Days 6 and 7

Oh, a two-week blogging gap! Sorry! If you visit my own blog, you may have read my excuses over there. But now we're carrying on...

We baby-sat Jesse on Friday, July 27 and Monday, July 30, both times with the welcome company and assistance of my parents. They have been baby-sitting him with regularity this summer while Jesse's dad is out of town, so they are very experienced! In fact, Jesse is now old enough that he has developed preferences and expectations, so it's good for me to have an familiar baby-sitter on hand. He has grown particular about how he wants to be fed (warm bottle, please), rocked to sleep, driven in the car (music, please), and so forth. It makes sense, but I can see a real difference from how he was at the start of this summer, when he was relatively un-formed and flexible. I guess my baby nephew is growing up!

Anyway, he and I still get along well. I took him to his first yard sale on Friday right after I picked him up from Erica's house, but there wasn't anything good. Then later that day we had a park playdate with the kids' second cousin Jett, son of my cousin (and Erica's cousin too) Kim. We took a picnic lunch to Scott Park in Watsonville, which had a fun play structure for the big kids. Jesse enjoyed being outside, but he isn't much of one for playgrounds yet. He hasn't been in a swing yet, and I was tempted to let him try it out, but then I thought maybe Erica would like to be there for his inaugural swing!

Cousins and second cousins, L-R: Laurel, Jett, Jesse, and Isaac

Then on Saturday we had a family outing to Gilroy Gardens amusement park, and Erica got to join us! It was a nice experience for me, and probably for Erica as well, because usually when I take Jesse somewhere I have to take care of him! This time she was on the hook.

Erica holds a wide-eyed Jesse on the "bumper boat" ride at Gilroy Gardens

Erica and Jesse on the merry-go-round, with both my kids in the background

Then our next baby-sitting day was on Monday, and it seemed very low-key after the weekend's excursion. Jesse did get to experience his first piano moving, although he didn't seem to appreciate the work that goes into moving a baby grand.

Just two more baby-sitting days left before the end of the summer! We'll be sure to do something fun with Days 8 and 9.

A week without Jesse

As it had become evident that baby-sitting and swimming lessons weren't compatible to our schedule, last week we didn't get to see Jesse. We will be doing it this week, however, on Friday! So stay tuned.

In the meantime, here are some photos taken during our Independence Day visit to my parents' house.

Jesse and his mother visit the pond at his Opa & Oma's house

Oma, Jesse, and Erica stay shaded from the sun

Cousin Isaac gets to hold Jesse's bottle (with Aunt Nicole's help)

Playing with cousins

Isaac has decided Jesse can play two different games: Marching Band and Uh-Oh.

Marching Band involves Jesse jerking his legs in a marching movement (while reclining) and rattling a toy:

Jesse plays "Marching Band" with Laurel and Isaac

Uh-Oh involves Jesse repeatedly dropping a toy in order for someone else to pick it up:

Laurel picks up a toy that used to be hers

Actually, Jesse isn't quite old enough to play the Uh-Oh game purposefully; he can barely hold the toy as it is, so when he drops it I suspect it is by accident. However, Laurel played this game, and Isaac remembers it vividly.

And when games with your cousins grow tiring, you can always gaze out the window at the breeze blowing the leaves:

Gazing out the window

Fireworks

Frequently on my own blog I remark that temperament is everything; it seems that no amount of parenting (whether arguing, pleading, or trickery) can change someone's fundamental personality traits.

This was proven to us yesterday as we set off fireworks ("safe and sane," of course!) at my parents' house. Erica was there with Jesse, as were my two kids, and the three cousins showed different reactions to the fireworks.

Some of my readers might know Gary, Jesse's father, and his enthusiasm for fireworks. For many years he has brought "unsafe and insane" fireworks to our Independence Day celebrations, and although he couldn't be with us last night, he did contribute a brick of my mother's favorite firework, ground flowers.

Erica was eager to show Jesse his first fireworks. When she handed me her phone and asked me to take a short video of Jesse watching them, none of us were sure how the four-month-old would react to the lights, noise, and smoke. We hoped to catch some kind of fleeting positive reaction on his face, but I ended up easily taking four or five videos, because it turned out that Jesse loved the ground flowers. He watched them raptly, and every time one ended he got a huge smile on his face.

Meanwhile my own children were cowering in the house, daring only to watch the fireworks from the safety of a window.

Isaac has a near-phobia of fire, but Laurel was only frightened because of Isaac's extreme anxiety; she doesn't like loud noises, but usually she doesn't mind stuff like fireworks. And after my kids observed from a distance for a while, they both got comfortable with the situation and came out to join in the fun, which is completely typical for Isaac's temperament. They both waved sparklers, watched ground flowers and fountains, and didn't want it to end.

Day Three

Today real life interfered somewhat with our relaxing baby-sitting plans, and on the flip side, baby-sitting interfered somewhat with our real life plans!

Summer swimming lessons for my kids were scheduled to begin later this afternoon back in the Bay Area, but it wasn't until last night that I realized that I didn't have the right kind of reusable cloth swim diaper for three-year-old Laurel. So I thought we'd begin our day with Jesse with a quick visit to Babies R Us in Santa Cruz, where I assumed a swim diaper would be easy to find. We arrived at the store before they opened, so we hung around outside while Jesse enjoyed a two-ounce bottle of formula in his stroller and my kids played a sort-of-dangerous game utilizing (1) the bike racks, (2) a deflated bicycle inner tube, and (3) a long stick. 

The store, however, didn't have the diapers in the right size.  All the kids enjoyed shopping, though, and after we visited the restroom and bought a few things, I gave Jesse another bottle of formula outside the store while my kids resumed their bike-tube game.  After just one ounce, however, Jesse in his stroller looked like this:

He looks like a little Amish man with his washcloth beard

But thank goodness for smart phones!  I looked up a number of nearby shops, both swimwear and children's clothing, called five or six of them, and finally located one single swim diaper in the right size. The shop was only ten minutes away, although it took us 30 minutes to get there. It turned out there was a wrecked cement mixer on the local freeway which snarled traffic on the side streets for the remainder of our day in Santa Cruz. What is it about truck accidents and baby-sitting days?

Jesse's nap only lasted 35 minutes, unfortunately, because he woke up when we arrived at the shop. But we did get the diaper, which by its styling (ruffled pastel paisley!) seems to date to 1986, and then because it was already 11:30 we decided to head to the nearby Santa Cruz yacht harbor for a picnic lunch. Because of the traffic it took us a long time to get there, but the kids were good sports. Isaac, especially, crooned sweet songs to Jesse whenever he groused a little (which wasn't often), and even serenaded him with his harmonica, which he had packed for that very reason.

We arrived at the yacht harbor in time for lunch. We picked out our favorite boats, and the kids were especially pleased when a dog suddenly appeared on the deck of one of their favorites and laid down in the sun. The older picnickers ate bread and cheese and fruit, and Jesse enjoyed six ounces of formula sitting in my lap. Not only did he wear his own sunhat, but I leaned over him so the brim of my sunhat shaded him!

Isaac and Laurel enjoy their bread and cheese

Picnicking cousins

After lunch we returned to Scotts Valley because I wanted to give the kids a chance to run around at the playground they had enjoyed so much the previous Monday. I felt bad that so much of our day had been occupied by errands and traffic; when I planned this summer of baby-sitting, I had intended for my kids to have really fun experiences in Santa Cruz, not shopping trips to big-box retailers.

But speaking of traffic, it was still in effect, so we didn't get to the playground until 2:00, giving us only half an hour to play before it was time to get back to Erica's workplace and switch the carseats. But the kids had a good time, although Jesse missed a lot of the fun because he was completing his second 35-minute nap of the day:

Jesse naps at the playground

Then we went to Erica's work, where my kids had a snack and Jesse hung out watching us from the stroller while I reconfigured the carseat arrangement.  (I remove Isaac's booster and Jesse's infant carseat base, and put back in Isaac's five-point harness carseat.)

