Silent Sitting

This morning I got to watch my nephew Samuel Stegeman for a couple of hours. He is 18 months old and I have watched him a few times over past several months. We have a routine: we always watch “Cars,” play with a large bucket of toys, and throw small squishy balls all over the downstairs. We dine on Goldfish, cereal, hot dogs, and peanut butter sandwiches.  He used to get pretty upset when he realized he was stuck with me but we've come a long way.  (He's making a funny face here, but he is adorable.)

We don’t talk much because neither of us can very well, but we communicate just fine. This morning he took my hand, which means “Get off the couch and follow me.” He walked to the front door, behind which his mother disappeared an hour earlier, and clearly wanted me to open it. I did and followed him out onto the front walk. He scanned left and searched right but no Mommy. He looked at me and I just shrugged my shoulders. He then proceeded gingerly to the one step on our walkway, and carefully sat down. He looked up at me, patted the aggregate next to him, and I knew what to do. We sat for a few minutes but one of us can be a bit restless so we went back indoors.

I noticed that the powder bath commode was clogged, so I fetched the plunger. My little buddy watched with great interest as I did the deed. When I finished, I gave the toilet one last flush and Samuel just watched. He then waved “bye bye.”

At one point he decided to dump his (dry) Apple Jacks on the floor. I started helping him pick them up, but it wasn’t long before I noticed that I was doing almost all the work!  There were about 40 and he only picked up two and put them in the bowl. To be fair, he did eat two also, but still, why did I have to do 90% of the work when he made the mess? I feigned a cross look and he giggled.

The phone rang twice and he immediately started yapping one word that he knows well (Dada). And when the time came, there was “the” knock on the door. He shot me a hopeful glance. All I had to do was croak out “Mama” and he scurried to the door, excitedly saying “Mama” all the way. Oh that reunion is always heartwarming. From within her arms he gives me a look that isn’t “Thanks for taking care of me” but it is more like “You brought her back! You are the best!”