Parents For A Week

The week preceding our cruise, my sister and her husband went on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. They had asked us back in January if we would be willing to watch their sweet little boy. So we baby proofed our home the best we could, took a deep breath and dove into the world of parenting. (*Note, for anyone that hasn't learned, baby proofing is a continuous process that cannot be truly done until you know what your child will discover). Before anyone starts to think we are too crazy, I have been watching Brighton since he was just a few months old, sometimes all day, so he knows who I am. It was just a matter of fearing how he would sleep since until his stay here, he never napped if he was not in his own crib.
A few days before, I started setting up his bed, and setting up the "toy corner". It was weird to see our little home transform from a "newlywed" apartment to a baby home with a highchair at the table, baby gate by the bathroom, toys in the corner and the portacrib in the front room.

 
The week turned out to be very fun for us. The day we took him to the park, he got pretty cranky when we made him ride in the stroller to go back home, but I think he forgave us eventually. I tried to take a few cute pictures from the week. Forgive the pixely images. The lighting in our apartment isn't that great.

It only took a day before he started demanding he feed himself. We survived without being too messy. He at let me feed him with a second spoon as long as he got to try to feed himself. 

Sound asleep with his little turtle and snuggle bear. 

 He is still a bit too small for the park. He wasn't too sure about the slide..he definitely had no interest in trying that again!

 He found this basketball and tried so hard to try and carry it around. 

 He also discovered it was fun to watch this family play tennis. They thought he was pretty cute too.

 All ready for bed, drinking his nighttime smoothie and carrying his snuggle bear. I think he was a little tired at this point.

 I don't recall why I put a hat on him that morning. I think he was just in a silly mood and I thought I could capture a cute photo. I'd like to believe I did.

 Getting up at 7:30 every morning made him so tired by 9:30am. I found him with his blanket one morning laying on the floor after we got back from my morning meeting.

 He discovered that this was a great little hiding place. He would sometimes just lay down and relax. Other times it was a hiding place when it was time to get jammies on or a diaper change. He's such a little stinker!

 This was Friday (day 7) and we were both still smiling!

 Playing with Uncle Mark in the lobby. They made up some silly games. He now signs "cookie" for Uncle Mark in the lobby which is how he tells him he wants to play . 

Playing with the ducks. 

He later discovered this fun game with Uncle Mark. They're such good pals. 

Overall, it was a tiring, but fun week with Brighton. He was always leaning new things and trying to say new words. (Which means he's now to the stage where I have to be careful of anything I say as it can potentially be repeated). I don't think our week with Brighton scared us out of parenthood, but we definitely enjoyed the following week being just us again.