Let the fun begin. I was officially on grandbaby time.
I assumed it would be a simple day. After all, she was only six months old. What could possibly go wrong?
I sat outside with the baby monitor close beside me, soaking up the sun and the warmth, mapping out our day. Playing. Napping. A walk. Maybe even get some work done.
The early morning hours passed peacefully. She slept on without a care in the world. So far, so good. I had her bottle on standby for when she woke up.
I was absolutely going to Mary Poppins this.
Then came the squeal. The jabbering. Followed by a full blown cry.
I went in and scooped her up. I cuddled her for a few minutes, but that did not seem to help. Thankfully, her bottle was ready, and that quickly ended the fit of rage.
Amazing how fast that escalated and then calmed down.
After she was fed, we played for a while. I put her in her play area and let her do her thing, keeping a close eye on her every move. I pulled out my laptop, thinking I could get a few things done.
The second I opened it, she flipped out.
I was stunned and had no idea what the problem was. I picked her up to calm her down, but she was not having it. She was mad.
We walked out of the TV room and just like that, she settled.
Odd.
But the moment we walked back into the TV room, she got mad all over again. I tried this a couple times. Same results. Every time.
What in the world could be upsetting her? I made her another bottle and she smacked it away.
“Okay. So not hungry.”
I sat down in the chair, and she was still furious. I looked around, trying to figure out the problem.
The only thing on the table was my laptop.
A laptop could not upset a baby. Could it?
I walked over and shut it. She instantly stopped crying.
Well, damn.
“Little girl, you don’t like Nana having her laptop open?”
She stuck out that little lip and threatened to cry again.
“Don’t worry. I won’t open it again until you take a nap,” I said in my most soothing voice.
She cuddled into me.
“What do you want to do?”
She gave me a big, slobbery, grin.
“How about a stroll around the neighborhood?”
She didn’t cry, so I took that as a good sign. We packed up and headed out the door. I turned on our little speaker and played some music as we strolled through the neighborhood.
I was praying she would fall asleep.
Instead, she was thrilled. Kicking. Jabbering. Taking everything in.
We stopped and talked with a few neighbors, and she smiled and jabbered like she was hosting the whole thing. Not even close to tired.
We had walked three miles before I realized it was getting close to her feeding time.
“Where is your bottle?”
I looked in the bag. Everything I did not need was there.
I left it in the kitchen.
“Great. Please don’t freak out until we get back. Nana will make you a bottle as soon as we get home,” I said as cheerfully as I could, trying not to panic.
Thankfully, I did have the binky.
I quickly turned us around and headed back toward the house. I knew I was on the clock before she went atomic over missing a feeding. She is not patient when it comes to food.
Who is?
She still seemed happy as we strolled, but she started squirming more.
The first red flag.
In her usual displeased fashion, the binky was tossed.
Red flag number two.
I did the only thing I could do. I turned on Hey Bear. I still hate that music.
And I made it home as fast as I could.
It worked.
I was hoping she would take a nap after her bottle. She usually did. But today, she was more excited and energized than I had ever seen her.
I put her back in her play area and ran to the kitchen to grab something.
When I came back, she was gone.
Did she get up and run away? At this point, it felt possible.
I looked all around the room. I didn’t see her.
I rushed through the rest of the house. Nothing.
She had gotten up and run away. I just knew it.
I was seconds from panicking when I walked back into the TV room and saw movement under the coffee table.
“My God, you can roll now?” I said as I crawled under the very low coffee table I never liked to begin with.
“That was not part of the agreement.”
I put her back in her play area. She lay there kicking her feet, yelling and jabbering at her toys. Acting like she had not just given me a minor heart attack.
I waited for her to do it again. But I had to get up to answer the phone.
And sure enough, when I came back, she was under the coffee table again.
I climbed under and retrieved her.
“Ma’am, I beg your finest pardon. What are you trying to do to your Nana?”
I set her back in the play area and fetched my laptop. The second I opened it, she started crying again.
“Okay, so no work today,” I laughed, shaking my head as I closed the laptop and picked her up.
“Well, what do you want to do?” I asked.
She just looked at me like I was crazy for even asking.
We opted to read a few storybooks. She seemed ready for a nap, so I laid her down.
That lasted long enough for me to get through one page of my book.
“Okay, let’s go to the park,” I said, packing up the bag and making sure I had the bottle this time.
The park is always an adventure.
The sweet neighbor lady had lost her keys, so we spent our time helping her look for them. Little girl loved the extra strolling around.
On the way back home, she finally fell asleep.
I decided to let her sleep in her play area. I went to put the stroller up, and when I came back, she was wide awake and on the move, rolling toward the coffee table.
Not exactly the Mary Poppins beginning I had planned.
Her mother later wanted to know where the coffee table had gone.
And just like that, little girl fell asleep.
Day one.
Nana 0.
Baby 1.
