Playing with Jack

My sister has a new boyfriend and it works out just great for me. It means that she needs lots of babysitters so I get to spend loads of time with Jack!

I looked after him yesterday whilst she went swimming and then to the Liverpool game. I met them in town and then my and my mum took him to The Yellow Submarine. I'd never been there before but I will definitely be going back!

It is a huge indoor play area with all kinds of obstacles and frames to climb on and slides and soft things. You just pay for the child and the adults go free! Taking my shoes off, I could barely contain my excitement Proper, fun, one-on-one time with my gorgeous nephew.

He was a bit unsure of the soft, padded floor and wobbled around a bit. He's only just learnt to walk. The little guy just stood there in the middle of the huge play area, taking in all of the toys that he could play with, and watching all the children that he was desperate to play with, and he just looked really shocked and like he couldn't take it all in. Then he just let out a little shriek and ran in a big circle not knowing what to do first.

He obviously went for the most boring thing and just threw himself on the floor amongst all the soft shapes. I tried to coax him onto the slide but he just buried himself in the yellow and red foam cushions and laughed like he was having the absolute time of his life.

Finally a little girl came along - Jack loves women - and went on the cushioned green slide. Jack stopped what he was doing immediately and looked at her. He was beside himself with joy and everytime she sat at the top of the slide, he braced himself. You could see his little chest heaving and his eyes going all shiny as he tried to stifle his smiles. And then as she went down the slide and hit the padded floor, he threw himself back onto the ground laughing.

He couldn't believe his luck when I picked him up and plonked him on the top of that very same slide. I saw as he started edging his little bum closer to the edge, his little face brimming with delight, barely able to hold in his excitement that was about to explode from him. I held onto his hand and he set off down the mini spongey slide. It lasted about a nano second but that little guy was just ecstatic and we did it about a hundred more times.

I was really getting into the whole thing and I decided to try the climbing frame with him. We had to climb a steep spongey plastic slope which had little orange pods sticking out from it as steps. It was a steep climb and slippery with holding a baby too. When we got to the top, the opening was just big enough to crawl through. Again, with a baby attached to you, it's pretty tough, and once inside we had to sit for a while for me to catch my breath, telling Jack that this was our den. Jack loves the simple things and he let out another excited screach as he circled the inside of his new home, looking out at the rest of the playcentre and then popping back in, happy that this was his own secret place that no else knew about.

When I had caught my breath and worked out how to do the next bit, I clutched Jack to my belly, crawling through the little room. The floor we had to now cross was just a criss-cross of ropes with holes big enough to swallow Jack's leg. I didn't want him to break any bones so I kept a tight hold of his little body.
There were all kinds of punchbags and soft toys hanging in our way which Jack was quite afraid of and he flinched every time one swung at him. Finally we crossed to the other side and reached our goal - 4 wavy slides, side by side. I sat Jack on one, and me on the one next to him, held his hand, shared his amazed and wondrous grin, and pushed off.
He made no noise whatsoever, he just lay back, his gummy mouth wide open in a silent scream, and drank in the brillinace of it.
A second later and we'd hit the floor and the little bundle of a boy just rolled over and threw himself on top of me in a massive hug and huge thank you.

I couldn't bring myself to go through the gauntlet again and so I just picked Jack up and placed him back on top of the slide - it was quite small - and we did that a hundred more times too!

And then Jack spotted a swarm of school chilren - his favourite kind of people - all chasing each other towards the other end of the room, through all of the climbing frames and the big kids toys. He got so excited I just couldn't not take him with them.

And so we ended up on another, even bigger frame which involved loads more climbing and squeezing through tight spaces meant for 5 year olds, and across rope ladders and all sorts, stopping to let all the tiny children past as they were much much faster than us.

Our goal this time was just the most amazing slide (for a baby who'd never seen a slide before). We stood at the top of a 30 metre, blue wavy slide, split into 4 lanes. Jack tried to throw himself down but I had a tight hold of his little hand. We perched on the edge and looked down to Grandma (my mother who would prefer jack to know her as Marj than Grandma!) and we prepared to go for it.

I squeezed his hand and he let out a huge gasp of contentment and preparation. 'Ready Jack?'

'1'

'2'

his little body leapt in anticipation and he shrieked again

'3'

and off we went, his little body tense and laughing silently.

When we landed he lay there for a few seconds dazed and savouring the moment - there was no way I could do that again - and then he just lunged himself towards grandma, throwing himself at her legs to show her his appreciation.

We spent the next hour driving cars, and playing on the computer, going on the baby slide several thousand times, and then, when Jack was as exhausted as me, we piled into the car home.

I have to say, I just had the best time, and Jack and I sat hand-in-hand all the way home, sharing a knowing little smile.

Later on that night, when he started getting really tired and began crying, he put himself on my lap and buried his head into my neck - a closeness I had never had with Jack before - and went to sleep.

I didn't take any pictures in The Yellow Submarine as I wasn't sure how the other parents would react, but here are some of me and my sister (Jack's mum) and Jack playing with the camera....