Then we hit the road promptly at 3:10, because the kids' swimming lessons started at 4:30! And the drive is supposed to take an hour and 20 minutes! But instead it took an hour and 40 minutes! So we missed swimming almost completely! I guess we didn't need that swim diaper after all!

Yes, I know it was a crazy plan. Never say I am not an optimist.

Isaac was okay with missing swimming, but Laurel was disappointed and confused. Luckily swimming lessons will be every day this week, so she'll have another chance tomorrow.

Day Two

Jesse had a good day today!  We met his mother Erica outside her office promptly as scheduled, but she seemed understandably reluctant to leave him.  Then Jesse joined his cousins in the cozy back seat of my car.  He enjoyed riding with them, and Isaac enjoyed it as well.

Jesse is ready to roll with Isaac and Laurel

After we left Erica at 9:00 a.m., we went to a small playground near her work. It was fenced, it had a bathroom and a drinking fountain, and the play structures were fun. We stayed until noon because my kids were having a terrific time playing with a large group of well-mannered kids. We were there so long that I got sunburned.

I wore Jesse in the Ergo baby carrier nearly the entire time, and he was thrilled when I remained standing, but he shrieked relentlessly when I had to bend over slightly to change Laurel's diaper in the back section of the station wagon.  But then he fell asleep about 20 seconds later!

Actually, he slept a lot of the time.  He slept for nearly 45 minutes, then woke up but was clearly still sleepy, and so I bounced him for ten minutes until he fell back to sleep.  This nap lasted an additional 45 minutes!  Finally he woke up hungry, so we spread a blanket on the grass under a shady tree and he had three ounces of formula.

Then we had to hurry, because we were running late to meet the kids' Oma at 12:30 for lunch in Santa Cruz.  Jesse was happy in the car, but he cried furiously after we arrived and I put him back into the Ergo.  After we walked a block listening to him shriek he fell asleep again, which lasted about 25 minutes -- until I sat down to eat lunch, naturally.  But then my mom volunteered to hold him, and in fact she didn't give him back until it was time for us to leave! 

Lunch with Oma

After lunch we visited the bookstore, where Jesse got to sit with Oma in the rocking chair while I read a few books to my kids.  He had a bit more formula, maybe another three ounces, and a diaper change in the convenient restroom.  Then he started getting fussy around 2:30, and Oma had to keep taking him outside to distract him.  He was probably expecting something more to eat, but we decided to save his appetite for his mother. 

Rocking at the bookstore with Oma

Auntie Nicole reads to Jesse's cousins Laurel and Isaac at the bookstore

Somehow books and multiple trips to the bathroom (Laurel is learning to use the toilet) brought us to 3:00 p.m. and all too soon it was time to return Jesse to his mother. The day went by very quickly, and my kids loved the bookstore.  But we ended up spending $45 on books, so I don't think we'll make the bookstore a regular part of our baby-sitting routine!

Carseat update

No doubt most readers of this blog already saw it over at my own blog, but we are in business for baby-sitting!  According to the nice officer at the California Highway Patrol, my nephew Jesse and my own children Isaac and Laurel can ride safely in their three carseats in the rear seat of my station wagon -- at least through the next few months.

But soon Jesse will get too tall for his infant car seat (it can hold kids up to 30 inches long, and he's already at 26 inches), and as I noted on my own blog, Isaac and Laurel are both facing carseat challenges of their own.  So pretty soon the entire configuration will need to change.

Well, unfortunately baby-sitting is only a summer gig for us anyway.  In the fall Isaac will be in first grade (!) five days a week, and Laurel will be back in preschool two days a week, and we will no longer be able to make the weekly trip to see cousin Jesse. 

But at least we can have fun for now.

Welcome

We're starting a new blog here, one about Jesse Dean!

This coming summer I will be baby-sitting my nephew Jesse every Monday, and my two kids are coming along for the ride.  For the past six years I have written a blog detailing my experiences with Isaac and Laurel, so in the interest of keeping things tidy, I decided to launch a blog just for Jesse.  If his parents or other caregivers want to join in, they will be able to write posts and add photos as well.

I'm hoping for a summer of fun!  Or at least a summer of successful naps, which is pretty important as I recall from having a three-month-old.