Third Kids

Ryan and I decided long ago we would have at the minimum three kids. We are both third kids, so any less than three would question the value of our own existence, right? Enter Rex, our third baby. As previously mentioned on this blog, Rex demands a lot of attention. Put simply, if Rex is not asleep or being held, he is crying. If he had come first I could have just catered to his every whim. However, such was not our luck, and we just do the best we can to keep the minimum amount of kids crying at once. But I digress, this is all just a preface to a funny moment in my crazy-mom-of-three life, which I need to get on with.

Today I made this birthday cake for my friend Jeannie:


I'm not so saintly as you might think, I just fulfilled my half of our birthday cake swap. Now we each can get a really good cake on our birthdays without stressing out ourselves or our husbands.

Around 4:30, I finished up frosting the cake and started to get the crew ready to head out the door for delivery. I sent Marielle and Jenna to the bathroom to wash up since they had been helping me with some dish prep - getting all that chocolate off the spoons and onto their faces. Meanwhile I sat down to change Rex's diaper. And wouldn't you know, it was the best kind: a blowout. Just as I was fastening the clean diaper I hear what sounded like Jenna using the potty. Do I need to mention Jenna is not potty trained? I jumped up to throw away the diaper and dash down the hall with visions of Jenna spontaneously potty training herself. Of course it was too good to be true. (You knew that, right?) Instead, I find Jenna with both arms immersed in the toilet, a huge puddle on the floor, along with the outfit that had been soaking in the sink from a previous blowout. I got to work scrubbing Jenna's arms and trying to emphasize calmly, but firmly, we do not put our arms in the toilet. I'm pretty sure there were other things I needed to tell her we also don't do, but frankly, I still don't know exactly what she was doing in there.

By now Rex was screaming for all he was worth. (Reference point: Rex not being held - mad. Rex not being held plus left alone on the floor - irate.) I finished the mandatory clean up items and exited the bathroom with Jenna. As we round the corner I see screaming baby Rex roll over for the first time. And as a classic third time parent, I pat him on the back, say "good job baby!" and promptly flip him back over to finish getting him dressed so we can get out the door. I started laughing to myself at how this great "baby milestone" was lost in our chaos. Surely a first time parent would have been cheering and filming or at least snapping pictures of the triumph that is rolling over from back to front(!). Marielle wanted to know what was making me laugh and I really tried my best to explain it to her but she couldn't grasp it. She said, "It doesn't make sense." Rather than go through the whole explanation again I said, "I'll write it down, and then when you have three kids you can read it and you'll understand." Having said that, I think I need to go home and read my mom's journal. I think I'd like it a lot. Then again, I am the third child, so maybe I'd better not.

And by the way, doesn't Rex look smashing in a vest and tie???