Welcome to the Mommy Club!

Warning: This blog is not for the faint of heart. If hearing about poop bothers you, please skip this post.

So, it turns out that I had only THOUGHT I was a member of the Mommy Club. 9 months of pregnancy, 18 hours of labor, and almost 8 months of your child's life does not necessarily make you a mother. But this does:

Early this morning, while Mark was getting ready for work, I heard Joshua fussing. Since he wasn't actively crying, I decided to wait and see if he would return to sleep. So Mark left, Joshua slept, and I eventually returned to sleep as well. Around 7:30 I heard the familiar sound of Joshua scooting around on his crib sheets. He was making quite a bit of noise, but he wasn't upset. A few minutes later, after I realized that he would definitely not be going back to sleep, I decided to get him up.

I walked into his room, leaned over his crib, and was greeted by ... POOP. The sheets, the bumper, Joshua's pajamas, and Joshua were covered in poop! For a slight second I wasn't sure what to do; if I had been at work, where this is not an unusual occurrence, I could have simply pushed the "nurse call light" button, and help would magically appear a few moments later. But I was home, alone with a baby, a cat, and a dog, none of whom would be helpful in this situation.

I said a small little prayer, thanking God that this was not a poop caused by rotavirus, and immediately went into "Mommy mode."

I ran for towels and came back. When I stripped Joshua down, I realized just how badly he had covered himself ... he had poop on his hands, his face, up his nose, and under his fingernails. There was poop on his bottom, his legs, and even in his beautiful blond hair. I cleaned the worst of the poop off with wipes, rolled a diaper-less Joshua up in a towel, and gave him an early morning bath. Then I had to change my clothes. Once we were both clean, we returned upstairs to remove the sheets, mattress pad, and even the bumper pad. (Thank you, Carter's, for making washable bumper pads! That was the morning's most pleasant surprise!). At this moment, Joshua has clean sheets and a clean bumper pad. And I have a napping baby.

If Joshua had wanted clean sheets, I wish he would have just asked. This morning is a memory I will never forget! I am now an official member of the Mommy Club.

Here's an update:
Joshua's nap times are getting better. He still cries for a bit on most days when I put him down, but the length of time he cries for keeps getting shorter. He hardly cried at all for Mark, or for my friend Leigh, who kept him for me yesterday morning. But he still cries a bit for me.

This weekend, Mark's parents came down for a visit. They really picked a great weekend to come ... they got to see Joshua learn how to get into a sitting position from lying down AND see him crawl his first step. Yes, he crawled JUST ONE step, but I am still so proud of him. We also had to lower his crib this weekend because he has started to pull himself up ... unfortunately, if he manages to stand up on his own, he doesn't quite know how to get down. He looks so precious when he's standing up and holding onto his crib rails, even if he is crying for me.

It's been an eventful week! I can't tell you just how much I love my little boy!