Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Hosted by Anton Rieke, Ladylike is a podcast born from one dad’s mission to raise his daughter with role models who lead with heart, grit, and grace. In each episode, Anton spends time learning from a remarkable woman, sitting down for a deep conversation about her journey.
From bakers to business owners, athletes to artists, these women are rewriting the rules of what it means to be strong, skilled, and “ladylike.” Episodes end with a letter to Anton’s daughter, Drew, reflecting on the lessons learned from each guest.
If you want a podcast that blends humor, heart, and hard truths, Ladylike invites you to listen in and leave inspired.
When my daughter Drew was born, someone asked me what I hoped she'd inherit from me. I said my drive to grow and the belief that I can. That belief carried me through a difficult childhood. It pushed me to pay my way through college, build a 6 figure sales career, and work through my trauma to become a loving husband, foster parent, and community builder. That belief is the best thing I have to give her.
Anton:But this podcast isn't about me. It's for her. Instead of telling her my story, I'm sharing the stories of remarkable women, women who've overcome, who've built, who've healed, who've thrived. Each episode is an interview with a woman who inspires me and who I hope will inspire Drew someday too. Because one day, she'll be a young woman carving out her own life, and she might not want to hear advice from her dad.
Anton:But when that day comes, I hope she listens to these voices and remembers that she can become whoever she wants to be, and she can overcome anything. They say it takes a village, so I'm building one. A village of women who are redefining what it means to be ladylike. This is Ladylike, the girl dad podcast. Howdy.
Anton:Thanks for tuning in to Ladylike. This episode is gonna be a little bit different. There's gonna be three components of the episode. The first one is gonna be a podcast review. I've got my wife on this episode, and we talk a lot about what the first six months of the creation of the podcast look like from the beginning idea to where it landed and you started tuning in.
Anton:The second part of the episode I'm calling Drew's baby book is just a quick section where we answer questions that you might see in a baby book. The third part will be Anna and I's discussion of the first six months of Drew's life. There will be way more content on YouTube for this one as far as visuals, pictures from when Drew was a baby. Definitely watch this one on YouTube. If you're not watching on YouTube, you'll still get the full experience.
Anton:You might just not see the, pictures and everything that are involved with that. We're gonna go right into the Dear Drew. Both Anna and I did a Dear Drew for this episode. And then after that, straight into the podcast.
Anna:Dear Drew, you've made me braver and softer all at once. Six months in and I still stare at you in awe. Your laugh is the best sound in the world. Your tiny fingers are magic, and your eyes remind me that God really is in the details. You've made me more patient, more grateful, and more aware of the moments that truly matter.
Anna:I'll never stop showing up for you and I'll never stop cheering for you. I hope you grow up knowing that you are wildly loved, not because of what you do, but because of who you are. Love, mom.
Anton:Dear Drew, I used to think strength meant getting things done and holding it all together. Then you came along and taught me that real strength looks like holding you close, slowing down, and staying soft. I don't know what you'll remember from these early months, but I hope something deep inside you always knows that your dad was always right here, trying, learning, and growing beside you. I've never laughed more, worried more, or prayed more than I have in the last six months. I wouldn't trade it for anything.
Anton:I love being your dad. That's the greatest title I'll ever hold. Love always, dad. Hey, y'all. Welcome back to Ladylike.
Anton:This episode is gonna be a little bit different. I'm joined by the most important person in Drew's life and my life, Anna Drew's mom. We're currently in Aspen, spending some time with family, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to slow the podcast down a little bit and reflect on what we've accomplished so far. So the whole idea of doing a podcast came from when Mills at your baby shower, whatever you were like, I got those questions. Think there was like one
Anna:It was one of those baby shower games. You still been playing out like a bachelorette too. But yeah, it was like, what do you hope baby gets from dad? What do hope baby gets from mom? Yeah.
Anna:What do you think baby's gonna look like? What do you do you think baby's going to be more girly or not? Like all those random kind of questions.
Anton:And so I looked at those questions, and I was filling them all out. And I was really thinking about them because it was a time for me to reflect in general about a baby coming into my life. And, you know, I had prior to Drew, we had a a foster kid, and I felt like I had that experience, but I've never had the experience of someone, like, being born that might look like me or have qualities of me. And so that question came up. The it was like, what do you want your daughter to inherit from you?
