Bladders and Bowels - you have been warned!

So, at the request of the nurse, I'm keeping a fluid balance chart for Little Fish. Liquid in, mushy food in, urine out, all scribbled on the back of an envelope recorded neatly. Now I can weigh her nappies and record the volume of fluid stored in them (incidentally, size 5 Huggies would appear to hold 375mls before leaking, whereas size 6 Tesco nappies only hold 250mls, figure that one out if you will), but how do you weigh a puddle? How do you estimate the amount of urine contained in a 3 cm damp patch, in a trouser leg, in a bed pad? And what about when the child in question insists on sitting naked in the kitchen sink for two hours, "helping" with the washing up?

It's been a lovely day, finding something to cover the kitchen scales in so I can use them for weighing wet nappies, trying to pour the contents of the potty* into a measuring syringe (no, I don't know why I didn't just draw it up with the plunger. I was tired), trying to work out the liquid content of a bowl of apple puree.

So far it would appear to be the case that Little Fish can excrete as urine approximately 150% of the amount of liquid she can take in. Not entirely sure how that would be possible, but it certainly explains the flooding.

In the meantime I get to enjoy the sight of her eating sandwiches. I never thought we'd see her doing that. Especially not chili bean sandwiches. And like many three year olds, she turned her nose up at fish pie until it was drowned in ketchup. I love the fact that she is expressing preferences - ketchup is a vegetable, isn't it? Wonder what the liquid content of it is. Eating unpureed foods can't affect your urine output can it? I know her meals contain less water now that I'm not blending everything for her, but can taking in less water cause you to wee more of it? Doesn't make much sense to me!

Mog meanwhile slurps down her sandwich softened with hot water followed by a morsel of mashed banana and wonders what all the excitement is about. She's far too cool to get enthusiastic at the sight of anyone else eating. And has recently developed the ability to kick Little Fish's table over; something both of them find immensely entertaining, provided that she waits until the end of the meal.

Tia
*Potty - Little Fish isn't supposed to have any sensation or be able to control her bowels or bladder. I'm pretty sure that she has no control over her bladder whatsoever, but she has recently started shouting "Poo coming Mummy" and she's generally right. Is it strange to be excited about that?