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I went out to run some errands this morning when The Tater Tot went down for her nap (The Daddy is on Spring Break this week and stayed with her) and when I got home, this is the scene with which I was greeted:

Princess Tater Tot: Wah! Waaaah! Waaaaaaah!

The Daddy: It’s okay. I know, I know. It’s gonna be okay.

Princess Tater Tot: Wah-ah-ah-ah, waaaaah!

The Daddy: Okay. No, don’t do that. Hold still.

I run upstairs from whence the dialogue is coming and find The Tater Tot on the changing table with The Daddy holding her bottom in the air and frantically wiping poop from every surface that is visible to me at the time. What the…???

The Mommy: What happened?

The Daddy: She took her diaper off. Check out her crib.

The Mommy: Oh Good Lord!

The Daddy: She needs a bath.

So I go start the bathwater and take over cleaning poop from all the orifices while Tater Tot is still wailing, for what reason, we don’t know. The Daddy says that she was perfectly happy and smiling when he walked in to get her. Just sitting in a pile of poop!

Into the bath The Tot goes while The Daddy clears out the changing table cover, crib sheet, mattress protector, and rug. And then he even washes out the poopy diaper! I swear he’s a keeper!

So, while I am grateful that her dexterity is improving, I am not so happy that she has learned to take her diaper off. That serves me right for not putting her pants on, huh?

Y’know how sometimes you get a little mired down in a situation and you can’t see the forest for the trees? Well, yesterday The Mommy had a “duh” moment about The Tater Tot’s sleep situation. We went down the street to visit our friends B and Z and, while we were there I was lamenting how Tater Tot would go down for her nap tired, yawning, sleepy as all get out but still be awake 45 minutes to an hour later. Since The Daddy has been on Spring Break he has sometimes been going in there to rock her a little bit more since he is the Baby Whisperer. He really is. She can be wide awake and grinning when he goes in there and all he has to do is rock her for half of a song and she’s out! But I digress. I was saying to B that I just didn’t know what it was when she said “Maybe she’s keeping herself up for those 45 minutes waiting for someone to come rock her again.” Well, “Duh, Mommy!” If she has gotten in the habit of someone coming in later to rock her some more, she knows that she can talk to herself and play with Mr. Duckie as long as she’d like instead of soothing herself to sleep! It makes perfect sense and it was right under my nose. Thank God for Mommy Friends who support us (and remind us of what we’ve read in Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child)!

Instead of feeling bad that I didn’t realize what may be going on, I am going to just be grateful that my friend did and tweak my plan accordingly. So, Princess Tater Tot is currently down for her first nap and, if she doesn’t fall asleep within an hour, I’m going to take her out and go on with the day. Second Nap will happen at the usual time or when I see that she is just short of over-tired. Things may get wiggy in the short run but, hopefully, in the long run our normal routine will be re-established and she’ll go back to soothing herself to sleep within a short period of time. Luckily, she just talks to herself and Mr. Duckie instead of crying.

There are always those days, too, when it looks like she is starting to only need one nap a day but she still gets sooooo cranky if she only has one nap so I’m not convinced it’s time for that yet.

Anyhoo, time to go do important things like showering before Tater Tot’s hour is up!

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The other day The Tater Tot was toddling around the house playing with whatever got in her way when I hid crouched around the corner and said “Psssst!” really loudly. Giggle, giggle. Toddle, toddle, toddle. Giggle, giggle. And then she comes over, puts her little chubby arms around me and gives me a hug. *Heart melts* There is nothing better than an Unsolicited Baby Hug.

Why is it that after two weeks of eating healthfully and exercising I only lose 3 pounds but after two days of eating not-that-great, I gain 3 pounds back? It’s just not right.

It all started because The Daddy wanted to order a pizza instead of have a home made meal. And, never one to turn down an opportunity not to cook, The Mommy hopped on the bandwagon and said “Yahooooo!” Three large pieces of pizza later, I am stuffed and groggy thinking “Oh well, I’ll get back on track tomorrow”.

Of course there’s leftover pizza but I am able to stay away from it for a while. I exercised my will power during breakfast because that would just be too sad if I couldn’t even last through breakfast without attacking the leftover pizza. And for lunch, we had The Daddy’s parents over for an Easter barbecue so I didn’t have a problem resisting it then. But for dinner it was a different story. Nothing defrosted. The Daddy wasn’t hungry anyway. And there were three pieces of pizza left. Doh! Aw crap. At least I didn’t eat all three pieces. Only two of them. And some sorbet. Oh well, at least it tasted really, really good!

