Thursday May 29th

Thursday began with a trauma; I had to hold a baby. I hadn't held a baby yet during my project since there haven't been too many on my floor. I was finally called to the job and the baby I held was obviously not enjoying himself. He was coughing and crying constantly and with no parents or nurses around I had to make him feel better. I tried sitting, standing, turning him and holding him in several different positions but he continued to cry. Finally I found the right position. I put him over my shoulder and he stopped crying. I put the TV on and began making faces at him and soon enough he had stopped coughing and began to smile. I then was charged with another unique task. I had to push a man in his wheelchair downstairs so he could take in some sun. This was a bit rare since adults don't often stay on our floor. We stood out in the sun and talked about Cleveland sports for a while. Once I got back upstairs, the four-year-old boy was waiting for me. This time he wanted to go back to playing with the Legos. We met a new boy his age that joined in and then encouraged us to join him in a dunk contest on the mini basketball hoop. Since it was closer to the end of the week and many kids had been discharged or were resting on my floor, I decided to go up a floor and help my fellow classmate Clare on the sixth floor. She, another volunteer and I walked three patients around the hospital to give them a different atmosphere to explore and observe. We then went back and I held another baby before playing a Finding Nemo video game with two other young boys. It was a good way to end a day full of new experiences for me.