Thiry years makes a difference!

Well,I experienced my first full day of babysitting. My son was at work and my daughter-in-law was volunteering at the Steven Siller commemorative race in New York City. The night before my assignment, I made bottles, checked the diaper and formula supply did laundry and set out books and toys. When the big day arrived, I needed to be at my son and daughter-in-law's house by 7 am. I stopped at DD to get my coffee and bagel so that I could have my breakfast while I was waiting for five month old, Emma to wake up. She usually wakes up around 7:30 so I thought I would start the day on schedule. So much for plans. She was already awake when I walked through the door! She must have been anticipating our day together also. After changing, feeding and packing up--quite a feat in and of itself, I began my first of several trips to bring supplies to my car. It's a good thing I have a SUV because I needed lots of room. When we got to my house, which is only five minutes away, I reversed the process and was already tired after bringing the last few things into the house. Then it was all a blurr. We played, sang songs, toured the house, read books, rocked, swayed, supervised tummy- time, bounced, stretched, shook rattles and squeaked toys, wiped chins, soothed, fed cereal and applesauce, wiped furniture, accumulated lots of laundry items, and prayed for a full nap time. I ate my breakfast and hit the rest room at 9:30 and gathered up the necessary items for the rest of the day. All was repeated in the afternoon and I started checking my watch in anticipation for the afternoon nap. Since she is teething and not sleeping well at night, I wanted her to rest well during the day. When I fed her her bottle in the afternoon and we cuddled together in my rocking chair, I found myself holding her through her hour nap and just watching her sleep. She really is a little miracle. When my son arrived at five pm, I have to say I was exhausted. As they left to go home, I realized that I had not planned for dinner. Oh well, it's been thirty years since I have had to take care on an baby and a house. I don't know how I did it. I enjoyed my day with my little cutie pie and I even lived to write about it. I'll go to bed earlier next time.

Generations

This past weekend I went to Bristol, Rhode Island to attend my niece's wedding. Besides seeing her married to a great guy, I was so delighted to see many members of my family that I don't see very often. Since we live at a distance from one another, my two sisters and I were happy to be able to spend time together and to share stories of grand parenting. Each of us had one of our grandchildren there, so it was fun to watch them and since my granddaughter was the youngest at four months old, I enjoyed being reminded of the stages that were sill to come. My sister Carol had her 3 1/2 yr. old there. He was very well behave because his mother made sure to tell him what to expect at the ceremony and reception so that his behavior was appropriate. He was happy to have play time but was also able to sit still and not talk during the quiet times too. He told me all about "school" and was really funny. My other sister, Marion had her 2 yr. old with her. He is very friendly and was thrilled to have the DJ play his favorite song during the reception. It was about a chicken in the kitchen and many adults were happy to be doing the dance with him. Hey, I've seen many adults looks sillier doing their own dances! One of the highlights was having the photographer take a picture of all three of us sitting together with our grandchildren on our laps. It will be a special picture of each of us and especially for our ninety-five year old mother who was not able to make the trip from Florida. She will get to see us all together. There was one grandchild who was unable to be with us and another baby to be born next April. Hopefully, we can all get together again next year and get a picture of all eight of us. I never want to take these visits for granted. They are really the best of times.

I need to practice!

