Mommy Diaries: Babies Can Be Messy – VERY Messy

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Babies have a way of surprising you at inopportune times, as new mom APRIL DREW is discovering – be it with smiles at four in the morning, or an unexpected delivery at an Easter dinner party.

I’m having one of those days. You know, the kind of day where you wake up in the morning (by morning I mean 4 a.m., which in my baby-free life was considered the middle of the night) to a teething baby who spends the rest of day out of sorts and needing his mommy’s full attention.

Up to recently Colum Mooney – five months on April 29 – had been sleeping just like the textbooks had predicted, 7 p.m. to 6 or 7 a.m. with a night feed (the dream feed we like to call it) at 10:30 p.m., but the past few nights have been somewhat challenging.

It’s his teeth, the poor fella. It’s not that he wakes up crying, quite the contrary actually. He just baby talks really loud, manages to twist his little body around the crib until he gets stuck in a corner and he finally becomes frustrated.

Both my husband, John, and I take turns getting up to tuck him back into his blankets, rub some Bonjela (imported via Mom from Ireland) into his gums and soothe him back to sleep, but this morning Colum was awake at 4 a.m., and fun was top of his agenda.

It’s sometimes hard that early in the morning to muster up enough energy to give him what he wants, but he has wised up to what makes us tick. One little smile and we’re putty in his hands -- yes, even that early.
And smiles he brought this morning, lots of them, making it possible for his sleep deprived mommy and daddy to come to terms with the early hours. So up we got, and there began our day.

My brother, Gavin, and his girlfriend, Carol, are visiting from Ireland. As every second with them is precious, a family day in the city was planned.
However, as 9 a.m. fast approached and Colum still hadn’t gone down for a nap, even after two feeds, I knew I didn’t have the energy or interest in making the big journey into the city, a journey I've completed several times alone and, let me tell you, it’s one hell of a challenging trek with a stroller. (There are 42 steps at my Metro North stop and no elevator).
But what really confirmed my decision not to go was Colum’s little “accidents” in the space of a few minutes this morning.

Let me rewind to yesterday. We had a lovely Easter Sunday dinner with our neighbors – thanks Geraldine Gleeson for having us -- and just before we left the party my little dude decided to mortify his mommy.

Just as I sat myself down to feed Colum on a spanking new over-sized beige couch the noises started. You know the noise I’m talking about. It was accompanied by a very red face and several loud grunts. This only meant one thing!

Because the afternoon was very warm I had stripped him down to his vest and diaper. Bad idea, because midway through his grunts John came in and said, “Oh God April, look at your jeans.”

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