Little Charlie

Last night I got to hang out with our neighbor's 8-month-old for 5 hours.  I am not calling it babysitting because it was anything but "sitting".  Charlie is the cutest little thing ever.  He is mostly all smiles and big brown eyes.  For the first 30 min I was there, Courtney (mom) showed me every little detail and went over Charlie's typical routine.  Feeding him was pretty easy except he really did not like the mashed up cauliflower Courtney picked out (it smelled pretty bad I must admit) and his face turned really red when I gave him the first bite.  Then, it looked like he was choking and he got it half way down and I frantically started patting his back in within seconds he chucked the bite of cauliflower out on to his tray, still coughing a little. Scared the crap out of me. Needless to say I didn't make him try anymore of that.  He did get down the organic carrots, baby soy food, and his bottle. His dessert was pink Amoxicillin for his ear infection. He loved it!

Next came a little bit of play time. Johnny brought over his banjo and kept Charlie's attention and wide eyes for quite some time. It was so cute. 

Bath time was most interesting. "Have you ever given a baby a bath?"---Courtney asked during my training...Huh? She wanted me to bathe him?  pep talk to myself...Okay, I could do that.  Charlie splashed and splashed, heels slamming the bottom of the tub...me trying to protect his heels while trying to wash him at the same time... And then drying him off was a process.  I grabbed him with both hands and picked him up out of the water, but then didn't have a hand to grab the towel.  So I am holding this dripping, slippery baby and I can't figure out how to get the towel around him. Somehow I let go of him with one hand, grab the towel, and swaddle him up.  He was probably thinking, "I'm cold! Why the heck didn't you think about what you were going to do BEFORE you pulled me out of the water. Mommy does such a better job".  The crocodile tears were gone as soon as I dried him off and put on his lotion and got his nighties on.  We dimmed the lights and turned on some soothing music that was pre-set by Courtney and in 5 minutes I had rocked Charlie to sleep in my arms. 

Ahh, success. And not a peep the rest of the night. 

I did run back upstairs before they got home to make sure he was still breathing. (i guess i felt this huge weight of this tiny little helpless being in my care). 

8 month olds are a lot of work..I really didn't realize it until last night. 

But, I can't wait to have my own someday.

And, I figured out (with the help of Courtney when she and Jeff got home) how to bundle a baby up after a bath while still holding them with two hands :)

here we go

well..the big moment is in approximately one hour:)

i'm getting my hair cut

its been long since freshman year of college...

oh, and today we also get to see bela fleck play with the abigail sparrow quartet at ear-x-tacy (a music store near our house)

we'll get there early to stake out a spot in the front row

i love intimate, free shows...acoustic of course

they are playing today as a warm-up and preview to their big show tomorrow at UofL, which JB gets to attend (I have to work).  i'm just glad to see them today.

Lights, Power, Action

YAY! We finally got our electricity back today.  It is such a novelty to have lights and warmth and to not have on 2 layers of pants and 3 sweaters plus a down coat inside your house. 

Hopefully this will be the last power outage for some time now. 

Johnny will finally go back to work tomorrow...so hopefully not all of June will be eaten up by make-up days....as we head out for the Grand Canyon on June 12 and have backcountry reservations at the bottom of the canyon (Bright Angel Campground) and meals at Phantom Ranch on June 16.