First Day of Nursery

Today was a big day for Joseph: his first day of nursery at church (Sometimes people ignore my post titles, so I write intro lines just for them).

Because Erin and I teach primary, Joseph has been spending Sunday School in the Gospel Doctrine class with an assortment of grownups (mostly because the 8-to-10 year-olds in our primary class have a hard time focusing on the lesson when there's a cute little baby/toddler running around).

Anyway, these Sunday-School-attending grownups compete with each other fiercely each week to see who gets to take Joseph to Sunday School (probably because these Sunday-school-attending grownups have a hard time focusing on the lesson when there's a cute little baby/toddler around).

During Sacrament meeting Erin and I struggle to keep Joseph sitting still/sitting/on the pew/in our same row/in the chapel/in the building. However, lots (lots) of people have told us that in Sunday School, Joseph just sits quietly on pretty much anyone's lap and snuggles when he gets tired.

Here's a picture that someone took back in July with their camera phone after a Sunday School lesson where Joseph decided he liked someone's glasses.


The great thing about Sunday School for Joseph is that people will give him anything he sets his eyes on. Lately, people have even started bringing Joseph treats and toys in an effort to lure him to their laps (the competition is not only fierce, but also clever).

During one lesson someone gave him a cell phone to play with. Joseph promptly made a phone call. On speakerphone.

But now, Joseph's days of sitting through Gospel Doctrine are officially over. With the arrival of his 18-month birthday, we're throwing Joseph into the nursery.


Hopefully they covered Daniel in the lions' den at some time while Joseph was in Sunday School, because he's going to be the smallest one in nursery for a while (especially with all the 3 year-olds in there until the end of the year). Just in case, in addition to teaching Joseph to have faith, I've also taught him to go for the eyes.

Since today was a milestone (see post title or the intro line), we tried to capture the memory on camera.






In addition to showing what Joseph looked like on his first day of nursery, and how he discovered that its funny to put his fingers in front of his face when the camera comes out, these pictures also provide me with the opportunity to talk about Erin's new-found fascination with hair gel.

Actually, I'm just going to leave it at that (mostly because sleeping on the couch isn't as comfy as it used to be), but I will say that in person (and given time to dry out) his hair looks a lot less spikey/Mohawk-ish. And I'm also not the best person to comment on hairstyling.

In the end, day one of nursery came and went without much excitement. As soon as he went in the room, Joseph saw some toy that he wanted to play with and didn't look back or notice Erin's depature. When church was over, he was tired but didn't seem to show any signs of visible wounds or scarring.

Best of all, as first-time parents, we're now the proud owners of our very first drawing-brought-home-from-nursery:


Joseph's artwork is subtle. That's ok; a lot of great artists are subtle, and our fridge looks much classier now too.


As soon as Michael's comes out with a coupon, we'll be sure to get it matted and framed.