Babysitting the Two-Year Old*

My sister Mindy visited home base for two weeks. She brought her husband and their two children over. It was the first time for me to see my nephew Luciano.

Luciano is such an adorable child. Like most two-year olds, he seems to have an infinite supply of energy. He enjoyed jumping off beds and running barefoot all over the house at top speed. MacGyver watched over him one afternoon and was dead tired that evening. He told me that the way he figures, Luciano must have several guardian angels assigned to him.

Little Luciano did pause and stop once in a while... to eat his meals, to watch TV (especially if Thomas the Tank Engine was showing), to sit on his cousin GI's lap and check out airplanes and other cool stuff in the internet, and to play.

We brought out some of the old reliable toys so that he and his 4-year old sister Noelle could play with them -- a train set, two barrels of monkeys, stacking cups, a couple of toy cars, some Sesame Street toys and good old Mr. Potato Head.

Luciano liked Mr. Potato Head. There was one particular evening when I was watching over him. He had dashed off from one room to another. Naturally, I was running right after him. When he saw the Mr. Potato Head on the floor, he sat down and started playing. That gave me a brief period of rest.

Yes, Mr. Potato Head certainly comes in handy when one is watching over a child. He's always on his toes. He's got a nose to smell trouble. He has extra pairs of eyes. He'd gladly lend you an ear. And most of all, he's there to provide you with an extra set of hands.

*Technically, Luciano is not yet two years old. He will be turning two next week.