Friday, December 23, 2011

I can't believe...

...that it's been a year. I'm pretty sure that it was a year ago this week that I got officially hired as A's nanny. He was so teeny! He was a little under 4 months old when I met him, and since he was a teeny preemie anyways...yeah. SO SMALL. It is so hard to reconcile this walking, talking, super-smart toddler with that itty bitty baby with no hair who couldn't even sit up or roll over. I remember being *SO* excited when i could get him to sit up by himself for ten seconds. I remember thinking he'd never learn to roll from back to front. i remember when i could hold him forever without getting tired. I remember being able to put him in one spot and leave the room knowing he would be there when i got back! It's crazy. I've had long-term relationships with kiddos before--I have a family in my hometown that I started babysitting for about eight years ago, when the oldest (now 9) was 15 months old and the others weren't around. But it's different with A, because I see him five days a week, 8.5 hours a day. It's mindblowingly awesome to know that I've been an integral part in his development from that infant to this toddler.

No big changes in the last few days, just A getting better and better at the "where's x?" game. As in, where's the snowman? (He turns and points with his hand or, even cuter, he'll squat and point with his entire upper body. it's adorable). Where's the Christmas tree? Where's the telephone? He can do all of these things and maybe 5 or 6 more, no sweat. I'm working on getting him to recognize things that he knows on his body, on something inanimate. Like, where's the *snowman's* hat, nose, feet, etc. He's not so good with the pronouns yet, but he's catching on!

Also, we've been doing the toddler level of the gym class the last few weeks, and this week was the first time I actually got A to do what he was supposed to. In this class they have an obstacle course set up and the kids are supposed to go along in order, one after the other. I kind of had to drag A along, but he did it without a fuss, and even surprised me by knowing how to go down the (foam) stairs! Going to start working on the home stairs with him soon, I think; it would be nice to know he can do it without killing himself!

This is my first year without a proper winter break--I only get the two Mondays off. But I'm pretty much okay with it, because I'd miss my bubba too much if i had a week or two off! Next summer I'm going to have July and August off for sure, and it makes me sad just thinking about it...And I can't even think about when I have to leave him. I know it's gonna happen but...I have at least 6 more months so I am just going to enjoy them as much as possible!

Sunday, December 18, 2011

RIP :-(

Just got the sad news from L that their other dog, Desi, died last night. She has been kind of sick lately, she had a pancreatic tumor that was making her diabetic, but she was on medicine and doing fine...then last night they came home, let her out of her crate, and she just collapsed and died. Sounds like probably a heart attack. She was old, but still. It was a total shock, not like Cooper where they knew he had cancer and had a few days to prepare for his death.

A loved that dog. His first intelligible word was her name. He calls all big stuffed animals "De-di!" We used to play "Desi's gonna get you!" where we'd be holding him and lean down and put his head close to hers so she could lick him, and he'd laugh histerically. It's going to be hard to remember now that I can't distract him by saying, "Where's Desi?"

I feel especially bad about these dogs' passing because I complained about them all the time. They were Boxers--big, smelly, prone to shedding and drooling. Cooper was loud and gross and obnoxious. Desi would always just stand and stare at me and whine for no reason I could tell, and it annoyed me. Or she wouldn't listen to me when I told her to do something and I'd get mad. But that house is going to be so quiet and weird without either of them...Cooper's loss left a huge hole, and Desi's is going to leave a crater. It's making *me* cry--so I can't imagine how my bosses are feeling right now, having had Des for about 10 years and Cooper for 6. They were their babies before A was even a possibility in their minds.

RIP Cooper, aka "Ugly Bastahd" and Desiree, aka "Hooker Bitch". You were loved and you'll be missed...even by me.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Oh what a difference a month/week/day makes...

A is smack in the middle of the age range that I prefer to work with right now...because every single day is a new discovery. From one day to the next, a new sound or "word" could be added to his vocabulary. Every week he seems to be able to point to a new body part (he can now do "belly" and we're working on "bum-bum" lol). Every month he's like a totally different child! 

Newest super-cute things:
-he likes to back up and sit on things. This can be anything from your lap, to his mini-couch, to your legs that are sticking out when you're sitting on the couch (warning! this is likely to result in a bang and tears!), to his father's head. Don't lie/sit down on the floor around this kid unless you are prepared to be sat upon! It's super cute, though, especially when we're out at playgroup or story time and he's running around and then all of a sudden here comes his little butt plopping in my lap. 
-he's been repeating two-syllable "words" recently. One day it was boyga--boygaboygaboyGAboygaBOyga over and over, to himself, no meaning, just for the heck of it. Another day it was maminaminaminamamamina. Hopefully one of these days he'll get NaNa (me) and Mama! He still says Dada for most things...typical. 
-I swear I've heard him singing! One time this past week he was playing independently as always, and he made a whole bunch of different sounds (not repeating ones like i said above) and in different tones. Nothing recognizable but who knows! Also one day last week I swear he was beat boxing. He was going "puhpsssspuh" etc, rhythmically. He could be the next CeeLo, like in that 7Up commercial! He LOVES when we do one of the Music Together songs that is basically just Bah said in different rhythm patterns. For two non-musical people, A's parents are sure doing a good job of raising a kid who loves music :-)

NOT cute in this past month--A's first ear infection. Poor thing. His first real fever, too. He's had a runny nose for over a month, it seems like, and then two weeks ago started running a fever. L took him to the doctor, and yup, ear infection. He seemed to get a little better, but still had the rivers/bubbles of snot (sorry!) and general crankiness, so this past Wednesday L took him to the doctor AGAIN, and the infection still wasn't cleared up. They got him a stronger antibiotic, so hopefully he'll be back to normal soon. Sick Bubba = sad bubba :-( It also doesn't help that he's been getting some of his incisor teeth, and L doesn't like giving Tylenol for anything that's not a fever, so there's that pain too. On Weds I picked up some Hyland's teething tablets for him, which hopefully will help--I've known lots of moms who swear by them. 

It's been a long, long weekend without my Bubba, and I can't wait to see what's different tomorrow!

Saturday, October 29, 2011

14 months!

Bubbaloo is 14 months old today! And oh, the changes...just this last week or two, two more teeth and another about to pop, he's walking more confidently every day...and!

A's receptive language--understanding what we say--has just been growing by leaps and bounds this week. Like, I said, "Go find NaNa's bag!" at the end of baby gym to get him away from the balls, and whaddaya know? He zoomed right across the entire gym to get to my purse. He can also identify nose, hair, and toes--i even witnessed him respond to the TV saying "hair" by touching his own! And he also is awesome at putting things *in* a receptacle rather than only taking them out...which is a big skill! He helps clean up the balls at baby gym and put them in the bucket, and he will happily drop his paci into the crib when i get him up from naps if i tell him to. He's even starting to understand that NO means NO...although we're still working on that one!

Basically, every day he is getting more and more towards being a little PERSON interacting with the world, not a baby just observing and being cared for, but a BOY.

I love it :-D

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Oops. Long time no write!

So yeah, A is 13.5 months old and walking now. Increasingly steadily too! He's even starting to walk with his hands down by his sides. WHEN DID MY BABY GET REPLACED BY A BOY????

Let's see. He's got three teeth, with the fourth well on it's way to breaking through. So cute...just don't put your hands anywhere near his mouth. Just in case you were thinking about it. OW.

Still no concrete words except his dog's name, which is recognizable but not 100% correct. Very cute though! He even calls big stuffed teddy bears by the same name. Aw. However, he CAN correctly point to Mama's Nose, Shaina's Nose, and A's Hair. It's adorable. And today his mom showed me that, if you hand him his comb, he will "comb" his hair.

We're down to one nap...it seems for good. Which is NOT good. because he's not really taking a LONG nap, just one 1-2 hour one. Tried pushing the nap to 11am today, but he only slept for an hour! And then would NOT go down later even though his eyes were drooping and i spent 20 minutes hanging over the edge of his crib patting his back. GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

Food situation is still a bit in flux. Trying to figure out what works best, what he needs, is he getting his vitamins...and almost every day his mom tells me, oh he loved X for dinner! And then i make it for lunch and he acts like i'm poisioning him. UGH. Although, he did eat pretty well for lunch today--he's eating peanut butter now! No allergies yet for this preemie :-D And he will eat almost anything from a spoon, although sometimes I have to distract him with a toy to get him to eat. This week he's had a cold, too, which makes eating even more of a pain for him and thus for me. No fun.

Hmmmmm what else is new. Oh yeah. Clingy McClingypants. This totally varies, but lately A has been reeeeally clingy. To his mom when she's at home, to me when strangers are around, to me when he's tired/hungry, etc. It is kind of adorable when he hides his face in my legs, but it makes it awfully hard to walk!

Ok i think that's all for now.

Monday, September 26, 2011

OMGOMGOMGOMG

Super-quick post! Today while I was there, A learned to stand by himself from a "bear crawl" position. It was amazing. Luckily L was there to witness.

And then.

And then.

A few hours after I get home, I get a text: "A Just walked across the kitchen floor!"

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG MY BABY IS WALKING!!!!!!

I can't wait for tomorrow to see this for myself :-D I am *so* glad that he did it with his parents first, though, because that solves my potential dilemma of whether to tell if i saw it first :-P

WHEEE!

Sunday, September 11, 2011

So close...

Bubba is SO close to walking! He does awesome holding on to just one of a grown-up's fingers, and recently has been seriously working on his stability while standing. He'll often let go of something to clap or investigate whatever object he managed to reach on the couch...but when he realizes he's standing, *plop* down he goes! It's kind of funny...except, we really need him to walk. Soon. Because we signed him up for the "walkers" group of Baby Gym, and that starts Thursday, and it'd be a pain to switch groups. Hopefully the nice ladies who lead it will be good about it and let him stay assuming he learns in the next week or so. He's SO CLOSE. And I remember when I was saying that about him crawling, and whaddaya know? The next week he learned. It's kinda like the opposite of when you have a cough and it won't go away and then you go to the doctor and it disappears...we say he can't do something, we despair of him ever doing it...and then BOOM. There it is. So here's me putting it in words: A's neeeever gonna walk, it's taking him sooooo long...hehe. I'll let you know how that works out.

We have had a few playdates in the last two weeks. It's so fun! One of A's friends, W, likes to steal his toys. His face is just like, what're you doing, lady? That's MINE! Another friend, G...I'm not sure I really want A around him. Because G BITES. and he has 8 teeth with which to do so. On Thursday he was over with his mom, the babes were playing in the playroom, and all of a sudden we see G going to "hug" A--except A wanted none of it! G's mom pulled him away, I rescued a red-faced and inconsolable A...and once he calmed down, i noticed a lovely little tooth print on his FOREHEAD. The little bugger bit my baby's head! No thanks! Haha. Poor A.

Speaking of teeth, A is *finally* getting another one, on the top. I fully expect it to be through the gum when I get to work tomorrow, because it was very obvious on Friday.

He's doing a lot better with food, letting himself be spoon-fed most of the time in addition to feeding himself stuff. and eating a LOT! I think we're almost done giving him formula, once they run out...the doc said it doesn't really matter, we can just give him vitamins and switch to just milk and real food. And apparently a LOT (like, 32oz!) of water...which is tough for me, he never seems to drink as much with me as L says he does with them. I dunno.

Ummm...yeah. A new round of playgroups starts this week, which I'm pretty psyched about. I love getting out of the house! And soon enough we'll be snowbound...ugh. Trying not to think that far ahead but it's creeping up on us...

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Birthday!

Monday is A's first birthday! Hooray! Today was his birthday party. We had a lot of fun--TONS of people came, lots of kids running around, lots of presents, lots of food. I made chocolate buttermilk cupcakes that were AWESOME. A had the traditional first-birthday experience of squishing cake between his fingers and smushing it all over his face (and legs, and chair, and EVERYTHING). it was awesome...until he picked up some ice cream and put it in his mouth and made THE worst face and started crying...he musta gotten a brain freeze! Hehe. He got kind of overwhelmed by people at one point and L tried to put him down for a nap, but no go. Luckily, a bunch of people left around then, and by the time we gave up and got him up, he was ready to be in a better mood. He was so cute. One of the best presents he got was a collapsible 6-foot tunnel, which of course he went through with no problems whatsoever. In fact, he didn't want to come OUT of it! My little champ.

Milestones--A is now super awesome at walking while holding onto even just one of your fingers. He can stand unsupported for around 10 seconds if he is sufficiently distracted. He can cruise on just about anything--your legs, the counter, the couch, his toys...you name it.

His naps are still hit or miss. Every few days we say "maybe he's dropping a nap" and then nope, he needs two still. Ugh. So hard to figure out...luckily for the most part he isn't a super-crank because of it.

Food: he now feeds himself just about anything (see: cake). This is awesome. However. The downsides are that he has stopped wanting to be spoon-fed, and every meal takes forever. But he's a big boy! He loves having hamburger, grapes, strawberries, cheese, bread, chicken, etc on his tray to pick up and feed himself. It's so awesome. And occasionally hilarious: fruit in particular is very slippery, so watching him chase that around and try to pick it up is kind of funny. Apparently over vacation he got so frustrated by a banana that he just leaned over and picked it up with his mouth! Hehehe.

EI: he's pretty much not in need of Early Intervention services any more. All of his behaviours are at 12 months or above. However, I think they're paid through October, so we still get to go to our EI playgroup which is awesome :-) Soon we'll be starting up the fall session of our old playgroup too, and hopefully another round of baby gym as well.

