17. Jeff

That whole parenting thing is very confusing. The fact that babies don't come with manuals was a cliche even before Britney Spears' mother used that as an excuse, but it's one cliche that happens to be true. What makes it worse is that everyone with a 2-week-old baby offers advice to the parent of a one-week-old.

And the advice contradicts an advice from another parent. Not to mention well-meaning grandparents. And not to mention an unhealthy obsession with milestones.

When it comes down to it, all we can do is our best, while hoping for the best.

Jeff, of Daddy's Toolbox, is searching for advice on the best way to make his son wear a coat. He wants to be a hip daddy. He wants to be a fulfilled individual while dedicating as much time as he can to his kids.

Parenting is not easy, and even if it did come with a manual, who'd have time to read it? We improvise, and sometimes we make mistakes. And sometimes great things happen.

16. Jeremy

Man, how do people come up with stuff? I mean, this design takes blogging a few steps forward. Three columns of text could be borderline unreadable, but Discovering Dad is absolutely beautiful. On the left are the posts (the top one changes around every few seconds), the narrow middle column is for whatevers, like polls and a few ads, and a random blog "Surprise Me" button which I have to get, and on the right are pictures, comments, and videos. I'm so jealous.

The guy is serious. With this blog and with another blog (Husbands and Dads), Jeremy stays true to his wish to promote the "interactive nature of blogs, so it will always be a focal point of the site."

15. Doodaddy

You know what? I'm sure if I dug enough I would have found his real name. But for now it will remain Doodaddy. He is married to Working Mom. They have a daughter called Boobaby, and another one on the way, with the working title Blueberry.

By the way, if you want to be the one responsible for the great success of this new baby, you have about 11 days to suggest a name (or bid for one).

What else? The best use of Twitter I've seen so far, writing what Boobaby does:

Sung: "Grandma POOPS! Grandma POOPS! Grandma poops all day!" 2 days ago

And a list of her imaginary friends (the girl, not the pooping grandma).

Add to your Reader now.

14. Jeff

Oh man, stuff like that drives me crazy. Why stick with Blogger's templates when you can easily get a cool new one where your sidebar won't appear at the bottom of the page?

Now that that's out of the way, this blog is great fun to read. Jeff seems to have found the win-win situation. His girls get to have an involved father who wants nothing more than to see them having fun, and at the same time he gets to see the world through their eyes, experiencing the best parts of childhood--the best music and books and day trips to the best museums (and what can be better than a museum where you can touch everything? After all, isn't that the reason we become parents? To have the excuse to do exactly that? Maybe I should speak only for myself).

Congratulations on quitting your job and becoming a SAHD. It's the hardest thing in the world and also the most rewarding. Good luck.

13. John (and Megan)

I know, I know... What's the point of trying to dedicate this space for blogging fathers when I end up linking to a couple's blog? I know. And not only that, but they sometimes write about stuff unrelated to parenting!

Like politics. And life in Maine. (That's important, because during the political season it's difficult to remember there are states other than battleground states. With all due respect to Ohio. And as of today, apparently West Virginia. West Virginia? Okay, now I'm talking about politics. It will be over in less than a month. Don't worry).

But I don't care that it's not just a father blogging. And I don't care that not every post is about parenting.

Because I love that header. When we were kids we identified with Calvin who drove his parents (and his friend Hobbes) crazy. It's good that parents grow up but stay on Calvin's side.

And because they seem like really nice people. And because they're expecting their second child. And because they make and sell organic onesies.

12. Whit

Of course I had to get to Honea Express sooner or later. I don't claim to discover anything new here, and I'm certainly not going to pretend no one else knows about this blog. You see him comment on one blog. Then you see him being mentioned on another blog. Then someone links to his blog... And before you know it, you feel you know everything there is to know about a blog without even visiting it.

And it's exactly this mix between the mini-celebrity status of the writer and his commitment to maintaining honest writing that makes it such a great blog in the first place. No matter how many blogs Whit writes for professionally, you know that you get a true picture in Honea Express, even if that picture is one of a crying baby and a father about to reach out for another beer.

11. Jared

The community is expanding, and obviously it's time to read Jared's DadThing.com

Here's what's going on: It used to be that women were the only caretakers, and over time society automatically adjusted itself to create links between mothers. What am I trying to say...? That even though society has changed, it's still relatively easy for a mother to connect with other mothers to compare, contrast, whine and dine. Even virtual communities of mothers are much bigger and ubiquitous than communities of fathers.

But we're not going to take it anymore! Proud fathers will not stay by the sidelines and let the mothers take all the credit! Parenting is a dad thing, too!

So the community is expanding, and Jared is one of the proud fathers leading the way. Pictures, videos, polls, and guest posts--we're getting bigger.