Life As We Know It

My life, which was once full of things like singing on a grand stage in front of thousands of people and discussing health care issues with patients and families, has now evolved/dissolved into an unending cycle of changing diapers, feeding the Turnip, and falling asleep while trying to do the aforementioned two activities. Colin is a very snuggly baby - he fusses if he is put down and wants not only to be held but to be snuggled at all times. Patrick has not yet gotten the hang of the Cheek Nuzzle, but it is the only thing that keeps him quiet during the day, so I spend my whole day with an infant attached to my cheek. This makes things like tackling the mountain of laundry or the three inches of fur on the floor more difficult. How do women do this? Seriously. How do you not suffocate in your own filth because of the immediate and incessant needs of your baby? I am stumped.

As Dragonfly so correctly predicted, since we were once worried about Colin's diaper activity, we are now positively drowning in dirty diapers. He's one of those "one dirty diaper for every feeding" babies. Cute. I have gotten better at changing the diapers in my sleep, but I still was hit in the face with an errant stream last night. That meant an extra ten minutes that I was going to have to be awake, since my negligence in keeping things covered at all times resulted in having t0 go downstairs to wash my face and find a new shirt. At times like this, I wish we'd had a girl.

Another activity that I and Patrick are particularly enslaved by is echoing Colin's every sound. He makes all these cooing and sighing sounds, which we are obligated by order of law to mimic - even in our sleep. Thus, all night, our house is a chorus of "meep" and "ooooh". We have not, however, felt the need to mimic the very specific grunt that he makes just before the squiiiiiiiiirt that indicates that I have to get up and change his diaper. That one is his alone, and is really not that cute.

I'm thinking about organizing a trip to the grocery... it will take all day to prepare for this outing, which cannot take more than an hour due to feeding requirements. It would be neat to leave the house, I think. I'll probably regret it, though, when some poor, unsuspecting shopper attempts to approach my child and I am forced to take his/her life for the protection of my 7 day old child. Hm. On second thought, maybe I'll just send Patrick.