I can't believe my baby's going to be a year old...and at the end of next week, I'll mark 8 months of being his nanny.

I am so, so, so blessed. I love my job :-D

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Sad week :-(

I think I mentioned that one of the dogs was sick? Well, he's been throwing up and such for about two weeks now...and finally on thursday they got a diagnosis. Poor doggy has lymphoma. They'll be putting him down in a few days...cancer treatments for dogs cost  a LOT, and it'd probly just extend his suffering. As much as I have complained about this dog, how obnoxious and smelly and gross he is...he doesn't deserve this. It's so, so sad. L and M are devastated. :-(

Had a few super-long naps this week! Tuesday A napped for almost THREE HOURS. it was nuts.

M came to baby gym with us on Thursday...it was so fun. A *LOVES* his daddy, so so so so so much, and both of them had a blast. A powered through an obstacle course where he had to crawl on skinny things with a drop on either side, and then through a tunnel or two or four. He is such a freakin' champ, he makes me SO PROUD.

That's about all I can think of right now, although I'm sure there's more. I have to get moving, next week is vacation and I'm heading to North Carolina this afternoon! eek!

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Oh, to heck with it.

I think I'm just gonna say to heck with weekly posts, and instead just post when something interesting happens.

Like, today (and apparently yesterday), A cruised! For people unfamiliar with baby milestones, this means he "walked" while holding onto furniture. In other words, before too long, WE'RE SCREWED. Lol. Speedy crawling baby already has taken over the world, walking baby...EEEEEEEEEEEEEK. Yeah. we have to keep all the doors shut in the hallway, or he will super-crawl to them and play with them and eventually shut himself inside whatever room. We are terrified that he will slam his fingers, although he hasn't already.

A LOVES: Doors. Wheels. Shoes. Hair.

These things are all potentially hazardous. So we keep him away from them--unless they are part of a toy.

Luckily, he also loves: looking at books. Being scared/surprised. Being thrown into the air. Being tickled. The swings. Water, as long as it isn't too cold.

All of these are good things :-)

I love his new independence. He's so big and strong, such a "boy" as opposed to a "baby" now. He'll be one at the end of the month! Eek!

The main complaint I have these days, other than the continued nap irregularity, is the WHINING. I. Cannot. Stand. It. He will whine until he is picked up, and then he will continue to whine, and then if you put him down HE CRIES. WHILE WHINING. And if you try and feed him when he is not really hungry, because he's WHINING for NO REASON, YOU ARE EVIL. and he will SCREAM. and kick. and become possessed by the devil.

Can you tell we had a frustrating afternoon today?

Anyways. It is going to be a fun-packed month, I can just tell!

Monday, July 25, 2011

Hahaaaaaa I suck.

The weeks are kind of blurring together, anyways.

The most significant things about last week were:

The HEAT. Ugh. We went outside for maybe a total of half an hour (besides going to and from the car) the whole week, playing on the new swingset that M set up for A. And that was at like 8:30am and it was already over 80 degrees. EW. Luckily this week is shaping up to be quite a bit cooler :-)

Bubba learned to CLIMB!!! At baby gym on Thursday, he climbed on some gym-mat-type stairs and onto two different risers--always with my phone as an incentive, lol. I was SO PROUD!

In other news, one of their dogs is sick. And even though he annoys me all the time, I still feel bad for him! Poor thing is hardly eating, and when he's let outside he eats grass, which for dogs equals he feels like shit. :-/ Vet says he'll be fine, but it's worrisome. and I had to clean up his puke, which sucked.

Oh, also, Weds we met a really nice lady who has a 2 year old and is pregnant with what was and could become again a high-risk pregnancy. She was originally put on bed rest, and so was looking for someone to take care of her little girl a few hours a week. Now she's off of bed rest, but we still met up in case she ends up back on it! She also has been running an in-home daycare for a few years, and was a nanny before that, so it was really awesome to talk to her and get her perspective. And her little girl, whom I'll call Bell, was adorable. I think it would be really good for A to have regular, prolonged exposure to an older child--versus an hour here and there at playgroup, this would be like 9 hours a week. And, oh yeah, extra money would be nice too :-P

That's about it for last week!

Monday, July 18, 2011

Crazy weekend=late post!

Let's see. It was so great being back with A after vacation! He's just...so BIG now! We will get a definite weight after his doctor's appt on Friday, but he's gotta be at least 20 pounds...and he's pulling up on anything he can get his hands on, and trying SO hard to stand on his own but mostly he just goes *plop*.

Last week...we went to lunch with my mom before playgroup on Monday. it was fun, he was really good although he acted completely confused when my mom tried to interact with him. He was like, who on earth is this person and why does she act like she knows me?! Hehe. We discovered a new cafe that had a sandwich that is now one of my favorites EVER. Roasted turkey, vermont cheddar cheese, and mayo on cranberry bread. so sweet and good!

Tuesday...I honestly can't remember. I know we went to the beach one day...not tuesday. Tuesday it was too hot. now i remember. It was seriously like 94 degrees...ICK. Pretty sure we just lazed about inside all day.

Weds, story time on the lawn at the library. This time we actually got there on time, and A actually paid attention! Then we played on the playground for a little while.

Thursday was baby gym! I really like baby gym, the people there are really nice. A showed off his crawling and worked on it some. Not much else to report that i remember.

Friday was the beach! It was fun! The water there is like a bath, it's so warm, yet it's still enough to make it better than the air. We "swam" around, investigated the splash pad--too cold!--talked to a few people...A ate the most in one sitting as he's done in a long time...then we had to get back home, he napped really well, then his Early Intervention lady came. I like her! She was very impressed with A's speed, but told us that we really need to *keep* him crawling as long as possible. We are not supposed to encourage him to walk or stand or anything, because he really needs to get the upper-body strength that he is still missing as a preemie. She showed us how to make an obstacle course of sorts for him, basically putting pillows in his way and making him crawl over them. Apparently this makes him use his arms a lot more...it's also really fun for me, lol. Of course, the best things to put as incentive are electronics--cell phone, ipod, nothing will stop him from getting to them!

A's sleeping is still effed up. L says no matter when they put him down he doesn't fall asleep until 9:45pm--REALLY late for a baby. and then he doesn't sleep late or anything, and his naps are still hit-or-miss. two days last week he took 2-hr morning naps...the others it was maybe 45 min. it's insane. kid completely pwns us, we live by his schedule. Sigh. Luckily he doesn't seem to be suffering too much...just some occasional crankypants. He's still my angel-baby :-D

K that's all for last week! Hopefully I'll get to this week's while everything is still fresh :-)

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Do I *really* have to take a vacation??

I may be one of the few people on Earth who is not 100% happy about a week's vacation. I'm gonna miss my Bubba! And even though I didn't have to, my body STILL woke me up at 6 today so I can't even look forward to sleeping in that much. Roar.

