Adventures in Babysitting - Part 1

So I am going to recap 2 weekends of babysitting in one blog because I need to get caught up. Over Easter weekend I drove to Phoenix on my own, John didn't get Good Friday off work, so that I could watch the kids while my sister worked. In case you are behind on Lee Family news I will get you caught up quickly. The company Brian was working for closed and so they were looking at several new work options for Brian. One that came up was a job as the head trainer for the L.A. Chivas. The Chivas are 1 of 2 professional soccer teams in L.A. This meant a big change but I think they were both open to something new so Brian took the job. Since the season had already started Brian had to move to L.A. the next weekend which meant Kristy wouldn't have anyone to watch the kids over Easter weekend when she had to work. She informed me the week before that she could use my help so I got up at 5:30 on Fri. morning and hit the road to Phoenix. I drove like a professional driver and made it there in under 6 hours which in case you didn't know is amazing. Julia, the nanny, was there watching the kids when I arrived on Friday. I played with Braxton for awhile since Bralon was in the middle of a nap, it is amazing how quickly we went through all the new games I brought. Then Bralon got up and Braxton went down for a nap. Julia gave me instructions on how to feed Bralon and when to put him down for his second nap so I figured there was no reason for her to stick around. As instructed I gave Bralon his bottle, put in his paci, and laid him in his crib. Keep in mind Bralon and Braxton's rooms are right next to each other. So within minutes Bralon is screaming his guts out because he didn't care to nap and all I could think was how he was going to wake Braxton up. I tried everything I could think of but he was determined to scream if I left him in that room. I don't really have cell phone service at Kristy's house so I couldn't call anyone for advice so I just did want every good babysitter does and skipped the nap. I thought maybe he would just fall asleep on me if we laid on the couch but I was not that lucky. He just started laughing, smiling, and wanting to play and since it was so darn cute I just decided we didn't need the nap. I did consider what this could cause later in the day but I can't force a baby to sleep. Finally Braxton got up and we proceeded to shoot fake monsters, play trains, and wander over to the neighbor's house until Kristy got home. The neighbor has a big setup in her back yard for her grandkids and is nice enough to let Braxton play on it. She also has lots of horses which you can see in the pics. Kristy got home and made us some chicken pot pie for dinner and after a glass of wine I am pretty sure I was in bed at 8:30.
I woke up around 5:30 because I knew Kristy would go in to work early and I was determined to take a shower during this visit. Kristy was gone by 7 and now the real workday was on. We did all the same activities as the day before, apparently 3 year olds like a limited number of games. Braxton would instruct me on my script and what I should do during any imaginary play. I bought him candy land as a gift this trip and we tried playing that a couple of times. Braxton is having a hard time mastering his colors which is the basis of candy land so I am not sure he has figured it out yet. He has figured out where the winners spot is and insist on skipping the game and moving straight to the castle. I would refuse to play after awhile because he always just wanted to win immediately so then he started letting us both win. I think the game will go better in another year. I also bought him a finger painting set and he made several Easter theme paintings. It was convinent that we could call all the multicolor blobs Easter eggs. Braxton takes a lot of work so it is nice that Bralon is very easy. You just put him in is walker with wheels and he will zip all over the house. Or if you just stick him in the middle of a bunch of toys he is good to go for a few minutes. He doesn't seem to mind the morning nap so while he slept Braxton and I made no bake cookies, which Kristy and I were the only ones eating. I should also confess that I definitely broke any TV watching time limit rules but hey I am new at this. On Day 2 it was time for Bralon's afternoon nap and Kristy informed me to give him a bigger meal and he might nap better. So I gave him a whole bottle and put him in the crib and left. After like 20 minutes I could hear him in there just talking to himself and I made a huge mistake. I decided I would just go in there and lay him down with the paci and maybe he would actually fall asleep. This majorly backfired because then he started screaming bloody murder. Finally after letting him cry for like 10 minutes and seeing his little baby tears I just let him get up. I might have told Kristy there was a short nap but I am not sure this is true. I should also mention that Kristy only has 1 bottle in her house. Apparently all the others broke and she is refusing to buy more so when Bralon is ready to eat you better make sure you have that bottle washed. I got to change several horribly stinky huge diapers which Braxton would ask to see, gross. He would also act like I was rude for saying the were really stinky. Then as a special treat when we went out for pizza Sat. night Braxton wanted me to take him to the restaurant bathroom. He had been farting the whole meal and then on the walk to the bathroom he informed me he had to go poop. Great, this meant I got to stand in the small bathroom with him while he went poop. At one point he informed me it stunk in there and asked me to turn on the fan, I wish there was a fan. That night I skipped the wine and just went straight to bed.
Sunday was Easter and the neighbor had invited us to an Easter Egg hunt at her house with all her grandkids. I should mention that these people are really rich. This was not your typical hide some candy in some eggs around the yard type affair. When we arrived we took some pictures then she gave the kids baskets she bought them. Then we went in the back yard where she had put tons of toys out along with eggs. Nothing was really hidden. The kids run and grab the toys and then the parent holds them in a pile. The eggs have either confetti or money. Braxton made 30 dollars from his eggs, there was no candy at this party. After the kids gathered all their toys, she even had a big basket and several gifts for Bralon, then we played games. They insisted that I also participate with the adults in these games. The first game was stand on one leg as long as you can. I wasn't sure if I should lose on purpose since I wasn't part of the family but I guess I am more competitive than I realize because I won the game. As the winner I got a $50 bill, I like this family's style. The first half of the party was during Bralon's nap time so he was sleeping across the street and I was running in the heat back and forth waiting for Bralon to wake up. On like the 4th trip he woke up and so I got him all ready and we went over to the party. He was a big hit and all the little kids wanted to hold him and play with him. I felt like I earned my $50 by babysitting all the kids at the party. One little boy thought it was really funny to break the confetti eggs on my head, I had to be polite and pretend it was funny too. They were getting ready to eat a huge catered meal and I informed them it was Braxton's nap time and we had to go, I was not about to try to control these 2 kids at someone's nice Easter lunch. Braxton told them he had to go home and take a nap, which he does very well. Day 3 was my lucky charm, I actually got Bralon to take his nap to. I made myself a sandwich and sat down to paint my nails and to my surprise Kristy got home early. I had to drive all the way home that afternoon so I was back on the road by 2. Going towards L.A. on a Sunday afternoon really tested my driving skills. I even encountered a sand storm in Palm Springs but refused to let up on the gas. I pulled in the driveway just as John was taking burgers off the grill. It was just what I needed, except he added to much salt and we called them salt burgers as we ate them. Since this blog is already so long you will have to stay tuned for Part 2 of this babysitting blog.