Adventures in Babysitting

I feel like I'm going blog-crazy here the last few days. I know it's somewhat out of character for me, but... I just have to rejoice, and have others share in my joy and praise the Lord for His goodness.

It's 11:15am, and both babies are asleep. After quite a horrid day on Monday where I entered a dark place in the realm of childcare, I dare say that I rocked it this morning.

PRAISE JESUS!

I had to come to the realization (and acceptance - huge) that all babies are, in fact, different. Little people, just as unique in their likes, dislikes, and habits as us big people. After watching the darling, independent Rose for a month, I was presented the challenge of Anthony. Same age... WAY different person. He's a cuddler. While Rose can entertain herself for hours, Anthony needs a gentle touch. Which I didn't have on Monday.

Gaining a bit more perspective on his personality helped a lot. I held him more, read some more books, but still spent some quality time with Rose (like putting her down for her nap, the little one curled up against me and the bottle and my heart nearly wept).

Also on my side? Some new movement techniques, thanks to my roommate's research for her own daycare classroom. I put them each on a fleece blanket in turns and pulled them around the hardwood floor. They weren't super excited about it, but they were intrigued. And then we rolled around on top of a ball for a while. The outcome of which was two satisfactorily tired babies who went down for their naps with absolutely no fuss. Amazing.

This is a learning period for me; not just to learn how to take care of babies, but for me to learn what kind of caretaker I am and what I need. I need to plan structured play. I don't do well with waving some toys around for half an hour. I get bored, and I'm scattered. I'm currently keeping track of their schedules (feedings, naps, poops), which is also something that I need. I need to be able to look back on the day with some kind of structure for my memory to work around. Otherwise it all mushes together like the babies' lunch. So God has blessed me with a fantastic morning. I hope I can keep it up until 5pm.