Adventures in Babysitting

On Friday, my friend called and asked me if I thought she should take her baby Whale Watching. I told her I didn't think it was a good idea, and that I could babysit so she and her husband could go. David and I went whale watching the first winter we were here and it was fantastic! Even though I spent most of the trip "in the head" throwing up in a bucket. I didn't want Stacy to miss it, but I didn't really think it was baby-appropriate, even though Stacy claims that her baby "really likes animals"! The whales don't look a thing like puppies.
So Stacy and her husband drop Grace off before 1:00. Pete brings the baby in and she smiles at me right away. Then he walked out of the house to grab her baby paraphernalia and she immediately started crying! What's this? I've known Grace since the day she was born...over 11 months ago...and I've only seen her happy. I began to have 2nd thoughts about volunteering to babysit. Stacy then explained to me that Grace has some separation anxiety...but only for Pete. She could care less when Stacy leaves.
Stacy is very easy to babysit for, since she's not one of these, "You must feed the baby 3 ounces of formula at exactly 5:03 p.m." mothers. And while she was here debating about whether or not she should wear her turtleneck sweater instead of, say, giving us a briefing on how to buckle her in the stroller, David came in with our takeout Chili's lunch. Stacy & Pete left and Grace cried for about 2 seconds when Pete left, just until David picked her up and started feeding her cheese from his salad. We could not eat our Chili's lunch. Grace had been here for 20 minutes, and already our lifestyle had completely changed. David just loves Grace, and Grace just loves David. I mean it, she just loves him, as in she only loves him. I walked out of the room to get the camera and she didn't even notice. David walked out of the room to get his laundry and she totally freaked.
Here is Grace when David is in the room:

Here is Grace when David leaves the room:

We thought it would be such fun for Grace to play with our little grandneighbor Phoebe. Phoebe didn't really think so. Phoebe is a bit territorial of her parents. She even wanted ME to pick her up (which has never happened before) after she saw me loving another baby. We finally corralled them into a picture together, well... with careful angling of the camera, I was able to fit them both in the frame.

David had some homework to do and I wanted to knit, and Grace was getting a little cranky, so we decided it was nap time. Unfortunately, Grace wanted to be part of that decision, and Grace apparently does not believe in good old fashioned "two-against-one". So we wrangled her into the stroller and took her for a walk. *Note to self: all baby hats should have ties* After about 100 yards of walking, David and I decided it would be safe for him to head back to do homework, since she wouldn't see him walk away. Grace loved the walk, she was making these weird baby noises the whole time. Walking was my favorite thing to do with Bianca when I nannied her. Grace and I walked (well, I walked, Grace rolled) about 2 miles, and she slept for the last 1/2 mile. So I speed-walked for the last half-mile so I could get some knitting done while she slept. It's as if Grace has some sort of sensor... I fell asleep for about 10 minutes, and she woke up.

I had to change 2 diapers. One pee, and one disgusting poo. Well, David says it wasn't that disgusting, since it was just two little pellets of poo, but it smelled so terrible I was about to vomit. And if I wanted to vomit, I would've just gone whale watching!
That's when the baby-poo hit the fan. David got his 3rd call from people at work and decided he needed to go in and help them. So he LEFT. And Grace cried! I took her outside because Valerie and Phoebe and Maggie the beagle were outside and I thought that might cheer Grace up. It did, for a little while, until Phoebe got mad that Val was holding Grace and made this crying noise at Grace until she started to cry again! Guillermo came home as we were standing out there, he held Grace, and she stopped crying! Grace has a thing for men. Stacy thinks it's because her daddy spoils her and so she equates being around men with being spoiled. While we were out, Stacy & Pete came back. They made Grace nice & happy and took her home, which made me nice & happy. Grace is a very good girl, but I was exhausted when she left...and glad to get back to my own baby--- my newest sweater-to-be: