Elise and the backwards PJ's

I am realizing that I never posted about why we put Elise's pajamas on backwards... My friend Erin has pointed out how funny she looks, and I've made a mental note to blog about it, but I keep forgetting. But, alas, I remember now and am taking a few moments to document such a special time in Elise's life.

Back in the late summer (or early fall, I can't quite remember), both kids were napping and I was talking to Steven on the phone. I walked upstairs and smelled a poopy smell. I thought maybe Oreo (our cat) had had an accident. I looked all around the upstairs and kept telling Steven that Oreo's days were numbered if I found that he'd gone outside the litter box. We continued our conversation and I kept sniffing. A few minutes later, I got a big whiff of the stinkiness when I walked by Elise's room. I knelt down and sniffed under her door. "Oh no" I said to Steven. Then, with all the courage I could muster, I opened her door.

What I encountered was my precious princess with all her clothes off, including her poopy diaper, and her crib was decorated in what looked like dark brown paint. It was all over her sheets, crib rails, and had even dropped onto the baby crib that sits on the floor below. Elise was awake with her hands covered in poop, and dare I say it, even her face was marked. I immediately hung the phone up and started to work. I put Elise in the bath, and then I cleaned the crib, sheets, baby crib, etc...

I think we had takeout that night.

After that, we tried using duct tape to keep her diapers on (per the suggestion of our friends Leslie and Steven). It worked for a short while, but then she figured out how to remove it, even when we'd double- and triple-taped it. My neighbor Amy said that one of her four children had done the same, and she outsmarted her by turning her zip-up nightclothes backwards. We've been doing that ever since, and it seems to do the trick. That's why in all the pictures of Elise in her PJ's, you'll see that they are on backwards. I'm actually not sure if I could put them on the right way anymore.

The few times we (ahem, Steven) have put her in regular PJ's (non-zippable), by morning she has removed them and taken her diaper off. Thankfully no smeared poopy diapers again, but several times she's wet her sheets.

Today she actually told me to "put them on forwards!" Not on your life beautiful.