Anton:And the thing that came to mind is I wanted her to learn how to have the desire to grow. Like, my favorite thing about myself is that I'm not done growing, which was the start of the podcast because I was like, oh, I wanna do this in the the form of a podcast so that she can look back on this in a couple years and see the intention. I can't tell her anything right now. She's only six months old. But I can show her this in years and she can watch the podcast grow over time.
Anton:Did you think that I was gonna be so inspired by that little sheet that came by or did you know?
Anna:I don't think anyone's that. So it's like one of those, like, cheesy, like, yeah, baby shower games. Everyone plays out their baby shower. It's not anything special. And it was funny.
Anna:I remember reading your answers because then at the actual baby shower, Anton wasn't there.
Anton:Yeah.
Anna:And we all answer it. And I would read my answer aloud. And then my friend Mills would read out whatever Anton wrote. And Anton's answers were so thoughtful and so sentimental when I'm pretty sure I had said I wanted her to be blonde, like like her dad. Like, didn't say anything that sentimental.
Anna:Yeah. With me, I don't think I said anything that sentimental. Think I said I wanted to have my eyes. But
Anton:She got your eyes.
Anna:She didn't get my eyes. But, yeah, I don't think anyone took it that sentimental. Or Or so I never thought you would be that inspired to go start a new creative endeavor.
Anton:What did you think whenever I was like, hey. Wanna make a podcast. What's your first thought?
Anna:Gosh. When you first told me that you wanted to make a podcast, I was not very happy.
Anton:So I know that you weren't happy, obviously. But did you believe in the inspiration from the beginning? Like, did you understand what I was trying to do? Or do you feel like when I first brought it up that you were like, this is annoying, and I don't know what he's trying to do?
Anna:Yeah. I think I understood the inspiration. I think I think it's been really sweet watching you grow into being a girl dad. And I understood that you wanted to use your giftings to create something for her and to learn from her. So I think I saw the vision.
Anna:I just wasn't sure what the execution would look like and the time commitment.
Anton:Yeah, so going into the execution and the time commitment, the first thing that I tried to do is create project proficiency, which is like, this idea of me trying people skills and trying these long term skills, and trying to show that I can have grit through challenge. What was that first episode of Project Proficiency like when you first heard it?
Anna:I think the first episode of Project Proficiency was about golf. And I was like, that's what every little girl wants to learn how to do is golf. So I was not I saw the vision of the whole picture. But I think from for anything, seeing just one episode alone is hard to capture the whole vision.
Anton:Yeah. And Anna helped me. Anna's been gracious through it all. Every second.
Anna:I
Anton:think I've asked a billion questions of her. I've gone through her with a billion renditions of what I was trying to do. I mean, you were even there when I was trying to name it the first time.
Anna:Yeah.
Anton:And what were some of those? I don't know if you remember any of them.
Anna:Gosh. I mean, there were so many names, most of which are already taken.
Anton:Yeah.
Anna:Talks about the learning curve.
Anton:The learning curve.
Anna:Talked about Oh gosh. There were some really bad ones. I'm trying to think of what they were.
Anton:It was like ambition model. Yeah, like Anton of all trades, like a jack of all trades. Yeah, they were not.
Anna:Anton does things.
Anton:Anton does things. Yeah. That was that was not super good. And so then, obviously, that was happening. Tell me about like, I don't know if you remember the moment that this shifted.
Anton:And I was like, I don't want to do this unless it's for Drew. And I feel like I'm just spinning my wheels for nothing. Do you remember that conversation?
Anna:I remember feeling really excited about the shift and excited for what it could look like for Drew. You narrowed your vision down more to the heart of what you wanted the podcast to be. And it was less about Anton's hobbies and the things he's learning more about the things you can learn from other women.
Anton:Some of the shift to ladylike was like, oh, I'm just gonna interview. I'm just gonna listen. I'm just gonna capture that person. What are your favorite memories from the first couple of episodes, if you have any?
Anna:Well, I think as a podcast wife, I feel like I've personally benefited. Benefited from a lot of your episodes in the sense that I got to eat some Hey Honey desserts. I got a beautiful love Lily bouquet. Got to see my friend Lauren. Feel like that has been a sweet part of this.
