wigblog

Many new things have happened for Maddie in the past week. Some good, some bad, and some really funny!

James and I took a trip to Vegas last weekend (Sept 23-25) for his brother’s wedding (technically his ex-step-brother). Maddie was wonderful in the car ride out there… we barely heard a squeak out of her. That was Maddie’s first vacation ever and first time sleeping away from home. She was wonderful the whole entire trip. I think people in Vegas have never seen a baby before. Never have we had so many “ooo’s” and “aww’s” and random people gawking over her.

She is smiling and giggling a lot which is just SO cute. I love watching her little facial expressions. She has started playing this little game with me that I have to admit I just love. When she is in her stroller and starting to fuss, I give her her pacifier (I know there are some parents just balking at this, but hey… to each his own. She loves it, it helps calm her, she doesn’t sleep with it at night, etc.) She does about two sucks and then spits it out. She gives just one little squeak, and I look down at her to see her smiling up at me. So cute. So then I put the pacifier back in her mouth, except this time she is doing this sideways thing with her tongue which makes it impossible for her to grip the pacifier. The pacifier falls out again and she flashes an even bigger grin up at me. By now I know she is playing with me, so I egg her on a bit. We go back and forth with this for a little bit. I just love seeing her big toothless grins. Her whole face lights up and her eyes even sparkle. I love my little girl.

Ok… back to Vegas. Here is the story I don’t think I will ever forget. It was Saturday (the day of the wedding). I put Maddie in this cute little white dress that my brother and sister-in-law bought for her at Benetton in Italy. She was all dressed for the wedding. We had several hours to kill and decided to go to the strip for some shopping and walking around. Maddie had been sleeping for quite some time in the stroller. We figured it had been long enough so we proceeded to find somewhat of a private place in the Venetian to feed her. It had been awhile since the last diaper change, but we figured we would feed her first then change her after (something we never do). We managed to find this nice little alcove to sit and I proceeded to feed her! Of course she is the wiggliest thing ever. After that, James took her to burp her. While burping, her face was getting very tense looking and she starting pushing. Yep… she was pooping. No big deal. Of course it is loud so James and I were just laughing. Nothing was leaking, so we were happy. I then placed her back in the car-seat that is attached to her stroller and proceeded to stroll her into the bathroom to change her. Here is where the fun begins!

I get into the bathroom in the middle of the Venetian and realize that the changing station is not in the handicap stall like in most bathrooms, but in the middle of the restroom across from the sinks! Right where the line forms! So, I get the changing pad out, put it on the changing station, get a new diaper ready, pull the wipes out, and then place little Miss Maddie on the changing pad. I pull up her dress and un-velcro her diaper and realize that there isn’t that much poop in there. Great! Easy change. I start to wipe her, lift up her bottom to do a swipe, and the wipe comes back REALLY dirty. Hmm… where is all this poop coming from? Apparently the diaper was SO full of pee that the poop had no where to go except up and out. Yep… up and out the back side of her diaper! Yikes! And of course all these women in line are talking to me about kids, asking me questions about her, etc. and all I can think about is poop everywhere and how to clean it all up.

And who was the smart person that didn’t put a trash can next to the changing station???? Ok… so I cleaned off her back, cleaned off the changing pad, and took her pretty little dress off. Fortunately her dress had been hiked up a bit in the back and only one spot got on it. Of course I always bring a change of clothes for her, so I wasn’t worried she would be naked for the wedding. Of course there was the dirty diaper on the changing pad that Maddie kept kicking around (she is the most wiggly baby) and dirty wipes pilling up. Remember… no trash can next to the station. And there are signs all over the changing station about not leaving your baby unattended. Well, she doesn’t roll over yet… she just kicks her legs and arms. And unless I wanted more poop on her, I would have to leave her to throw things out… so I did… for about 3 seconds… and she was fine. I am sure I got stares from the ladies, but it is Vegas… they were all probably drunk anyway.

I put Maddie’s clean dress on her and was about to place her back in the car seat. Oh my gosh!!!! There was a little lake in the bottom of the car seat. Seriously, there was so much poop pooled in the bottom of her car-seat. And since I had just placed her in her seat to stroll her to the bathroom, she had been sitting on the straps and buckles. It was all over those as well. So, I had to hold Maddie on the changing table with one hand (even though I knew she wasn’t going to go anywhere) and proceed to wipe out the car seat as best I could with the other hand using baby wipes. I did I pretty good job, but it was so embedded in the car seat straps! I ended up taking the car seat out of the stroller and putting Maddie directly in the stroller at full recline (another first for her). I then washed my hands because even though I had nothing on me, I still felt covered with poop. I then picked up the empty car seat with one hand and strolled Maddie out in the stroller with the other. (Parents- if you are purchasing a stroller, make sure you can EASILY stroll it with one hand).

I got out to where James was relaxing at a nearby table and he looked at me with a strange look as if to say “What the heck are you doing? Why isn’t Maddie in her car seat?” I proceeded to tell him the whole story while laughing hysterically. I wasn’t mad or upset… it was a funny situation. There I was, in the middle of a bathroom in a busy casino with women all around me and poop everywhere. And I mean it was everywhere. All over Maddie’s back, on her changing pad, on her clothes, in the car seat, and I am just making piles of dirty wipes and a dirty diaper on the changing pad for her to kick around and potentially kick onto someone else. Too funny.

After that episode I only had 2 wipes left and we still had to go to the wedding! We got to the car and James tried to clean out the car seat even more. No such luck. We put a blanket down in the car seat, then Maddie, then another blanket, then the straps. I didn’t want the smell of poop getting in her clothes! So there Maddie was all bundled in blankets in the middle of the desert. She must have loved it. We had to head back to where we were staying to pick up more wipes, and this time I filled the wipes case to the max! You know… just in case.

When we arrived home on Sunday, James took the car seat apart and I washed out the padding and all the straps. It all came out and now her car seat smells laundry fresh!!!

Lessons learned:
1) Always change her diaper before a feeding.
2) Carry as many wipes as you can fit in the case because you never know.
3) Always pack an extra outfit.
4) Bring a blanket and burp cloth with you. You might use them for more than their intended purpose.
5) Make sure you purchase a car seat that completely comes apart.
6) Make sure you can easily push a stroller and steer it with one hand and carry a child or a car seat in the other hand.
7) Make your husband changes the diapers while in public! I would have loved to see how he would have handled that one. I think I would expect Maddie to come out of the bathroom naked and James telling me he threw out the car seat. In fact, I am sure he would have called me from his phone while in the bathroom to ask me to come in there and help! Or maybe he would have put Maddie back in the car seat without realizing she would be sitting in a small swimming pool of poop. Hmmm… things to think about!

So, it was a great trip. Maddie did well. She was smiling through that whole episode of course. I think she was laughing at me thinking “Hah! That is what you get for not changing my diaper!” Or perhaps it is “That is what you get for not buying that really cute outfit for me!”