Confessions

I have several confessions to make -- perhaps appropriate as Lent comes to a close.

Okay, let me interrupt here for another confession: I've been writing this post off and on since February 13, 2008. How lame is that? So, yeah, Lent is long gone.

(1) I love Cheerios. Before Bird mastered the pincer grip I had not eaten a Cheerio in over 25 years. My memories of Cheerios were finding them stuck to various parts of my brother, listening to my sister slurp them down, and the smell -- oh the smell of soggy Cheerios. As soon as Bird began working on non-pureed food, I bought a small box of Cheerios. He loved them instantly. While he was happily stuffing them into his mouth I tried a few. I re-loved them instantly. I confess that I have actually started to eat them from a bowl with milk and a little sugar. I am ashamed to admit that I occasionally sample dry Cheerios from Bird's tray.

(2) I have also grown to love vanilla wafers and animal crackers again. And I have been happily introduced to the teddy graham species.

(3) My house smells like poopy diapers. The poop aroma permeates throughout the house -- a house with two Diaper Genie IIs, no less. Nothing removes or sufficiently covers poopy smells. I am close to changing the flavor of one of the air "fresheners" strategically plugged in next to the downstairs Diaper Genie because I have started to associate that scent with poopy diapers. Sometimes it sneaks up on me. I catch just a whiff of dirty diaper causing me to wrangle Bird and hold his derriere close to my nose for a poopy check. I have read that humans cannot recall smells -- at least not in the way we can recall other senses such as sight and sound. I am beginning to think otherwise. I can almost predict the smell that is about to emanate from Bird each time I get a glimpse of his face as it reddens with effort.

(4) While my sweet Bird does have and very much enjoys playing with "real" toys -- many of them very generous gifts from friends and family, I must admit that his most favorite play things were not manufactured to be so.

Exhibit A: The spent cartridge from a Diaper Genie II.

I removed all sharp pieces (quite easily, I might add) and frequently hand this to Bird when attempting to keep him occupied long enough to change his diaper. He likes to hold it with one hand and thrust his other hand through the hole to wave at me. We also play a modified version of peek-a-boo with this. Lately he has created a game in which he throws a law firm-emblazoned stress ball through the hole.


Exhibit B: A Ziploc container holding one Fisher Price alphabet block.


Bird likes all things that have shake-a shake-a capability, to use our technical term (see Exhibit F below.) Like most babies, he enjoys kitchen gadgets and containers. I'm not sure when the Fisher Price alphabet block got inserted into the Ziploc, but it is a hit.






Exhibit C: A cut-down shipping box from Eddie Bauer.
Exhibit C.1: David's sandals.


Bird loves boxes. They were more of a favorite of his when he was less mobile than he is now, but he has adapted. In the past, he liked to sit in the box with toys. Now, he enjoys using the box to help him stand and then sorting and resorting toys in and out of the box. He also enjoys playing with David's old, stinky sandals. In particular, Bird likes to insert and remove toys from the sandals. There are not enough Clorox wipes in the world for me to be able to watch this.


Exhibit D: A mylar balloon.


Balloons! I am sure that balloon will be one of Bird's first words. We first discovered that he has an affinity (like most babies) for balloons when he was only 5 months old. The love affair has continued to this day and now includes aggressive affection for the mylar variety. Luckily, mylars live a long life. When tied to the changing table they have also provided a distraction sufficient enough for a thorough butt-wiping and diaper-changing.

















Exhibit E: A defunct (and battery-less) tv remote.

Bird loves buttons. More particularly, Bird loves any buttons that David or I possess. It takes a certain amount of deception and reflexes to keep Bird from our remotes, cell phones, keyboards, radio alarm clocks, and even the doorbell. When our new cable box completely died after three months of use, we got a new cable box and a new remote for that box that is nearly identical to the "old" remote. And thus did Bird acquire his own remote. I think he has started to realize that the tiny red light on his does not flash when he pushes the buttons, but he has been okay with that to date.


Exhibit F: A breast milk storage container with dry pasta.

I have to blame/credit myself for this one. I use the containers like the one pictured above to store breastmilk. They are disposable-ish in that they should be sterilized only a few times. (I don't want to get into the reasons as they frighten me and some likely related issues are currently in the news, but suffice it to say that we use and re-use these containers only the number of times that the manufacturer recommends.) So. Once we have used a container to store breastmilk for the last time, it gets washed and stacked for David to use in his basement work space. Bird has always been interested in these containers -- perhaps due to their original contents -- so one day I took one, put dry pasta in it, and sealed it up. Bird does not (yet) have the dexterity necessary to unscrew the top, so the pasta is safe for now. This was the birth of the shake-a shake-a toy. We now have several littered around the house. Bird particularly enjoys the double shake-a shake-a when two containers are snapped into each other (a marvelous stacking feature when storing breastmilk in the fridge or freezer).

Exhibit G: A photo of himself

Bird loves pictures -- particularly pictures of people. The daycare center gave us two copies of this picture of Bird in the school buggy. I happened to have it on hand one day while battling Bird during a diaper-changing session. We keep it in the diaper basket so that it can be handed to him when he isn't feeling it with the Diaper Genie II cartridge.



I'm continually amazed at what he finds entertaining. Old catalogs have bought me valuable time on more than one occasion. The socks off his own smelly feet bring smiles and laughter. He is curious about and creative with even the most everyday things that we hand him or that he manages to swipe -- and I am thankful.