Baby Jason

Jessie, who was brave enough to attempt to teach me cake decorating, was nice enough to indulge my need for a baby fix and agree to let me keep her son, Jason, when she was going to be out of town overnight. Jason is just the sweetest thing - always smiley and in a great mood. Laura, who has kids the same age as Jessie's, was going to be keeping Jessie's other little girl, Erica since Erica and Sophia (Laura's daughter) are BFF's.

As wild and crazy as my kids can be, they LOOOOOOVE babies and they are really good with them. Very gentle, very patient, and the even offer to share their toys, food, clothes...whatever. So when I told them that we'd be keeping Jason, they were so excited. I picked him up after I worked out, so by the time I got home my kids were already in bed. R and I gave him a bottle, changed his pants, got peed on (how quickly you forget that happens), and put him to bed. No crying, no battles, just pure baby love.

Unfortunately for Jason, the kids couldn't stand it and woke the poor little guy up at 6:30 in the morning. Even so, he was a great sport. The kids initially treated him like a dog - T would clap his hands and say, "Here baby Jason. Come here. Come on, coooooome on" and S would pat the chair or floor beside her and say, "Come here! Come here!"

Uggg. So, the bonus was that the kids were fascinated and totally absorbed by Jason. They wanted to help feed him, diaper him, dress him, hold him, etc. They also wanted to slip him some of their food, which turned out to be quite the battle between the kids and I. 'No, Jason cannot eat Apple Jacks because he's just getting his teeth. No, baby Jason can't have a pb&j because he can't chew. No, baby Jason can't have Cheetos, or triangle chips (Doritos, natch), or carrot sticks, or an apple, or celery, or a juice box, or a sucker.'

But we all survived quite well with a third little one in the house. The kids fought over who would sit beside him, who would play with him, who would share what toy with him - all good stuff. I loved every minute of it and it was SUCH a fun day. But it wore me out and I'm glad that it's just my two. I don't think I could deal with three and admire anyone that can! Kids are hard, man!

T and S were so sad when Jessie came to pick him up. They seriously wanted to keep him 'forever and ever'. The next morning, when T got up, he came into our bedroom with a very sad face and I asked him what was wrong. "Mom, I want baby Jason back. I want a house full of babies." UH OH. This baby machine is in retirement. "How about some Apple Jacks?" I suggested. "Yeaaaahhhhhhhh" (whew) "and then can we go and get baby Jason?" (double uh oh!)