While there’s still an element of novelty about it, I’ve been getting the 2 bigger kids involved in helping to take care of the baby. It keeps them occupied while I’m occupied and the little help they can provide does come in quite useful.
So when I’m giving Finn a bath, I’ll get them to stand around to watch, maybe help fill the tub with water or squeeze a dollop of baby wash onto his body. Or when I’m burping him, I’ll let them help pat his back until they get bored or tired, which is usually like about 5 pats in.
They’ve been enthusiastic about everything except poop-cleaning.
“It’s so gross, later the poo poo come onto my hand,” they’ll say while pretending to gag.
Yesterday, I managed to convince them to just observe while I gave a running commentary on how to clean a poopy diaper. They crowded in real close as I laid out the wet tissues, cotton balls and diaper cream in preparation for THE MOST FASCINATING DIAPER CHANGE EVER.
“Ok, first, we take a wet tissue and fold it into half…”
“Ewww, why is the poop yellow? How come it’s so soft? Baby Finn got diarrhea? It’s so smelly!”
Well, at least they seemed fascinated by the process so mission accomplished.
Finn must have sensed there was an audience because while they were peering at his bottom, he decided to unleash a fresh jet of poop right in their general direction. I managed to block most of it with his soiled diaper as Tru jumped back 3 steps and held his nose in horror. I turned to make sure Kirsten was poop-free and she was gagging involuntarily, making the most priceless series of vomit faces I have ever seen. I think a little vomit must have come back into her mouth in the process.
“Are you ok, princess? The poop didn’t get onto you right?”
She managed to regain some composure, then stomped out of the room muttering “I cannot do this, I’m outta here…”
Maybe I’ll give it some time before their next poop-cleaning lesson.