The Nursery

 The baby nursery at church is the place to go when you want to take care of a baby and enjoy time with some little ones, without having to bring it home later!

That's why i don't mind at all when i'm assigned in there, as i was yesterday.

What's really enjoyable about being in there is that, since none of them are my full time responsibility, i can observe behavior in an almost detached manner.

There was the little girl with her hair in two little pony tails on top of her head, like Little Cindy Lou Who.  She was content through most of the morning just crawling around and entertaining herself.  When a new baby was dropped off, she would stop to observer, and, in the case of a couple of them whom she recognized, she would crawl over and leverage herself in position to give the other child a big kiss.  Only once did she fuss, and that was when she was getting a bit hungry.  Setting her in a high chair, she fed herself some little puffy cereal type of snack pieces on the tray in front of her.

One little guy, who is about the size and shape you would expect of a boy named Huey, tried to fuss, but then, after his kiss from Cindy Lou, decided instead to try to do everything she did.  His limited mobility (he's not crawling as well as she is) hindered him, but he tried to keep up, and never gave up.

The twins, Mike and Ike (and no, without name tags no one can tell the difference except the parents), are 6 months old.  Because they were two months premature, though, they are still little sacks of flour like a four month old would be, and i felt sorry for them, seeing them go from stroller to a baby swing or bouncy chair.  So for quite a while, i held them, a lump on each side of my lap, with our crier, Jack, in the middle.  It was easier that way, as i could put one toy in front and spin it, or push the buttons, or whatever it did, and keep them all entertained at the same time.

Lindy is four months, and spent the whole time lying on her tummy, pushing up and watching the others, and trying to play with whatever toy we rolled or pushed her way.  Only one tiny cry came out of her, when her still not quite steady head bobbled forward and she bumped into a toy.  She's such a content little thing that she was comforted quickly and went right back to playing, and smiling.

This was in contrast to Nate, who cried the whole time, at least, until he fell asleep in the arms of one of the nursery workers.  He then slept the whole morning away, probably ruining his afternoon nap.  That, though, is not something we can help.

Each little one has such a unique personality and way of interacting with each other and the world, and that's something i didn't always have time to stop and study when i was in the thick of raising my own.  So, no, even when we have screamers, i don't mind nursery duty one bit.

There's no way i'm ready to be a grandmother (diplomas and rings on fingers first, please! i'm old fashioned), so this will do nicely.


Today is:

Ana-hachimangu Yabusame -- Tokyo, Japan (demonstration of ancient art of horseback archery)

Bathtub Day -- can't confirm this one, but it's as good a day as any to be glad you have one!

Blue Shirt Day / World Day of Bullying Preventionhttp://www.stompoutbullying.org/index.php/campaigns/blue-shirt-day-world-day-bullying-prevention-2013/

California Rideshare Week -- California, US (designed to encourage commuters to take personal responsibility for reducing traffic and smog by pledging to rideshare)http://www.metro.net/about/commute-services/rideshare-week/

Child Health Day -- US

Country Inn, Bed-and-Breakfast Day -- across North America (special events to introduce people to the wonderful world of country inns and bed-and-breakfasts)

Feast Day of Ma'at -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Festival of the Deerk Toes -- Fairy Calendar (celebrating the toes on a fairy's "deerk", for which there is no human equivalent)

Labour Day -- ACT, NSW, QLD, & SA, Australia

Lepanto Day -- Greece

Nagasaki Kunchi -- Nagasaki, Japan (harvest festival, through the 9th)

National Child Health Day -- US www.mchb.hrsa.gov

National Education Day -- Kiribati

National Flower Day -- US (anniversary of President Reagan signing the bill, in 1986, that made the rose the US National Flower)

National Frappe Day

Nones of October -- Ancient Roman Calendar; other observances
     Festival of Juno Cutitis and Jupiter Fulgor
     Victoria, Lady of Victories Day a/k/a Pallas Athena -- also celebrated by the Ancient Greeks

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary -- Catholic Christian

Peat-Cutting Day -- Falkland Islands (Spring Holiday)

Ride-Share Week 2013 -- Ventura County, CA, US (encouraging car dependent Californians to drive less, save money, keep the air cleaner, and carpoolhttp://www.vcapcd.org/rideshare.htm)

St. Justina of Padua's Day (Patron of Padua, Italy; Santa Giustina, Italy)

Territory Day -- Christmas Island

Thanksgiving Day -- Saint Lucia

Try To Start An Argument Over Which Is the Best Muppet Day -- Kermit, hands down (argue below, if you wish)

World Habitat Day -- UN



Birthdays Today:

Simon Cowell, 1959
Michael W. Smith, 1957
Yo-Yo Ma, 1955
Vladimir Putin, 1952
John Cougar Mellencamp, 1951
Bishop Desmond Tutu, 1931
R. D. Laing, 1927
June Allyson, 1917
Vaughn Monroe, 1911
Andy Devine, 1905
Niels Bohr, 1885
James Whitcomb Riley, 1849


Debuting/Premiering Today:

Cats, 1982
Your Hit Parade, 1950


Today in History:

The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar (Proleptic Julian calendar), BC3761
The first public burning of books in Louvain, Netherlands, 1520
Ralph Wedgewood patents carbon paper in London, 1806
The first chartered railway in the US, the Granite Railway, begins operations, 1826
Spain abolishes slavery in Cuba, 1886
Henry Ford institutes the moving assembly line, 1913
Georgia Tech defeats Cumberland college in the infamous 222-0 football game, 1916
160 consecutive days of 100*F+ temperatures begin at Marble Bar, Australia, 1924
Beat poet Allen Ginsberg reads his poem "Howl" for the first time at a poetry reading in San Francisco, 1955
U.S.S.R. probe Luna 3 transmits first ever photographs of the far side of the moon, 1959
Nigeria joins the United Nations, 1960
Oman joins the United Nations, 1971
Cats opens on Broadway and begins a run of nearly 18 years, 1982
The Great Flood of 1993 ends at St. Louis, Missouri, 103 days after it began, 1993
Matthew Shepard, a gay student at the University of Wyoming, is found tied to a fence after being savagely beaten, 1998
The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan begins, 2001