Good times

So, last weekend was our babysitting weekend. Because my brother & sister-in-law were part of her sister’s wedding (which was GORGEOUS, by the way – the bride & the reception venue, anyway, we didn’t see the actual wedding), we had our niece for Saturday night until Sunday afternoon. All in all, I’d say it was very successful. We started Saturday by assembling the crib – which was easier said than done. Most of the assembly went as it should, until we got to the last bracket holding the mattress base to the crib. We could not get the screw through the bottom of the bracket no matter what we tried. Finally, I had to get under the crib (like I was changing the oil in a car) and push against the bracket with all the strength in my thumb (which isn’t all that much) so we could get the screw in all the way. What realistically should have taken us 30 min took us 2 HOURS. There were angry eyes all around. Finally, it was ready for its trial run.

We picked up Evie around 5pm, with a few rushed instructions & the hand-over of many many bags (I’ve suggested they invest in a hockey bag for all her accoutrements). We were on the road more than 5 minutes when she was asleep. She slept until we got to our place, then she got her second wind & crawled around the living room for a while. She’s been teething, so we gave her the baby Motrin, then set to trying to put her down for the night. That was also easier said than done, she was so over-tired & over-stimulated that she had a good old cry session for about an hour. She finally gave up her fight & fell asleep at 8.15pm, after an hour & a half of rocking & bouncing & a poopy diaper change & a bottle. At one point I thought, “we’ve just wasted a lot of money to adopt one of these”. Then I pinched a nerve in my neck reaching into the crib to pat her on the back. Note to self – remove wheels from crib, they are not compatible with 2 people who are only a couple inches this side of 5 feet.

She had a great night’s sleep – 10 hours, though I did not (the light on the baby monitor kept me awake, as did the “state of constant readiness”). I was on a hair-trigger, waiting for the slightest whimper to rush to her aid. Turns out she’s a great sleeper, especially since the tooth she’s been cutting lately finally broke through this weekend. So we were all up bright & early, with another diaper change & another bottle. Andrew is a champion bottle-man, she loves men with beards, so she stared lovingly into his eyes the whole time – SO CUTE! An hour & a half of crawling & cruising later & it was time for cereal with bananas, which I let Andrew feed her to get the practice. It went as well as can be expected with a baby who likes to feed herself. Yes, some of it did end up in her hair. Then we wiped her down (tell me, is there a kid in the world that LIKES to have their face wiped, because I have not met one) and changed her out of her sleeper (and ANOTHER poopy diaper). Andrew managed to get her down for 2 30 minute naps between 6am & 12.30pm, when her parents arrived to pick her up. He got a lot of valuable practice, and it was beyond wonderful to see him practicing his daddy skills.

All told, it was a great weekend. Sunday was spent napping & watching the Oscars (which I rather enjoyed, I though the hosts did a great job). We both took Monday off & went to see Alice in Wonderland (which we really really liked), had lunch out & did some other chores. And the weather was great, which does good things to your emotional state. Now, if referrals would just pick up (a lot), like would be GRAND.