Blessed Beyond Measure: Flying Solo

Well, Augie and I managed just fine last Friday by ourselves for the entire day while his Mommy had to work. I had readied myself for this task. I had everything all set up. I had cleaned the house the day before and had nothing to do except be with Augie. I had thought about possibly making dinner for his parents when they came to pick him up, but Augie had other plans for me.

We did a whole lot of snuggling during the day and golly, I did enjoy that. We snuggled while he took his bottle and we snuggled while he slept and we even tried some snuggling when he cried. But, sometimes even snuggling isn't what a baby needs. We had a couple diaper "blow outs". Luckily, I have the routine for diaper changing down pat. We had to have a few clothing changes. I think I may not really have that diaper thing down just perfect yet. Those "blow outs" seem to go up the back and onto his clothes. After those two blow outs, I thought maybe a bath was in order, so we did that too. I was pretty proud of my ability to do this. I don't think I have attempted this since his Uncle Matt (age 34) was a baby. Funny how things like this come back to you...kind of like that riding a bike thing.

Well, what do you do with an infant after they are fed, bathed, diapered, clothed and snuggled? Well, we tried the vibrating chair thing...I really don't know what they call all of these contraptions, but they work for awhile anyway. Not long with this little guy though. I sat on the floor with him in it...I put it inside the "pack-n-play" so he could see at a different level. We chatted and solved world peace during the day while he was playing. He played on his play mat on his back and had some tummy time too. I sat that on the bed so I could lay down with him and chat. It is a lot easier for this older Nana than being on the floor. We had some sleep time in his "boppy" (this is a pillow like thing with a little nest for the baby...it kind of snuggles them) and some chat time and some more tummy time. We did some rocking in the "baby rockin' chair" that has been waiting for a baby to rock in it for a very long time...since Uncle Matt days. We even took a 20 minute walk in the stroller, which was lots of fun and Nana can always use a little more exercise in her day. And then there was more snuggling going on in between all of this.

I was amazed at how quickly the day went. You know what they say, "time flies when you are having fun". I admit it, I was tired after his Mommy and Daddy came to pick him up. His Granda said I had kind of a dazed look about me. You forget just how much energy it takes to care for an infant all day. You think to yourself ahead of time, "how hard can this be"? It's funny though, it was the best kind of tired I have felt in a very long time. The kind of tired I have waited for. The kind of tired I feel after a day with Sojo. It is a "thank you God for this day", kind of tired. The best kind of tired.