Sammy's favorite friend

I have to share a cute little story about Sammy and his favorite friend at church. I wrote about this in his baby journal, and so I'll copy what I wrote:
Around the end of September a sweet lady in our ward asked to hold Sam at the beginning of Sunday School. After a few minutes I asked her if she would like me to take him back, but she was still enjoying him.  I could tell that she truly wanted to keep holding him, so I just relaxed and let her hold him for the rest of the class. After class I discovered that he had fallen asleep in her arms. (Incredible! I mean, yes, he was exhausted, but he never falls asleep in my arms- never!) I offered to take him and put him in his carseat so she could go to Relief Society, but she looked like she really didn't want to do that. So she took him to Relief Society with her. I made sure she knew where I would be (in the Young Women room) and that she could come and bring him to me any time. After church I found her in the foyer with Sam, awake, in her arms.  I thanked her profusely for holding him during 3rd  hour because I had had to teach YW, so it was nice for me to have someone taking care of him during my lesson. She told me that she just loved cuddling Sam and having him fall asleep in her arms. She said that she has some health problems that cause her pain sometimes, but that holding him today was a blessing to her because it kept her from having a 'pity party' in her car. I thought that was sweet, that having him cuddle and sleep in her arms had been a blessing to both him and to her.
The next few weeks we didn't see each other - there was General Conference and then once I fed him during Sunday School, etc. But about a month later we were in Sacrament Meeting again and he was so tired that he was fussing during Sacrament Meeting. After the meeting, she offered to  hold him. I told her where I would be and she just snuggled him and walked into the Gospel Doctrine class. He smiled at her when she took him.  After Sunday School I saw her in the hall and she had him in a baby sling in front of her, and he was fast asleep, snuggled right up to her. The sling was just 5 yards of stretchable fabric that she expertly tied around herself to create a safe sling to hold a baby. It was the absolute cutest thing I have ever seen.  He looked so angelic, warm, and happy, just peacefully sleeping. And she was just glowing, loving it.
After 3rd hour I was in the foyer and she came out of Relief Society, still with Sam in his little sling. He was awake and looking out. She said he had woken up 15 minutes ago and that he had smiled up at her when he woke up. That was a very long nap for being out of his crib and at church! I thanked her again because this time had been even more helpful than the previous time - I had gone to the missionaries' class for Sunday School with two investigators and had been able to sit by them and help them understand the class. Then I had talked to them between classes abut the feeling they had felt during the lesson. Then I had gone to YW and taught a lesson to the Laurels. So I told her "thank you so much for taking care of Sam!" She said again that she loved it, and her husband, who was helping her take Sam out of the sling said, "Oh, she just loves it. She brought this just for him!" and she smiled and nodded. I thought that was so sweet that she loved Sammy so much that she actually brought her baby sling to church with her, on the chance that she would get to hold him during church.
Ever since then she has held Sam during the 2nd and 3rd hours of church, and he has taken his morning nap snuggled up to her.  Once I had to feed him right after Sacrament Meeting, so I hurried to the nursing room after the meeting so he would still have time to snuggle up to her for a nap. After a few minutes, she popped her head in the room to see if we were in there, just wondering where he was. I thought that was adorable!
He is nearly 10 months old now, and getting kind of hefty, but she insists that he is not heavy at all when he is in the sling. They have a sweet little relationship - He loves being held by her and getting a warm nap, and by so doing, he is bringing her happiness and getting her mind off her discomfort.  Isn't that sweet?