Life is full of firsts.
I ran my first marathon at the age of 48, completed my first Ironman Triathlon at 50, set my first Guinness World Record at 56 and changed my first diaper at 58.
A month ago, I had daughter Kristina and four-month-old grandbaby Matthew Connor (GBMC) visiting from Sudbury, Ont. You may ask, “Didn’t you change Kristina’s diapers when she was a baby?” and the answer is no. Kyle and Kris were adopted at the ages of four and two respectively and Kris was already potty trained by the time she came to live with us. I’m sure she’s going to be thrilled to learn that this snippet of information has hit the wire.
The second evening they were with us, Sue and Kris headed out and left me with GBMC. Fortunately Kris left me a ‘baby 101 crib sheet’ and this is what it said:
Changing:
- Unzip sleeper/unsnap undershirt.
- Remove diaper and place in wet bag.
- Wipe bum if required.
- Put on clean diaper and snap closed.
- Close undershirt/zip up sleeper.
Bottle:
- Take bottle out of fridge and remove cap.
- Microwave for 45 seconds and add formula.
- Put cap back on and shake until mixed.
- Feed baby.
- Burp baby as needed (sorry if he pukes!).
Cereal (night only):
- Add warm water to cereal until it is the consistency of yogurt.
- Put baby in blue chair.
- Feed small spoonfuls, wait until one is done before giving another.
- Some may dribble down his chin, scrape up and feed it to him.
- Wipe face when done.
Bed:
- Change into disposable diaper.
- Burrito baby.
- Feed bottle.
- Place in playpen.
I had this list on the fridge and it worked a treat. I learned a couple of other tricks including letting GBMC chew my knuckles and singing to him. We also played a game called ‘Baby Triathlon’ where I started off by working his legs in a breast stroke movement then switched to a cycling motion and finally to a running action. He loved that.
Both GBMC and I use apps. His is called Sprout and mine is Dailymile. On Dailymile I keep track of how far I’ve run, how long it took me and how many calories I’ve burnt. On Sprout, GBMC keeps track of diaper changes, feedings times and naps. A combination of the two, ‘DailySprout’, would have a lot of potential.
Daughter Kris and GBMC have been gone a month now and Sue and I really miss them. However, I am going to leave the ‘baby 101 crib sheet’ in a safe place. We have two sons and who knows what the future will bring.
