Baby Spaces

I've just returned from an eight-day stay with my sissy Nana. We worked like dogs getting the nursery ready for the triplets, a.k.a Tres Butterbean. That included lots and lots and lots of heavy furniture moving, box packing, storage unit rearranging and painting. I hurt in places I didn't know I had. I don't normally have knee problems, but after climbing her insanely steep stairs about a hundred gazillion times carrying heavy loads, both knees are screaming. I heard (and felt) a sickeningly loud pop from the right one on Sunday, left one on Monday. Right shoulder and lower back are screaming as well. The lower back thing may be from sleeping on a rock hard trundle bed though. A visit to the chiropractor may be imminent.

Since I was the younger and presumably more nimble sissy (ha!) I got the privilege of climbing the extension ladder 14 feet in the air and painting the vaulted ceiling wall. Oh joy. I HATE climbing extension ladders. They are too wobbly for my comfort level. I have a fear of tumping over backwards on the damned things no matter how far out the legs are planted. Climbing up on them is no circus either. I looked like some kind of mutilated frog trying to get up the rungs because I kept my body as close to the ladder as possible and splayed out my knees. Humm...that may be why the ol' knees are screaming. I took one step, then reminded myself to breathe. Another slow step; breathe, breathe, breathe. I found I held my breath due to fear and it's never a good thing to turn blue at the top of an extension ladder. I managed to get the vaulted part painted, not once, but twice. I was never so happy as when we plopped the extension ladder back on its pegs in the garage. Good riddance.

The new pale yellow paint job in the nursery looks mighty fine, if I do say so myself. Nana and I are meticulously picky about our painting efforts and I think we are better than a lot of professional painters. Yeah, (pats self on back) we do good work. Nana and I are the two mentally deranged people in this universe for whom painting is a joy. At the moment the paint can is opened all becomes right with the world and serenity reigns. We get that wide, glassy-eyed look as we dip and stroke, dip and stroke; Zen meditation with a paintbrush. Of course it may be the paint fumes talkin' but we are two very happy happy paintheads.

After painting came crib assembly. We were both dreading this thinking it would take over an hour for each crib. The last time either one of us assembled a crib there were hundreds of little screws, nuts, washers, and odd metal pieces requiring many different tools and such. There are always the few leftover bits that don't seem to fit anywhere and that's always worrisome. The new, improved 21st century cribs have exactly seven parts: four sides, two bottom rails and a bottom. No tools required for assembly. They snapped together in four minutes. We know because we timed it. All three cribs were finished and in place in under thirty minutes. Awesome.

Looking down the list of googahs for the nursery it occurred to me that 21st century babies require a lot of stuff. I understand the truckload of diapers, jammies, bibs and blankies, that's not what I'm talking about here. Whooda thunk it that a wipey warmer was a critical accessory? There is also a big horseshoe pillow thingy and a couple of other gizmos I never did figure out. Did ya know that there are now contoured changing table pads? What, the kid can't lay flat for the minute and a half it takes to wipe and re-diaper a hiney? Oh, talcum powder is now a no-no. Maybe all that talcum I inhaled as an infant warped my brain. I guess it's possible.

Anyway, with just a load or two of laundry to fluff up all the sheets and blankies, the nursery is ready for the babies. Butterbean Mom is now at exactly six months to the day. She looks about six months pregnant even though she is carrying triplets. No problems so far. Doctors are thrilled and amazed. Babies are estimated to be about two pounds each and are perking along wonderfully. The last ultrasound confirmed they are all little girls. Names have not been decided, but current thoughts are to go with an A, B, C naming scheme. We jokingly refer to them now as Almondine, Butterbean, and Collard Greens.

Collard Greens is gonna be my special object of attentive spoilage. We have already decided she will be the free spirit of the bunch. While A and B are wearing pink ruffley stuff and singing Itsy Bitsy Spider, C.G. will be decked out in tie-dye and playing Led Zeppelin on guitar. Yep, it's already been decided.