9:00 Monday morning, I raise my hand to knock on the door but MB opens it before I get the chance, Baby C in her arms. She asks me how my weekend was as I hang up my coat and kick off my shoes. We immediately begin chatting and she tells me that Baby C (10 weeks) turned over for the first time on Saturday. I smile and say “That’s wonderful!” I don’t burst her bubble and tell MB that she turned over for me on Friday, because I’d rather her think that she witnessed this milestone. We talk some more about Baby C’s sleeping schedule, which has been all out of whack lately because we’re trying to transition her from the bassinet to the crib. It has not gone smoothly, to say the least.
9:30 MB goes into her downstairs office to start work and I take Baby C upstairs to her room, making sure to take a bottle with us. I change her diaper and pick out an outfit for the day and then lay her down on her play mat, where she immediately starts smiling and batting at the hanging toys. I love watching her do this.
9:50 C is starting to tire out, so I feed her the bottle and lay her down in the crib, which she does not like and is not afraid to tell me about it. I turn on the sound machine and stroke her forehead and cheeks a little.
10:15 Baby C is asleep and in record time! I go downstairs and mouth “asleep” to MB through the office window and she does the “Yes!” fistpump. I wash out all the bottles in the sink and throw in a load of laundry. MB comes out and we talk for awhile.
10:40 We hear C start to cry over the monitor. Well, that nap didn’t last long. We both go upstairs and I change C’s diaper and MB takes her to nurse. I use the downtime to flip through a magazine.
11:15 I can tell Baby C is still tired and wonder if I can get her back to sleep. I hold her in the football hold, which is her favorite, and she hugs onto my arm with a death grip. I can never get over how cute that is. She is a bit gassy so I bounce her around for awhile, patting her back. She eventually spits up all over me and I am glad I had the hindsight to put a burp rag under her. (I swear I can hear devious laughter.) We walk around in the football hold awhile longer, and then I switch her over onto her back and start rocking her in the glider. She knows it is naptime and starts crying again…ok, maybe she doesn’t know it is naptime, but she isn’t too happy about it regardless.
12:10 Baby C is finally back to sleep and as soon as I lay her in her crib, she flails her arms around, her eyes pop open and she starts wailing again. I look longingly at the bassinet and curse the startle reflex for about the millionth time. But I pat her tummy a bit and she gets back to sleep within a few minutes.
12:20 I eat my lunch, wash dishes and fold up laundry. I also manage to check my email during this time.
1:00 Baby C is awake and hungry! I change her diaper and feed her a bottle, then lay her down on the play mat while I put her laundry away in her closet. Her closet is my domain, because I am super-anal about organizing it and MB is totally ok with that.
1:30 We come downstairs because I know MB will want to see her. MB holds Baby C while I wash out the bottle and comments that she still looks tired. I agree with her and say I’ll try again in awhile. MB doesn’t argue with me because she trusts my judgment. I put C in the swing, but she makes a face and looks away from the mobile. OK, try something else. I put her on a blanket on the floor with a toy but she is having none of that and starts crying. So I try old faithful and bounce her around in the football hold. She grabs onto my arm, as usual, and falls asleep almost immediately. I try laying her down in the pack ‘n play but she wakes up and starts crying. So we go upstairs for round three of trying to sleep in the crib.
2:00 Baby C is asleep after about 15 minutes of rocking in the glider and her kicking and fighting as hard as she could. But she exhausted herself so much that at least she didn’t wake back up when I laid her down in the crib. I come back downstairs and get on my laptop.
4:50 Baby C wakes up and I jokingly tell MB that C has perfect timing. I go get C, change her diaper and take her to MB. We are both thrilled that she took such a good nap, because it has been a couple of weeks since she’s done so. I gather my things and tell them goodbye.
9 comments:
Sounds like; you work for a great family. Stubborn little one- LOL! I work for a family with twin (14 weeks old) girls. Double the fun! It is wonderful to see a nanny with a family that treats nanny like a member of the family- not hired help. ENJOY that cute munchkin. I know I am.
Sounds a bit like my day - I nanny for a family with a 12 week old...well, and a 4 year old. :) Enjoy the baby stage, I know I am! :)
I am enjoying this stage so much! I was hired before C was born and my first time watching her was when she was only 2 weeks. I've never worked with a baby so young before (youngest was 6 mo previously) so this has been such a great experience for me!
BTW, I specifically posted this to show everyone that working for a WAHM can be a lot of fun and it is not always the nightmare that people claim it is. We laugh and talk all day long and every evening she makes a point of thanking me.
MissMannah - your situation sounds similar to how mine was...4 years ago! I was hired about a month before M was born as well. I have now been with her for just shy of 4 years and have just added her baby sis to the mix. Never a dull moment. I work for a WAHD and I have never had a problem. It really depends on the person I think. :) You sound like a wonderful nanny!
Thank you! I would love to hear a DITL from you...or anyone else. I miss reading these.
Just have to say I envy you two. I want a little baby to care for again.
all in all she sounds like a good baby. She just has those nap issues and i bet you its soley because of the crib. Where as a bassinet is smaller and feels more secure the crib is a stark comparison and probably feels too open. That would make sense to me.
I'm glad you have such a nice MB
She's still getting adjusted to the crib--she has good days and bad days with napping. Today was one of the bad ones. Napped for 20 minutes after fighting it for 45. Later on she slept for 30 minutes after mom nursed her. Finally I gave up and let her sleep in the swing, which I really hate to do. But desperate times call for desperate measures! She slept for over 2 hours, thank god. Wish we could go back to the bassinet but her feet stick out over the end of it now!
This sounds pretty much exactly like my job when I started! K was 10 weeks, MB was a WAHM and the situation was really great... I got along with MB really well and she trusted my judgement and never tried to interfere with K and me unless she had a free moment and just wanted to hang out with us. The situation has changed since... MB works 2 days outside the home instead of 5 days from home so I'm only there 2 days a week, but she just had baby #2 and plans to go back at least 3 days a week, so that will be nice. It's just funny how similar your story is to mine... down to the fact that it was so hard to get K to sleep in her crib at first, and her favorite place to be was in my arms, while I bounced her around.
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