Anna:I think it is beautiful to listen back to my friend's stories and hear more about. For example, I'm really good friends with Doctor. Rose. And I've never heard her talk about her life she was in the way she was interviewed. I never have had undivided time to just sit and have a conversation about hard things and good things and foster care in that way.
Anna:I think those have been my favorite memories is getting to learn more about people I love and their stories and
Anton:Honestly, I'm really thankful for all the women for taking the leap. I had nothing to prove that I would highlight them in a good way. No prior experience in this type of thing. And so I just was like, hey, I really wanna try to capture your essence and what it means to be ladylike to you. And I've gotten good reviews from all of them personally, so hopefully they genuinely feel that way.
Anton:And they're not just saying that, but that has been my favorite memory is just like the growth that has happened with this. And also, again, same thing. Like, I knew Doctor. Rose a little bit, but it was so good to hear about the depth of her career and the things she's learned and raising Malachi. I didn't know about a lot of those things.
Anton:With Callie and getting to hear about her journey, I never knew about all the moves that she made and the brave things that she did in planting where she was at. Lauren was a good friend of mine from high school, but I haven't seen her probably since high school. And so it was really incredible to hear about her story with Kamal and everything that they've gone through. And then, of course, Cortland. At the time of recording this right now, that episode hasn't been put out yet.
Anton:We cried a lot. It was very sweet and very incredible. Okay. For this part of the show, I wanted to do something that I think I'm gonna call it baby book. Great.
Anton:Yeah. But the what we're gonna do is we're gonna answer some questions that you might see normally in a baby book for Drew so that she can come back to this episode and hear our thoughts and expressions of the baby book prompts. So the first question is, what's Drew like at six months?
Anna:She is a giggly, happy, talkative little bean. I think she just had a growth spurt. She's pretty long and large. I bet she's probably eighteen pounds. Can't confirm.
Anna:But, yeah, her hair sticks straight up, except for the back of it, which just sticks straight. But the top is curly and very voluminous. She's bright blue eyes, and she's just happy to be here.
Anton:Yeah. I think she is a giggly little monster. She loves her mom and her dad, but she loves her mom more.
Anna:True.
Anton:What are Drew's current nicknames?
Anna:Well, technically, Drew is a nickname because her name is Andrew. Drew, Drewby, drool. She's drooling quite a lot. Drew Bear. Our friend Callie calls her Butterbean.
Anna:Yeah. I feel like lately I've been calling her princess because she's the only grandchild, and it's just getting weighted on hand and foot. That's
Anton:her name. I've been calling her sister.
Anna:Mhmm. Sissy.
Anton:Sissy. Andrew B. Drew Drew.
Anna:Drew Drew. Oh, I call her love bug.
Anton:Love bug.
Anna:Or bug.
Anton:Bug. We
Anna:Lots of nicknames in the hospital.
Anton:She hasn't been called her actual name yet.
Anna:Yes. She has.
Anton:Do you call her Andrew? Sometimes. I've never called her Andrew.
Anna:That's a lie. I think you have.
Anton:What makes Drew laugh the most?
Anna:I do this thing where I hold her up and I, like, kiss her neck or, like, make a lot of noise in her face. Yeah. I just look. And she, like, dies. That's the only time I really see her, like, laugh like crazy.
Anton:Yeah. I will stare stare at her from across the room or just stare at her in general and just smile. Say, Drew, and she'll she'll laugh at that.
Anna:She'll giggle. But it's not like a belly laugh.
Anton:Like No. Like, I get from her. That's right. Anna can make her laugh. Daddy can't really make her laugh.
Anna:She doesn't think daddy's funny yet.
Anton:Not yet. What's one thing that Drew really loves?
Anna:Besides me? Shut up. Dogs. She loves dogs. It's like mesmerized by them.
Anton:I was gonna say cards, playing cards.
Anna:That's like yeah. She's so very into the high contrast. The contrast. And we've been playing a lot of card games. She loves watching us shuffle.
Anton:She sits in her lap.
Anna:Loves seeing what's in her hand.
Anton:That's right. That's right. What's one thing that Drew really hates? She hates having her nose wiped if she has
Anna:Oh, yeah. She does hate that. Her face being touched in general.
Anton:She doesn't like her face being touched.
Anna:I was going to say she's not a big fan of foods yet. We've tried a little bit.
Anton:Yeah. Any milestones that she's hit yet? No. She's sitting up on her own. No, she's not.
