Tag: Babysitting

Babysitting Oliver Tomorrow – Is it Back to the Sheep Farm Again?

So tomorrow it’s back to babysitting Oliver solo, well at least for the morning, Through July and August both my wife and I have been babysitting Oliver on Wednesdays, with the reserves Elizabeth and Nick coming in the afternoon. But my wife started back to work today and Elizabeth started working at her new school job (her last year in her Masters program working a year in a school) last week, so all that’s left is me in the morning and Nick and I in the afternoon. I am sure everything will go fine, a lot of times he is better when there are fewer people around, i.e. there is less to get him stimulated when it’s just DA!

As I thought about this tonight I remembered that I hadn’t written about last weeks babysitting the highlight of which was another trip to the Stratton Hall Herd Sheep Farm. Oliver loves his baas and was excited when we told him we were going to visit them again. When we got there though someone forgot to tell the sheep that we were coming!! They were not in the portion of the pasture where we could see them or feed them, rather they were way on the far side of the field. The owner was at the main gate though and asked me if there was anything we needed, i.e eggs or such. I told him no – we had just brought our grandson to see the sheep. He said ok and that he would go and get them. So he went over to the pear trees and then off to the sheep and soon the Pied Piper of Stratton Hall farm was coming across the pasture throwing pears and with a herd of sheep behind him!!

As we watched the sheep come across the field towards us I saw that one sheep was coming along the outside of the fence alone and soon was at the main gate and staying in the driveway – baaing at us!!

We were concerned that she was out, but the owner said that her name was Helen and she was really bossy so they didn’t keep her with the other sheep. (Well everything about that is true except the Helen part – Helen was my mother’s and her nickname in high school was Impossible and well nothing much changed through the years-enough said!) He also said that she wouldn’t leave the farm. Anyway Oliver got a kick out of seeing her!!

The Farm has three main breeds of sheep: the Dorset Horn sheep, the Leicester and the Jacob Sheep. The sheep in the driveway must be a Leicester sheep Here is a Dorset Horn sheep….

and here’s a Jacob Sheep that we first thought was a goat!!

Here’s a little about the Jacob sheep from Wikipedia:

The Jacob sheep is a rare breed of small, piebald (colored with white spots), polycerate (multi-horned) sheep. Jacobs may have from two to six horns, but most commonly have four. The most common color is black and white. Jacobs are usually raised for their wool, meat, and hides. They are also kept as pets and ornamental animals, and have been used as guard animals to protect farm property from theft or vandalism and defend other livestock against predators

Generally referred to as an unimproved or heirloom breed (one that has survived with little human selection), the Jacob is descended from an ancient Old World breed of sheep, although its exact origins remain unclear. Spotted polycerate sheep were documented in England by the mid–17th century, and were widespread a century later. Unlike most other old world breeds, the Jacobs of North America have not undergone extensive cross-breeding and selective breeding; their body habitus resembles that of a goat. Relative to their American counterparts, British Jacobs tend to be larger and heavier, and have lost many of their original characteristics Read More

I told my wife the other day I think that the unicorn came from the Jacob Sheep. What do you think?

All in all it was a fun short trip to the farm and the more I think about it the more I think we may take another trip there tomorrow!!! Who could resist a grandchild look like this!

Actually, Oliver Rides and Granddad walks and walks and walks……..

So, I pretty much think that when they say that you should walk 3 times a week for thirty minutes a walk,that they don’t mean do it all in one day!!  That’s what I did yesterday as grandson Oliver and I took five, count them, five walks around his Paulsboro neighborhood!

When the day started  Oliver seemed tired, and we made it all the way until about 8:30 before he wanted to go for a walk. My wife and I arrived at 8 by the way! So off, Oliver and I went. The walk lasted about thirty minutes and we visited the dogs both real and statues on Greenwich Ave, along with the house with the elephant statue in the front yard!

After breakfast and some reading etc Oliver appeared increasingly tired. So around 9:45 so we went out again thinking he surely will fall asleep in the stroller this time!! Wrong!! We did get to see the train on this walk though, so that was exciting.

