July Catch Up Part 2: Babysitting

From July 22 to Aug 1 Derrick and I stayed at my aunt and uncle's house to "babysit" their 3 youngest kids while the parents were in Japan picking up Andrew from his mission. It was really an easy job since the kids are amazingly well behaved and the youngest is 11. I was amazed on Saturday night when Matthew asked Derrick and me if it'd be alright with us if he prepared a FHE lesson for Monday. Talk about impressive for a teenage boy.

The week and a half consisted of:
- Two trips to Chick-fil-a to take advantage of the free smoothies and then sandwiches for dressing up in Hawaiian and then sports attire. Zach was dressed up too and got the free stuff but got to eat a stuffed animal cow while Derrick and I ate his smoothie due to his dairy food allergy. He didn't seem to mind sharing since he got some of the whipped cream. He did have his first experience playing in the play area of a fast food restaurant.


- Friends and family day at Dish Network (place of Derrick's summer internship). We were the only ones there with a baby. You know you're not in Provo anymore when...
- Derrick getting home earlier. During this time his daily commute was shortened by 45 minutes each way.
- Trips to the park.
- 3 BBQs for 3 consecutive meals (exluding 1 breakfast).
- Trip to the movie theater to see the 6th Harry Potter movie.
- My cousin's daughter Leah's 1st birthday. My parents came up from Boulder area for this as well. We found out that Zach loves swimming and is only content in the baby pool for about 5 minutes total. He kept charging back towards the big pool if we ever tried to get him out of the water. Zach loved waving his arms through the water when we dragged him through it (he starts doing it at the end of the video).

- Lots of effort to keep Zach from breaking things. He'd climb up on EVERYTHING. The middle picture below was taken after went to check on Zach after hearing some notes on the piano and seconds before he decided to climb up and stand on the keys to play with the breakable decorations on top of the piano. How does a 12 month old know how to climb up on top of a piano? Zach also decided to try to rearrange the kitchen by repeatedly emptying all the cupboards and drawers he could reach and emptying an entire box of plastic baggies.

- Long nights. Zach didn't sleep well the entire time and would often end up in bed with Derrick and me.
- Many movie nights.
- 2 Game nights with a bunch of teenagers from the ward.
- Two shopping trips to Plato's Closet - I love that store.
- Lots of sports. I stayed home with Zach twice while Derrick, Ashley, Matthew, and Nathan went to play basketball at the church.

- Lots of Zach following the bigger kids around. He especially seemed excited to see Ashley when she wasn't at work. I love how one time he carried his snacks and went to sit by her while she was doing some chores. Those of you who know Zach know it's not common that he chooses to just sit. Zach was in heaven with so many people to play with.

- Brian Regan - The Blaylock kids had never even heard of Brian Regan before. We corrected this so Ashley wouldn't end up at BYU this fall without knowing who Brian Regan is :).
- Intense cleaning and then making signs and desserts for when Andrew returned. The two big signs were a huge sign saying Welcome home in Japanese kanji that I made and a candy gram the kids made. Other decorations included balloons, streamers, and smaller signs stuck in the grass.

We had a great time hanging out with some of my cousins I haven't seen very often since I left CO for college. It was also very nice to be able to return to my parents' house and have Zach sleep in his bed again so I could sleep again.