One Night with You and one more and one more and one more

One Night With You was a song that came to mind - at least the title - when I think of the four nights (last Friday through Tuesday morning) that I spent caring for Benjamin, my adorable grandson. His dad, Ron, had hand surgery and wasn't able to lift for a few days. Courtney is a registered nurse at Children's Hospital in Seattle and works nights, so it was "Nana B" on duty. I was ready and excited; my first time overnight without adult supervision from Ron!

Night One. Ben has a schedule: bed between 8 and 9 pm; bottle time about 3 am; again at 6 or 7 am and every 2-3 hours after that. His Play and Pack (or is it Pack and Play?) was set up right beside my bed, so I'd be sure to hear every move. And that's exactly what happened - except I didn't hear much. Consequently I woke up every hour and leaned over the crib to make sure he was still breathing! Three thirty am rolled around and Ben wasn't waking up. I turned on the light, touched his nose, tickled his mouth - only to get cute baby faces from a very soundly sleeping little guy. So I climbed back in bed and went to sleep. When he started crying around 6:30 am, a very tired Nana B fed and changed a very alert baby. He was ready for the day!

Night Two. Needless to say, I napped during the day when Ben slept. Now I remember why it was almost impossible for me to find time to take a shower, eat and actually get dressed before Courtney's dad came home when she was a baby. Keep in mind, it's been about thirty years since I've taken care of a baby. While not quite like riding a bicycle, you do get the hang of things again pretty quickly when there is a definte cycle of events: eat, diaper change, social time, fussy time before nap, eat, diaper change, social time, etc., etc., etc. (Anybody see The King & I with Yule Brenner? If not, you won't have any idea why my brain skipped to that thought). Ben slept all night long again - at least until 6:30 am. Courtney and Ron marvelled at the miracle I had performed. First time for all-nighters! Nana B slept better too. (Why am I talking about myself in the third person? Is this what grandmother-hood does to a woman??)

Night Three. Okay, so how can you lose a Binkie (is that how you spell it?) between the bedroom and the kitchen when the rooms are within talking distance? Not even shouting distance, but talking distance. And then there's the other baby paraphernalia: the bumbo and the boppie, the fuzzy blankets and the fancy curvy baby bottles. I think there must be a bimbo too, but no one has pointed out that contraption to me yet. How in the world did I ever raise two daughters without all the stuff?!

Before bedtime on night three, Ben got to meet the Maloney twins who came over for their Christmas photo shoot. Nathan and Matthew were premies and are about the same size at seven months that Ben is at 11 weeks! They kindly loaned Ben one of their Santa suits for his Christmas pictures on night four.

Night Four. I believe in returning borrowed items just the way I've received them. And so it was with Ben. Night four he woke up at 3:30 am on the dot; again at 6:30 am and he was back to his pre-Nana B routine. In an effort to help pack everything up so Courtney wouldn't have so much to do when she came for Ben Tuesday morning, I loaded as much as I could, had him fed, changed, dressed and almost asleep in his car seat when she came home. She came upstairs laughing hysterically, having passed a bag at the front door. She said it was far too evident that I was ready to be done with Nana duty. I was just trying to help - honest! I love Ben dearly, but yes, the nice thing about being a Nana - I do get to give him back.

Ron had another surgery today that will keep him from lifting again for a few days. (It's all about getting everything medical done before year end because of insurance deductibles. I'm sure you can relate). Ben has a slight cold so Courtney took off work this evening to be with both her boys. But I may be on duty again tomorrow night and Sunday. I'm ready. My chiropractic appointment is scheduled for Monday afternoon.

You can see more of Ben and the twins at bonniekingphotography.com