So, I am going to tell you all about my adventures in babysitting land. A not-so-new thing for me, as I have been doing it for four years, but when the job exceeds 10 hours (17 total), it becomes an entirely different world. I arrive a little before scheduled ETA, at 7:54am, with the plan being that the parents could have an entire day off without the kids. And when I say an ENTIRE day, I mean, ENTIRE!!! (8am-1am, yes my friends 17 looonnnggg hours of an unexperienced phenomena that some like to call parenthood.) By the grace of some divine force, I had only two children to watch for that long seventeen hours, Catherine Grace (dubbed Gracie), age 2 1/2, and Lily age 8 months.

Breakfast: about 8:15, the parents had gone, (to where for 17 hours, I can not imagine, but whatever), and I fixed Gracie some Froot Loops for Breakfast. Then I gave Lily her bottle, which she happily fed herself. (Yes, my friends, two weeks ago when I last watched these children, Lily couldn't grasp the bottle on her own, and now she can, an amazing feat, to be sure!)
Then I put Lily in her bouncer and let her watch Baby Einstein. Oh the joys of stimulating young minds early!!! Gracie and I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom at least ten times. Repition never gets old with two year olds! Gracie then watched the Barney movie called "You Can Be Anything", and Lily and I played on her play mat/baby gym. Lily never cries, except when she has the hiccups for more than 10 minutes at a time, or when you use the nose cleaner to get the gunk out of her nose because she has a cold. Around about 10am, Gracie wanted a snack, and Lily was ready for another bottle, but this time Lily and I ran into a feeding problem. She was having trouble not choking on the milk every time she swallowed. I remembered how her mother had fed her once Lily came home from the hospital. (Lily was born three months premature, and spent the first eight weeks of her life at Wake Med in the NICU.) Using a boppy and the football hold, Lily and I successfully got her fed!!! Then I decided it was high-time to clean up the kitchen. Putting in another movie for Gracie, I then put Lily in her swing, and proceeded to clean the kitchen. Lily and Gracie and I then played Super Baby, a game I made up for Lily's enjoyment. You put her in your lap, facing outwards, and then start saying in a very dramatic voice:
"Super Baby, Strange baby from another planet who came to earth with Powers and Abilities, far beyond those of mortal babies, Super Baby. Who can Change dirty diapers, bend diaper pins in her bare hands, and who disguised as Lily, mild-mannered baby who lives in a house, fights a never ending battle for TRUTH, JUSTICE and THE BABY WAY. Super baby."
While doing this you make appropriate motions with Lily's hands and such. She absolutely thought this was a great game. Come to think of it, so did Gracie. Gracie kept telling me to do it agian, and again and again. After what was the twentieth time, both Lily and I were tiring of this game....which is no surprise....
Let's finish up the day quickly, even though it was a loonnnggg day. Both girls had some lunch, Lily isn't on solid foods yet...but she likes these Gerber cookies, which she sucks on and makes a HUGE mess.....Then Gracie went upstairs and took a nap in her bed, and Lily fell asleep in her swing. They got up, and we watched Baby Van Gogh together, adn then played on the play mat some more. Lily had another bottle, using the wondrous techniques on the Coppy, and Gracie had Spaghetti O's and cut-up apple for dinner. It was still light outside so we walked about a block up the street, Gracie in her motorized Barbie car, and Lily in the stroller. But as the sun began to set, it got cool, and so we headed back inside. Gracie had an accident, standing right next to the potty, but alas alack I suppose that is child-rearing for you. Lily, of course, lay of the baby mat three feet away from me, as I scrubbed the floor. Needless to say, she made these giggling/gargling sounds that had to have been laughter as she watched me cleaning up. She fell asleep in my arms, with little protest after a bottle and a half more. I gently put her in her crib, praying she wouldn't wake up again, (not because I don't love her to death, but because she was tired and fighting sleep wasn't doing anyone any good) and turned on her humidifier. Gracie went to bed soonafter, and I cleaned up the toys and the kitchen and checked on both a few times before their parents arrived back at the house at 1am. A long night but it definitely opened my eyes to the world of parenthood. I am pretty happy being a teenager right now.....