The third walk, which was taken around 12:00,  was another 30 minute plus walk. Oliver finally feel asleep on this walk!. The only problem was, that I was about 10 minutes away from his house when he fell asleep, so by the time we reached home, made our way up to his room and laid him down, he popped right up!! He laid down, then popped up again and apparently that power nap worked wonders, because it got him through lunch and on in to the afternoon!! The fourth walk was a shorter walk, The walk included a street with no sites, specifically chosen for that reason, with hopes that the boredom would lull him to sleep, which it did. Luckily for me and him, he stayed asleep!! The fifth and final walk was taken because I had left the stroller up ater quickly bringing it in the house when a brief rainstorm came just after the end of the sleep induced walk! Once he saw the stroller, when he woke up from his nap, there was no way he was not going on his last walk!!

So here are two of the highlights of our walks

This is the house with the elephant statue, that is now right about where the pumpkin is on the right side of the lawn!

He also loves these two dog statues! Typically when we leave them Oliver is not amused and often screams to go back!! Sometimes I give in and other times I say “let’s go find the elephant!!! What’s that elephant say?”

Needless, to say after all that walking, granddad was just a ;little tuckered out last night, but there’s bad tired and good tired and I bet you can guess which one last night was, eh??

Featured Image: Oliver prepares for a walk – note the family cat Zack in the netted basket in the bottom of the stroller trying to be a stowaway!

Isn’t Everyday with a Grandchild?

So today started off a little shaky, I woke up at a 3 minutes before 6 o’clock, which is about 27 minutes later than I usually get up on a morning that I am babysitting Oliver. As a result, I had to run around feed the cats, make my lunch and gather my stuff, which meant I didn’t have time for a short yoga routine. I was looking forward to yoga, because last week it seemed to do a good job getting me in the mood for a fairly strenuous day with my grandson. The picture at the top of this post gives you all an idea of what babysitting Oliver may be like.His mother posted on my Facebook timeline the other day……Asking: Does this remind you of anyone??

Well,  Spidey Oliver was in good form today, climbing on the back of the loveseat to turn the air conditioner on and off, as well as on the coffee table to drive granddad crazy!! And taking him off either of those things was not an easy thing,,because it is hard to hold on to a 15 month old baby, as they are throwing themselves backwards and arching their back!   I was going to text my wife the above, but my phone died! (because I was running around this AM and I forget the charging cable!!)  Anyway, all of that climbing got Mr Man three walks around his neighborhood in the stroller, which he enjoys and I do, too!

We also played a lot with the wooden house-shaped shape sorter that my daughter bought for him. He can get two of the shapes in the house (if granddad lines up the right one on the roof) He gets so proud himself for getting them in! I think he’s pretty amazing manipulating them, also! We also read a lot,. I am trying to get him to interact more with the stories instead of just listening. We sit with the books and I have him point out certain animals, etc. He enjoys it, and it makes the sitting time last a little longer!!

All and All while it’s a long day, full of lots of walking around, both in the house, (well sometimes it’s running if he makes it to the coffee table before me), and around the neighborhood, it still beats working at Lippincott or anywhere else for that matter!!

“Und You vill Do Everything I Want You to Do……..you will not resist” …….. could you? I can’t!

Or Oliver’s Parents! 

So last night my daughter-in-law posted this picture on Facebook along with this status:

He’s mad because we took away the time out bench (because he was climbing and standing on it) … Ticket for 1 to meltdown city

My wife’s response was: aww he is heartbroken!

My smarty-pants daughter’s response was: Like this!!

Affirmative: was the response from my daughter in law

Anyway,my wife always says that with Oliver everything is either a comedy or a tragedy I guess this is an example of the tragedy, eh? Let me tell you though it must be tough to be with Oliver 24/7. While you love him to pieces and his smile and personality can light up a room like few children I’ve been around, his nonstop motor and shall we dare say bullheadedness, especially when you are winding down, can be exasperating to say the least.

Last week, he was tired at around 3 o’clock,(not as tired as granddad) but tired for Oliver, so we laid down on the couch with the Baby Einstein Lullaby playing on the tablet. One of us kept dozing on and off, bet you can’t guess which one! Anyway, after about 15 minutes or so, up popped Oliver and he was good to go for another hour plus!! Let me tell you if he had given me a hard time about that bench it may have been out on the porch and I would have been sending a picture like the above to Oliver’s Grammie. To which, her reply would have been: – mean Granddad!!  My response: walk in my moccasins oh wise one!  Luckily for Oliver and me, he was pretty good for the rest of the afternoon and finally did go to sleep around 4:50 after I caught him on the couch heading for the lamp, and MADE him rock on my shoulder!!

And you know what I miss him to pieces this week!!