A very detailed account of babysitting Jaela
Here I am, it's 7:58 and I've been babysitting now for about... 3 hours. Larissa and James are gone to a wedding, so are mom and dad, Dan is working and Caleb has run for cover in some quiet corner of the house. I promised that I'd be GREAT at this. In fact, all week I've been saying "oh, I can't wait till Saturday". A chance to babysit Jaela. Not that I haven't seen her a lot or that J&L haven't been dropping her off here regularly when they are out. I just haven't been left with Jaela, by myself, without some other family member to take over when things hit "red alert". I've been warned and warned.... evenings suck!
Sure there have been a few shaky moments but as of this moment, phew.... we're okay... cross fingers... knock on wood... send up a little prayer.
4:45 - James and Larissa leave for the reception. Jaela is sleeping. I do my round of internet surfing for a bit and then pull out my book.
5:15 - Jaela is waking up but I resist the urge to snatch her up the second she flickers her lashes.
5:30 - She's definately up now and has her bottle. Larissa left an already made bottle in the fridge so I warmed it up a bit and she drinks... sparatically. I'd love to see the day where she grabs the bottle and drinks it down. The way she gulps (you can actually hear the fluid hit her stomach!) you'ld think that the ounces would just depleat like crazy! She drinks for a while and when she finally spits out out and I'm burping her, I notice that she's barely had more than an ounce.
6:30 - Caleb came up for a bit and noticed a happy Jaela so he took his turn cuddling and feeding her (another 1/16 oz. gone). She's seems unsettled but not really grumpy... like she just wants to move around. I rocked her out to some Neil Diamond for a bit, changed a diaper (again... i don't know when you're supposed to this... it was wet though) and tried to feed her another 1/16 oz.
7:00 - yup.... so now she's gruuuuuumpy.
7:30 - Larissa says that around this time, when she's starts getting this way, she makes sure she's not hungry (check), gassy (check), full diaper (check) and then just lays her down to cry for a bit... after which she falls asleep. Caleb strongly opposed this idea but I'm going to take a stab at it.
YIIIKKKKKEEEESSSS..... I'm sure it works better when it's in her crib, by her mom and in her own house. My goodness this girl has lungs.
I let her cry for the suggested time (I won't say how long but I did have the timer on the microwave set) and finally picked her up. Aww... she's damp and sweaty for crying so hard. I'm so sorry Jaela.
I pick her up and after a few gulps and sighs, she falls asleep. I sat outside with her on mom's swing and watched the rain till I was sure she was asleep. At this point I should have put her down to keep sleeping but instead, I held her while I started writing this post.
8:30 -My sister calls (cheap flights!!) and Jaela wakes up. She's not as grumpy and the 2 oz. that I make for her goes down while I'm on the phone. She would have drank more but mom and dad's water is cold and she doesn't like the next 2 oz. That's okay though cuz right now she is just giggling and squirming and smiling like crazy. What a kid. And Dan thinks I have mood swings. wow.
8:40 - she's sneezed 5 times in the last 5 minutes.... should I not have brought her outside?!!!
9:25 - I ate, Caleb took his turn again, she's grumpy again and I think I'm going to try laying her down again
9:59 - ELATION! I did it. She screamed for the whole timer, I picked her up, sat outside again and rocked her while she cooled down (she was definately properly wrapped up but the air is refreshingly cool). She fell asleep and this time, i super super super carefully laid her down. whew. elation!
11:21 - .... still sleeping....
11:47 - And my job is done!!!
It really was a good night... a fun experience... and really, it wasn't good birth control.
Sure there have been a few shaky moments but as of this moment, phew.... we're okay... cross fingers... knock on wood... send up a little prayer.
4:45 - James and Larissa leave for the reception. Jaela is sleeping. I do my round of internet surfing for a bit and then pull out my book.
5:15 - Jaela is waking up but I resist the urge to snatch her up the second she flickers her lashes.
5:30 - She's definately up now and has her bottle. Larissa left an already made bottle in the fridge so I warmed it up a bit and she drinks... sparatically. I'd love to see the day where she grabs the bottle and drinks it down. The way she gulps (you can actually hear the fluid hit her stomach!) you'ld think that the ounces would just depleat like crazy! She drinks for a while and when she finally spits out out and I'm burping her, I notice that she's barely had more than an ounce.
6:30 - Caleb came up for a bit and noticed a happy Jaela so he took his turn cuddling and feeding her (another 1/16 oz. gone). She's seems unsettled but not really grumpy... like she just wants to move around. I rocked her out to some Neil Diamond for a bit, changed a diaper (again... i don't know when you're supposed to this... it was wet though) and tried to feed her another 1/16 oz.
7:00 - yup.... so now she's gruuuuuumpy.
7:30 - Larissa says that around this time, when she's starts getting this way, she makes sure she's not hungry (check), gassy (check), full diaper (check) and then just lays her down to cry for a bit... after which she falls asleep. Caleb strongly opposed this idea but I'm going to take a stab at it.
YIIIKKKKKEEEESSSS..... I'm sure it works better when it's in her crib, by her mom and in her own house. My goodness this girl has lungs.
I let her cry for the suggested time (I won't say how long but I did have the timer on the microwave set) and finally picked her up. Aww... she's damp and sweaty for crying so hard. I'm so sorry Jaela.
I pick her up and after a few gulps and sighs, she falls asleep. I sat outside with her on mom's swing and watched the rain till I was sure she was asleep. At this point I should have put her down to keep sleeping but instead, I held her while I started writing this post.
8:30 -My sister calls (cheap flights!!) and Jaela wakes up. She's not as grumpy and the 2 oz. that I make for her goes down while I'm on the phone. She would have drank more but mom and dad's water is cold and she doesn't like the next 2 oz. That's okay though cuz right now she is just giggling and squirming and smiling like crazy. What a kid. And Dan thinks I have mood swings. wow.
8:40 - she's sneezed 5 times in the last 5 minutes.... should I not have brought her outside?!!!
9:25 - I ate, Caleb took his turn again, she's grumpy again and I think I'm going to try laying her down again
9:59 - ELATION! I did it. She screamed for the whole timer, I picked her up, sat outside again and rocked her while she cooled down (she was definately properly wrapped up but the air is refreshingly cool). She fell asleep and this time, i super super super carefully laid her down. whew. elation!
11:21 - .... still sleeping....
11:47 - And my job is done!!!
It really was a good night... a fun experience... and really, it wasn't good birth control.
posted by Nicole at 7:58 p.m.
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