As a beloved Auntie Em...

tries to babysit her adorable nephew :o) What a tough job. I truly admire parents. Two-year-olds are surprisingly hard to handle. Don't get me wrong, I love my two nephews who just happen to be turning two. They are quite the characters - one is into skateboarding and notices if the lights are on or off in any room, while the other one is into vacuuming and mowing the lawn and going on walks to see all the farm animals....They also can throw things quite hard and fast already! If i'm scared of them at this young of an age - the athletic recruiters are going want them on their teams when they are my age! Well, this past week, I have had the privilege of spending time with the Buchanan family, more specifically Owen :o) We have had quite the times, but i'll share with you the fun we had last night. Katie and Ben had dinner with Ben's relatives, so it was my night to watch him and give him his bath and snack before nighty night time. So luckily, as I was able to eat my dinner, Owen had enjoyed some sun outside in their backyard - which just happens to be fenced in. Don't worry, i did keep track of him - he skateboarded and watched some birds and he always takes notice when the neighbor's sprinklers come on - he will look at them thru the wood fence. A little after 8:30pm, I started getting him ready for his bathtime - first had to change an extremely smelly diaper - which two-year-olds don't like to hold still and let you change them. I set him in the bathtub and let him play with some toys as i washed him, but then he decided it was splash time - it seems the more they realize that you don't like getting water on you or outside of the tub - they splash all the more harder! So finally, even after spanking him, I put the curtain in the tub so atleast the water wouldn't go everywhere and took a little breather myself :o) At which, he decided to sit very still behave himself - however, now he didn't want the curtain to be pulled back.....So the battle begins.... i pull the drain, but he of course is old enough to push the drain back in.... so i pull it again and pick him up out of the water - which he wasn't happy at all - and start drying him off. I grab a clean diaper and some "lotion" and walk to his bedroom. He isn't about to play easy for his tired auntie as she tries to get the diaper on. Even though, i knew it would be even a longer battle, i decided to be a good auntie and put lotion on him---so after chasing him thru the house, all the way to the laundry room - i corner him and start putting the "lotion" on - which just so happens to be mistaken for lotion and is really BODY WASH! yes - SOAP!!! I noticed it was just a little bit harder to rub in :o) So now what?? I pick up owen who is probably just as concerned about being in my care as I am about how to handle this smart character. I do the wise thing and call grandma - my mother -who states that it is necessary to get the body wash off - so at first i desperately try a baby wipe - which just exposes the soap even more - so i give up and surrender to the fact that i will just have to put him back into the tub - here we go again! I pick up owen and try to explain to him how smart his autie is as i turn back on the water and stick him back in. I wash off the soap, but now he wants to stay in and play ---sorry, this auntie is even more tired than the two year old who should be in bed by now and she still has over an hour of english homework to do! So i battle him again - taking him out of the water, drying him off, putting the diaper back on, rubbing actual lotion on his arms and legs, dressing him, getting him something to drink- which he just happens to spill on his jammies, luckily it was just water :o) and finally, placing him and his two blankies in his crib for nighty night - of course i kiss him good night as he is crying - luckily, he stops his crying, starts talking jibberish to himself for atleast 20 minutes before dozing off to sleep for a good 12 hours! And no i did not drug him!! he just sleeps amazingly well :o) When kt and ben got home they could tell by my initialy answer that it hadn't went so well and laughed at my story. So that was my eventful night before i had to stay up and finish almost 2 hours of homework online for my english course - fun summer memories!