I was so happy to do some babysitting the other night. My son and daughter-in-law had to make arrangements for the christening, so I volunteered to get Emma to sleep. She has established a great nighttime routine- the 4 B's- including, bath, book, bottle and then bed. When I got there she had already gotten the bath and book so my job was pajamas, bottle and then bed. I had done this once before with her and all was well so I was confident! The jammies went on fine, and I had the bottle ready. I quietly went into the master bedroom and sat on bed with the lights off. Emma was happy to get her bottle and I settled in with her. Before very long, the bottle was empty and I was thinking that she really must have been hungry since it went down really quickly!! I prepared to put her into her bassinet when I realized that she felt wet. After a full examination, it appeared the the front and back of her pajamas were wet. The bottle had apparently leaked and she did not get to drink her full amount. I debated whether I should take her back into her room and change her there, but after full consideration, I didn't want her disturbed and back into a bright room when she was pretty relaxed and sleepy. I quickly ran to warm another bottled, dashed in to find another pair of sleepers and then proceeded to change her IN THE DARK! I was thinking to myself that I had done this hundreds of times with my own children, and really how hard can it be?? So I gently took off the wet pajama when clung to her as if it had a life of its own. I laid her on top of the new one and tried to dress her in a soothing way. Her arms, which were very lax at this point, worked their way into each sleeve and I started snapping at the neck. So far so good, I thought. Then I reached the dreaded crotch! I had much more difficulty pairing up the snaps around the legs and crotch. I had to try several times and always managed to wind up with ones that didn't seem to go together. At last, I did get it together, and gave her the new bottle, after having checked the top several times. She finished half of the second bottle and went to sleep. I confessed to her parents what had happened when they got home and I promised I would get better about my grand parenting skills. The next day I asked how the rest of the night fared, and Suzy, my daughter-in-law, said she did wake up and took the rest of bottle number two after I had gone. She said that she also had experienced the leaking problem since that night and found it to be a loosened nipple. So now we both check before we begin...every time! I guess I have gotten rusty and will get better with practice. Thank goodness babies are forgiving.

Refurnishing

It is amazing to me that a small three month old baby, now weighing only 15 pounds, needs seemingly several hundred pounds of furniture! I guess I had forgotten how much "stuff" we had when my kids were babies. Besides what my son and daughter-in-law have at their apartment, there is a ever growing array of items at my house. Because I am so lucky to have her visit often, I need quite a few things to keep her happy. We all know it is Grandma duty to see that the grandchildren are always happy. I started with the car seat base and then the "family bassinet" which need some tuning up but provides a great place for changing diapers. I have a case of diapers and one of wipes sitting under it ( sure don't want to run out of those ). Next came the "happy chair" or bouncy seat which vibrates. I'm not exactly sure which prenatal experience that is supposed to replicate, but she does seem happy in it especially with the music playing and the toys swinging overhead. It's great to take out on the deck also so we can get some fresh air. That isn't too large but didn't really supply a good place to nap. So, once again, I did the " go to town to stock up on supplies" run to Babies R Us and purchased a swing. The old one which I had for my kids needed periodic cranking up and caused such a terrible racket that any baby would be wide awake when you were done. The new ones however, are electric ( now why didn't I think of that ) and so I can keep it plugged in and swinging for the entire nap with nature sounds playing softly in the background. The only sounds my children heard was the dog barking. It also has great padding and head support ( no more rolling up blankets ) and is just prettier. So I brought it home and placed that in the living room. It takes up more space than I expected but it is a life-saver. Now, we are transitioning to napping in a crib. So I went to my attic storage area and looked for my children's crib. After speaking with my daughter, a lobbyist for SafeKids Worldwide in Washington DC, (http://www.safekidsworldwide.org/ ) I made sure to measure the slats of the crib to make sure it was safe ( if a soda can fits through, it isn't) and I checked the metal brackets that allow the side to go up and down. Now I just need to find a place it fits! Considering that I refurnished one of my children's room as a guest room, and one as a sewing/scrapbooking room, I have no room for a crib. My family has volunteered to help me rearrange so that it will all fit. I also know that bumpers, toys and blankets are no longer allowed in her crib and that she must be put to sleep on her back. Boy, new grandma's have a lot to learn. Thank God we have our children to teach us!

First Day

Today is the first day for my blog. I am looking forward to recording and sharing the joys and trials of being a first time grandmother. I know that there are lots of other grandparents and caregivers who have wonderful ideas and experiences to share. As my precious little granddaughter Emma Claire grows, I'm sure that she will teach me a lot too. Many things have changes since I had my children ( my son is 31 and my daughter is 27 ) but I already see that some things have stayed the same. I know that the road ahead with be filled with tons of smiles and tears of joy and I am happy that I can record them all right here.