Alden's First Babysitter

I meant to post a 7 week picture, but around that time Alden was bucking my "Baby Wise" plan and we went a few days as cranky people trying to get sleep but unable to do so.  Greg has been wanting to go winter camping and since I had no interest in doing so he planned to go with his brother and friends. Suzie, (AKA "Mom" or "Omo") planned to visit on the long holiday weekend to get her Alden fix before the school year gets too heavy.  Knowing that she would be here and wanting to pick back up with rock climbing, we scheduled for me to take the 2 hour long "basic skills" class at our local rock gym that would enable me to belay Greg when we go next.  (Greg had already taken the class while I watched Alden earlier last week.)

As far as babysitters go, it's a given that parents look for a qualified, experienced individual who knows how to interact with kids and problem solve.  Grandparents are natural choices.  Greg and I have more than "qualified" mothers though, we have OVER-qualified mothers.  Not only did they raise *cough* wonderful children, they both have had careers in childcare.  Who better than Mom to be Alden's first baby sitter?! (I laugh that we made the plans to have Omo babysit before even asking her, we were so sure she'd say yes!  Not a practice we plan to keep, no worries..)

Alden not even noticing that Mommy is away.

The babysitting started a little earlier than planned because Alden woke up so frequently in the night that I was delirious by 7AM.  Mom came to the rescue and took Alden from me and sent me back to bed.  I don't think she anticipated me sleeping a solid 4 hours after that, but I felt glorious afterwards.  We had just enough time for a quick breakfast before I was off to my class for what ended up being another 3 hour stretch.  I wondered how I would do away from Alden for the first time and am proud to say that new Mommy did great.  (Alden did pretty well too, in case you were curious!)

It went so well that I got home and texted Alden's other grandma and asked her to babysit the following Tuesday!