Nuggets of wisdom

If you look closely, you can see what appears to be...yes...masking tape over the front of Maren's diaper. We started doing this on our last trip to Utah, as Maren had recently discovered her talent for removing her own diaper, and usually peeing on the floor immediately after. I cannot tell you how many times I've cleaned up *piddle* from the hardwoods, carpet, seat of her highchair, bathroom floor, etc. So now, unless she's clothed in something that makes it impossible for her to access her diaper, it gets taped. 1 1/2" wide masking tape, to be specific.

This weekend we attended a training conference up in the mountains at a hotel resort called Copper Mountain, about two hours west of Denver. I packed in a hurry, and neglected to take the tape along with the diapers and wipes. I won't be making that mistake again, and let me share with you why:

We were able to get a port-a-crib from the hotel for our room so Maren would have a place to sleep. Our hotel room was configured such that there was a long, narrow hallway leading from the front door to the rest of the room. Quin decided to set up the crib at the end of the hallway (nearest the door) because it was much darker and somewhat quieter there, which we thought would make it easier for her to fall asleep while we were still in the room. I dressed Maren for bed in a fresh diaper and some of her new summer two-piece jammies. The pants on these pjs are a little big for her as she's still so skinny in the waist and they don't stay up well, but if she's just laying in bed they're fine. We put her to bed with a bottle, turned out all the lights, the TV down low, and waited for her to fall asleep. She drank her whole bottle, which usually means blissful slumber is soon to follow, but last night she continued to rustle around in the crib for quite a while. I thought maybe she was just trying to get comfortable since she was in an unfamiliar place, and that she would soon fall asleep.

After a while, I decided I needed to go to bed myself, and I would just have to risk turning on the light in the bathroom which was near to where her crib was. As I neared her crib, I could see Maren standing up and holding onto the side, seemingly not the least bit sleepy. I noticed she'd tossed her bottle far clear of the crib, and bent down to pick it up to fill it with some water. When I did that, I noticed something small and round-ish on the carpet by the foot of the crib. The light was so dim that I couldn't make out what it was, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't something Maren was playing with that she could choke on. I picked it up and noticed the odd texture, and as I walked the few steps back into the light from the bathroom, I realized that I was staring intently at a turd. Yes, folks, it was POOP.

Naturally, I shrieked and flipped on the incredibly bright vanity lights, all hopes of tiptoeing quietly just shot to hell. Once I'd disposed of the offending offal in the toilet, scalded my hands under the faucet, and grabbed a tissue, I ventured back into the hallway where I found several more...ahem..nuggets, courtesy of Maren. Seems that all that rustling around that we'd heard was actually the sound of her removing her pants and her diaper, peeing on the bedsheet at the bottom of her crib, and chimp-like, flinging her poo for what appeared to be both Distance and Accuracy. I say this because there were several little Raisinets quite some distance from the crib, and Maren has proved in the past to have quite the pitching arm.

Even if I'd remembered to pack the tape this still may have happened, as we don't normally tape her diaper before bed. You can bet we will now though, especially when she wears those pajamas. And I think I'll be keeping a spare roll of tape in the car. Some lessons you just don't need to learn twice.