My best friend since middle school and her husband celebrated two years of marriage on July 5th. In the early stages of our 61 day challenge, Andrea suggested "babysitting for your best friend." Flash forward a few weeks: Cole and I offered to babysit Lucy, so that Andrea and Michael could enjoy dinner out on their anniversary.
Despite the fact that I work at a children's hospital, and that Cole is the "favorite uncle" to a few of my cousins' kids, we've never watched our friends' children. Growing up, Cole and I both babysat: Cole for neighborhood kids, and me for my little cousins. Now that we're a little older, our cousins and friends have had lots of kids!
Upon arriving, 15-month old Lucy had just finished "putting on makeup" like her mom. She followed Andrea around, and was hesitant to let me play with her. After a few rounds of peekaboo and sharing her new baby doll, I was in! Then Cole came, and Lucy started to cry again. I was nervous about what that might mean for the rest of the night, but Lucy quickly warmed to him.
Upon arriving, 15-month old Lucy had just finished "putting on makeup" like her mom. She followed Andrea around, and was hesitant to let me play with her. After a few rounds of peekaboo and sharing her new baby doll, I was in! Then Cole came, and Lucy started to cry again. I was nervous about what that might mean for the rest of the night, but Lucy quickly warmed to him.
After her bottle, Lucy and I watched Sesame Street. I tried to start her bedtime ritual alone (Cole left briefly because Mini escaped from our bedroom window), but Lucy wanted to keep playing. We played some music and danced in Lucy's playroom, before heading upstairs. She helped me change her into her PJs before settling down to read a book. Andrea warned me to read a maximum of only three books... I gave in as Lucy requested more than three. Oooops! This smart little lady knew that she could ask her Auntie anything and get away with it. After book number four, we started her music player: Bob Marley Lullabies. That's when Cole arrived back after fetching Mini from our neighbor's yard.
Lucy wouldn't fall asleep for me. I offered her to Cole, and she snuggled right up to him. The image warmed my heart, as I know that Cole will make an amazing father one day. She briefly wiggled out of his arms when he sat in the rocking chair; I tried to pick her up, but she quickly reached for Cole instead. Awake, Cole put Lucy in her crib and tried to get her to fall asleep. Once down, we quietly exited her room... or so we thought. As soon as Lucy realized that we'd left, she began to cry, and we hurried back. Cole calmed her once again, and we sat on the floor until we thought she was asleep. We exited her room, and heard her whimper. We stood in the hallway for a few minutes before she began to self-soothe.
Once downstairs, Lucy began to cry again. Then Cole realized he could use the "voice of God" microphone on Lucy's baby monitor to calm her, "You're ok, pretty girl. You can go to sleep. We're right here." And just like that, Lucy stopped crying and fell asleep. Not too long after, Andrea and Michael arrived home after their night out. We took some time to catch up with them, because it'd been far too long since we spent time together!
We survived our first time babysitting as a couple! We actually enjoyed it more than we knew we could: Lucy made it easy because she's such a smart, fun little lady... who also happened to have us wrapped around her little fingers. But, the part I enjoyed most was seeing Cole in his element; I look forward to the day that we have a little Lucy of our own!p.s. if you got to the bottom of this, know that we are offering our babysitting services to any and all of you!
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