Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Success in Baby Steps?


Today we are soloing with our grandson, Jasper. His parents, Sarah and Josh, wanted to work in their studios, and so our job has begun. First he was crying and cranky, but then I held him, bouncing on an exercise ball and talking gibberish, and he finally fell asleep. Now my wife, Linda is holding him. He doesn't like his crib. Who would choose a crib when they could be held by a warm loving body?

I left to go on a walking tour that ended up at St. Peters. The group were all classicists except me. It was hard to figure out what the talk/walk was about, but I did get that it was all about constructing what went on in the Vatican area before it became the Christian mecca.

And now back to babysitting. Jasper slept for about ten minutes, which was a welcome relief from his crying. And now he's crying again. I put him in his stroller and wheeled him around the apartment, and then read some books to him. He then watched me cut and staple one of my heads. It occupied his attention for a (very) short time.

Success? There are times where you think he's going to never have another sad moment for the rest of his life, and then his cranky side comes back.

Progress, maybe, but no success.