New York Comic Con, my new favorite book for Lucy and a few funny parenting stories!
A 90s Gak commercial, if you’re not familiar:
For what it’s worth, I wound up going to the coffee shop and writing instead of heading to the birthday party with Lu, but she still had a pretty great time. 
Even after several weeks, I’m still a big fan of Julius Jr.
DC SUPER HEROES: MY FIRST BOOK OF GIRL POWER
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 80
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 80 was recorded two weeks ago, but covers the lead up to New York Comic Con, the longest parenting day so far and Wonder Woman teaming up with the Scooby Gang!
I loved seeing Velma and Daphne take center stage with Wonder Woman in Scooby-Doo Team-Up #5. Such a fun comic! The Scooby-Doo books I mentioned having a problem with were talked about on PPNC #73.
I accidentally referred to The Berenstain Bears Halloween Family Fun as Fall Family Fun, please forgive me.
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 48
The 48th episode of The Pop Poppa Nap Cast recounts my experiences down at Toy Fair (sore feet and all) and our strange developments with the potty and bathtub.
Doesn’t seem like I mentioned much in the way of link-worthy notes, but I hope you still enjoy the show!
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 31
There’s a whole lotta New York Comic Con talk on this episode of The Pop Poppa Nap Cast, which happens to be the 31st episode if you’re counting.
The article I mentioned about moms taking it easier on themselves and each other is called “Moms When Are You Going To Learn?” and was posted on So Wonderful, So Marvelous.
My review for The Frighteners can be read over on UnitedMonkee.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to find the exact Cinderella crown on Amazon, so I can’t link to it right now, but I’ll keep looking and let you know when/if I do track it down.
For more of me check out UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com, Comic Book Resources and @PoppaDietsch on Twitter.
The Pop Poppa Nap Cast Episode 15
A busy week packed with a family trip down to New York City and a parent-only journey to Long Island for a wedding makes for a travel-packed episode of The Pop Poppa Nap Cast.
I wrote about my wife’s hospital stay in my Photo Diary posts last November, you can read them here, here, here, here, here and here.
If you’re in New York City and have a few hours to kill you can do a lot worse than the Central Park Zoo. And that’s coming from someone who’s not a fan of the form.
I wrote about my love of Batman Returns over on my pop culture blog UnitedMonkee.
A look back at Lu’s previous Disney-based petting zoo experience .
This week’s Pop Poppa Seal of Approval recipient, Aqueduck Faucet Extender, Aqua
I write for Comic Book Resources and Spinoff Online and also run UnitedMonkee.com, MonkeyingAroundTheKitchen.com and am on Twitter @PoppaDietsch.
Baby’s First Comic Con
As I wrote about yesterday, my wife and I went down to the New York Comic Con last Sunday and took our darling daughter with us. Em’s been down twice before, but the first time she was pretty sick and the second time she was pregnant, but overall, I think she got the gist of the event: lots of lookeeloos wandering around aimlessly, sometimes dangerously so, who are just as likely to smell your hair (actually happened to her) as they are to bonk into you with their giant hammer (happened to me). Knowing the general vibe of the area, plus the huge numbers that had already been there that weekend (the above picture is from Saturday) and the high noise level that comes from all those people, I was pretty worried about taking Lucy down with us. Like ready to call the whole thing off, nervous. I had seen people with babies at the show, but most of them were obnoxiously pushing their kids in strollers, but my wife thought it would be fine because she just got an Ergo Baby Carrier. Plus, she had made plans with a friend for lunch and I had been telling everyone that Lu was coming down, so we went with it. 
The trip started off with her first train ride, which she mostly slept through, even when we had to unexpectedly transfer trains. She then went on her first cab ride, which my wife did some research on because we weren’t sure about car seat laws in cabs. In New York City, it’s legal to be in a cab with your baby not in a car seat. Em still had Lucy in the carrier and kept her hand firmly on the strap. It helped that we didn’t wind up going more than 20 MPH at any time on our trip from Grand Central to the Javits center. 
Getting into the show itself wasn’t so bad. One of the benefits of a press pass is that you can mostly go where you need to and don’t have to wait in lines to get into the show. It also helped that the awesome CBR Tiki Room was up and away from everything else, so we could go up there, change the baby in one of the hallways and get ready before heading on to the show floor to introduce Lu to some of my friends. I should explain that I used to work with a lot of amazing people at Wizard, many of whom have moved to other states to continue working in comics or just to get away completely (or move back home in some cases). So, this show can be like a reunion for us and this is the first time most of them have been around to meet the baby.
Walking the show floor was pretty bad. I mean, it was cramped and crowded and vaguely foot-smelling the day before, but the day before I didn’t have a baby and a wife to watch out for. My poppa bear levels were up to eleven and I almost tore a kid’s head off for stopping right in front of my wife and daughter so he could take a picture of someone in a costume. I used to be the kind of guy that would say “I almost tore his head off” but being a dad changes things. My wife calmed me down and we moved on to show off our little bundle of joy. 
I had to go cover a panel for about an hour (longer if you count waiting in line, I’m not super impressed with how they handle press at these things, but more about that over on UnitedMonkee) so Em and Lu were on their own. After the panel we met back up, tried to find a few more people, said a few hellos and then bolted for lunch. All in all it was a fine experience, but one that definitely had me overly hyped up. I mean, that’s my job, right? To protect my family? I know I’m not fighting off a dinosaur with a bone or anything, but I did see a few people in dino costumes that I didn’t want bumping into me, my wife or my kid. I’m sure that feeling with chillax a little bit over time, but it’s still in my head a lot and will be for a while (probably forever, really).
I really wish I had taken a picture or two of her on the show floor or even up in the CBR booth, but I just forgot. It was way too crazy on the floor and I really didn’t want to be one of those people who are constantly stopping to take pictures. So, that’s why you have one of the back of her head on an elevator with a guy’s butt in the background. On the other hand, I absolutely love the untrustworthy glance she’s throwing at the cab driver. Always be wary kid, especially in the city!
Poppa’s First Comic Con
To be clear, I’ve been to every New York Comic Con that’s ever happened, but this year was the first time I went as a dad, which definitely changed how I experienced the event. For those of you not of the geek persuasion, the New York Comic Con kicked off in 2006 and has grown to become (I believe) the second largest gathering of comic book, video game, anime, movie and toy fans and professionals in the country. The event is held in the enormous Javits Center, with the con taking up nearly every inch of the place. This year it went from last Thursday through Sunday.
As I mentioned, I’ve gone to the show every year it’s been around in various capacities. The first year, Wizard actually had a booth that some of us manned. It was a big, disorganized show then and it’s only gotten more of both counts since. In the following years, I’ve gone as a researcher, a magazine writer and just to look around. This was my first year covering the show for CBR, a comic book website that I write for on a regular basis and thus it was a different experience. But, the biggest change was leaving Lucy for three days with my wife (Thursday, Friday and Saturday) and then worrying about her and my wife at the show on Sunday.
As regular readers know and new ones will learn just now, I work from home and watch our daughter during the week while my wife goes to work. It’s a good situation because it allows me to keep up my freelance and also removes the cost of daycare for the foreseeable future. But, sometimes, you need a break and NYCC gave me that. It was really nice to feel like a normal, working person, albeit one surrounded by giant robots and scantily clad people in costumes of both sexes in increasingly smelly rooms waiting to hear people talk about comic books. Most of my work involved sitting in on panels (those talks I mentioned), taking notes and writing them up for the website. News is often saved for conventions, so they can be a pretty big deal. While it did feel good to be out in the real world again (I even missed hoofing in through New York City a little), I did miss that cute little face all day. On Thursday, when I left, I had an empty feeling when I realized I wouldn’t see her the rest of the day (she was up when I left, but was asleep every night when I got home). It was that same thing you see on every sitcom when the mom goes back to work or goes out without the kid for the first time. I’m learning that nearly everything said about parenthood on television is true in one way or another.I told my wife this and she said she feels that all the time when she goes to work.
One thing that helped was being surrounded by other fathers away from their kids. A few guys on the CBR staff traveled away from their homes and were also missing their kids. Meanwhile, other friends of mine who have children but live up near where I do were actually staying in hotels over the weekend so they wouldn’t have to train back home every night like I did. People said I should do the same thing next year, but I’m not so sure. Even seeing Lucy for a few minutes in the morning and getting to hold her was enough for me to take that 90 minute trip home. Stay tuned for the tale of Lucy’s first NYCC!
