Kevin began to blush furiously and was about to say something when I took out the pacifier and popped it in his mouth. Interestingly it lived up to its name and pacified him. He looked kind of surprised by it but then began sucking on it.
“Why don’t you work on that while I take care of your other end? Now, lean forward.” I took out a couple of wipes and gave him a good cleaning. I tossed the wipes in the trash and then picked Kevin up and re-diapered him.
As I was carrying him on my hip back to the couch I asked him, “Do you like the binky?”
Kevin just nodded, but his eyes were smiling. “Good,” I said and gave him a kiss on his forehead.
When we were back in the living room and he was settled back on the couch, I said to Kevin. “I’ll make you a deal. If you keep on sucking on the binky and I don’t hear from you until after I’m done cleaning, I’ll have a special treat for you tomorrow. What do you say?”
Kevin nodded again and looked a little excited about the prospect of a surprise treat.
“Great,” I said, “now, what do you want to do?”
He looked at suspiciously.
“What?” I asked, then I realized, “Oh, this isn’t a trick. Quiet time will start after I get going with the cleaning.”
Kevin thought for a few seconds and then smiled. He took out the pacifier and said, “Could you go up to the attic again and get my Matchbox cars?”
“Sure, why not?” I replied and headed for the attic stairs.
I found the matchbox cars easily enough, like I said before everything was labeled, but I also spent a couple of minutes getting out Kevin’s baby book and photo albums. I also opened up a carton that said, “Kevin’s Old Clothes.” I found some interesting garments in their that looked like they’d fit my little man. I grabbed that too.
“What’s taking so long, are you okay?” Kevin called.
“Nothing, just having a look around.” I called back. I put the books and the clothes in my room for future examination and brought the box with the toy cars down to Kevin.
“Sweet!” he said. “Thanks for doing this. One thing that I really don’t like about growing up is putting my old toys aside.”
“Ever see Toy Story 3?” I asked.
“No.”
“Really?!?” I said surprised.
“I guess I missed it.” he said.
“We’ll have to fix that!” I said. I put the bin with the cars in front of Kevin and walked into the kitchen.
I returned with the baby bottle of milk and a package of animal crackers and put them on the coffee table. “Here’s the deal,” I said. “I don’t want to hear from you unless you need to go to the bathroom or if there is an emergency, until I’m done working. You’ve got the TV, you’ve got your toys, and you’ve got a snack. You should be good for at least an hour and a half. Okay?”
“Okay…” then Kevin noticed the bottle. “A bottle? Do I have to?”
“No, but I thought it would be the best way to make sure you don’t spill anything. Plus, it’s a special thermal bottle that will keep the milk nice and cold for you.”
“Okay, I guess,” he said back. He sounded sad, but there was an interesting look on his face.
I popped the pacifier back in his mouth. Gave him a kiss on his forehead and a pat on his backside and then set to work.