Pooptastrophes

For some reason parents of small children (babies) talk a lot about their kid's bodily functions. Strange as it may sound, these functions have provided the topic for many conversations. In the diapering department we have a term for a messy #2 - a pooptastrophe. Today when I was taking care of a dirty one I got to thinking: "what is a pooptastrophe?"

Being the philosophical sort that I am, I felt the need to define and distinguish this concept. First of all it refers to the end state of a dirty diaper. If one is refering to the ongoing process of dirtying a diaper, then one is probably talking about a poopathon, that is an ongoing or prolonged... well, you get it.

An ordinary diapering occurs when only the diaper needs to be changed. There may be some light secondary cleaning, but nothing dramatic.

So I figure that there are classes of pooptastrophe:

Class 1: The diaper and at least one other thing needs to be changed or cleaned. For example the diaper and the babies clothing need to be changed, or the diaper needs to be changed and an appendage (hand or foot) needs to be cleaned.

Class 2: The diaper and at least two or more other things need to be changed or cleaned. For example: in addition to the examples given in a class 1 pooptastrophe the diaper pad may need a good cleaning.

Class 3: After all is said and done the baby needs an immediate bath. When you've experienced a Class 3 pooptastrophe, you know it. Ther is, afterall only so much that you can do with little wipes. A class 3 requires serious cleaning - usually because the baby has squirmed so much and covered so much surface area that a weapon of mass cleaning is required to restore order. 

Access

Well, I will go on a rant here. This afternoon Heidi and I went for a walk downtown. I brought the stroller. On several occasions we found ourselves in a position where we had to back up and retrace our steps (at least a block) because the place we were going could only be accessed via stairs. We are not the only folks around town that can't do more than three or four steps. Nanaimo bills itself as a great place to retire. Oh well. Don't even get me started on the poor positioning of crosswalks.

On to Bananas

Today Heidi tried out Bananas. I captured her reaction here. Really, she did actually like them.

In her regular style much of the mush ended up on her chin, tray, hair and anywhere else in the 3 metre blast zone.
 

Tough Day

Yesterday was a tough day. It seems that one should not underestimate a baby. They are smarter than you think. The little one slept past her normal feeding time so I assumed that she was hungry, but when I gave her the bottle she would have none of it. Clearly she was insane. No rational baby would refuse a bottle. So, I kept trying to give her the bottle and she kept refusing it. Well, this must be her way of telling me that she is not hungry. So I let her play. She became exstrmely fussy. Daddy's hampster was spinning and the cogs were turning. If she is hungry and yet refuses the bottle Daddy must be the crazy one! So I went and produced another bottle which was eagerly consumed. In other words she was saying Daddy you don't know how to follow the simple instructions on the can of formula and I can tell the difference. Maybe one day she will be able to tell the difference between highland and lowland single malt Scotch. - Oh! To Dream!

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Vaccinations

Yesterday we all went into town to take Heidi in for some immunizations. Mom took Heidi to see the nurse while Dad took care of some paperwork. Heidi did very well. It wasn't until much later that she became upset, and then only for a short while.

Negotiating with Terrorists

She looks so innocent, yet there is another side to that demeanour. What are you to do when there is a hungry, tired and very cranky baby? Do you feed her? try to calm her down? put her to bed? or try to teach her baby-sign-language for "I am tired, hungry and mad"? Well I don't have the answer to that.

I just let her scream while I quickly cave in and meet her demands for a bottle. That usually brings back the cute little grins, maybe that's all that matters, or maybe I'm in for a big surprise when she's two. 

Fun Meal

Heidi was very helpful with this morning's feeding. She would take a spoonful of pears, consume 2/3 of it and then stick her bib into her mouth. The result was very funny, and useful. Her face, which was previously covered in goop, was wiped clean. 

An Update on the Duo

Well, there have been two big developments recently. The first is the addition of Heidi's galactic command centre. This new exer-saucer is a favourite place for her to hang out and command her toys on their mission of galactic domination. While in her saucer she goes by the name 'Space Lady Spiff". The saucer was generously lent to us by a friend with a young boy named Liam who has outgrown the saucer, but who's younger brother will be using it in about 5 months time.

The other big development occured this past Thursday. Heidi has commenced eating solid food. That is to say she eats half of the meal and donates the other half to her chin. We started her on Pears and she seems to like them. She gets about two meals a day. We will sit down to eat breakfast after we drop Mom off at school and then we eat supper just before six. It is a lot of fun but quite a mess.

Introductory Post

Now that I am on parental leave and firmly established in Nanaimo, I felt that I would use some of my time to keep a blog about the adventures that Heidi and I get into. Who knows what will come of it, but I think it will be fun.

Heidi, sitting right beside me is quite excited about the prospect. So, here's to the online adventures of a stay at home Dad and his cute little Daughter.