Lately, Jennifer and I have been waking up to the melodious sound of Tyler's voice saying, "Bye, bye poopie!"
He stands in his crib at about 7 a.m. and shouts the previous phrase in order to rumble us from our sleep. Jennifer and I slowly regain consciousness and prepare ourselves for the morning diaper change.
Usually, it's a big one.
To be more honest (and more blunt), calling it a "big one" is somewhat of a euphamism. It's more like an explosion, whereby all of the foods that were eaten yesterday have a massive party inside my son's intestines and then push and shove to make their exit from his 35 pound body as fast as they can. There's no British cordiality here--everyone is just rushing for the nearest exit as fast as they possibly can.
And the result is the massive exodus of poop.
Jennifer and I steel ourselves for the task ahead, and meanwhile, Tyler begins saying, "Mommy, Daddy, wake up! Mommy, Daddy, wake up!"
I think about how it must feel. Imagine having a huge, wet load of poopie sticking to your butt and having a diaper press it even further and closer to your skin... Perhpas that's not the sort of think you'd like to visiualize, and I'll admit that it's not in my book of Fun Things to Dwell on while Passing the Time. However, since being a stay-at-home-dad, it's hard not to dwell on such things.
When Jennifer and I finally enter his room, his face lights up, and I can tell he's thinking two things:
1) My Mommy and Daddy are here! They love me!
and
2) Somebody get this poopie diaper off of me now!
The scene will replay itself tomorrow morning, of course. And I'm being honest when I say that although it's not always the easiest way to wake up, it has become the most authentic for me. To think back to waking up to a buzzing alarm when the only thing I had awaiting me was, well, getting myself ready, I feel a surge of life course through me to realize that this tiny little boy is waiting on us to help him get ready, to help him learn about this thing called life, to show him the joys, the pains, the ups and the downs of living.
And I wouldn't trade anything for this journey.
(Even if it does mean a poopie diaper every morning, and a few in the afternoon.)
