Josh and I went to the house of our friends, Debbie and Dan, this evening because they needed our help. Debbie's mother, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece had come to visit for the weekend, and while the nephew was deemed old enough to accompany the adults to a nice dinner out, the two-year-old niece and Debbie and Dan's four-month-old, Morgan, were not. This is where Josh and I came into play.
Over the last four months, Josh and I have had a reasonable amount of success in learning how to take care of our own baby (Jonah is still alive as testimony). However, he is only one child. Let's throw another baby into the picture along with a two-year-old, and we've got a challenge on our hands. Nevertheless, between two babies crying in stereo at some points, the two-year-old sniffling for her mommy at another, breastfeeding Jonah, giving Morgan a bottle, giving the two-year-old some watermelon and a few fries from our own dinners, changing a few diapers, playing with each child as we were able, and three showings of "Elmo in Grouchland", we managed to care for, feed, entertain, and otherwise keep from harm all five of us.
We're exhausted.
After Debbie and Dan came back from dinner, we were all standing around chatting for a bit before heading home. At one point, Debbie was holding Jonah as she and I conversed. Jonah turned in Debbie's arms, saw me, and reached out toward me. That was the first time he'd ever done that! That was the best payment I could have received tonight! That made the whole evening worth it!
Ah, the joys........:)