Home Alone

Ashley's Mom returned home today. Yes, you have heard (read) correctly. Ashley and I are caring for an infant unsupervised. Sound the alarm, put the medical staffs on red alert, and keep social services on speed dial. Why? you ask. Recall the last time we were charged with the care of one that cannot care for himself. Back 1998, Dudley was still living with Ashley's parents. JoAnne and Frank went out of town for a few days and left the Pug in our care. The end result? A rushed trip to the vet because I somehow dislocated both of Dudley's hind legs. Evidently Dudley remembers this horrible day because he's spent the entire morning guarding Bode.

I think Dudley also told Auburn about this event, because she is also on priority one alert and won't let me near the kid.

What I find interesting is the state of Ohio licenses doctors, lawyers, engineers, teachers, even hair dressers. But do parents need a license, do parents have to pass any type of test in order to raise a child?
"Oh, you'll be fine," all the nurses told us when we conveyed our misgivings about being able to properly care for a baby. "You'll just figure out what to do--it's natural," they all said. Couldn't this same logic be applied to a hair dresser--how hard would it be for them to just figure it out as they go? Not very, I reckon, yet the state feels the need to license them. I suppose all first time parents have these same thoughts the first time they are left alone with their new baby. And come to think of it, judging by my recent hair cuts, I don't think licensing by the state really does anything to ensure quality. I guess we'll just have to do what feels right and hope for the best; after all, if Brittany Spears can raise a kid, so can we (maybe that's not the best person to use as a standard with which to compare...)

Bode seemed to take the news quite well when we told him he was stuck with just the two of us.

"Will this in anyways affect the milk?" he asked.

As a precursor to how things would be when JoAnne left, Bode spent most of last night crying. Well, not constantly crying...just a little five-minute whine here and there to ensure neither one of us was able to progress to that all important REM sleep. Sometimes I'd get up and carry him out to the living room, rock him some, and then just as he was drifting to sleep, gently place him back into his crib. Evidently Bode's matress is lined with needles because as soon as I put him down, his eyes would open, he'd start to squirm, and soon thereafter, that oh-so-pleasant-at-3 am sound of "Waah, wah, waaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" We have found that Bode gets the hic-ups quite often. He's fine when we're holding him upright, but the second we lay him down on his back, he's like a hobo drunk from Boone's wine. The doctor says this is natural and normal (the hic-ups, not being drunk on cheap wine), so don't anybody worry. Fortunately, we did find a couple good places he likes to sleep. The first place is on his best buddy Auburn.

Unfortunately, Bode had to abandon this position after one particularly gaseous episode when Auburn blew Bode to the other end of the couch. Fortunately he was able to find another spot that he loves more than anything in the world. Pleasant day to all.