This week was overall good. Watching A becoming more confident in his crawling was *awesome*.  Slash, life is going to get INTERESTING now, because he will *not* stay where you put him! L and M are planning to get their carpets cleaned ASAP and keep the dogs off of the main living room and hallway floors, because L is all grossed out by the fact that they step in poop and then come inside. And then A touches that. EW. I now have to be extra-vigilant to make sure that he is not putting anything bad into his mouth, and that I wipe his hands regularly after he's been playing on the floor. I mean, he's gotta get some germs sometime to build up his immunities, but we don't want him getting the really BAD ones.

We had three new activities this week. One: playgroup set up by Early Intervention folks. There were only three other babies there, and they were all a bit older than A, but it was still fun.
Two: playing in the kiddie pool. On I think Tuesday or Wednesday I filled up the baby pool in the front yard. Got us all sunscreened up, bub into his swim diaper and a shirt and hat, and out we went! I sat on a low retaining wall they have in their front garden, and stuck my feet in to the deliciously cold water. Well, I thought it was delicious--A did not like it at ALL at first. Once he got used to it, though, he really enjoyed splashing around, grabbing at my feet and trying to catch my sunblock bottle...oh yeah--I forgot the water toys. So I put my sunblock bottle in the water...hey, whatever works!
Three: Storytime on the lawn at the library. We *barely* made it to this because he was napping, but it was kind of fun...mostly because we saw a few people we knew and met some others. A wasn't really interested in the ladies talking and singing, although when there was playing with the parachute he definitely watched!

Oh! Almost forgot--another milestone was reached on Friday...A pulled himself to stand. Uh-oh. L joked that by the time I next see him, he might be running around! Eek.

Yup, life is getting verrrrrrry interesting.

Monday, June 27, 2011

Wheeeeeee

A IS CRAWLING!!!!!!!!! HOLY CRAP!

Last week was fun. We went to the park on Tuesday and went swimming, and it was great! He *loved* being "dunked" in the water, and it wasn't insanely cold so I really enjoyed it too. However, it would be a *lot* easier with someone else along to help, so hopefully Jill can come sometime this week.

Last week, A was not crawling. He was doing this insane thing where he'd lean forwards, move his hands like he was going forwards, but then turn his body and sit right back down on his bum. Somehow, he got across rooms like this, but it was not very efficient! Over the weekend he put it all together, though! It seriously brought tears of pride to my eyes watching him crawl across the room today. *LOVE*

Last week was also our last playgroup with the same people we've been with forever...but today we started a new one that seems pretty good, with other babies who get Early Intervention services.

Last week was also the beginning of SLEEP HELL. Aka A crying/screaming every night in his crib instead of going down to sleep like he has for the last 9 months. We have no idea what is going on with him. His naps are also completely unpredictable and weird. It is driving us nutso. And by us I mean mostly his parents, because *they* have to deal with him at bedtime! I feel really bad for them though. And seriously, dude, I really would appreciate being able to plan a day knowing when he would nap! It's so hard to know if we'll make it to *anything* because who knows if/when he'll sleep. Bah.

Oh, the last major awesomeness is that he can now effectively feed himself puffs/yogurt drops/whatever. Well, mostly effectively. A lot still gets stuck to his face/hands/bib, but a good deal gets in his mouth! Yay progress!

:-D

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Failshaina

Sorry, all five of you who read this! If there's even five...

So. Two short weeks...I swear, I haven't worked a full week all month! Crazy.

Let's see...in the past two weeks, A and I have discovered the library. Oh man. He loves it! There is this toy, it's a big cube that sits on the floor with different activities on each side. Gears on one, an abacus type thing on another, and those awesome bead-wire things on top! Like this: http://platinumgalleria.com/anatex-deluxe-mini-play-cube2.jpg. He LOVES it. He will sit and play with it forever. And then there are books, which are always good. Except he likes to just play with them closed, and if I try to open them, he'll close them before I can read them! Strange child. It's also really fun for him to watch the other (mostly bigger) kids that are there, and it's fun for *me* talking to the other moms/nannies. *Especially* since I haven't been to playgroup in like three weeks for one reason or another!

Still no crawling. He can get from sitting to his hands and knees, and from tummy to sitting. However, he just doesn't get the pulling idea, or the moving his legs idea. Hopefully with some coaching he'll catch on soon! Although I know it's going to make my life a bit more difficult, it'll still be fun!

We got our passes for the park this week, and went down and checked it out. It is really nice--a big lake with plenty of shade, and a wonderful playground with baby swings as well! And a splash pad too, though I haven't seen that on. We went on Wednesday, and I so wish I'd realized how nice it was out--I would have loved to at least wade in the water if not actually go all the way in with A. Instead we played on the swings, ate lunch, and i dipped his toes in the water before we left. Hopefully this coming week we'll have a nice day or two and Jill will come and we'll go swimming :-)

We also have been signed up for a baby gym thing. Between that and all the meet-up things that L is signing us up for, and the park, and the library story time, I think we're going to have a jam-packed summer. Woo!

In personal news, I'm moving in TWO WEEKS. A and I might make a trip to the hardware store this week to pick up paint so I can paint my room next weekend. Eek! On top of that my parents are renovating our kitchen at home, and work on that is starting this week. It's going to be insane...

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Short week

I only worked three days this past week, because Monday was a holiday and Friday I took the day off to start preparing for my brother's wedding tomorrow!

Tuesday was INSANE with the naps. M and L must have really worn A out over the weekend, because his morning nap was two hours and his afternoon nap was two hours twenty minutes. Which is all but UNHEARD of in the last few months! It was crazy. But good for me, because, well, I needed naps too! Haha.

Wednesday we had some cuh-raaazy weather here in MA. if you haven't heard--western MA had freaking tornados, and out by me we had hail and thunder and stuff. Luckily, the middle part of the day was pretty good, and A and I ventured out to the grocery store! It was pretty fun, he was really well behaved, and we ran into a mom and kids that we met on the playground last week! Small world. So that was good. Oh, and the cleaning ladies came in the afternoon. Normally A really likes them, especially Katia, the one who speaks English (they're Brazilian). However, he's really starting to get into the stranger anxiety thing, and he pretty much clung to me for about fifteen minutes after he got up from his nap and saw them. Especially because Maria (the non-English speaker) tried to take him from me--OMG he did NOT WANT. I love him clinging to me...it's the cutest thing in the world. Hopefully it does not make our lives difficult in the future though...like if he didn't like his extended family members or something.

