Torrance and Azalea watch 08: Chris' Experience

So here are the sitters:



And...



Here's who we sat:




Dave and Heather Eaton took a trip to Puerto Rico this month. Brooke and I were given the opportunity to take care of their daughters, Torrance and Azalea. (or Toto and Butter Pig)

Each afternoon Brooke would help Torrance with her reading and we'd take turns holding or caring for Azalea. Every evening Torrance, Brooke and I would say prayers together (which when Torrance would say them included a puppy, a lost friend, and Gordon B. Hinckley)

After Torrance went to bed we'd stayed up with Azalea. Then it was time to go to sleep on "Awesome", David and Heather's bed (ironically "Awesome" is not that great. It's a bit too firm.)

Speaking of dying, if you ever get the chance to change Azalea's diaper, you'll know what death is. First off you know it's coming hours before it hits. The toots start coming, then the smell. Oh the smell.

One would think a cherubic infant such as Azalea couldn't dare produce such an odor. But once you open that diaper, you learn pain.

I couldn't believe it, the consistency of mortar and the color as well. A dark gray paste that I think was used to set the capstone of the Salt Lake Temple.



This particular photo illustrates the lengths we would go to avoid dry heaving.

The last time I was given the opportunity to change Azalea she thought it would be a good idea to pee on me. That was just weird.

Torrance left us for a weekend of "High School Musical Three" and Cousin-fun-a-pa-looza. I missed her. She was such a treat. I loved hearing her read and watching over her shoulder. Sometimes she would see a word which she didn't recognize and would use another word that started with the same letter. I'd say the right word quietly to her and she'd repeat it and quickly move on with the story.

Saturday evening and Sunday it was just Azalea, Brooke and I.

I've been told by friends "oh babysitting is great practice for being a parent!" and then I watch four kids that are not mine. These kids have developed their lives without any teaching or discipline from me. That's not practice for being a parent, that's practice for taking care of someone else's kids.

I've also been told "oh having a puppy is great practice for being a parent!" no it's not, its a dog. You put a lease around a dog and tug on it if it disobeys.

But having to take of Azalea, three months old, that was a pleasant introduction to fatherhood. The first couple of days it was enjoyable to see her. She's adorable, she seldom made a fuss. When she did cry it didn't last.

As the days went by I began to feel the need she had for Brooke and I, she was truly helpless. You grow to love someone that needs you like that.

Brooke loved it so much. She said a few times how she couldn't imagine loving someone as much as she loved Azalea. It was the hours of service she gave her. She loves her so much.

There were a couple of accidental moments where Brooke called her Olive. You can tell how ready Brooke is for motherhood and how absolutely she will love our daughter.

Sunday came. Later in the evening Torrance came home. She fell asleep on Brooke's lap. Azalea fell asleep in my arms minutes before Dave and Heather returned. When they got home it was a sweet goodbye. I loved the experience and can't wait for January.

Oh yeah and the best thing in the world... a baby in a turtle neck: