DISCLAIMER: Babies are not all the same so your experience may be different, however, these are my suggestions after babysitting a very, strong, active, and smiling, baby who just had her first birthday. Our granddaughter is pictured below.
They say that a picture says a thousand words and I won't use a thousand words for these two blogs, but the pictures will take away anything here that you don't find amusing or helpful.
SAFETY FIRST
She's only crawling, but she can move quickly. She likes to take off and then stop, turn around and wave as if she's saying, "Na-na-na-na." The other day she took off and was almost underneath her mom who was cleaning up something we didn't want the baby going into. I did a quick 64-year-old man dash, grabbed her on the run, and had nowhere to go. I mostly avoided my daughter-in-law and stumbled through a few toys while still holding the startled baby. No picture or video is available.
A baby can back down a couple steps from the couch dozens of times, but they can still miss and tumble, you have to be ready for anything. Keeping paths available on the floor for you and the baby is always a good thing.
READING AND EDUCATION
This baby has a ton of books to choose from and sometimes she chooses more than one. Yesterday I found myself with two books and my many years reading responsively in temple came in handy. (The rabbi would read one line and the congregation read the next.) I alternated lines in both books which really messed up the story.
It doesn't have to make sense and it didn't, but she enjoyed the two books at the same time. Don't use your voice, talk high or low or as the opposite sex. You can sing the lines even if you can't sing. The baby will enjoy it and ask for more by giving you back the book or going to the beginning again and again and again.
This is an opportunity for you and the baby to learn. When was the last time you went through all the planets, can you name them? As the baby gets older she'll be able to read to you and you can test each other.
My kids and millions of other kids and adults love Sponge Bob. My kids talked about it so much that I wrote a song many years ago that our granddaughter's dad helped me with and it was called, "Sponge Bob's Demise." The first lines were, "One day Sponge Bob will leave us and I'll cheer." How thrilled was I to see this book in my grandchild's collection? Even my grandchildren are going to be telling SpongeBob stories!
EATING
More than likely the baby is going to enjoy eating, some more than others. In addition to the baby bottle or the mother's breast, you need to know what the baby eats and where the food or snacks are. This baby loves to eat and this picture tells the whole story below, because she is eating with both hands. Distracting the baby with food, toys, books, or anything else can be very useful.
COMING UP NEXT WEEK:
Sleeping, Changing a diaper, Exercise and Playing with traditional and non-traditional toys.
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