Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Baby Boot Camp

So far we have survived our 1st week of Baby Boot Camp. It's not easy; our three drill sergeants (Henry, Hugh, and BethelAnn Caroline) are unrelenting and intimidate us with their screams. Tim has watch from 3 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. at which time i pick up until the general arrives on the scene (3 year old George William II). Everyone must then spring into action to keep the ranks in order.

Our drills were challenging at first but now we can do them practically in our sleep. they begin when we hear the bugle cry of one of the drill sergeants. we must then quickly check the timetable to try to identify the call to action: food, diapers or general unhappiness. Then you know the drill... If it's chow time, we deliver the proper triplet to mommy. After food comes 'baby gas' drops, burping and then Tim's favorite, diaper check. My least favorite call is the "general unhappiness" one (also known as tummy troubles) - though they're getting the trick of pacifiers which helps.

Tim spends most his waking hours attending to G.W.II. George got a four color set of playdough for his birthday the day before we arrived and when he wanted to open it he was told, "Youll have to wait till Uncle Tim gets here"...so the first words out of his mouth when we arrived here was, "Where's my playdough?" Needless to say many hours have been spent creating snakes and monsters and then "cowark-ing" it (mashing it down with a... cork). Meanwhile i go from baby to baby to laundry to trying to keep my sister hydrated and fed so she can keep feeding the company.

We finish it all off with a bit of KP duty to leave the headquarters as ready as possible for the next day then collapse into bed by about 9pm to take advantage of the baby's "long sleep" (4 or 5 hours).

Our first real campaign as a solo brigade happens on Friday as Tim and I leave Phoenix with Henry. he was chosen to accompany us because he's the largest and strongest, which incidentally means that his lungs are the most powerful. so you can pray we have a scream free trip or that our fellow travelers are all deaf :-)

Next week we join up with the rest of my family in Orlando for Thanksgiving, upping the adult to child ration by only one, so the routine doesn't promise to be much different around there.
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