Not my best work

Since I've taken a summer hiatus from my dissertation and all academic work, I'm working a summer job. It feels like being an undergrad again. So Monday - Thursday I hang out with little Ava, an adorable 9-month-old whom I call ma petite poule (my little chicken - her grandmother's French so they are making efforts to raise her bilingual).

Today started out okay. The morning diaper change wasn't too traumatic (she does not enjoy the process, and I have to sing "the itsy-bitsy spider" or "pat-a-cake" non-stop in an attempt to distract her). Morning bottle went down well. She fell asleep in her stroller around 10:40, and I was able to transfer her inside without waking her. So far so good.

Then we hit noon. She actually didn't wake up until 12, which made her morning nap about twice as long as usual. No biggie, except that's where things started to go down hill. Post lunch there was an overwhelming dirty diaper that literally over-flowed. Changed the bottoms and rinsed them out. Now normally I take her for her afternoon stroll/nap around 1:30, but she'd only been awake for 90 minutes. Still, she was getting cranky, so into the stroller we went.

An hour and 15 minutes later she was still awake. At 3pm she's usually waking up, and today she wasn't even pretending she was going to nap. Now I'm concerned she's getting hungry, so we go home to grab another bottle. She's sipping on it and holding it herself, so I just pushed her up and down the street with a blanket draped over the top of her stroller, hoping she'd nod off. All of a sudden I see milk dripping down past her feet. Little miss Ava pushed the nipple into her bottle, spilling about 4 oz of milk all over her and her stroller.

Inside we go. Strip the baby. Wipe out stroller seat, press with paper towels in an attempt to dry. Keep one eye on baby to make sure she's playing nice with the cat (Doucement. Il faut pas tirer la queue! Le vent et le dos, comme ou tu aimes etre touche. Gentle. We musn't pull the cat's tail. Tummy and back, just like where you like to be rubbed.) Rinse clothes to get out milk and add to laundry pile I've created in the back hall (Welcome home, mom, I left you chores!). Take naked baby upstairs to change her diaper, give her a quick wipe-down with the baby wipes, and put on a new outfit. Now it's 4pm and she still hasn't napped, but I can't put her back in the stroller because her seat is still damp.

I give myself a C- for the day. I didn't cause her any bodily harm, and she didn't get hurt on my watch (bumps and bruises are a normal part of learning to walk, but it doesn't mean I don't feel guilty when she falls over). Her mom is great and had a good laugh with me over the day, but I'm feeling ever so slightly defeated.

Worry not, little one, tomorrow I'm bringing my A game. I've got an overnight date with Kayley Saturday and need a good warm-up.