calming

Calming a Baby 101 with Granny and PopPop: Buy gum that no one likes, eat just enough that it makes a rackety rattle sound, wave back and forth evenly to lull the baby to sleep. Exhibit A:
Aiden isn't a particularly fussy baby, but he can really go from 0 to 90 on the scream scale quickly (I blame his gas pains, because I've heard the bumbo rumble and been startled out of my sleep by those explosions). Granny would snag him whenever he fussed and affectionately say "if you're talkin, we're walkin" as she started in circles from our living room through the kitchen and dining room and back. He got a new nickname, Archie, after breaking Granny's back by arching his back until he calmed down. Then around the same time J started calling him Thor, the thunder pooper. I won't get into the details, but let's just say that if we hear a rumble we immediately put him on the changing table to wait out the storm. Baby Thor is never a bore.
As I write this, here is J's rhyming -
"Look at you stand like a big man,
trying to stand as long as you can,
as you try to formulate a plan,
to get some milk from the milk wo-man."
gotta run to take care of baby...