A Better Babysitting Experience

Last Friday, I babysitted my youngest niece, A for 2-3 hours in the morning while her mummy runs some errands and shopping. The first and last time I babysitted her (with hubby then) was when she was only 6 weeks old. Her parents had gone out for about 3 hours for dinner to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

A, when she was a couple of days old. She already knew how to pose when she sleeps!

Our first experience with babysitting A was not a totally easy and good one. Her routine was disrupted earlier that day that by the evening, she was tired and not fully fed even though mummy has fed her. Read the encounter here.

This time, my SIL made sure I came at a time that A is having her morning nap. It happened that she did not sleep well the day before and hence she is a bit knocked out by that Friday morning. Since she is sleeping, I happily used and exercise on the Wii with Wii Fit :) Had a really good workout (was perspiring and all) for about 30 minutes when I heard A talking to herself via the baby monitor. The cute thing about A is that when she wakes up, she will not cry/winge to get attention (like her cousins) but she will talk to herself... I certainly do not understand what she says :p About 10 mins of talking, she decided to winge/kinda cry and then I know it is time to go carry her out.

A was a little surprised to see me but I think she does recognise me (even though I have not really carried her for a while because I was a little afraid of her sudden cries and I don't know why and I cannot humour/calm her down). I carried her to the rumpus to be with me. I was feeling quite sleepy then. I thought I will put her down and she can play by herself while I take a cat nap nearby. But the moment I put her down, she starts to cry. So I picked her up and feeling really tired, I sat on the couch, with my left arm holding her and my fingers holding onto the toy that she is playing to amuse herself and my right hand nearby in case I need to catch her from falling off me. I really was able to have about 10 mins of cat nap where I was semi-conscious and A was still happily amusing herself :) I must say this 'skill' was probably attained through my naps on the bus on my way to work and I was still able to know what is happening around me and when I have to alight the bus.

A at 7 months old, looking a little more like mummy in this photo

A is quite clever now. She is able to listen and seem to understand you. Her mum forgot to tell her that I was coming and hence she was surprised to see me. A was a little impatient when she was hungry but I had to heat up her milk. Carrying her in my left hand and trying to heat up the milk with my right hand, she is quietly observing what I was doing. When I told her to be a bit patient to wait for me to heat up the milk, she seems like she understands. At one point, I have to put her down on the rocker for a few seconds while I need both my hands to take out the hot water from the microwave. Telling her "you wait here for a little while while I prepare your milk" seems to keep her from her little winges of wanting to start to cry because I am not carrying her.

She drank 30ml of her milk from the bottle, which was quite a feat. She has not been wanting to take milk from the bottle. Her dad, grandma, mum tried but also in vain. This time, she drank half of the quantity before rejecting it. I tried a few more times but she is still adament of not wanting the bottle. Well, at least she drinks some! Her mum was surprised but happy that she drank 30ml on the bottle.

Now that it isn't so bad, I do not mind babysitting her more often. Saw her for a bit today at my in-law's and she waved bye bye to me (she looked like she was gesturing "come here" with her fingers opening and closing) a few times. That felt nice :)