Thursday my friend Jill came over and we baked! L and M are having a yard sale today (like, right this minute) and wanted to have a bake sale too to get as much money as possible. Not for them--for the Pan-Mass Challenge, a big bike ride that supports cancer research that L is doing in August. She has to raise a lot of money, so everything from the sale is going to that. I made brownies, m&m cookies, and chocolate chip cookies. I hope people buy them! A was pretty good although a little antsy. He's generally pretty happy sitting in his highchair watching us, and he gave us just enough time to do what we needed to. We had a bit of a snafu with the chocolate chip cookies because Jill accidentally measured 1 cup less flour than we needed, but they were still delicious!

And that's it. Next week I might have to work extra hours, since M has to go out to Springfield for the week to help with the tornado stuff. Crazy times we live in...

Sunday, May 29, 2011

Finally!

A B-E-A-utiful week! Weather was just about perfect. We went outside a lot. I walked and jogged and sweated enough that i realized I need to bring a bunch of t-shirts to work JUST for when we go outside, haha.

L worked from home a few days this week. That is always fun! Especially because it means I get Starbucks in the morning...she'll text me around 7am and be like...Starbucks? Please? So I stop, get her whatever and then I get to get ME whatever I want too :-D

A is *so* close to crawling, it's probably as frustrating for us as it is for him! He'll hang out on his hands and knees and rock, or he'll lie on his tummy and streeeeeeeeetch for things, but he hasn't quite gotten the idea of forward motion. However, he HAS learned to clap, and ZOMG is it ever cute. Like, seriously, adorable. He also has a tooth, a very sharp little tooth, which I'm still getting used to feeling on the spoon when I feed him! Also this week we discovered that this kid LOVES the swing at the playground. Like, laughs so hard he gets hiccups. Insanely, insanely cute. It hurts how cute he is.

Hmm...found a food he didn't really like this week, for the first time. Up 'til now he pretty much has eaten anything we have given him, no problem. Until Friday I gave him something called "Beef, Carrots and Corn" which also had things like Kamut flour and roasted onions in it. He had a hard time with the texture, I think, and I eventually gave up on it. Baby food is so weird. I know every mom-to-be says this, but I mean it--I'm going to make my baby's food as much as I possibly can. Because it's not cool that something that is called one thing has five other things in it. Plus random vitamins and chemicals added. Hopefully by the time I get around to having my kids they'll have even niftier, cheaper systems for making baby food!

Other exciting news...Oh, A has really started discovering his voice lately. He doesn't make many consonants yet, except when he's hanging out in his crib before or after sleep. However, he sure as heck knows how to make NOISE! He just loves to be squealing at the top of his lungs while I'm out and about...luckily it's pretty obvious that it's happy noise, otherwise people might think I'm torturing the kid, lol. It's mostly cute. Only a little annoying :-P

Oh, last thing. Just this week he's started napping on his stomach! Generally, we'd go in and turn him over a few times until he fell asleep on his back. This week, a few times I gave him a little time to play on his stomach before I went in, and what do you know? He rubbed his face on his blanky a little bit, and then just fell asleep just like that! It's a little nerve-wracking because it's harder to tell if he's breathing that way, but he's happy so woo!

This weekend M and L took him up to their place by a lake in New Hampshire. He'll be sleeping away from home for the first time, going out on a boat and in the water for the first time...I hope he's doing well and sleeping! Otherwise, the three days I'm working next week (holiday Monday, and then I'm taking Friday off because my brother is getting married Sunday) will be very interesting...

Sunday, May 22, 2011

Rain, rain, go away...

Ugh. New England. SERIOUSLY? We've had maybe two nice days in two weeks. And it's driving. me. insane.

So last Sunday I was able to go to the Christening, which was awesome. Even though I had to kind of sneak into the church and sit far away from what was actually going on, it felt right that I was there. And then at the party afterwards, A kept leaning out of his mom's (or whoever's) arms towards me, and it was awesome. And then he was falling asleep in my arms, so I put him down for a nap, and he slept for like an hour and a half...which of course prompted M and L to tease me again about giving him drugs, lol. M's like, it's only because you're here that he's sleeping this long! What do you do?! But anyways. I like being an authority on A, second only to his parents pretty much. And it was also gratifying to hear some of L's friends tell me that they've heard a lot about me, and that it is all positive! Seriously, did I luck out or what with this job???

The week was pretty uneventful, mostly because of the @#@$&(*! rain. We had playgroup on Monday, which was fun and a little less stressful than usual because L has given in and said that I don't have to try so hard to keep him on his own blankets any more. WHEW. It is getting pretty much impossible to do that, even at home on the rug, because he's rolling and he pulls at whatever he's on...Yeah. So it was nice to be able to just let him play on the big quilt with his buddies.

A's got a new favorite toy this week...an old Verizon remote, with the batteries taken out of it. For serious. He'll ignore everything else to get to a remote...it's good to have one to give him that won't change my channel!

Other than that, it was a pretty boring week of just playing inside, trying to stay sane, fiddling around with what he eats (L decided to try to go back to a full jar of food each time, but he then didn't eat enough formula, so we're back to half...). We did go to the mall on Friday with my friend Jill, because I just needed to get OUT. And buy shorts. lol. Got lots of compliments on "my" cute baby, lol. Sometimes I let comments like that slide, but mostly I am just like, I'm actually his nanny but thanks, he is super-cute isn't he! :-D

L texted me this morning that A learned how to clap and got a tooth for real this weekend! I'm very excited for tomorrow to see these new develoments :-)

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Freaking phases...

A is going through some sort of phase again. And it was driving me UP A WALL. The sleep schedule...it was just so incomprehensible. One day he took three naps, 40-40-25 (minutes). The next, he took three naps, 50-80-45.  Jeez. And then yesterday (Saturday) L texted me after 9am that he had woken up at 6 but hadn't yet taken a nap--she was like, where do you keep the magic nap powder? Man, I hope he napped at some point!

And then to top off this crazy sleep week, on Friday he pulled a bottle strike JUST for me. He'd drink one ounce, then refuse the rest until I gave up and fed it to him on a spoon. Like, seriously? he'd act like I was poisoning him if I tried to get him to drink the rest from the bottle. W.T.F. little dude. I did absolutely nothing different from any other day! He drank for his parents that night and yesterday though, so hopefully on Monday THAT will be back to normal at least.

Other news from the week is just a lot more progress with the rolling. It's going to be impossible soon to keep him on a quilt in front of the tv, which we have done thus far to keep him from getting doggy germs all over him. I know I should take him in the playroom more, but it's hard because we feed him in front of the TV (that's where the rocking chair is) and so I get hooked on whatever show is on, and then I want to keep him there so I can keep watching! I'm going to have to break my habits. But as long as I can just watch my 3.5 hours in the morning (Today, Ellen, Nate Berkus) I think I might be okay.

We didn't get out a lot this week except for playgroup, because it was just yucky out. It's MAY but it's acting like late March! Lame. We finally got out on Friday--I was tired of having the same old same old for lunch so I took A into their town center and went to a deli and then we walked around a little bit. It was pretty fun, and I def want to explore that area a little more. A woman I met said that there is a playground not too far from the center, and once A is more mobile I'll definitely want to check that out! We'll also be going to a park with a lake this summer, L and M are going to get us a pass. I'm both excited and nervous to go to the beach with him...just thinking about everything I'd need to BRING is a little overwhelming. Plus, will he nap outside? Who knows! Maybe if I'm lucky L will be able to come with us the first time to help me figure out how to do everything.

I just can't wait to be outside!

Today is A's Christening. I really want to go, but I might have another commitment...unless it gets rained out. I'm really hoping it does!

See ya next week...

Saturday, May 7, 2011

A mixed-up kind of week

A's sleep patterns just got WEIRD this week. Monday through Wednesday I just could *NOT* get him down for a second nap unless he was in a moving vehicle of some sort. And even those naps were short. Thursday was good, finally. And then Friday L and the cleaning ladies accidentally woke him from his morning nap after only 25 minutes, and he didn't go down again for a few hours, and then the phone woke him up after only 30. The "Sleep Lady" book we got once would call those disaster naps...and yeah, cranky baby was cranky. Poor thing.

The odd thing is, L and M say no matter how much he naps or doesn't during the day, it doesn't seem to impact his nighttime sleep. Which seems weird to me. But whatever works for him...

Big progress this week with the rolling--meaning, holy crap the kid won't stay on his back! Especially when putting him down for a nap...We have a video monitor, and so i dump him in the crib (not literally) and then go out of the room and watch him on the monitor. Almost every day this past week, within a few minutes the kid was on his stomach. I learned that if I left him there until he started whining (as opposed to going and turning him over immediately) he was much more likely to go down for good. We'll see if that keeps up.

Oh, on thursday A had his evaluation from Early Intervention! He tested extremely well--with the exception of his upper body strength, he's completely at age level (and that's real age, not corrected!) and even AHEAD of it! They basically said he was brilliant, lol. Apparently the fact that he will move a blanket that's on top of a toy to get said toy, and things like that, is really advanced for his age. Awesome! So he still qualifies for services, but since it's not covered by M and L's insurance and it's pretty pricey without, I'm not sure what they're going to do. He's progressing really well, really blowing everyone's minds actually, so they'll probably end it. We'll see.

Every day is so new with this kid, it's why I love this age so much. Just this past week he's started reaching out to be picked up, and every day I discover something new that makes him laugh, and he's just such an incredible delight. I left L a mother's day card before I left on Friday, and inside of it I wrote "I am glad you're a mom, because if you weren't, I wouldn't have the best job in the world". And I mean it. I am incredibly, incredibly lucky.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

Rollin' rollin' rollin'...

Hi! This is going to be short because I am tired and blah after a very long weekend.

This week A had a bit of...something. We couldn't tell if it was a cold, allergies, or teething...but he had a cough and runny nose a bit, and while it didn't bother him, it sure worried us! Crazy baby. Other big doings...he finally has rolled from back to front enough times that we can say he *can* do it. He just doesn't, often, and when he does he sometimes gets his arm caught underneath him. But he CAN! this is huge :-) We also made progress with him holding himself on his arms; he'll stay like that for a good ten seconds if you force him into the hands-and-knees position...but he's still not doing it him self. Baby steps...(no pun intended).

We did get out of the house a lot this week, which was great. Yay for awesome weather! It made me really happy to be able to take long walks. I love walking around their neighborhood, there's so many interesting and pretty houses! And sometime in the coming months we'll try walking to L's parents' place, which is a little over a mile away. And maybe I'll explore the bike trail in their area. Or take him to a park. Who knows! The weather opens up a whole new world for us :-)

Only other big news from the week is my own--I looked at an apartment on Thursday that is AMAZING. A friend of mine lives there, and his three roommates are moving out and he's looking for three more. I've decided that I'm one...now hopefully we can find two more very soon! If all goes well, I'll be moving in there in the beginning of July. Woot. And it's got a month-by-month lease, so no matter when I part ways with L, M, and A (*sniff sniff*) I can either get another job in the area or I can leave and find a job somewhere else with very little notice on the apt. I was out at my college today and I really miss that area, so I might move back out there...we'll see!

Friday, April 22, 2011

On-time! Woo!

This was a week of...oddness. Several factors: a) L not being home all week. it was very strange having only limited texts with her, not being able to leave things for her to see at night, etc. b) A got circumcised last Friday, so we had to deal with the, erm, wound. The bandage came off Wednesday. it is swollen. poor bubba. Luckily it doesn't seem to bother him much but...c) i think there's actually, FINALLY, a TOOTH! GLORY HALLELUJAH! This kid has been drooling like there was a faucet in his mouth for MONTHS. and just now there is a tiny little bump on his top right gum. either b or c was causing some serious cranky-pants yesterday. tylenol to the rescue! so, due to all of this, d) sleep was a little messed up. naps were seriously unpredictable--one day, he did 3 hours in the morning and 1.5 in the afternoon. another, he did 40 minutes, 1 hour, 30 minutes. He's also eating like a pig. Yesterday I swear I was feeding him every two hours if not more.

We did not get out at ALL this week. No playgroup due to school vacation week, no meetups with other moms because...well, just didn't get organized. No dates with Jill because instead she and her cool Israeli boyfriend came over to the house to visit us there. No walks because it was either cold, wet, or uber-windy. Effing LAME. I cannot waitttttttt til summertime! We're gonna be outside alllll the time. Playing in the yard, taking walks, going to parks...it is GOING to happen. Hold me to it!

Oh, one cool thing this week was that I got to be there when A's Early Intervention lady came. He gets services because he was so premature; he needs a little help to get some of his skills up to his actual age (as opposed to his adjusted; basically he was born on 8/29 but was due something like 10/8, so he is really "younger" than he is, developmentally speaking...it's complicated). She had said a month or so ago that he might place out of EI services because he was so awesome and almost AHEAD of his age, but recently he's stopped pushing up on his arms and that's something he should really be doing. He'll do tummy time, and can roll front to back if he wants, but he doesn't support his weight on his wrists like he'd need to to crawl. And they really *want* him to crawl first, even though he likes "standing" a whole lot more, because he needs to build his upper-body strength. So she showed us (M and I) how to kind of force him into a crawling position by holding his bent knees between our legs and supporting him under his chest with one hand and using the other hand to hold one of his stationary while he reaches with the other. hopefully, if we keep doing this with him, he'll get the idea! He really wants to crawl and is getting really frustrated that he can't quite figure it out.

That's all. Thanks for reading!

Monday, April 18, 2011

Sorry again!

Yeah, I kind of suck at keeping a regular posting schedule. Sorry about that.

