Sweet Baby Boys

Thought I would lighten things up for everyone a bit.

This morning I had to run to the store for diapers. Grant was just about out of them at the babysitter's and I didn't have a chance to get there last night.

So, it was up at 3:45am with Wy Wy who was screaming bloody murder! Seriously folks. I am not kidding! You have never heard anything like what he has taken to doing recently. He screams with such intensity I think he will surely vomit from the forceful abdominal thrusts he must be exercising! It is ridiculous! In fact, the other night, my neighbor Leanne was over and heard him crying like that and said, "Holy Crap. That was Wyatt?!? He's so upset! You'd think someone was in their cutting off one of his limbs!!" See what I'm sayin' now? Yeah, it's bad! Dan and I thought that by the third kid we would have nerves of steel, but this scream that he does is enough to make an LAX Air-Traffic Controller crack! It's un-nerving!!!

Well, Wy Wy was screaming, Dan alerted me to the rant. I mean I must have been really tired if I didn't hear him and Dan did! I think this might be a sign of the Apocalypse! So, I walk briskly to the kitchen where I open the fridge to find the bottle I had made before going to sleep only had 3 ounces in it. Um, yeah, thanks for feeding him Honey, before you came to bed, but next time leave the bottle full! We've got a child who is losing a limb here!

Anyway, so, off to the microwave to heat that bit up (Sorry if some of you parents out there think heating the bottle up in the microwave is bad. You can send me all the hate mail you want. I will still proceed with business as usual because when it's 3:45 in the morning I see the microwave as God's little miracle for mothers of newborns!) Then it's on with the faucet, and you know what running water does to a person who has birthed three children? So, then, it's a sprint to the bathroom. All while little Wy Wy is thinking, "Why does no one care for my pain?!? Evil, Evil Woman" Then, it's back to the microwave, over to the faucet, three scoops into the bottle, or maybe it was 4 or 5 or geez, really who can count at 3 in the morning?! Then, a dash to baby Wy Wy, bottle in tow, or maybe we should call it a silencer?!?! And, finally, relief for Wy Wy, relief for Mommy, relief for Mommy's itsy-bitsy bladder, oh, we were just all so relieved!

Well, I thought hard about feeding Wy Wy, and just staying awake til he was settled back down. Then, getting ready for work, and off to the store for diapers. And that's the last thought I had before I woke up to my alarm blaring in the bedroom. Well, that plan didn't work.

So, it's now 5:40am, and I must leave the house in an hour or less, or more, depending on if I drive like Mario Andretti, or like a peaceful, law-abiding inhabitant of the road. Ahh, isn't this nice, I'm in no hurry. Uh, yeah, fat chance! Outta my way Grandma! I have somewhere to be!!!

That means a quick brush of the teeth, I did brush them, didn't I?! A quick bathing of the necessaries (Okay, ladies, tell me when did this become part of your routine? Have you or do you always take a shower every morning? I used to. I had to. My hair was like a greasy oil slick if I didn't, but I guess, with age, my skin and scalp have dried, so I only have to wash my hair every other day. Lucky for me, since the clock is always ticking!) So, with a change of clothes, a splash of water, a finger comb of the hair, a quick check to make sure everyone was still sleeping, I was out the door. At 5:49, might I add?!?!?

Walmart is so close to my house I can drive there, park, walk to the back of the store for the diapers, check out, walk back to the van (yes, mini-van! For all of you who did not know, Dan and I bought a mini-van a year ago, and have become card-carrying members of the Kid-Schlepping Gang! We're proud of it, too, err, at least I am, Dan has still not totally come to terms with it. There-there Honey, it'll be all right. Want me to get you a new drill, a Playboy, a cigar, Hmm? Will that bring the masculinity back?!) Then, it's a somewhat leisurely drive home hitting the door in under 20 minutes!

Man, that's the best! I cannot even imagine what it must have been like for my Mom who would have to drive, what, 30 minutes or more, just to get to the grocery store from our rural farm!??!! And it wasn't even a Walmart, it was a Super Value grocery store! Yeah, if she needed nails to bulk up the barricaded doors of our rooms, she'd have to drive on down to the Tru-Value, another few minutes away. I jest Mother, everyone knows you didn't board up our doors! Just the windows, it was locks on the doors! Ha, just kidding!

When I got to our front door, I quietly crept in and listened first to make sure I could still only hear the melodic hums of deep slumbering children, and Dan's more pudding snorting sounds, and determined all was well. I had made it to the store and back with nary a change in sight. Victory!

I rounded the corner to look down at the sofa and make sure Wy Wy was still snoozing peacefully, and took a second to focus my eyes.
Grant, Grant was on the sofa?!?
Yes, that's your middle son.
How did he get there?
I'm sure he walked. As Griffin would say, "DUH!"
When did he get there?!
It would have had to have been while you were gone. Again, a big Griffin, "DUH!!"
Okay, well, where's Wy Wy???!

It took me a second, but my heart eased when I saw Wy Wy tucked partially under the back cushion of the couch, sandwiched between this fluffy border and the monstrosity we call Grant. Sleeping soundly, from what I could see, even with a giant toddler squishing him into the depths of the couch.

And, I thought to myself, Wow, how beautiful! Grant loves his brother! He came out here, obviously looking for me, found not me, but his baby brother, and decided to lay down with him and steadfastly wait for the return of MaaaaaMaa!! Then, I thought, So I wonder how long Grant was lying on top of Wy Wy before he started screaming his limb-losing scream?! But, no, really, I think Grant must have just gingerly gotten up onto the couch, easing himself near his sweet baby Wy Wy, and lay there feeling proud of his role as big brother.

Yes, this scene was truly a sweet, smile-invoking sight. Especially appreciated by a sleep-deprived, memory-losing, over-loaded Mommy. These moments in my life are what make it all worth it!