First Time Auntie - First Time Nanny

Hey, it's me again. I know I don't post very many blogs, and I figured maybe it was time. I'm in Chandler, Arizona at the moment, watching my nephew for most of the summer. I'll be coming back to Albuquerque at the end of July. It is about 2:00 AM on Wednesday, and I got here around 7:00 PM this last Monday. I'm sure most of my friends think it's crazy that I would go some place even hotter than New Mexico, especially during the summer. It was over a hundred degrees when I got off the plane in Phoenix, but hey, I was actually getting cold on that plane!

I suppose I should do an introduction to my brother's little family here in Chandler. Brian is my oldest brother - he moved out here in 2004. At first, he came to see us in Albuquerque about four times a year (usually around Easter, Independence Day, Balloon Fiesta, and Christmas), but I know it won't be as frequent since he started a family. Valissa is my sister-in-law, and she's pretty awesome. She has four sisters and two nieces - I'd list their names, but I don't think I'd spell them right. Lashelle, one of the sisters, was watching the baby before I came, and then it switched to Valissa's mom at some point. One of the reasons Brian and Valissa asked me to watch the baby is because Valissa is hoping her mom will have more motivation to find a job. (They were paying her the same pay I'm getting now, and they were pretty sure she wasn't looking that hard for a job because she enjoyed watching him so much.) Anyways, Valissa's mom lives right down the street so I can call her any time I'm having a hard time with the baby. And finally, about the baby: he was born February second of this year, and his name is David Brayden Hanks. Valissa wanted to name him that because she had a brother named David who died. (I think he was around twenty years old, and he had cancer, but I'm not entirely sure.) Valissa really wants a girl, but she says she's glad their first baby was a boy. She also says that if the next baby is a girl, they won't have another one.

Yesterday was my first day ever taking care of a baby. Yes, I have babysat before, but all the kids I watched were at least three years old. I changed a diaper for the first time yesterday, and that part was not nearly as bad as I would have thought, especially because my nephew likes having his diaper changed. I don't know why, but it makes him happy. I'd have to say that feeding him, putting him to sleep, and keeping him entertained was much harder. He gets hungry and tired at the same time, which makes him cranky. He doesn't let you put him down for very long without getting upset so I had to keep holding him while I made a bottle for him, and when he got tired, he wouldn't let me put him down either. He would actually fall asleep in my arms, and as soon as I put him down, he'd wake up and cry to be held, lol. Because of this, I just let him sleep on me a few times. Also, my arms are extremely sore from carrying him all day.

Brian takes Valissa to the bus in the morning, and then he comes home to finish getting ready. He leaves at about 8:00 AM, and then he gets home at around 4:30 PM. During that time yesterday, I fed David twice, changed his diaper four times, and let him take five naps. I told Brian and Valissa that it feels like he's living five days in one day, and it's exhausting. I have no idea what people do when they have twins. I hope that never happens to me. Anywho, after Brian got home yesterday, we went to a buffalo wing place (I don't remember the name), and then we went shopping. Besides getting paid, I get to eat whatever food I want and play all of Brian's games, which are many. I didn't get to play games while watching David, of course, but I did get to watch most of a movie while he took a really long nap. When we got home around 7:30 or so, Brian and I played Rock Band (I got to play the drums - it was awesome), and then I got to play My French Coach on Brian's DS. I'm really excited to try out My Spanish Coach and My Japanese Coach next since I've been taking French for four years now and am almost fluent, but I know close to nothing about Spanish or Japanese. (I wish they had My German Coach because I've only been taking that for a year and a half, and I need to find some way to keep up with my German.)

Well, that's pretty much all I've got for now. I hope to type up more blogs this summer - we'll see if I have time. Besides watching David, I might get a part-time job at night while I'm here, and I have an online class to keep me busy. I already think I miss my friends and family back in Albuquerque, but I keep reminding myself that most of my friends are going to be away this summer anyway. I'll leave my two or three readers with that. Auf wiedersehen...adieu...farewell.

-Anjuli