Last week was a really short week. Monday I only worked half a day, because L wanted to take A to playgroup because they were doing a sign-language class thing. I wanted to go with her but she insisted I take the afternoon off! Well, okay, then.   :-D I spent the afternoon at the mall with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, which was pretty sweet. The rest of the week was pretty normal, I can't think of anything super special that happened. Oh, well, Thursday my friend Jill came over and we went to Panera for lunch and then took a nice long walk after A's nap. I love taking him outside, and I can't WAIT for the weather to cooperate so I can do it daily!

Friday I had off, because poor A got circumcised. They had to wait until now because when he was born he had some issues due to being so premature, and then once the baby is older I guess they have to put him under anaesthesia for the procedure and they wanted to wait until he was *really* strong to do that again. So bright and early on Friday they took him into the city and had it done. And now he's got bandages and stuff all up in his junk. And L's away on business all week. FUUUUUUN! Luckily the wound and all doesn't seem to be bothering him much, other than maybe some itchiness--I noticed him twitching his hips a lot today. He also may have a cold or possibly allergies right now. Poor baby...wish he could talk! This is going to be an interesting week!

Sunday, April 10, 2011

Sorry

This weekend was insane. So, late post!

Um. This week.

Tuesday was fun. Well, except for the morning...poor A spit up just about everything in his stomach around 8:30 while I was giving him his food-breakfast. It was insane. And messy. And it came out his nose. And he was, understandably, upset. However, once the spit-up stopped and I got him calmed down, he was happy as could be. And he went down for his nap SUPER quick. And then I got him up so M and I could get Brueggers before playgroup! It was so funny having M there, because there are no other men at playgroup EVER. Some of the babies were like, wtf is this strange man doing here?! But one of the other small babies (there is a group that are all A's age or a little younger, and then a group that are 9-12 months) was totally enthralled with him and would smile like crazy whenever he looked at her. It was cute.  Anyways, A was again a total angel...it was almost freaky. I totally expected him to start whining in hunger at any minute--you'd think, after all that spit-up, he'd be starving! But he totally didn't care. M fed him a few ounces at playgroup and he was just...fine. Strange child.

Wednesday, M took us out to Target. We got some more things for the playroom--a little boom box for playing the radio or cds, a beanbag chair, and a stuffed Lightning McQueen thing. They also ordered a Cars-themed little couch for him online. Yay! It's fun to play in the playroom, to not have to worry about keeping him on a blanket or keeping the dogs off. Anywho. Target was fun, and then we went to M's hairdresser's place so she could see A, and then we went to M's friend's garage so he could see his car that he's selling and so that THEY could see A...This was all fine and good, except poor baby kept falling asleep for just a few minutes and then getting woken up again. Ah well.

Thursday, I took A to the mall to get lunch and shop a bit with my friend Jill. It was super-fun, he was (almost) a perfect angel, and he fell asleep in the stroller for 45 minutes which was AWESOME! It was so cute--he had his hand out holding the handle of the carrier (it's a snap-and-go stroller, meaning the carseat/carrier snaps onto a base) and that's how he fell asleep. His hand was up on the handle for a good ten minutes or so before it fell! Precious. And while he was asleep I scored some gorgeous tops at Delia's, woot woot.

Friday was a half-day, since both A and L had appointments in Boston. Nothing too exciting happened, I don't think.

Sorry, I know this wasn't a terribly thrilling post. Hopefully next week will be a bit more interesting!

Monday, April 4, 2011

The Mother of All Naps

Today A slept for over THREE HOURS STRAIGHT. Completely on his own. In his crib. No soothing.

Of course, this was because his routine got messed up yesterday and he slept like shit, so his parents weren't very happy today, but still. THREE HOURS. it got to the point where I was worried! And of course I didn't get anything really accomplished other than eating lunch, because really, he hasn't slept that long in like a month, so why would I expect it? And he kept making noises and turning over (we have a video monitor--SO useful) so I thought he was waking up, and then no.

Yeah. I just had to share. Cuz, WOW.

Tomorrow: Playgroup! And I think M might be coming with! Should be interesting cuz there are no other men in the group :-)

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Week in review...

Okay, so Monday and Tuesday were pretty normal, except for M being home. It's not too awkward, except when he comes upstairs and I'm watching my super-girly-trash shows, haha. I think it was Monday that he changed the channel and we watched something about the history of illegal moonshine for a while. fun.
Wednesday we built the playroom! I don't know if I mentioned that they have two big Boxers, Desi and Cooper. They are gross and dirty and Cooper slobbers a lot and yuck. So up until now, we've had to contain A to a mat or quilt on the rug in front of the TV, and endeavor to keep the dogs off so that he wouldn't come into contact with their germs (especially because they often step in their own poop outside, and you can't really teach a dog to wipe its feet...). However, once M's mom moved out of the in-law apartment on the lower level of their house (it's a split-level and all the important stuff is on the top floor), they moved their office down there and cleaned out the office upstairs for use as a dog-free playroom! Last week M painted it a nice cheery yellow, and then this Weds M and I built a nice shelf and put down some padded flooring. Here's a picture, with A's back in it :-) I won't show his face 'til I get permission, but there's no harm in the back of his head!
Nice, huh? it was fun. except the 20 minutes I spent on my hands and knees spraying and wiping down the mat with the Dreft toy cleaner stuff. So worth it though, for a dog-free room that he can crawl around freely once he gets around to learning! We still spend time in front of the TV, of course--I can't miss Today, Ellen, or Nate! And the rocking chair that we feed him his bottles in is out there too. But hopefully now we will spent most of the rest of the day playing in here or outside, not glued to the tube.

Thursday was another exciting day. M is going quite nuts being stuck at home, and so he decided to take me and A to the Rainforest Cafe at the nearby mall. It was SO FUN! A loved it, behaved beautifully, was not phased by moving animals and loud noises and even a thunderstorm! That kid, he's amazing. He just kept staring around, chewing on his seat-cover thing, smiling and cooing at me and his Daddy...He especially loved the waterfall and the fish tanks. I had some very delicious fried chicken. Nom! We walked into the mall after to find a place to sit and feed A, and he devoured some "mixed veggies" after I realized the bottle we'd brought had a too-small nipple and he wouldn't drink from it. M had to pick up A's reflux meds in another town after, and we rode along and A slept in the truck. Awesome. AND he took an afternoon nap too!

Friday was pretty normal except that L AND M were home, and that M had two visitors who oohed and aahed over A. Oh and? He took a 35 minute nap in the morning. then an hour and fifteen minute nap a few hours later. And when he woke up from that, we were like, ok no way is he going to take a third nap! But guess who got him to go down again? Yup. As he gets older he is starting to have reeeeally distinct signals when he's tired--shaking his head back and forth really fast is one, and now he's started rubbing his eyes too. it's very useful :-)

Hmm...last note is that L brought home a little book on baby sign language, and we're going to start doing a few signs with him. We've decided on eat/food, drink, more, and change, to start. We'll see how it goes!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Happy 7 months!

