Tyler's Baptism

 Sometimes you have to make things up as you go as a parent.  I was going to say that as a parent of a child with special needs, but then I realized that we are all adapting everything in life to the needs of our kids.  Which change daily.  And which we figure out as we go.

Anyway, I talked at length about Tyler and his postponed baptism back on his birthday post in January.  So I won't repeat that here.  We did take him to almost every baptism since then, and usually when we got home I would go through more of the questions that our Bishop was going to ask when he interviewed Tyler to be baptized.  We debated on how long to wait- at one point we scheduled December 6th - but in the end we decided that he is as ready now as he will be as an eight year-old.  He knows a lot of the answers to the questions now.  How much he understands . . . is something still up for debate.  But I do know that one thing he gained was a true excitement to be baptized.  After seeing other kids get baptized month after month, he was SO excited.  And I am starting to see those answers we prepped him with pop up in other Gospel discussions, so I think some of it really has sunk in.

We don't know exactly how his interview went, since he met with the Bishop by himself, but I know that our Bishop has been emotional every time he has talked about it since.  He said that "in all my years as a Bishop, and all the interviews I have ever given, this was the first time that when I asked a question, I was sung a song in reply."  Tyler loves to sing and remembers things better when he sings, so when asked about Jesus being baptized, he replied by singing "Jeee-suss caaaaame to John the Baptist."  Our sweet Bishop was so touched that he called us the night before the baptism and asked if Tyler could sing that as a special musical number.  When I told him that it was set to be the opening song, Daddy figured out that Tyler could sing the first verse and let us all join him for the rest of the verses.  We spent some time practicing, and it was one of the most adorable things I have ever seen. (Yes, I'm biased.)

Of course, the Bishop also told us that he finished his interview by asking Tyler if he had any questions he would like to ask.  "Yes,"  Tyler answered firmly, taking Bishop Anderson by surprise.  "Do you know -  what is four plus one?"
Through his laughter, the Bishop replied "Is it five?" and Tyler congratulated him.
"Yes, you are right!  It is five!"

I seriously love this kid.

Daddy does, too.  When I asked Christopher if he wanted to use his white shirt and white pants, or wear a jumpsuit like Tyler, he told me he wanted a jumpsuit "because I think Tyler will want me to dress just like him."

The baptism service went really well, too.  Bro. Simko (one of our friends in the ward) gave his talk using a coloring book, and Tyler was absolutely riveted (which is rare for him).  The theme for the day seemed to be preparing for baptism.  Tyler's Grandma Skarda said that he was the most prepared anyone has ever been for baptism, I think mainly because he was born so pure and happy.  His Uncle Brian added that "no one gives you enough credit, Tyler.  I think you're just going to amaze everyone someday."  My mom and my Uncle Bob talked about their baptisms as well.  Their mother did not like the Mormon church, and merely tolerated my Grandpa taking them to church occasionally.  I guess one day he just decided it was time and took them both to be baptized, assembly line style with all the other kids, at the Tabernacle downtown.  Neither of them had a clue until they were about in the car, and hardly had any interest in it!  So to them, it came down to what you do with your life and your testimony afterward, not how prepared you were when you got baptized.

And when Tyler got baptized, he was grinning from ear to ear.  Daddy held him under for an extra second so his hand didn't fly up, but they got it done.  And when they were climbing out of the font, Tyler told him happily "I got wet!"

Ironically, one of the reasons we switched from December to September (apart from how excited he was for his turn to come) was because we figured it would make it easier to host our families for lunch afterward.  Christopher's family alone is 7 siblings, their spouses and 30 grandkids, not including his aunts, uncles, and Grandma that came.  Then you add my family, and you no longer fit in our house.  September meant we could be outside and have plenty of room.

Except the fact that it rained all weekend.  So we made a quick decision and reserved the gym at the church, which worked out well.  We had all of Tyler's favorite foods- pizza galore, mac and cheese that Grandma made, Cheetos, chocolate chip cookies, and chocolate muffins.  He was a happy guy.

And we were all happy for him.  I could truly feel how much everyone in that room loved Tyler.  Even one of his old aides from school a year or so ago came.  We always laugh at how quickly Tyler converts everyone he meets to just adore him.  We feel truly blessed to have him in our family.