Anton:She can do it for a little bit.
Anna:Yeah. But she's very classic. Like, if she's leaning at all one direction, she falls in that direction. So she's not sitting up on her own yet. We're working on rolling over.
Anna:She's probably a little lady doesn't have much of a desire to go anywhere. She's so content on her tummy. Just chill in there.
Anton:We take her back.
Anna:Just chill in there.
Anton:Yeah.
Anna:She has no desire to move. She wants to see everything, but she has no desire to do it herself.
Anton:I would say the babbling might be a milestone.
Anna:Yeah. For sure.
Anton:She does a lot of babbling, a lot of talking, which you'll probably hear on this episode. Any toys she's obsessed with right now?
Anna:She's not a big toy gal. She's more interested in her burp cloths and beard. Holding a towel, beards. We do have a couple of toys that she likes, but there's she's she doesn't have, like, a favorite yet.
Anton:Yeah. The thing that your mom got, the little stand what is that called?
Anna:It's an exersaucer? Yeah. You all ever heard that word? Exersaucer?
Anton:The exersaucer. Drew loves the exersaucer.
Anna:She does. That has, like, 12 toys on it that keeps her entertained for a while.
Anton:She does love it. What's your favorite photo or moment from the last few months?
Anna:I actually was just looking through my camera roll for this question, and there's a photo I took over probably a week ago where I'm holding her, and she's leaned against my chest with her hands like this.
Anton:That's a good one.
Anna:And it's like it perfectly captures her sassiness. I think that's my most recent favorite photo.
Anton:I really like the ladylike photo with the hat.
Anna:It's a great photo.
Anton:That's it's featured on everything, though. Yeah. That's everyone's seen it.
Anna:They'll see it blasted.
Anton:Yeah. You're gonna see it a couple times. What do you hope she never forgets from this phase of life even though she will forget them?
Anna:I would love for her to know how spoiled she is. Like, if she could see that from bird's eye view because everyone around her just is doting on her, our friends, our family. Yeah. That's what I would say.
Anton:I think she's a really cute baby and not just from, like, our perspective. Like, I think other people think she's cute. I think Anna just rolled her eyes at me.
Anna:No. No. I had a itch on my nose.
Anton:Just messing. No. What I want her to not forget is this, that she's afforded the opportunity to be six weeks in Aspen as a six month old. I think that's pretty cool.
Anna:Yeah. Yeah. She's gonna be a well traveled baby.
Anton:Yeah. Oh, yeah. And she's going to Japan and Korea. Korea, Mexico.
Anna:She's already been to a bachelorette.
Anton:She's already been to one bachelorette.
Anna:She's living her best life.
Anton:She was yeah. She's out of control with that bachelorette.
Anna:Oh, you know her. Yep.
Anton:That's pretty much it. Any other things that you think we should tell her about her six month old life that she can listen back on?
Anna:She's generally a very stoic and observant baby.
Anton:Mhmm.
Anna:A lot of people have tried to make her laugh, and she's a hard person to make laugh or smile.
Anton:She really loves her tight circle. Yeah. And it's hard to break in. She's pretty loyal. Yeah.
Anton:Do you remember, like, your first thought of Drew moment she was born?
Anna:My first thought?
Anton:Yeah. First feeling? I don't know. What was going on when she was born? Do you remember?
Anna:Yeah. Yeah. Drew came out screaming, which, of course, is a blessing because she was alive and breathing and crying. And in the delivery room, you like, finish everything delivery related. And then the doctors and nurses are like, Okay, we're going to give you an hour and we'll come back in an hour.
Anna:And I remember she was still crying. No one told me that I should try to latch her. But so I just had her on my chest and she was losing her ever loving mind. And I think ten minutes passed and Anton and I both were like, okay, like when when are people coming back? Like something's not right.
Anna:She's probably hungry. We need help. I can't move because I had an epidural. So I'm still like paralyzed from the town. And I was like, this is not fun.
Anna:But and that continued for the first twenty four hours. She was she was pretty cranky to enter the world. I remember thinking, Oh, gosh, like, this is gonna suck. And with our foster son, he was such a happy angel baby. And I think coming into Drew, we were both blissfully optimistic about what parenting a newborn would look like because we had done it before.
