The Smelly Joys of Motherhood

The last two days have been an adventure when it's come to # 2 (aka Poop). Last night we had a poop emergency when Calleigh was eating supper. She started making some strange expressions and her face was turning red as she sat munching her perogies and carrots. I knew that couldn't be a good sign but I wasn't sure if I should remove her mid-meal or what. A few minutes later I noticed that she seemed to have dumped her squash on her lap but then suddenly realized SHE WASN'T EATING SQUASH. Ahhhhh! I made a desperate yell up to Duncan who happened to be using the facilities himself. He rushed down and grabbed Calleigh out of her highchair and managed to get her upstairs without the remnants falling onto the floor while I stayed behind to make sure the dogs didn't help themselves to what they might have thought was indeed squash. Between the two of us, we got her into a bath and the rest all cleaned up. And women out there think a dad isn't necessary. I beg to differ! So I'm thinking this afternoon, boy, I'm sure glad we didn't have any highchair problems again today. And then, there I am doing her afternoon nursing and I start hearing some strange grunts and then before I could blink, I heard kind of a plopping noise. I look down and there is poop oozing out onto the couch. Unbelievable! And no Duncan here to help me out. Fiddlesticks. It was about a 20-minute operation but I managed to get it all cleaned up but not before it landed all over my leg (thankfully I was wearing pants). Sometimes you really have to wonder how much poop can come out of a 22 pound little person. I'm sure we've seen nothing yet. And yes, I'm a little perturbed at these Huggies diapers. I was at Costco and the Huggies were cheaper than the Costco brand and now I know why. By the way, in case you are eating, I've refrained from posting a picture. That's right - - I took a picture of it!! Anywho, next time you are at my house and go to sit on the couch, try to forget I ever told this story...

Yesterday we went to Walmart for our groceries. Other than Calleigh chewing through the Swiss Cheese package and throwing a mini-tantrum at the checkout when I had to take the carton of strawberries from her to pay for them, it was uneventful. Oh, and I almost forgot. In what is I'm sure the first of many embarrassing things to come out of her mouth, she called a random guy Daddy as we passed him in the aisle. Yikes.

So Calleigh has a new talent. She can now get out the doggie door onto the porch. I knew it was only a matter of time. I could say that she accomplished this task without me noticing right away but that would make me sound like an inattentive mother so that never happened. We're having to block off the door with Dewey and Marlee's crate. The pups are being forced to cut back on their sunbathing unfortunately.

Today we went over to Ron & Elaine's for lunch and so that Calleigh could take a swim. I put on her new size 12-month bathing suit from Walmart and let's just say it's a good thing she's a baby because the coverage on top is indecent. Clearly the bathing suit is too small. It didn't affect her swimming enjoyment, however. Elaine took her in while I watched on the sidelines. As usual, she had a grand time. She just loves to swim.

I haven't commented in a while on Calleigh's verbal skills. She is doing really well with speaking. I read somewhere that a toddler at 2 years of age should have a vocabulary of around 50 words. Calleigh is at least halfway there, if not more, and she isn't even 14 months yet. She tries to repeat every word I say when I say "Calleigh, say ---." Sometimes she gets it exactly right and other times it's not all that close but she sure does try. I'm working on a video of her showing off these skills and I'll post it here.