babysitting

Last Saturday night, Tony and I went out alone for the first time since Cole was born. We have left Cole briefly with our parents once or twice, but never for more than an hour or so. Our friends Mark, Elaine, and Nina came over to watch Cole, and Nina really deserves the most credit for making the evening successful. She's only a month and a half older than Cole and her presence kept him thoroughly entertained. He gave us big hugs when we left and was a little uneasy, but with 3 of his favorite playmates there he was ready for fun.

I called about 10 minutes after we had left to see how the transition went, and Elaine said he settled in immediately. [I did a lot of babysitting as a teen, and I remember the transition that takes place after the parents leave. Most kids put on a show for their folks before they leave, and then quickly settle down for fun with the babysitter.] They had popped in the Sponge Bob movie and everyone was fine. The only trouble they had was that he would not go to sleep for them. He cried and insisted on being picked up by Mark. I know Mark and Elaine would not fall for this trick with their own Nina, but they didn't have the heart to let Cole cry. Everyone was still awake when we got home at 12:30 a.m., although Elaine didn't look very perky. Cole passed out quickly, but he made us pay on Sunday. He woke up still tired and was fussy, squirmy, whiny mess, but at least we all had fun on Saturday night!

whistleblower

Cole recently learned how to blow a whistle. He has both a small lifeguard whistle and a slide/pennywhistle that he can now use to torture the neighbors. He does know how to make soft sounds and not-so-soft sounds, and he clearly has a preference.

A side effect of all the whistle blowing, is that Cole temporarily forgot how to use a straw. We were at the diner for dinner and Cole had a cup of milk that he absolutely could not drink. He kept blowing bubbles in his cup and he was clearly confused. It was funny to see him trying to work it out for himself. Luckily I had an empty sippy cup in the bag for him.

Cole quickly re-learned his straw skills with a Red, White and Blueberry smoothie at Wegmans Friday night. As I have said before, when properly motivated, he's a quick learner. He can feed himself dessert with a spoon, but anything else requires help (and coaxing).