Busy, Babbling Babies

There were four babies today. They were all sick so they kept us busy. It was just the usual teacher and I since the other people were out. There’s another teacher who covers breaks who was in there for a while, but mostly there were only two of us. All the babies would start crying at once and there weren’t enough of us to go around. I started the day with feeding Baby L who doesn’t like to take the bottle from anyone else but the usual teachers. He cried for a few minutes and kept pushing the bottle away, but surprisingly he calmed down and took the bottle for me. I was glad that he changed his mind because the other teacher was busy with Baby J who was screaming. I have the hardest time helping him relax so I’d rather argue with Baby L about the bottle. Plus he does everything else with me so I wanted to be able to feed him too. He drank most of it and fell asleep. We put him in the swing because he’s having a hard time lately sleeping in his crib. He’s getting over an ear infection so he sleeps better propped up.

Next, I played with Crawling Baby. He walked with me like we did last week, but I wasn’t feeling well myself and didn’t have much energy for that. He played with his telephone. He was holding the phone and babbling. The other teacher joked that he was ordering pizza. In the past week, he’s become a lot more vocal. He used a push toy for a while which he enjoyed. He loves anything that lets him stand up. We played a game today where he’d climb on my lap and then I’d pick him up in the air kind of fast. He had a huge smile on his face and I even got him to laugh a couple of times. When Baby L woke up, he played in the squishy seat for a while. Crawling Baby kept coming over and grabbing his toys. We kept having to move him away so Baby L could play with his toys in peace. The funny thing was when Crawling Baby would take a toy; Baby L would pick up another one. Then Crawling Baby would take the one that Baby L just picked and would drop the other one. Eventually, he stopped giving the other toy back and would keep all the toys for himself even though he had the run of the room. Baby L can’t crawl yet. He’s only six-months-old so he’s mostly stuck sitting somewhere for now. Baby L doesn’t cry or get upset when Crawling Baby takes his toys away, but I’m sure he wonders what is going on. I kept trying to get Crawling Baby back to his favorite corn on the cob or some newer bigger toys that the other teacher brought out just for him. It didn’t work though. He’s so interested in what the other babies are doing.

At lunch time, I fed Crawling Baby. He was the only one there today who is eating solid foods. He had some baked beans, cucumbers and a banana. I’d try to feed him with the spoon, but then he’d just knock everything onto the table. Then he’d eat with his hands which made a big mess, but I think he’d rather feed himself which is why he takes everything off the spoon. He let me give him a couple of bites, but after that everything hit the table first. He kept grabbing the bowl too, but I didn’t want him to dump it so I’d let him have a little at a time. It took me at least ten minutes to clean the mess, but at least he ate all his food and had fun with it. He really needs a bath after lunch time because he’s always a messy eater, but we don’t do that at the center. I did my best to clean him off though. The other funny thing is he constantly babbles between bites.

We played a little more until it was time for his nap. I gave him a bottle which he didn’t drink much of before he started to get sleepy. Then it was Baby L’s turn for his nap. He drank the rest of his bottle from the morning and then needed a diaper change. The other teacher was going to do it, but I had to redeem myself after the last diaper change. So I walked past her to the changing room. She found his diapers and wipes for me and it went pretty well. He didn’t bump his head or almost fall off the table. Half way through the changing, the other teacher left the room so I guess she was okay with it. He was even laughing and having a good time until it came to getting him dressed. It was taking forever because he was wearing one of those onesies. I was trying to button them, but kept lining it up wrong so the buttons were in the wrong places. I’m used to kids with standard clothes not everything in one. Since he started to cry harder, I brought him out to the couch so the other teacher could finish dressing him and I went back to clean the changing table. I saw how she buttoned it up though so I’ll know for next time. There’s always something, but at least it wasn’t a big deal this time.

Eventually, they were all sleeping until Baby J started screaming again. We could not calm him down and then the other two babies woke up. Baby J was handed to me and I could not get him to calm down. I tried the rocking chair, sitting on the couch, walking around, rocking while standing, bouncing, covering him up, and the bottle and finally, I had to put him down. This went on for about an hour. He wouldn’t take his bottle or stop crying. I put him in the swing so he could have some alone time. He cried for about five or ten minutes, but eventually, he quieted down. Maybe it was alone time that he needed after all. At home, he gets held constantly so it’s hard when he’s at the center because there aren’t enough people to pay attention to each baby all of the time. Meanwhile, the other babies were very cranky. Baby L kept crying no matter where we put him and Crawling Baby kept fussing while eating his afternoon snack. He didn’t want to play on the floor. He grabbed the telephone and sat in front of it crying. I felt bad because Baby J woke them all up and they were all so tired. At the same time, Baby C came in and was happy as usual. It must be weird though walking into a room where the rest of them are crying. It didn’t bother her though. She just jumped in the exerciser and babbled quietly to herself.

After a while, things were calm and we decided to put Baby L and Baby C in the squishy seats across from each other with some room in the middle for a few toys. They are the same age and like to sit together. They smile and laugh at each other. They were happy playing with rattles and watching each other. Baby L even tried to get out of the seat, but almost fell on Baby C. He had done that earlier today too and actually rolled around a little bit. I thought he’d get frustrated by this, but he enjoyed rolling around on the floor this time. Crawling Baby was very interested in the babies and their toys so he came over and kept grabbing the toys, trying to grab the babies and even slobbered on Baby C’s head. He’s so interested in them. It’s too bad he’s so much older. It’s only four months, but with babies, that’s a lot of time since they grow so fast. It was a very busy day.