Big Poo has Arrived!

Gabe is settling into routine. Some of that routine is imposed on him by his parental units – such as Exercise with Mommy in the mornings. After Gabe has been fed and the sun comes up, he gets tummy time on the floor while Mom does her crunches and pitiful girly push-ups. Gabe even wiggles his legs along while Mommy does leg-lifts. Mommy counts out loud so Gabe can listen.

The early bedtime routine has not yet been established, but Mommy thinks they have found a combination that works: first a bottle of formula at 8:30. Not the “for gassy babies” variety, because that kind is already pre-digested and so doesn’t make Gabe sleep any longer, which defeats the purpose, even though he does have gas. Regular formula at 8:30, sometimes following a bath.

Then, after the formula, Gabe gets to nurse in bed with Mom until he falls asleep.

The catch here is that Mom falls asleep, too, even though the lights are left on. But this is okay, because Dad stays up later than Mom, so Dad can pop in and transfer Gabe from the bed to the bassinet once Gabe has reached the appropriate state of hibernation.

It was discovered that Gabe sleeps wonderfully in the big bed when Mom took to depositing the baby unit next to his sleeping Daddy in the mornings. On weekends, Mom then has to return after a few hours to rouse both sleepyheads. (Or as Grandpa Clay calls them, “sleepamitemores”.)

Mom did the first test of night-time nursing-till-asleep with Gabe two nights ago. She climbed in bed in her clothes, unshowered, teeth unbrushed. She awake hours later when Daddy arrived home. Baby was transferred to the bassinet, and Mommy rolled over and blinked and suddenly it was three in the morning and Baby was demanding a diaper-change.

Mommy finally got her shower at five in the morning.

The experiment was repeated the following night with similar good results. And this time Mommy brushed her teeth first.

Gabe’s own contribution to the schedule has been the timing of Big Poop. Gabe diligently saves up his diaper deposits until shortly before or after his nighttime bottle. No more constant stream of small messy little poos for Gabe, no sir! He fastidiously takes care of his business all in one mighty, wet-sounding “schloomp”.

And as long as Mommy or Daddy is around to respond promptly, none of it leaks from the legs of the diaper, either.

Also, Mommy now knows not to lift Gabe’s bum above his head once Big Poop has arrived, least the horrors be released down the back of poor Gabe’s shirt.