Learning Experiences

Well as you read earlier, Mommy, Daddy and I recently babysat 3 kids in their home while their parents house hunted. It was an interesting and tiring 10 days but overall we agree that it was a good experience. Mom said the worst part was changing the two year old's diapers and the best parts were learning about her and daddy's parenting styles and developing relationships with the kids. Fortunately, mom and dad's parenting and disciplining styles are very similar, at least for those kids. Daddy might be more of a push over for me though. All those kids sure loved me. The 10 year old and 2 year old were great at making me laugh and the 7 year old girl loved to play and sing with me. It was different acting like the baby of the family but I think I will prefer being the big brother.


The other worst part about the babysitting experience was the little fall I had. It was Friday morning and mommy was busy getting breakfast ready for the hungry mouths before they went to school. Mom had sat me in the bumble seat on the counter like she had done every other morning. She was only about 2 feet away from me but her back was turned when she heard the crash. I fell onto the linoleum and burst out into tears (which was a good sign). Mom immediately picked me up and ran me to the bedroom where daddy was just waking up. Mom was so grateful he was home! Mom was crying and shaking so much that daddy had to hold me and try to calm me down. As he did this, he checked my body. The only thing they really noticed was my swollen eye but they decided to take me to the hospital just in case. As soon as the two older kids went to school and grandma cooper came to watch the 2 year old, mom and dad took me to the hospital. After the doctor checked out my body, he decided it was better to get an x-ray and CT scan just to be safe. I was such a good boy for both (I think the ib profen they gave me helped a bit). As we expected, the results were normal and we went home. Mom pretty much held me the rest of the day. The next day, mom noticed I started crying every time she lifted me up by the arm pits and some swelling on my left shoulder. When the swelling went down, mom noticed a bulge on my collar bone and dad thought it would be a good idea to take me to the doctor again who recommended I get another x-ray. This x-ray revealed that I had a fractured collar bone but the bulge meant it was already healing. It never bothers me any more and mommy is amazed with how fast I healed. Even my black eye went away probably twice as fast as an adult's would have.
I wanted this mother's day to be special for mommy because it is our first one together and she had been working so hard with the babysitting. Daddy and I set out her gift so she was able to discover it in the morning. We gave her a nice card, a cute book about a chick and his mother duck, and a beautiful necklace with a setting of my birth stone (opal for October). She loved all of it and I think we made her feel pretty special. After a hellish morning (trying to get everyone ready for church on time) and church, a lady (bless her heart) from the ward took the kids for the rest of the day so that mom could have a break and we could attend the family party that was planned. We had a great visit with the family playing games and eating good food.
So I am pretty sure my parents love me very much. My mom started singing "You Are my Sunshine" during my nap time routine and almost every time she sings it, she gets choked up at the end. At least once or twice a night, daddy comes in and just watches me sleep. Sometimes he even pats my little bum that is sticking up in the air. They are always hugging and kissing me and look like they are going to explode with pride every time I learn something new. I sure love them too!!


We were able to make it to a couple more A’s games before our time in California came to an end.