Anna:But I think adding in the toll, the physical toll on my body and the emotional toll of hormones and breastfeeding and all the things involved with postpartum. Yeah, I think we were. I was shocked. The first twenty four hours to say the least.
Anton:Yeah. When Drew was born, like Anna said, she cried, and she didn't stop crying. And the nurses were like, all the nursing station is directly outside of our room, if you remember. And they're all just sitting there. And I was like, Can someone please come help us?
Anton:You know, was just like, she's losing her mind. And then when eventually we got moved to another the postpartum room. And in the is that what it's called? And the postpartum room, was like, Alright, everybody, we're gonna go down an elevator, like three or four floors into the darkest, gringy, gringy, like, everything that there's like 80s wallpaper in there. It was tough.
Anton:It was depressing.
Anna:But I also drew drew was born on January 31. So it's pretty much the dead of winter. Yeah, too.
Anton:Yes, it was dark outside. And we got moved on to this room that was like, the delivery room was amazing. Big windows, tons
Anna:of space,
Anton:tons of space. And then the the postpartum room was like, I don't know, studio apartment. Like it was worse.
Anna:Yeah, you would have thought maybe a New York City studio apartment.
Anton:Like, there was nothing in there. And Drew was crying the entire time. She was upset. And it was brutal. So those are my memories from Drew's birth, but we do love her.
Anton:And we
Anna:by the time we got home, it was so much easier. Yeah, She was just a hungry little gal.
Anton:Yeah. Take me through release to maybe, you know, the first couple of weeks.
Anna:We released on a Sunday. We were ready to go at like 8AM. But we had to wait all afternoon for her hearing test. I don't know what we're waiting for. There's some tests that they had to come run on Drew before we could be discharged.
Anna:And we went home. We had we hung out for couple hours, but we invited some friends over to come meet her that evening. But Anton and I, we spent an extra night in the hospital because I was induced for preeclampsia. And so we were antsy and ready to see people by the time we got home. And I remember, like, loved the first month of life.
Anna:Not that I haven't loved others. Like, Anton was off for four weeks and I was off and we were just in newborn bliss. It was chaos. And we were up all hours of the night and not sleeping much. But I feel like there's such a beauty into even when you're awake, because then no one's telling you what time to get up in the morning.
Anna:I feel like most days we didn't get up till ten or eleven. And we were adventuring and finding new coffee shops and going on little family walks. And Anton chose to use paternity leave as his like own personal, like time to check off every house to do we possibly could have imagined, which I didn't mind, honestly. But I remember spending most of our days like watching movies and contact maps on the couch, and it was just dreamy and fun. I loved that time.
Anton:We watched all of the Marvel movies.
Anna:We did. Went through all of them.
Anton:The whole saga. But what I did around the house is I installed new lights. I cleaned out our guest bedroom. Finished I think I finished some flooring organized.
Anna:She made our house a smart house.
Anton:I made our house
Anna:just put an Alexa in every single room. Most of our lights became smart lights so they could be controlled by Alexa.
Anton:Yeah, that was because
Anna:what else
Anton:when Anna postpartum and like, you know, I didn't want to have to I didn't want you to have to go like turn on all the lights. So was like,
Anna:yeah, that's really Yeah,
Anton:so that was that. But what do you remember about Drew herself in the first couple of weeks of life? Do you remember anything special or unique or different or how you felt?
Anna:Remember her being like such a chill baby. She really didn't cry. She was a great sleeper. And she would cry when she was hungry, and then she would eat and she would sleep. It is weird.
Anna:Attachment is weird, because I felt so connected to our foster son. I wasn't sure what that would look like with Drew, but I felt really like in tune with what she needed or what she wanted, how she wanted to be held. I remember her like she was just such a blob, and I remember her being so squishy, like her face was all bunched up. And part of that was like the swelling of birth there because they just live in fluid for nine months ahead of time. It was a great, great infant.
Anton:She was great. Then I remember her first bath that I thought, oh my gosh, this is this is Anna. Like, and she just like, put her head back.
Anna:She was like, oh, you would have thought she was at a spa. She was like, this is heavenly. Put
Anton:her hands out like and I just remember being like, that's your that's your mom. That's that's Anna. Let's talk about when I went back to work and maybe some things that you remember around that time, maybe about Drew or about Yeah. How you were doing.