Now I’m “back on the wagon”. Lest you think I am against “fun with food”, I am not! I’ve just found over the past year that I feel better when I eat better. I’m not a spring chicken anymore and, at my age, things just don’t bounce back like they used to. In fact, some of them don’t bounce at all and some of them bounce waaaay to much! Then there’s how I feel physically after not eating well. Blech. And Mommies usually don’t get a “day off” since it is a 24 hour a day job so, I’m taking better care of myself by eating better. Except the last two days. But it sure was tasty! At this rate, I’ll be throwing a lot of stuff out of my closet come June 1st!

So here it is: whatever in my closet doesn’t fit me by June 1st is GONE! Goodwill, Salvation Army, Freecycle…I don’t care which. It’s gone. I’m not sure I’ll have much left in my closet but, if I don’t/can’t wear it anyway, who cares if it’s there?

Of course I gave myself the deadline of June 1st because I’m still hoping that the weight (or as Flylady would say Body Clutter) that I’ve been trying to lose for the past year is also gone by then. I’m down to within 5 pounds of my goal but that’s the hardest 5 pounds to lose. And the 5 pounds that keeps most of the clothes from fitting. I swear that 5 pounds is located directly on my bedonkadonk Mommy Butt!

Anyway, I’m letting you all know so that I will stick to it. If I don’t put it out there, June 1st will come and go and those clothes will still be sittin’ in my closet, jeering at me. “Neiner, neiner, neiner” they’ll say. And “If you’d just lose weight we’d look fabulous on you!” Who needs it?! So it’s time to put up or shut up. And if I don’t lose weight and they still don’t fit me come June 1st, I can go shopping! Ya’ gotta love that. I’ve got some gift cards for clothing stores that are burning a hole in my pocket!

I was over at Super Mommy catching up on all the blog reading I haven’t been doing and saw that 5 Minutes For Mom is giving away a Dyson! DID YOU HEAR ME??? A DYSON! I cannot tell you how much I would LOVE to have a Dyson. I am saving my pennies as we speak for said Dyson and it would be so sweet to win one instead of having to buy one! Even though you’re gonna be my competition for this, what the hell…head on over there and enter, too. Better do it before April 4 at 1:00 eastern time, though, or you’ll be out of luck!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I didn’t have the time and energy to add any stores to my errand run and ended up buying “sexy undies” at Wal Mart? Bad idea. Okay, I know that I am The Master Of The Obvious on this one but I thought I’d take a chance because, when you are Desperate Mommy, you take chances. Feel free to now say “I told you so”. Because I’m sure you did tell me, when you read my post the other day, that it was a bad idea. You probably screamed it at your computer “Girl, don’t go in there for the sexy undies! It’s just not right!”

I just thought I’d buy something to make me feel a teeny bit more feminine and, you know, sexy and it just went horribly wrong. Not only did they fit weird, they were itchy! They weren’t sexy sexy undies, more like cute sexy undies but cute went right out the window once I had them on. Too low where they needed to be higher, too high where they needed to be lower and what the hell is my Bedonkadonk Mommy Butt doing hanging out of there? It was just wrong. And uncomfortable. In more ways than one.

So this Mommy has learned her lesson: only buy your sexy undies from a reputable manufacturer of said undies or risk severe psychological and physical discomfort. Life is too short!

Playsuits are the greatest thing since sliced bread! Okay, maybe not that great but, for a relatively fashion-challenged Mommy with not a lot of energy, they are a must! No color coordination required. Except maybe if you’re putting socks on your little one. Or shoes. But for the most part, they are fuss-free! I like that.

Mommy Tip: Another reason I like them is that they are easier to put big ‘ol Cloth Diaper Butts into without making them look like their pants are too tight! No, I haven’t yet gotten around to finding slimmer inserts for the Bum Genius we love. But soon.

Tricky & Titch has some really cute playsuits. This is my favorite:

Their clothes are “Cute, Not Cutesy” and are made of premium combed cotton. The playsuits have envelope necks so they’re easier to get over the heads of Fussy Pants “Miss Independents” (or “Mr. Independents”, as the case may be) and color-coordinated, nickel-free snaps on the legs.

Tricky and Titch are also committed to being “carbon-neutral” by investing in renewable energy sources based on their carbon calculations for their day-to-day energy consumption. What a bonus! I’m so glad that a small company that could say “we just can’t afford it because we’re still growing” has decided not to say that. I’m impressed! And cute clothes to boot! Go check them out…