A 'Wee' Dilemma with a Baby Latched...
Our tot is 20 months old and our baby is now 7 weeks old. This is all a bit mad.
I feel I also had a bit of a mad situation today. I'm blogging this evening to basically de-brief...it was a 'blog story' moment.
So....lately tot's speech has really come on and it's lovely being able to communicate more clearly and hear her funny little words. She refers to Baby as her 'Sticker' (sister) and we're kinda worried it's gonna stick (haha!) as a nickname... poor baby. If tot is not calling her 'Sticker' then she says, 'baby, baby, baby' on repeat (but the way tot pronounces it is in some sort of Texan drawl: "Beyy-beee.")
Anyway, the past few days she keeps sitting on the potty and saying, "Wee wee." I'm unsure if that's a signal to start some potty training. I guess she's got the concept there, right? Well, either way, today I thought I'd just give it a little go. She was nappy free and wild! Potty sat ready in the sunny spot of the lounge!
A while passed. No wee. No opportunities for me to pop her on the potty.
Baby then wanted feeding. This meant I was required to sit down....and gamble....would tot pee now??
Well, low and behold, as I was mid feed, tot had run into the kitchen...and I heard Niagra Falls. Brilliant- a big wee was bouncing onto the hard floor! Typical, I thought- I can't get to tot now with a baby attached to my body!
"OH NO!" came tot's dramatic commentary. I called her back to me....but she did not appear. Oh no indeed! I was going to need to start moving...
As I began to manoeuvre myself with baby still attached (trust me, it was not a pretty sight- me flinging my feeding pillow onto the floor and kind of bum shuffling off the sofa with baby on the boob...kind of like a mangled Neo from the Matrix impersonation.)
Anyway, as I was manoeuvring myself, I heard splashing. Yes, SPLASHING. The girl was partying in her own piddle!! Myself and Baby made it to the kitchen. Baby was still latched (daren't pull her off!) Tot- I do not joke- was hands down on the floor with both hands and feet splashing about in her own paddling pool of pee, meaning as I got closer to her, my ankles received the splash-back and it was all just so horribly wrong!
With only one arm able to be free, I managed to lifeguard tot away from the scene, and make a grab for the saviour: baby wipes! One by one I dropped wipes to the floor, attempting to soak up the puddle by using my foot to scrub. Oh boy, it was glamorous. If only Trinny and Susannah could've witnessed! (I did go back and give it a better clean later by the way- and my foot.)
This wasn't the first time this sort of compromising situation has occurred lately either. A week or so ago, my family and I were gathered at 'our family home.' When it was time for my sister, her husband and their little girl to leave, the whole family took a trip out to the front door to help them with their stuff (their little girl is also a tot...and it goes without saying that this means they had half of their household belongings out with them!)
This left myself, our tot and Baby in the back of the house, where Baby was (surprise, surprise) feeding.
Tot- the opportunist that she is becoming- decided to take a runner next door into the utility room...and no manner of calling her back to me in that moment was working. (I'm of the impression that selective hearing is one of our earliest life skills??)
Again, it was a situation where (whilst trying to be a Mangled Neo again) the first thing I heard was splash, splash, SPLASHING. She was fully clothed, so it wasn't wee....what could it possibly be...?
It quickly dawned on me that our daughter had discovered the dog's water bowl (and it's quite a big bowl- he's a hulky black lab!) and by the time I got to her (again, baby still latched; lack of free arms) she was full-on smacking her hands into the water, not far off completely drenching herself!
It would also appear that I must've been asking my daughter to "Stop" in the language of Mandarin, as again selective hearing reigned and she was now partially soaked in dog's dribble. I again employed the use of my foot to try and get in between her and the bowl, but all I ended up with was an undesirable sort of foot spa! So you know what? I ended up just shouting for my Mum!!
"Mum! Mum! Someone help! Tot is in the dog bowl!!" to which the family members returned and 'rescued me.'
I feel like there should be a moral to these stories but umm...Baby has to feed; Tot doesn't mean to find watery things exciting; and I can't be much quicker in these occasional situations. Oh, and when you're an actual adult with actual children of your own you can't always get your Mum....
So instead I'm reflecting on today's events and I'm going to be grateful. I'm grateful to often have family and friends around to help out. I'm grateful that this really was a very 'wee dilemma' in the scheme of life. And I'm grateful in general to have two little girls, one of whom is old enough now to have a love of fun....even if that does result in my renewed gratefulness for spare clothes!!!