Anna:Gosh, I remember it being really hard, not because I felt incapable of caring for Drew by myself, but more so. I had a really tough physical recovery post birth. And the little things were so helpful, like Anton washing my pump parts and the bottles and helping grab whatever I needed. So I wasn't like moving excessively. And then now having to, to do it all in between.
Anna:Those are things you use multiple times a day. Like, I think we wash pump parts probably three to four times a day, at least, if not more. And you're like, oh gosh, I have to do all this and care for her. Yeah, I remember being really overwhelmed also because I still wasn't fully physically recovered. So you left.
Anna:I was only a month postpartum four weeks and you're not clear to work out. I could only go on little walks. I was like, don't know how we're going to spend our time.
Anton:Yeah. And I also remember that you just the adjustment of like not having that other hand was just really tough. Also, there's something else I was gonna say something about yeah. The milk. The milk.
Anton:Let's talk about breastfeeding and all that. The milk. The milk. Tell me about the milk. Gosh, that's like a big thing that I feel like would be important for people to hear, but also for you to tell about that journey with breastfeeding and everything if you want to talk about it.
Anna:I mean, it was hard. I think I was blissfully unaware. I don't have any regrets about that. But I think I thought it was as simple as you put the baby to their boob and you're done. And there's so much more, especially when they're little, because it's a lot of positioning and there's a lot of I wasn't expecting the mental load or the anxiety that comes along with it when you're breastfeeding because you're not sure how much a baby is getting or if they're getting enough or if they are content.
Anna:And growth is not something you see overnight. So remember feeling a lot of uncertainty of is she growing enough? I I saw four lactation consultants in my breastfeeding journey and they all were amazing. I would 100% recommend lactation consultants. Are godsend.
Anna:I think by month two or three, I was feeling like we're okay, we're in a good rhythm. But when you are a first time mom, it's pretty common that your milk doesn't come in till day two or three, or three to five. And babies are supposed to live off of colostrum, which is like really concentrated milk drops that should come in right after birth. But mine did not come in till milk five. So we did have to supplement a little at birth.
Anna:And that kind of kickstarted my pumping journey because I was nursing and then I was pumping and doing everything to try to get my milk to come in. And what else do want to know about my breastfeeding journey?
Anton:I still remember just like we had other friends giving birth and starting breastfeeding. The comparison was really hard.
Anna:Oh, yeah. It looks so different for everyone. And milk supplies so different. And I was just enough for, if not an undersupplier, for pretty much the whole time I was breastfeeding. And so to see people struggling with an oversupply is so hard to not be grateful.
Anna:Yeah, it's just it's easy to make you think that you're doing something wrong. Like, am I hydrated enough? Am I getting enough protein? And I'm and when you're doing all these extra things for a long time, was nursing them pumping directly after. And at night, I would power pump to try to increase my milk supply.
Anna:I was doing so many things that so many other people weren't having to do that it's hard not to compare to friends that had babies or even social media. I feel like my TikTok tea became like, come back this over sip like a day's worth of milk for me.
Anton:I'm like, that is what pump is like 20.
Anna:Gosh, the woman on TikTok that like, I swear there's some women they get like 72 ounces in one pump. And I'm like, I am desperate to get like 24 ounces a day. Like, I'm just trying to feed my baby. That's all I'm trying to do. Yeah.
Anna:No. That was a big part of it too.
Anton:Yeah. And then, obviously, you know, we're kinda hitting a groove. I'm back at work. Tell me about what you loved and and learned and grew with Drew and what she might want to hear about herself at that age.
Anna:She loved going on walks. She did really great in her stroller and her car seat. I remember for my mental sanity, I tried to whenever she was awake was when we would go run our errands, even as small as it was, like, return my newly a UPS or go grab coffee with someone. She would sleep anywhere. She would eat anywhere.
Anna:I feel really thankful for that. I was I was never really anxious about taking her out places. I also think we just fostered this culture in our family, especially coming from having a foster son where you just integrate them into your life. I feel like we just had this culture of we're going to take Drew wherever we want to go. And sure, we'll pack the bottles, we'll pack the diapers, whatever we need.
Anna:But I think that gave me a lot of freedom when it was just me at home to feel like, okay, I can leave the house with her and it's not going to be the end of the world if we're gone during her next nap or that.
