Journal 45

Marty, Gretchen, and Cecelia delivered a set of books on parenting to my room as soon as they heard I was going to be taking care of Casey’s baby. It was a sweet gesture, and I am thankful for their thoughtfulness. Although I am not sure if the library intended for the books to help me with my endeavor of caring for Aleece or if they actually thought I was lacking in my parenting skills. Oh well, it turns out the books have a lot of useful information. When the day started, I was sure that Lisa and I were up to the tasks, taking care of a baby as small as Aleece didn’t really take a lot of effort. Currently, she eats, sleeps and poops.

Our first day actually went really well. Lisa and I prepared a schedule of the tasks that each of us would be responsible for. Aleece seemed to be accepting the schedule well. We diapered, feed, and rocked her to sleep. It was so easy until about 2 o’clock in the morning. We changed her, fed her, and rocked her in the rocker.  She cried and cried and cried some more. Therefore, we changed her diaper and tried to feed her another bottle. The crying escalated until we had just about everyone awake that was sleeping in the admin hallway. People can get so cranky. I tried to rock her, and then I walked around the room a good hundred times. Then Lisa tried. We were almost in tears because we were sure we had broken this little baby.  Tony entered my room and asked if he could help. I almost laughed. What could he do that we haven’t already tried?  Out of frustration and a deep sense of defeat, I handed over the crying baby. Tony made a quick check to make sure she was not wet and wasn’t hungry.  Lisa and I both rolled our eyes. There was no way a man was going to be able to do what we couldn’t. Tony sat in the rocker; he unbuttoned his shirt and placed the baby’s tummy against his chest. He rocked Aleece in the rocker and sang a little song in some language I have never heard before. In a moment, she was asleep. Lisa and I looked at Tony in amazement. Where did he get these parenting skills? I don’t know but I am thankful and so is Lisa. Both of us fell onto our beds and went to sleep. I don’t know when Tony left or when he laid the baby in her cradle, but she woke Lisa and me up at around 8 o’clock this morning. She was happy again. My respect for Tony has increased to a new level.