Holding Babies

After yesterday, I can finally say that I've held a baby. Sunday morning after attending the 8:00 AM service at Hope Chapel in Kaneohe, my team and I helped watch over kids at the nursery. As I stood at the gate, waiting to check kids in, a mom came up with a stroller bearing two 15 month old twin sons named Wesley and Everett. After watching my teammates hold a few kids, I semi-confidently reached out to receive Wesley, propping him up on my shoulder which he clung to tightly with one hand and the other hand hanging by the neck of my shirt. With one hand cradling his bottom and the other hand holding his back, I carried him into the play room. He quietly looked around, and I sat him down in my lap and offered him his milk bottle, and without even taking it, he just stared at me with a smile. Just as I was starting to think that this nursery business wasn't so hard, a flood of kids came in. Pretty soon, I found myself sitting on the floor with two kids propped on each leg and two sitting in front of me playing with toys, all while kids ran around playing with everything in the room. Fortunately, my teammate took care of most of the cry-ers while I played with Everett and Wesley who just enjoyed laying there and drinking milk. But by the end, we were all pretty tired. And I was relieved that my first baby holding experience went smoothly, and I came out with only a few scratches and drool spots.