My day. In the crapper.

WARNING: Do not read further if you get easily offended!!
I don't know why I bothered with this warning as that's just an invitation for you to keep reading...

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I noticed yesterday that I can handle two kids pretty good. Especially Malia as she's relatively undemanding and can play by herself. Kael takes more out of me because he's older and requires a different kind of play, a more interactive kind of play. When you toss in Taede, who has no concept of "just a second" or "I'll be right there," chaos ensues. Being the 3rd child, he unfortunately is our caboose and has to wait. There are times when I just can't get to him and the poor little guy will wail away until his face turns tomato red.

I had such a day yesterday afternoon. I just picked up Kael from school. Taede was hungry, needed a diaper change and wanted to nap... all at the same time. In my multitasking efforts, I decided to wait a bit to take Malia to the potty. I figured I just took her an hour ago so there's no rush.

I get Taede cleaned up and walk downstairs with the intention of getting the kids their snack, nursing Taede and then letting the older kids watch a little TV while I put him down for a nap.

You know what they say about the best laid plans...

As I walk downstairs, I see Kael sitting on the bottom steps. This is kind of strange -- why is he sitting on the steps?

I walk down a little further and notice that Malia shucked her panties and shorts and was on the potty.

Me: "Good girl, Malia! You went potty!"
Malia: "I went poop, mama!"

And she showed me.

This is where a picture montage comes into play:


Her undies.

Notice that they are nice and clean. We've been having problems with getting her to go #2 in the potty. Usually it's too late when she tells us -- she's already gone.


"I pooped on the potty, mama!"

Hmm. That's GREAT!

But it's an awfully small poop...

Then I realized what Malia failed to tell me: that that little nugget was just the tip of the iceberg. Or maybe it was the bottom of the iceberg...


ARGGHHHH!!!!!! SHIT!!!!!



And here's my poor little tomato red caboose. Wailing away while I cleaned and sterilized the mess that his sister made.

I was torn between being mad at Malia for pooping on the rug and realizing that I couldn't be mad at her because she tried to make it to the potty. Her panties were clean so I know she didn't poop in them. I just don't know the sequence of what happened after she pulled them off.

Because I had to decontaminate and sterilize the area, poor Taede was wailing away for a good 15 minutes.

And that was my day in the crapper.

The Golden Shower

It was 18 days before Taede gifted me with a Golden Shower.

Not too bad. Now he's not so shy and I've been showered more times than I care to talk about.

Unfortunately... he's got distance. There's no escaping or dodging.
Fortunately... his aim is usually up. He can hit the mirror behind him.
And I guess you can say unfortunately for HIM since it's his face that gets the brunt of the shower. I get hit because of the oscillating effect -- much like a sprinkler.

The Kids

Just a very fast update on the kids before I head off to bed. My very exciting life tires me out so much that I start nodding off by 9:00pm. I remember a time (from another life) where we used to go out at 9:00pm.

The kids are doing great. Kael loves his brother and I can hear him telling people "That's my new baby brother. I don't remember his name but he just came out of my mommy's tummy."

OK, so it's not the most loving of tributes ("I don't remember his name...") but I think it's way cute that he's so proud to have a baby brother that he announced it to people at swim lessons, an older lady at Target, the librarian, and the deli counter lady. Mrs. Morin (his preschool teacher from last year) laughingly told me that she asked him for a week what his brother's name was and Kael kept telling her that he didn't know. Or he couldn't remember. In Kael's world, Taede's real name is "Baby Brother."

I had fears of Malia not adjusting too well but my fears were unfounded: our little girl is very loving to Taede. She's constantly asking to hold him and always gives him kisses whenever a body part is within reach (a foot, a leg, a hand, an elbow...). I have to keep a watchful eye on her whereabouts because there's been times when she sneaks into my room where Taede is sleeping to hug him. I've caught her trying to climb into the co-sleeper with him. I need a cat bell around her ankles or something so I know where she's at all times.








Our Little Big Sister.

With her Pirate tattoo.

Vanity vs comfort

So here I am 2 weeks postpartum. I'm feeling pretty good -- I have been since leaving the hospital. I'm hanging in there, driving the kids around, doing my regular mom stuff. People are surprised that I'm out and about so soon after giving birth. Why they are surprised, I don't know. I have 2 other children whose life continues despite the added competition for parental attention. My friend Katelyn continues to nag me to take it easy, that she didn't leave the house for 3 months after having her daughter. ("Aren't you worried about germs?")

First of all, she's only got ONE kid. Staying home is easy to do with just a single.

Second, if I stayed home for 3 months with 3 kids, I'd totally lose it and some kind of mental and bodily harm would ensue.

And third, whatever germs are waiting outside my door waiting to invade my youngest, will inevitably piggyback on Kael from school. So what does it matter if Taede gets it from the world outside or from his siblings globbing all over him? If Taede gets it while at Target, at least I'll have done some shopping.

Anyway, I'm back to shuttling the kids back and forth. Luckily it's still pretty warm out so I'm still able to wear tanks as they are the easiest to pull down and nurse in. My dilemma is in regards to my pants. I'm at the half-way stage where I'm not fitting my regular pants yet. If I sucked in really hard, I can manage to button up my pre-pregnancy pants. The problem is I'd have a mega-muffin top. There's no need to see that. I'm already flashing boob, I don't need to complete the picture with a mushroom burst of loose postpartum flab. My maternity pants on the other hand, are very comfortable but there's something wrong with wearing maternity pants when I'm no longer pregnant.

Isn't there?

The Circus is in town!

My friends Katelyn and Linda invited us to Circus Vargas, which was showing in the parking lot of a local mall. The kids have never been to a circus and I thought it was a good time to go in terms of age: Kael was definitely old enough to appreciate the show, Malia would get a kick out of the animals, and Taede would spend most of the time sleeping.

I looked on-line to get the lay of the land in terms of seating and prices. Arena seating was $20 and Ringside reserved was $40. Linda and Katelyn wanted to do the $20 seats which I was fine with. I figured every other show I've been to (I've never been to Circus Vargas but how different could it be?) has assigned seating so we'll just make sure we get enough tickets in a row so we could sit together. I called the box office to inquire about seating and they tell me that Arena seating is first come, first served.

What?!

Yes. First come, first served and they recommend up getting there at least 45 minutes before showtime to get seats.

Huh. Clearly this lady hasn't been anywhere for 45 minutes entertaining three 2 year old's, a 5 year old, and a 12 day old.

Anyway, we are late. Luckily Katelyn and Linda get there first to get tickets and seating. Kael and Malia are very excited, while Mom and Dad... have reservations. The last real circus I went to (circa 1991) was Ringling Brothers, and it was a 3-ring circus. Circus Vargas is the country cousin to Ringling Brothers, with just 1-ring. Other than Ringling Brothers, Truong and I have only been to Cirque du Soleil.

Additionally, Linda informed me that CV does not have any animals to entertain the girls.

Great. Linda has this thing about clowns which I think she transferred to Audrey -- there was some worry that they would both freak out if the clowns came too close. (I made sure I didn't sit next to Linda.)

The show started and it was clear from the start this was no Cirque du Soleil. It was still fun and entertaining, don't get me wrong. It was just a different kind of presentation. Kael was pretty enthralled with all the acts -- from the juggling acts to the aerial ballet to the trapeze performance. His favorite was the Sphere of Speed where 2 guys on motorbikes raced around in a steel ball. Malia was pretty good the 1st half then she lost interest after the intermission. By then Taede woke up and had to nurse.

Me being me, I nursed Taede right where I sat. I did it discretely, of course -- I just didn't use my nursing cover because it was so hot in there as it was. I didn't feel the need to make it a sauna for both of us. I sat next to Johnny (Linda's husband). A very nice guy. He just started his fellowship for pulmonary surgery. He's been through medical school. He's been through residency. He's seen it all.

As I'm sitting there nursing Taede, I see Linda and Katelyn laughing. I wonder what the heck are they laughing at? Linda tells me I'm making Johnny uncomfortable. What's she talking about? I look at him and he's totally turned away from me: I'm looking at the back of his head. Oh jeez. It's just a boob and not even a whole one at that! I tell him: "I know you made the OB rounds in med school. You've seen 'em before!" To which he responded (still turned away from me): "Yeah, and that's why I didn't go into OB!"

Oh good grief! Then I wondered should I be grateful that he gave me privacy to nurse?

Or insulted that he didn't even try to sneak a peak? Hmmm....