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Tonight Susan and Dan Sheldon went out to a business dinner together. Since Docto Sarie was interviewing for residency in Portland, ME, they asked me to watch Max. I’ve never solo watched a kid this young before, but I was game to give it a try. Dan showed up with Max about 7pm and gave me a quick rundown as he was headed out the door. In about 30 seconds I learned the following:

• Bedtime is usually around 7 so he may be tired soon
• He slept in the car on the way up so he may not be tired
• Here are his fig bars, raisins, and bottle
• Here is his blanket, pajamas, and aardvark for bedtime
• Here is his bedtime diaper
• Here are the poop wipes
• He doesn’t fall to sleep with a bottle or pacifier
• He likes eating cheese
• If he sticks his hand in his eye or ear it means he’s tired

The next 15 minutes went as follows:

1. Sit Max on couch and start reading a book to him
2. Max grabs book and attempts to shove it in his eye and ear
3. Take book away and hand Max his bottle
4. Max drinks for 3 seconds then spends next minute chewing on the nipple while shoving fist in his ear.
5. Remembering the hint from above I determine Max must be tired
6. Strip Max
7. Change diaper
8. Put Max in PJs
9. Put Max to bed

Steps 6 through 8 were the hardest of the evening. Step 6 was a problem because baby heads are HUGE. When I tried to take his shirt off it got stuck around his giant noggin. I didn’t want to pull too hard for fear of pulling head off. In retrospect, this is when I should have busted out the camera.

Step 7 went really smoothly. I had never changed a diaper before in my life. Fortunately this one was just wet and not stinky. Hopefully it is on correctly, the tabs wrapped from back to front, and I think I got it snug enough around his thighs. I guess we’ll figure that out in the morning.

Step 8 was an adventure because Max was wearing just a diaper and getting cold and cranky. The PJs had footies with elastic in them which meant I had to line up his feet while opening the elastic. Fortunately I got them on before Max flipped out about being cold. He was very kind and assisted me with his arms.

Step 9 turned out to be painless. I put him in the pack and play, handed him his aardvark, covered him up, and rubbed his back for about a minute. His eyes were drifting shut when I crept out of the room and there was no crying. I suspect he was just making it easy on me so I’ll get suckered into babysitting again, but the first time was smooth.