Day 116: A galaxy far far away

Atom is completely on the move, both vertically and horizontally. He is still growing at an alarming rate, for us at least, and he apparently has places to be because he cannot sit still. Even in his sleep he is in a constant state of perpetual motion. Turning, kicking, punching, stretching and rolling. His poor bassinet cannot handle all of this activity. Not only is he testing the structural weight limit (15 lbs) of the bassinet but his baby-fu is tenaciously working the walls around him.

So to our chagrin we moved him to the crib. The crib that is miles and miles from our bedroom right next door. It felt like we were setting up an outpost on some distant planet. Crib: Check! Monitor: Check! Tight fitting sheets: Check! Confirm free flow of oxygen: Check! Baby: check! Our fears: Check!

We changed him, tested the hand held monitors at various distances, and then gingerly put Atom into orbit. We each stole a few thousand glances and then went back to home base (our room).

"Pop", "Crack". The static over my hand held jumped into life.  Like the command crew for Apollo 13, I jumped into action. I quickly adjusted the volume (there is only one button on the entire unit) and stared intently at the monitor. "Sounds like he might be awake" I said. "Should I check on him?" Without waiting for a reply I was off.  Down the hall I went. It was worse then I could have imagined. He was still asleep but his foot was dangling out of the crib through one of the slats. I quickly put it back into his capsule and went to home base to report my findings. "Wuurrrp", "Wurrrp". This time we both jettisoned down the hallway in a coordinated rescue effort. Still asleep. Hand sticking through the slots of the crib this time. What were the manufacturers thinking with this shotty design! Surely those slots aren't regulation size. Or at least doctors should allow bumpers again. Amateurs.

Atom was called back to home base and his first mission considered a failure due to equipment malfunction. Not entirely a bad thing. We had another night with him in our room and much like the flight crew we came up with a tremendous solution.

The last few night he has slept in his Pack and Play (mesh walls: oxygen and plasticity) in our room. Maybe his current mission isn't as thrilling as his last considering it's low orbit but for home base it is imperative to feel more confident before we send him out into the outer limits of our little galaxy.