I was on a babysitting day again this week and this one turned out to be a bit more of a challenge than I had imagined it was going to be when the shift began at eight o’clock. My plan was to look after Molly and at the same time get a few outstanding jobs done in the garden and then later read a few chapters of my Rory McGrath book (http://www.beardedtit.co.uk/index.html) but these plans turned out to be hopelessly optimistic because I had forgotten just how demanding a six month old child can sometimes be.
The first thing that creates certain difficulties is that she can move about now and is not content to just lie around on the floor or sit in a baby chair for more than two minutes at a time. This requires almost constant vigilance because she can roll about and is beginning to make decisions about where she is going to go. Without full co-ordination of movement however this can still go wrong at times and on one occasion I had to rescue her from a tight spot under the coffee table where she had manoeuvred herself as though she were a car mechanic.
She can’t crawl yet but she can manage to get herself into that on all fours launch position and she won’t be long before she is away. The house isn’t yet fully baby proofed and there are still some things at floor level that will soon after be moved to safety so it is clearly not a good idea to leave her alone like this for much longer than it takes to put the kettle on. I feel a playpen purchase may be coming along soon!
She is also in the habit of wanting to stand up all of the time and as she can’t stand up of course this means that she needs to be constantly supported which can be a bit of a chore but it makes her happy so that makes it all worthwhile. To satisfy the standing up urge I imagined that the perfect solution was to put her in the baby walker and as the weather was so good stand her at the front door so that we could see each other while I attended to the neglected and rather overgrown hedge. This worked for a minute or two but the doorway is narrow and she soon became frustrated at the restricted options for movement so we had to abandon that idea very quickly.
After watching two episodes of the Night Garden together a walk to the shops seemed to be a good idea so I changed her into her going out clothes, applied the factor fifty sun lotion, assembled the pushchair and we set off for little Tesco in the village. Part way there she fell asleep and as the sun was shining and I had my book with me this was a good opportunity to stop off at the local pub and sit in the garden for half an hour for a couple of chapters. On the way back we stopped at the shop to pick up groceries and she was awake again by this time and she did her usual trick of looking cute for the customers and fishing for ‘isn’t she lovely’ compliments.
Back home she had a Caribbean chicken lunch and then we went back into the garden again to do a couple of little jobs and to provide Jonathan with some basic gardening instructions so that he could help out here and there over the summer. All afternoon she was intermittently grumpy which demanded constant attention and change of distraction activities and this didn’t seem like her at all. On the next day it was reported that a first tooth had pushed through her bottom gum at the front so I guess that might have been the reason for her uncharacteristic mood.
I had an excellent day. Molly is lovely to be with, she is really good company and I enjoyed my day chatting away with her and I am already looking forward to next week already when I will get the opportunity to do it all over again.
The first thing that creates certain difficulties is that she can move about now and is not content to just lie around on the floor or sit in a baby chair for more than two minutes at a time. This requires almost constant vigilance because she can roll about and is beginning to make decisions about where she is going to go. Without full co-ordination of movement however this can still go wrong at times and on one occasion I had to rescue her from a tight spot under the coffee table where she had manoeuvred herself as though she were a car mechanic.
She can’t crawl yet but she can manage to get herself into that on all fours launch position and she won’t be long before she is away. The house isn’t yet fully baby proofed and there are still some things at floor level that will soon after be moved to safety so it is clearly not a good idea to leave her alone like this for much longer than it takes to put the kettle on. I feel a playpen purchase may be coming along soon!
She is also in the habit of wanting to stand up all of the time and as she can’t stand up of course this means that she needs to be constantly supported which can be a bit of a chore but it makes her happy so that makes it all worthwhile. To satisfy the standing up urge I imagined that the perfect solution was to put her in the baby walker and as the weather was so good stand her at the front door so that we could see each other while I attended to the neglected and rather overgrown hedge. This worked for a minute or two but the doorway is narrow and she soon became frustrated at the restricted options for movement so we had to abandon that idea very quickly.
After watching two episodes of the Night Garden together a walk to the shops seemed to be a good idea so I changed her into her going out clothes, applied the factor fifty sun lotion, assembled the pushchair and we set off for little Tesco in the village. Part way there she fell asleep and as the sun was shining and I had my book with me this was a good opportunity to stop off at the local pub and sit in the garden for half an hour for a couple of chapters. On the way back we stopped at the shop to pick up groceries and she was awake again by this time and she did her usual trick of looking cute for the customers and fishing for ‘isn’t she lovely’ compliments.
Back home she had a Caribbean chicken lunch and then we went back into the garden again to do a couple of little jobs and to provide Jonathan with some basic gardening instructions so that he could help out here and there over the summer. All afternoon she was intermittently grumpy which demanded constant attention and change of distraction activities and this didn’t seem like her at all. On the next day it was reported that a first tooth had pushed through her bottom gum at the front so I guess that might have been the reason for her uncharacteristic mood.
I had an excellent day. Molly is lovely to be with, she is really good company and I enjoyed my day chatting away with her and I am already looking forward to next week already when I will get the opportunity to do it all over again.
Iggle Piggle, Molly and the Tombliboo Eee...
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