Daily Serena: In Which Serena Earns a Bath

This morning was a little different to begin with because Jordan left at 4:30 to go duck hunting. Yes, you read that correctly! I do not understand how hunting can possibly be 'fun' enough to motivate someone to leave their nice warm bed that early in the morning, but that's what he did! So, when Serena and I woke up, Daddy was long gone, and it was just us and the doggies (he didn't take either of them this time because the guy he went with already had a dog).

***THE FOLLOWING PARAGRAPH CONTAINS GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIVE WORDS AND IS NOT FOR THE FAINT OF HEART!***

We went about our normal routine: diaper change, nurse, breakfast, clean-up, and THEN (possibly Mommy's favorite part of the day) Mommy's shower! Serena is so good now about just keeping herself occupied while I take my shower. I was about half-way done when she came in the bathroom with a little book of farm animals and shut the door behind her (shutting the dogs out in the process...this is a very important detail!). She sat down somewhere out of my sight but I could definitely hear her as she read her book to herself! And soon, I could smell her! "Of course, she had to go and poop right now while I'm in the shower. Oh well, she's just going to have to sit in it for a few minutes till I can get out!" I thought. A minute or two later, I heard her kind of whining and then suddenly she was standing right outside the shower door with her hand outstretched to me like she was wanting to give me something. I leaned down and wiped away the fog on the shower door with my hand. At first I couldn't tell what it was, but I could tell by her tone of voice that it was bothering her so I kept trying to figure it out. Then, it suddenly dawned on me! That caramel-colored gunk was POOP!!!!! AAAHHHHH!!!!! What to do now? Finish my shower? How much damage had already been done with the apparently accessible poop? How should I even tackle the clean-up of this catastrophe?! My mind raced through these questions, sorting through possible solutions until I had a plan of attack. I talked happily to Serena the whole time, and she soon calmed down. Thankfully she stayed there on the rug while I rinsed the conditioner out of my hair. The first thing I did when I got out of the shower was to pick Serena up and put her in the bathtub to keep the mess contained. Then, I grabbed my towel, wrapped up my dripping hair with it, and bolted (like only a wet naked pregnant girl can) for Serena's room to get baby wipes and a clean diaper (and letting the dogs into the bathroom in the process). When I got back, Serena was smearing her poopy fingers on the shiny chrome faucet. Lovely. I used a wipe to clean off her hands and get what poop I could from off her back where it had escaped her diaper. Next, her clothes came off and went into the sink which I began filling with scalding hot water. I then braved the worst part: the diaper. Off it came, and I somehow managed to wipe her little bottom pretty clean. Finally, I started filling the tub, handed her a couple toys to play with, and turned my attention to the (thankfully minor) smears of poop that I had remembered seeing on the rug by the shower. But, all I found was Rocky-boy licking his chops and sniffing around. I couldn't see any traces of poop on the floor or the rug, and Rocky was apparently not finding any more either. Disgusting as it was to think about what he had obviously just done, I couldn't help but feel a little relief that the mess was cleaned up! With the situation now more or less under control, I resumed my normal post-shower routine while Serena played happily in the bathtub. I couldn't help but think how providential it was that Jordan was not home this morning! If he had been, Serena would have been much more likely to have been somewhere else in the house (or, God forbid, sitting in his lap!) when she had her blowout. Also, it was a really good thing that Serena had shut the bathroom door behind her when she came in. Not only did it keep her from leaving the bathroom, but it also kept the dogs out (thankfully they hadn't followed her in!) until things were a little more contained. Macy turns her nose up to Serena's poop, but obviously Rocky has a weakness. While it doesn't really bother me that he licked up a few tiny smears on the rug (and they really were small), it would have been a much bigger pill to swallow if he'd licked up all the poop that she had going up her back (which I'm sure he would have done if given the chance!). Guh-ROSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!! Anyway, all in all, it could have been much worse. And it was kinda nice to have Serena all sweet-smelling today after her impromptu mid-week bath!

On to other stories now! ;)

It was a gorgeous day here today. The temps were in the low 70's (I kept thinking, "Is it REALLY December 15th!?"...especially considering the weather reports I'm hearing from everyone back up north!), so I opened the door and let Serena & the dogs play outside. Serena of course spent time digging in the dirt. She kept putting tiny fistfuls of it on the patio. It's funny how fascinating it is to her to transfer things from one place to another (i.e., if I give her a bowl or container along with her finger-food snack, she'll take two or three times longer to eat it simply because she spends so much time transferring the food in and out of the container). Anyway, she finally brought a fistful of dirt into the house, walked up to the tile (thankfully by-passing the carpet!) and deposited it on the dining area floor! Just as she was turning to go back outside (doubtless to get another fistful of dirt!), I realized what she'd just done! "No, ma'am! We should not bring dirt into the house, Serena," I said. She looked at me and at the dirt as if trying to come up with a solution to this problem she'd apparently created. Then, she reached down and picked up a tiny rock from the tiny pile of dirt she'd brought in. She then hurried over to me, hand outstretched, to give me the rock. I put it in the trash and thanked her. Pleased to have come up with a suitable solution, she went back and got another rock. We repeated the process a couple more times, but then there was only sand left. I grabbed the broom and swept up the rest of the mess. She then took the broom and moved it around the floor in an attempt to sweep up some more! There's just nothing like getting 'help' from a toddler!

As Serena wandered around the backyard, her side-kick Rocky was never far behind! They spent some time at their favorite rendezvous spot: the tiny tree. Serena picked leaves off the tree (it's amazing to me that there are still any within her reach!) and 'fed' them to Rocky, who obligingly put them in his mouth and chomped around on them a bit.

Rocky and Serena playing out by the tree. Macy is usually just an on-looker...curious, but aloof!

We took the dogs out back to the lake this afternoon to train them using a duck Jordan had brought home from his morning hunt. They were beside themselves with excitement to be handling a REAL bird! Serena quickly caught on to the excitement. Even though all Jordan says is, "Good dog!" whenever one of them completes a retrieve, Serena enthusiastically claps her hands and cheers! Today, she added one more thing. After cheering, she would look up at Jordan and very emphatically sign, "MORE!"