The last day…

Today is officially Kyan’s last day at the only babysitter he’s ever been to.

He’s been staying with my cousin since he was 4 weeks old. Yes, 4 weeks – it was all the time I could take off work. Over there, he’s got his slightly older second cousin to play with and he’s been pretty much as happy as Kyan ever gets.

Ooh, that sounds bad. Don’t get me wrong, I love the kid to bits, but ohmylord he is not the happiest baby in the world. There are more difficult kids than Ky, for sure, but there are a lot more ‘easy’ kids. Just trust me on this one.

But, starting Monday, he goes to a new babysitter. She’s a nice lady, very-very friendly, obviously a good mom and seems to like Kyan quite a bit. He actually seemed to like her too… the last time he was there he gave her a kiss before we left and that’s pretty unusual for him. So I think it’ll be fine. I just don’t know it’ll be fine. And not because of L, the sitter, but because of Kyan. She’s got a boy who’s 2 mos older than he is for him to play with, so that will help a lot. But he doesn’t nap. Or eat. And he um…. screams. A lot, sometimes. Especially now that he’s trying to get his incisors to break thru. The kid hates teething, but I can’t say that I blame him.

He is going to spend 2 hrs there tomorrow (I have the day off) and again 2 hrs on Saturday. Then come Monday, it’s full-time all the way, baby!

Please-God-let-him-do-well-and-not-be-too-difficult.

Kyan is the reason they will tell you not to expect your second child to be like your first.

Not that Jaben was always easy, but he slept. He ate. He screamed, sure, but not incessantly.

Like last night. When I pulled in the driveway from work I knew something was wrong. I could hear him hitch-crying in the drive. When I got into the house he was sitting in his booster at the table, dinner untouched, weeping like the world had moved on and left him behind all alone. But there sat my mom, poor, exasperated grandma, with no idea why beautiful-yet-difficult baby was crying. Again.

And no, my arrival didn’t help matters any.

He just started screaming and crying uncontrollably again. There wasn’t anything wrong, he just wasn’t happy with life, for whatever reason, and was not going to be comforted no matter what. So after assessing the situation and talking to him for a few minutes, I unhooked him from the booster, carried him into my room (where he sleeps too) and plopped him on the bed with the instruction that he could come out when he calmed down. Yes he’s only 18 mos old, but what choice did I have?

A couple of minutes later I heard him come sniffling into the living room, and then closer, into the kitchen where I was sitting trying to eat my dinner. Once he got there, the sniffling turned back into the full-blown screaming cry, so once again I carried him into my room and plopped him on the bed with the instruction that he could come out when he calmed down.

But this time, it worked. Yeah I know, I was shocked too!

When he came out, he was still hitching but no longer crying. He was relatively calm. So, I picked him up and put him on my lap. He even ate the piece of meat I offered him off my plate. After that, he was content to sit on my lap and eat the asparagus he refused just 10 minutes ago off his own plate.

Yes, he was still on my lap, but progress is progress. And hey – he ate.

This, and other similar stories are why I worry about Kyan at a new babysitter.