Father Meets Son

Originally penned on 1/26/09.

7:30 – Clay woke up. I woke up. Grateful that it wasn’t the normal 5:45 AM wake-up time to go to work.
8:00 – Got out of bed. Made a pot of coffee. Felt groggy from sleeping an atypical 8 hours.
8:05 – Did dishes while Clay nursed.
8:15 – Clay is playing happily in the Exersaucer.

The local news reported about seven teenagers getting shot downtown at a nightclub. Thankful that Clay’s not seventeen, or a clubber.
8:20 – Put away makeshift bed. Cursed the makeshift bed due to an aching back.
8:30 – Said goodbye to Gwen. Said a silent prayer. Clay still in the Exersaucer.
8:35 – Picked up the rest of the kitchen and wiped down the counter. Poured a second cup of coffee.
8:45 – Started dusting the living room table. Clay is no longer happy in the Exersaucer. Dusting=Fail.
8:50 – Put play mat over cat-hair laden carpet so Clay could play on his belly. Seems happy.
8:55 – Clay made three attempts at rolling over: Of a complete rotation, he managed 75%, 80%, and 85%. Now he’s beating himself up about not being able to do it. Provided motivational speech about the virtues of practice. 
9:00 – Rolled Clay over to show him that the position of his arm is the biggest obstacle. He seemed happy to be on his back. The 700 Club began playing in the background. Father and son both visibly agitated.

9:01 – Put on Season 2, Episode 2 of Battlestar Galactica (BG). The Cylons are ripping sh*t up.
9:05 – Finished dusting the table.
9:10 – Organized scattered paperwork: Parking ticket to pay, driving per diem from jury duty to deposit, Fry’s refund to submit, vehicle registration to deal with. Frack.
9:15 – Watching the ceiling is no longer appealing for Clay. Picked him up. Received a smile. Back hurt just a little less.
9:20 – Performing male alchemy, transferred milk from storage container to bottle. Put the remaining milk in the fridge, mentally noting it’s not for cereal or an Instant Breakfast later on.
9:25 – The decibel level of fussiness reached a point where Galactica was paused. Sat down to feed Clay. Again, silent prayer. Noting he couldn’t breathe while he ate, used aspirator to suck a lot of stuff out of his nose. Results positive.
9:30 – Clay’s asleep. The bottle’s almost empty.

He gulps drinks like me.
9:35 – Transferred Clay (and Boppy) to couch.

9:40 – Called Pacific Parking Solutions, feigning civility when paying a parking ticket issued on New Year’s Day. Mother-frackers.

10:10 – Clay woke up. BG’s still paused.

10:15 – I smell activity. Diaper change in the next ten minutes inevitable. He’s holding his foot and making Chewbacca sounds during the process. Funny.
10:20 – Remembered coffee. It’s cold.
10:25 – Diaper change. Sposo-Easy: Greatest cloth diaper ever.

8 hours until Gwen’s home.
10:30 – Resumed BG.
10:40 – Clay in Exersaucer again. Paused BG. Dealt with recycling. Not enough wine bottles in my humble opinion. Grabbed vacuum with lofty goal in mind.
10:41 – Clay’s whining. Father’s son & all.
10:45 – Transferred Clay to swing, with pacifier in tow. Whining ceased. Resumed BG.
10: 50 – Trimmed cat hair sheathing from agitator roll in vacuum. Dusted smaller table and entertainment center. Sneezed. Took out garbage.
10:55 – Episode 2 of BG complete.
11:00 – Paused BG. Vacuumed carpet. Grabbed lamp, jolted bulb, tripped the circuit. Frack.

11:15 – Vacuumed tile floors. Clay doesn’t mind the vacuum. Much. The cats are nowhere to be seen. Thank the Gods.

11:20 – Resumed BG. Questioning self about being a Cylon. Pulled next round of milk out of fridge. Hopefully room temperature by the time Clay needs it. Clay’s watching BG now. Child Advisory Council warnings be damned. At least there are no commercials.

11:25 – Abundant grins from Kiddo. Dad pats self on back. Changed humidifier water.
11:30 – Preheated oven to 400 degrees. Apple pie in about an hour and a half. Yum.
11:35 – Running around house with Clay in tow. Burning episodes 6-10 on a new DVD.
11:40 – Load of laundry in washer. Can’t find mini-tripod for camera. Apple pie in oven .
11:45 – Talked to Gwen. Feigned confidence.
11:50 – Rewound BG, missed a lot of it.
11:55 – Filled sink with hot water and frozen milk.
12:05 – Changed wet diaper. Cats reemerge from vacuum-induced seclusion.
12:10 – Crying begins. Evasive action. Initiated bottle to mouth procedure.
12:15 – Crying occurs again. Loudly. Burping solves problem. Commence feeding phase II.
12:20 – Bottle becomes ancient history, replaced with Soothie. Operation Rock-Baby-Bouncy Chair initiated.

12:25 – Clay appears asleep. Freedom for the moment. 
12:30 – Sent Gwen an email at work with picture of Clay. Proof that he’s still alive. Laundry ringer buzzed. Off to embark toward clothes-on-dryer action, and stuff one more load in the washer. Paused BG.
12:40 – Went outside. Gorgeous day.

The scrubjay on the deck screeched at me. Talked briefly to Gwen. Six hours to go.
12:45 – Pie smells amazing. Resuming BG. Pondering second pot of coffee.
12:46 – Dropped remote. Woke up Clay. Definitely making more coffee.

12:55 – Clay happily occupied with his cloth book.

Pulled pie out of the oven. Damn cooling time. Frozen milk thawed out. One bag’s contents sitting in a bottle. The other in the fridge. Washed out the baggie and hung to dry. No idea if that is a good idea or a bad one.
1:05 – Purged the fridge of scary leftovers past their expiration date. Clay currently eating aforementioned book. Tupperware soaking. Poured fresh cup of coffee. Added cinnamon for sh*ts and giggles.
1:15 – Paused BG. Talked to parents. Video chat to follow.
1:45 – Video chatted with parents and brother for twenty minutes until Clay got fussy. Appears to be his threshold.
1:50 – Resumed BG. Ate pie.

Cradled fussy child. 
2:00 – Fussiness = Tiredness. Despite machine guns blaring on the TV, Clay is asleep and now in swing. Mental note: Do not drop remote this time.
2:05 – Paused BG. Going outside to taunt the scrubjay.
2:10 – No scrubjays in sight. Called brother. Back hurts again. 
2:15 – Poured another cup of coffee. Tended to drier and replaced with wet clothes. Folding to occur downstairs. Resumed BG.
2:20 – The very audible creaking of the swing is making me nervous. The presence of only one loaded diaper today has me concerned for things to come. He’s still breathing.
2:30 – Folded laundry and took upstairs. Will put it in the dresser sometime during the next life.
2:40 – Cat howled downstairs. Clay awake. Picturing life without cats.
2:45 – Clay returns to slumber. Cat lives another day. Rewound BG to make up for last five minutes. T-minus five hours.
3:00 – Olmos returns! “What’s happening on my ship?” Baby Boy still sleeps.

The creaking died down.
3:10 – Caught up on e-mail. Mostly deletion.
3:15 – Despite signs otherwise, Clay is still breathing. Oh, and sleeping.
3:25 – Talked to Gwen. Clay woke up mad. Hearing Mom’s voice was an instant remedy.
3:30 – Wet diaper changed. The big one is coming. Rewound BG.

3:35 – Crying. Hungry? As for me. must remember to avoid bladder explosion.
3:40 – Hunger was the positive call. Fed for twenty-five minutes.

Frozen milk experiment a success. Four ounces taken down. Last episode of BG ended two minutes into feeding. Sadly, couldn’t move.
4:05 – Clay is chilling in the Exersaucer after a round of crying/burping. Considering raiding the freezer for meat of some sort and experimenting with new cookbook of sauces. New disk of BG primed. Pushing play.

4:10 – Danced in drunken-monkey fashion to keep Baby Boy content. Glad nobody was looking through the windows.
4:15 – Grabbed Little Guy and trotted upstairs to grab dry laundry for folding. Began first endeavor into the scary-ass world of cloth diaper laundering (thanks to clear instructions from da Wifey).

4:25 – Folded laundry. Baby Boy laid on back watching and trying to roll over.
4:35 – Back to dinner plans. Still undecided.
4:45 – Decided: Pan-seared chicken with Newburg sauce it is. Clay supervised the initial stages of sauce preparation.

5:15 – Cleaned-up dishes and danced yet again for the sake of entertaining the child, currently in his Bumbo on the kitchen island (HAHAHA).
5:20 – Prepared another bottle. Paused BG. Took laundry upstairs.
5:25 – Gwen’s coming home. Sweet. Stirred the sauce in the makeshift double-boiler. Baby Boy still in the Bumbo.
5:30 – Bath time.

5:35 – He loves bathing. And splashing. And more love for splashing. His hair is getting really long…comparatively.
5:50 – No fighting on the way out. He stayed warm and calm. Now he smells 100-times better than me.

5:55 – Put him in the swing.
6:00 – Holy sh*t, he’s asleep. Still hasn’t pooped again today, but he’s asleep! I truly think his bowels are on strike due to the failure of negotiations to keep Mom home today.

6:15 – He’s still breathing. Dealing with pictures taken today.
6:20 – Gwen just came in the door. Baby Boy and I survived each other, and it was one of the best days I've ever had.