Anton:Hear her Okay. On the
Anna:I guess
Anton:we'll pause. Yeah. All right. We're back.
Anna:Back with the baby.
Anton:The star of the show is here.
Anna:She's just like your dad. She loves a mic.
Anton:Was
Anna:like, I don't want this bottle. I want the mic.
Anton:Do you remember I was gonna ask this actually. Do you remember the first time that Drew smiled at you? That was like,
Anna:gosh, I don't remember a specific time. I remember vividly. Even I think it was within that first month. If you're on YouTube, Drew is you can see Drew grabbing the mic stand and trying to control where it goes. And I remember vividly when she was probably I think it was while you're still home with us.
Anna:And that she was like smile on her sleep sometimes. And I remember that even just melting our hearts. I don't remember the first time she smiled. But I do feel like I remember the first time I got her to belly laugh. That was a huge win.
Anton:What do you think? What do you think we've learned so far from Drew?
Anna:I think there's something different about a biological child inherently in the sense that she will be with us forever, hopefully. Whereas with a foster child, you're living each day as though it's your last and And which I think was a sweet lesson that our foster son taught us. Think it taught us to be a lot more present in the moment with Drew. I think we've learned this the value of forward planning is such a literal way to put that. But like planning for her future wanting her, like, okay, we're doing tummy time now so that she can roll later.
Anna:Whereas with our foster son, we didn't really have that same assurance that there would be a later.
Anton:With our foster son. I did a lot more hands on parenting, because Anna was pregnant, and our foster son had some
Anna:had some GI issues in That first trimester nausea was no joke.
Anton:So anytime he would have a bottle, he'd throw up quite a bit. And then I'd be taking over the primary
Anna:in that role. Just That season.
Anton:Season. And with Drew, it's like, because Anna was breastfeeding and because Anna ended up being a stay at home mom, I learned I guess I learned a lot more about just, being supportive and being helpful where I can be and not necessarily needing to be the person in charge. So tell me about your favorite memories, favorite stories, favorite experiences with Drew so that she can look back on this and hear about how she was the first six months of her life and anything that sticks out, including grabbing the mic, and needing to talk into it.
Anna:Yeah, I think there are a couple. I remember it being right in the early days of when Drew had just started laughing. My friend Victoria and I were sitting on the couch. We were telling a story where we started laughing. And Drew started laughing with us as if she understood what was happening.
Anna:And we both just died. It was so funny. Think my favorite parts of her right now are she is the chattiest. I call her a squawker, because I wouldn't say that it's quite words, but a lot of like screeches and babbling. And she loves to hear her own voice.
Anna:And when we're in the car, and we're talking, she wants to be a part of the conversation. Or that's how she puts herself to sleep. That's how she wakes up is talking. And I love when we get her up in the mornings, and how big she smiles and how excited to see as she is.
Anton:One thing that I didn't grow up with that Drew is growing up with is I had Drew just has so many people that love her. And if you're listening to this, you might love Drew. And I just have a lot of memories of our friends holding her and loving on her, and I'm just excited for her to have that huge support system as she grows up. And, yeah, I don't know. I'm excited for her to hang off the mic like it's a monkey bar.
Anna:She is in her grabby phase.
Anton:She definitely like, I mean, right now, she's pulling the mic down. I'm going to have Ferdin hunchback after this. Thanks again for watching Ladylike, and I'm so happy that you guys tuned into this episode. Even if it was intended for Drew, I'm happy to share that story with all of you. Again, you can follow us on TikTok and Instagram at Ladylike underscore pod and on YouTube at Ladylike the dad podcast.
Anton:Next week, I'll be back to the regularly scheduled events. I'll have Erin Nutting on. During the filming of this podcast, I think she was thirty seven weeks pregnant. And two days after we filmed, her baby was born. So it's a real interesting perspective of someone that is about to have a baby.
Anton:We talk a lot about her growing up and who she is now. It's really interesting. To tune in next week for that. Thanks, guys.
Anna:Let's ask the viewers what should my sweet treat be for for committing to this podcast.
Anton:What do you guys think Anna's sweet treat should be for committing to the podcast today? What do you want it to be?
Anna:A vacation to Italy.
Anton:That's a very sweet treat. How about I like this? Okay. Anna's prepared some questions.
Anna:Oh, I've prepared some questions.
Anton:Yeah.