Our night out

Tom and I got a chance to go out Saturday night to Chi & Patricia's wedding. Was kind of hoping to see more BCEC folk there but surprised that some key folk, like Phil and Hsi-Jung, weren't there. But it was still nice to chat with Mo about school and see "old school" folk like Simon Mak, ever energetic and fun to talk to.

The evening wasn't possible without our sitter and our friends. We decided to split up Tobey and Eli since our sitter comes with her own toddler too. We just thought 2 toddlers and an infant was a little much to ask so we shipped Eli off to Eric & CC's for their careful bottle feeding and high tolerance for crying. Luckily, both kids got good reports, which means we didn't burn any babysitting bridges!

So our sitter for Tobey said that he was great and had just one "moment". When she pulled out the Bible at bedtime, she thinks he then realized that Tom and I were absent. He cried for a little but she was able to talk him through that we'd be back when he wakes up in the morning and he quickly stopped. It makes me think about when MeiAndrew watched him for the afternoon when I went to L3 with my parents. Tobey actually cried when he came out of his room post-nap looking for me. Nothing that a little TV can't fix but I was surprised because he hasn't shown any separation "anxiety" since he was a baby. I wonder if the addtion of Eli has changed that -- I think these were the only two babysitting instances since the baby was born.

We're so thankful for our sitter and friends because when we were at the wedding, we were seated with Leigh & Jeff and their two kids. Conversation actually occurred but mostly broken up into snippets, especially after the kids were done with their kids meals. We saw other kids and parents there too and secretly breathed a sigh of relief that we didn't have ours. It's not like we danced the night away (on $10/hour?!) or anything. It was just nice to not have other people to take care of, have continuous thoughts in a conversation and just plain old relax.

And my final thought for the night is our sitter. She's a real sweetheart and I'm thankful Tobey likes her, even from the Bible study days when she sat for all of our kids. I really feel for her because she's a young single mom with a part-time job, school and babysitting on the side for extra money. Saturday when I saw her pull up, her toddler had fallen asleep in the car and she was stooped down next to him, presumably seeing if he wanted to sleep more. It was such a sweet moment because he comes with her to her babysitting gigs -- I could just imagine him being a teenager or older, recounting his childhood and having such affection for his mom who tried her best given tough circumstances. I felt the same when she sat for us for Reynold's wedding. We came back at 10:30, he had fallen asleep on the couch watching Nemo and she held him out to the car, still sleeping after a long night. He's such a trooper and so is she. I pray special blessings for her and realize how wimpy I am never having had to juggle school and job, much less all that with a young child. I always feel like "rounding up" or giving her a little more, knowing her life must be hard, as if my extra $10 will help her that much? I guess it's my token of appreciation for her each time she makes time for us.