berkley the babysitter

Berkley seems to be growing up before my eyes. She has always loved to be a little "mommy" to her younger brothers, but she seems to gain more and more "mothering" instincts as she gets bigger.

Last week I had to run a quick errand. Marmie came over to stay with the kids so that my "quick" errand could be just that... "quick!" We were getting ready to leave town, and I was trying to have everything ready to go for our estimated time of departure. Brenner was getting really tired and a little fussy, but I was holding him off from a nap so that he would sleep in the car. When I left Marmie and the kids, Brenner was crying. Evidently, he was sad for a while, so Marmie rocked him for a little while until he calmed down. He later decided to get up and play for a while. After a little while, he decided he was too tired to play. He began to get upset again. Berkley suggested to Marmie that she could take a "turn" rocking Brenner. My mom said Brenner seemed to understand what Berkley had offered, and he stretched his arms up to Berkley. Very satisfied, Berkley picked up Brenner and got situated.

I returned home to find this...
My mom told me that within just a few minutes of Berkley rocking her baby brother, he crashed. So sweet!Berkley was one proud big sister... with much reason to be!
This weekend we spent a night at the lake. Marmie and JT were there too, along with Aunt Amy and baby Dane. Uncle Chris is out of town for work, so Amy & Dane have decided to hang out at the lake for a few days. Chris usually gives Dane a bottle each night around dinner. Since he was gone, Amy was looking for someone to help out with that feeding. My little "mommy" stepped right up to the challenge. She was very focused in the beginning, keeping her eye on Dane and watching him very carefully.

Dane didn't seem to mind that Berkley had "stepped in" for his daddy.
Soon Berkley was feeling pretty confident of her bottle-feeding skills.Towards the end I think she considered herself a pro. I'm pretty sure I have a babysitter in training!