Lessons In Baby (aka WIAW)

Good morning, kids! It's Wednesday already! How did that happen? This week is flying right now (and will probably stop doing so the second I hit post), and I find myself having to do fun things like pack for my D.C. weekend with these lovely ladies today after work because I'm babysitting tomorrow and will not have the mind or energy to do so after....and not having clean clothes to wear all weekend could be a problem if Peanut decides to have a rough digestive day on Friday and throws up all over me. Lesson number one in taking care of a baby: baby puke is not something you want to smell like all day, friends. True story. Other lessons I've learned in the past week and a half as a nanny for a three month old include (but are not limited to):

~Never worry that you will not feed the baby enough because you won't pick up on the signs that he's hungry. He will have no problem letting you know (read: howling like a banshee until the bottle is warm enough).

~Never post on twitter/tell a friend/familymember/boyfriend that the baby is sleeping. He will inevitably wake up the moment you do so.

~You will spend a lot of time walking around the entire house soothing him to sleep. Seriously, I thought I would spend more time chasing three year olds at the preschool, but they at least let me sit down every now and then. Peanut does not like to go to sleep while I am sitting. He prefers to do numerous house tours while his eyes slowlyyyyyyyy close.

~You will make up the craziest games and songs to make him laugh. Does he understand them? Not in the slightest, but he laughs a lot while you play and perform them, which is really all that matters.

~You will learn to do many things one handed, including fold laundry, make Big Kid lunch, and answer text messages from his mother.

~If the little one in question is originally a breast fed baby, you will find that he will try to eat the same way on you...and howl when you tell him otherwise (read: give him a bottle).

~You will flinch at the slightest sound while he is sleeping and pray that the sound of your typing on the keyboard will not wake him up. "Shhhhhhhh, the baby is sleeping!" will often be whispered to the crazy cats that only come out to play when he is doing so, as well.

~You will learn to eat when the baby is sleeping. It doesn't matter if that means you're having lunch between 11 and 11:30...you must do so or be forced to take your chances that he'll fall asleep again around 1 (not likely), in which case you won't be eating till after 2:30. Problem. I learned quickly, though, so these days, as soon as I put Peanut down in his "nest" (name given by his family for his little baby bed in the family room), you will see me sprinting for the kitchen and devour something quickly in case it's only a short nap. What kinds of things am I eating? Well....

I start my day with my usual bowl of oats (not technically at Peanut's house)....

1/3 cup oats, 1/3 cup water, 1/3 cup almond milk, teaspoon of vanilla, dashes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and pumpkin pie spice, 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup egg whites all mixed together. Topped with Justin's honey peanut butter, pumpkin butter, blueberries, cherries, coconut, Kashi Go Lean Crisp and a few chocolate chunks that I picked out of my chocolate Special K. Yep, I pulled the three year old pull out the good stuff...not ashamed the slightest.

Lunch looks something like this...

Cocoa roasted almonds, piece of toasted bread and butter, and a monster salad (spinach, herb mix, smoked turkey, hummus, goat cheese, peppers, carrots, sun-dried tomatoes, craisins, and honey mustard dressing)...I know, it's a salad, but it was what I wanted...and I had chicken fingers and sweet potato wedges for lunch yesterday so there!

Snack (yesterday) was on the lighter side. I wasn't incredibly hungry, which is super weird, so I had this...

Apple and Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter (and look at that lighting by the way...super excited with the way it turned out...felt like a real, life food photographer with the sunlight and shadows and whatnot)...usually snack involves this plus a messy mix of almond milk, cottage cheese, blueberries (or frozen berry mix), and cereal, which I had all ready to go, but will have to save for today...less packing last night...win. Oh, and I had some unpictured pretzels, too.

Dinner looked a little something like this (also not technically at Peanut's house)...

Leftover chicken fingers and sweet potato wedges. Just as tasty as the first time. Kept my fingers crossed it wouldn't hurt my stomach in yoga an hour later...considered waiting till after but knew 9:00 would be too late a dinner for me.

Post yoga snack (ok, this isn't at Peanut's house either since it would be weird to go back there after yoga)

Little bowl of Greek froyo. Hit the spot nicely. Oh, and yoga was flipping AWESOME....but I'll discuss further tomorrow.

Thank you, Jenn, for hosting such a tasty opportunity to show some eats!

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

Have you learned anything from a baby? What's something tasty you've eaten this week? Are you a good packer? (I'm not). What's the next thing you have to pack for?