Finding Joy in Babysitting

 Alan and I had the privilege of watching Cheryl & Parker's two little ones while they went on a work trip (for Parker) to Germany. Kessler is three years old, and Wesley is one. To say we were apprehensive of our ability to keep up with young children and properly care for them is an understatement. We are no spring chicks and have physical limitations now that we are both in our 70's. However, although physically taxing, it was a joy to spend every day with them and get to know them better. We feel a real closeness with them that we wouldn't otherwise have without this experience.

The first two days, Wesley was sick. She was running a fever and had a slight cough, but no other major symptoms were apparent. With her mom out of the country, she adopted me as her mother as she needed someone to hold her and comfort her. She became rather clingy and demanding of me. I do like to cuddle with her, so it was fun to just hold her and snuggle with her. One morning she fell asleep on top of me while Alan took Kessler to preschool.

Nothing is sweeter than holding a sleeping baby in your arms or feeding a baby his/her bottle. I am in love with both activities.

I will share some pics that were taken during the week.

Here is a pics of the kids playing in the side yard. The next one is of Kessler playing with the toy cell phone I gave them as a little gift. I think he even slept with that cell phone for a couple of nights. He said "I love it so much!"

One thing I was able to do was to take Kessler to his last t-ball game of the season. It is fun to watch the little 3-5 year old's play ball. They definitely don't grasp the concept of how to play baseball, but they do have fun.

Kessler got a little silly right before going to the game and put a pom-pom on his head. Now we know what he would look like as a carrot-top.

Here's a funny pose of Kessler while waiting to

 run from 3rd base to home plate!

Kessler's team got together a few days later at a park near their house for an end-of-season party. They got to eat cupcakes, play on the playground, and receive their trophies. He was very proud of that trophy - his first ever!

Other fun antics - wearing Rudolph glasses Kessler found somewhere in the house.

Kessler took this picture of Wesley wearing the glasses.

Wesley was riding her little bike in the front of the house and leaned a little too far forward so this happened.  I was videotaping her at the time. Fortunately, she wasn't injured.

Climbing multiple flights of stairs each day turned out to be my nemesis. I'm still recovering from my knee surgery, so I figured it would be a problem, but I didn't expect my knee to swell up quite this much!

We found that it definitely took both of us to properly care for these two kids. We had to tag-team a lot, especially in the evening. While Alan bathed the kids, I prepared Wesley's bottle. I fed Wesley and read her a bedtime story while Alan got Kessler ready for bed and read him several books. I don't know how Cheryl does it alone when Parker is out of town!

Although it is exhausting taking care of small children, we were so happy to be able to help Cheryl and Parker out so they could get away for a while. I believe this was the first time they had been able to get away together since before Kessler was born.

Our main job was to keep the kids safe and alive. I'm proud to report that we did just that. I Can't imagine the heartbreak and guilt that would accompany us if anything had happened to either of these precious children. Love them to death!