Day 22

I woke for a 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 a.m. comforting. Mom insisted that I feed lil’ man at the 2:30 a.m. slot but I refused, agreeing to get back up if it was needed. I wanted to get back to my dream of my father driving a Ford Bronco off a road and on to the tracks of a roller coaster, missing and getting stuck in the mud, in Boston – whatever. Fortunately, for me, lil’ man slept until 7:00 a.m. Mom started off the day as I lay in bed, spent from lugging sod, albeit with mom’s help – who is also tired. She headed off to work as I was still waking up; lil’ man was cooing and wide-awake.

The sod broke me. Everything aches and I am suffering from a chronic headache, presumably dehydration. Lil’ man got the best I could give today. Mom got the leftovers, which was not much. I took lil’ man outside for some sunlight and fresh air. He sat in his Bumbo chair, taking in the sights, sounds and smells. At the 1:00 p.m. changing, I noticed blood in his diaper. In a (calm) panic, I set out to find out the source. On closer inspection, I saw that he had developed a blister on his bum and it had bled into the diaper. Nothing to worry about but something that needed to be cleaned and addressed. Plenty of ‘Butt Paste’ and a fresh diaper were applied and mom was notified. We will have to keep an eye on that sort of thing. Later, for the 4:00 p.m. free time, I lay him in the bed and left to water the sod. After a few minutes I began to worry something might be wrong. I checked in on him to find he had wrapped a thick blanket around his face and he was suffocating. I slowly removed the blanket, restored calm and received a hearty round of TSO’s; he was very grateful indeed. I was feeling like a worthless caretaker. Beaten from the early hard labor and then the damages to our child, I was whipped. Mom got home from work, dinner prepared and I zombified out for the remainder of the night. I went to bed at 9:00 p.m., leaving a frustrated and confused mom behind. Our normal games of the night would have to wait for a better day. I was simply spent, exhausted, sore and disenchanted with my performance for the day.