Uncle Steve's first babysitting

Abby, my niece, is almost six weeks old. On Friday I emailed Sara, my sister-in-law, saying that if she and Dave wanted to go to dinner on Saturday, I would babysit for a few hours. They took me up on my offer, and overall things went pretty well. Abby had just finished eating when Dave and Sara left for dinner, so I didn't have to worry about her getting hungry. She was quite content and happy for about the first 45 minutes, and was particularly interested in looking at my orange baseball cap. I think that she can see bright colors now. Getting overly confident, I thought that this babysitting thing was pretty easy. But then she got fussy and was not satisfied with me holding her or in her baby swing. Usually she enjoys the swing. So I walked around the house with her, and eventually she fell asleep, even though she was really fighting it. While asleep, she went number two and woke up wanting a clean diaper. Changing the diaper went well. By that time, Dave and Sara had arrived home. So I survived the experience and so did Abby. When babies are this little, though, it's a bit daunting since you're never sure what might upset them or how you can help make things right. When I arrived home, I drank a bottle of beer in about three minutes as a reward. But I'm definitely game for babysitting again.