guest post: watching Kaellyn

By: Kathy, guest columnist - July, 2011

I've waited a very long time to become a grandma, and believe me, Kaellyn has made all of my waiting worthwhile.  I am her "close-by grandma".  Grandpa Ed and I have been babysitting her for at least a few hours every week since she was six weeks old.  We've watched her grow from a dark-haired brown-eyed baby to the sassy blue-eyed blonde that she is today, and it's been a thrill.

For the first 10 months of our babysitting adventures, Amy, Allen, Kaellyn, Flash, Jazz, Summer, and Furio were all stuffed into that little house in Arlington.  Even though Amy laughed when she called the house "the shack", it really was, well, "Shack-like". 

Being a baby, Kaellyn was oblivious to the fact that her living conditions were not up to Grandma's expectations :)  She was a happy baby and nothing, not even the yapping and licking dogs, bothered her.  It was only as she became more active that the cramped conditions became an issue.  Her whole waking day was spent in a living room that was already too small for comfort, let alone for moving around in.  She learned to crawl by going around and around the coffee table, she learned about limits by banging her head into the sliding glass door, and she learned about sharing as Flash ran off with her toys. 

Whenever we watched Kaellyn, weather permitting and sometimes not, we escaped the confines of that little  house and took her and the dogs on a long, long walk.  Arlington is such a family friendly community,  it's got a park or playground on practically every other corner, plenty of wooded walking paths, and endless neighborhoods to explore.  And explore we did!

At first all we had to do was grab the little baby, throw her in the stroller, get the dogs, and off we went.  The baby was asleep as soon as we were halfway down the street., and as soon as she woke up, we headed back home.  But as she got older, the weather turned colder, and it became a matter of bundling up a baby who didn't like shoes or hats or mittens, putting a sweater on skinny Jazz, and venturing out with a squirming baby and two hyper dogs.  

We walked to the community garden, to the elementary school, around and around the blocks, up and down the hill behind the school, over to this park and to that playground, all the time singing or chatting to keep Kaellyn and the dogs happy.  A few times we ventured, without the dogs, down the big hill into the wonders of Shirlington where we could mingle with others and grab a cup of coffee.  But usually we just wandered around the neighborhood, stopping at a park to play or to snap some pictures. 

Kaellyn and her family are now residing in a much larger place. She's got plenty of room to run around and play, and she doesn't bump into the sliding glass door anymore.  Flash continues to run off with her toys and we still take plenty of walks, singing, talking, and delighting in this little girl who has become such an enormous part of our lives.  Kaellyn won't remember all of the fun times we had while babysitting her in Arlington, but Grandma will never forget them.


The views expressed are those of the author and are not necessarily those of blue-haired blonde. 

babies who lunch

In case I haven't mentioned it, Having A Baby really does change everything. If there's anything the past few months have taught me, it's that having a child is like any other responsibility, you have to respect the limits that it imposes. Take eating out, for example. We’ve been taking Kaellyn to restaurants with us since she was two weeks old without any problems, but suddenly around four months she became a different baby in public. Instead of sleeping or quietly observing her surroundings, she now wants to interact with the world around her. She wants to sit at the table and eat WITH us and will no longer sleep or calmly watch while we devour the daily specials in front of her - the nerve! This makes me nervous and anxious.

Cobb-envy at Screwtop

Dining out is my favorite activity, and while it is still a option and certainly something we want to take advantage of while Kaellyn is still somewhat immobile, it truly has become an EVENT. Such an event that must be planned carefully and cautiously.  First, we must go out during off-peak, or blue-hair, hours. Not only do we want to avoid being two slices into a pizza when The Baby decides it's bedtime and demands a bottle, but it is also important to avoid peak lunch and dinner hours if we want to comfortably frequent an establishment that is not typically over-run with children... like my favorite wine and cheese bistro, Screwtop (who's restroom, by the way, boasts the best baby-changing station I have seen in all of Arlington!). Dining during off-peak hours will also lessen the number of patrons to potentially annoy if things go south. Let's face it, if folks wanted to dine with screaming babies or children underfoot, Chucky Cheese would be one hot happy hour spot.

Not only is it important to be cautious of The Baby's behavior, but let's not forget about our own! While Allen and I can now matter-of-factly discuss Kaellyn's bowel movements while dining on a succulent mahi mahi, I've unfortunately learned the hard way that this is not something fellow dinner patrons enjoy accidentally overhearing. Oh, and I think it goes without saying that lingering over a bottle of wine or ordering one appetizer at a time to savor the dining experience are no longer options. 

mommy's friends are so mature!

I'm really quite fortunate to have several close girlfriends who do not have babies, yet their places in life currently allow them the luxury of lunching with me and Kaellyn on a regular basis, often during our coveted blue hair hours! Perhaps we are the reason they drink wine, but if any of these lovely ladies seem to mind the presence of A Baby, they are masters at hiding it. It's amazing how quickly you learn to appreciate what used to be taken for granted. For me, spending time with other mothers and babies is sort of a lifeline, but there is nothing quite like a little old-fashioned validation from those friends who knew me pre-motherhood, back when the thought of muttering nursery rhymes over a moderately chilled Pino Grigio horrified me. These are the type of friends that, no matter how different our lives have become, can listen and share without judgement, reminding me of who I am... until death do us part. Or at least until the first major table-side meltdown, or God forbid, blowout.

Here are some recent pictures of Kaellyn at the park. Now that she is semi-mobile, I can fulfill my pregnant dreams of lounging at the park in a cute stylish mom outfit, sipping a latte and catching up on my reading while The Baby plays and emits sounds of laughter and happiness. Ok, so the weather is in the 90's again, none of my cute outfits fit, and it is impossible to order, purchase, carry and drink a latte while transporting a baby, but you get the picture.

Wearing purple: