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 :)