A is 7 months old today :-) He was born 8-29, but his due date was something like 10-15. He's a lucky little bugger that we live in modern times with awesome medicine and such, and that he came out of the hospital at the end of September with only very minor problems (lack of muscle tone, acid reflux, etc). And now he's pretty much completely caught up to his age! He's so amazing.

Today in playgroup we did "Itsy Bitsy Yoga" which was kind of cute and fun. A was amazing with it because he took an awesome 1.5 hour nap and was wide awake and happy! I just wish I'd taken notes or something so I could teach all the things to L! Maybe she'll sign him up for the class when he turns a year old.

Anyways. Full update Friday or Saturday!

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Who knew it would be that easy?

Main accomplishment of the week: SLEEP! Over the weekend, L and M started putting A down to sleep with very minimal walking/shushing. And HOLY CRAP. IT WORKED. We can now just put him down, give him his lovey (a little blanket with silky trim), put his little music thing on, and leave the room and he will FALL ASLEEP ON HIS OWN! Sometimes with a little (or more than a little) crying, but if I get the timing right he'll be asleep within minutes. Only a parent or other caretaker can understand how awesome this is. Fo' reals. The only bad part is that he has not been sleeping as MUCH as before--when I would rock him to sleep and then put him in the swing, he'd sleep for up to three hours; in bed the longest so far is 1.5 hours. Ah well, he's sleeping through the night, which is what really matters!

Hmmm...it was a pretty normal week, except that Monday my father went to the doctor to get checked out because he'd been having some weird problems with his leg and hand since Friday. Turns out he had a (luckily) small stroke, due at least in part to undiagnosed high cholesterol and blood pressure, and he had to spend the night at the hospital. Since the playgroup I go to with A is at the same hospital, I took him up with me to see my dad after group on Tuesday. Considering that he (A, not dad) was really over-tired, he did really well and let my mom hold him and such while I talked to my dad. And then he fell asleep the second the car started moving and slept two hours in the carseat! Nice.

Other exciting news is that M had foot surgery on Friday, and so will home for three weeks, since he can't do his job on crutches. I still have to work--he can't really carry A or even probably push the stroller on his crutches--but he'll be around...it'll be interesting. He's a lot of fun to be around and we get along fine, but it's just gonna be very different having him there all day! He said maybe we'll take some day trips--he was like, I can't stay inside all day, I'll go crazy! And I said, welcome to my life the past three months...why do you think I like going to playgroup so much?! Haha. It'll be neat to go places with him though, maybe even into the city!

I seriously want the weather to get better. On St Patrick's Day it was almost 70 degrees out and I took A out in the nice stroller for an hour-long walk. I cannot WAIT until that is possible every day, because oh MAN do I need the exercise! And it's great for A to see the outdoors and get fresh air...while he was born at the end of August, he spent a month in the hospital, and then it was starting to get cold, so the poor thing has been indoors most of his life I think! I want to be able to spread a blanket on the lawn and sit and play, to go to the park and walk around, to spend as much time OUT as IN. Hopefully soon...

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Yes, parents, this IS what I want to do with my life!

So, I would be completely happy to be a nanny for the rest of my life. I used to say that my dream job would be as SuperNanny's apprentice--but she just went off the air, so I guess I'm sunk there! Haha.

The problem is, my family thinks that this is a waste of my college degree. My Bachelor's is in Judaic Studies, with my minor in Education. If I had been able to, I would have done Early Childhood Ed as a major, but when I applied they told me I couldn't major in any sort of education, and so I chose something I was simply very interested in. The whole time, though, I knew that working with kids was the life for me. As I mentioned before, I did originally think that a preschool would be where I ended up, and my parents accepted that. They still push me to do that instead. But nannying...there's just nothing like it. There's nothing like having the full weight of responsibility for another human's life solely on your shoulders 7-8 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't get breaks except when he's sleeping (or when his parents take him to the doctor for an hour like yesterday). I can't ever leave him alone. I have so, SO much respect for stay-at-home moms and dads, because at least I get a full night's sleep! And I've definitely had second thoughts about having kids soon...I still want to aim to have at least one of my own by the time I'm 30, but I'm in no rush now.

I love the one-on-one aspect of this too, as well as the fact that I really am making an impact on this child's life. Whether I leave him in June when my contract is technically up, or whether I end up staying with him for another year, I had an impact. I helped him to strengthen his arms and learn to roll over. I fed him peas for the first time. I take care of all of his bodily needs and make sure he is happy, healthy, and well-rested. I break my back carrying him around. And even though he probably won't remember any of this, I still feel like I'm an important part of his life.

Weekly doings after the jump...

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Welcome :-)

Hi, future readers! My name is Shaina. I'm starting this blog on a whim, to talk about my job as a nanny to the most wonderful little boy. I'll call him A. He was born on August 29th, 2010, six weeks early but mostly healthy. I started working with him January third, and immediately fell in love!

Why be a nanny? Well, to put it simply, I love kids. All kids. Big, little, boy, girl, whatever. I love 'em. I *especially* love babies! I love how they grow every single day in ways that are obvious to those around them. I love the look on their faces when they discover something new. I love watching them figure out what their bodies and voices are capable of. I love watching their faces light up when they see a beloved caretaker or parent. I love everything...even the cranky days with four dirty diapers and three outfit changes due to spit-up. My friend once asked, in a note, "Remind me why I'm being a nurse and you're not? Oh yeah, it's cuz you'd steal the babies!" So true. So true.

My original thought, when entering college, was that I'd want to work in a daycare setting when I graduated. My ideal? A baby room, obviously. However, over the years, my thoughts changed. I realized how much more I love the one-on-one time that babysitting gives you, as well as the freedom. After a disastrous internship at a daycare where I wasn't allowed to say "no" or "shush", I discovered that other peoples' rules don't always mesh with my childrearing philosophy, and that it is almost impossible for me to go against my instincts. So I decided that at least for a year after graduation, I wanted to do the nanny thing. Get some more experience, save up some money. Awesome.

Enter the family that shall not be named. My first attempt at nannying...well, it didn't end well. But just as with the horrible internship, I learned a lot about myself and nannying that I now can apply to my current and future job(s). I was unemployed for a while, and then! and then! I applied for a job on care.com, an awesome website where I'd found work before. The lady said, I've already found someone but here, talk to my friend!

The friend turned out to be L, who ended up hiring me. She and her husband M are quite wonderful people and I am so grateful that their friend got me in touch with them!

Two and a half months later, we're going strong. I feel like a partner in parenting, not an employee. They are very open about letting me take him places--in fact, almost immediately they signed me up for playgroup, and got me my own carseat base for the car! I can go to Starbucks with my friend, go out to lunch, even go to the mall if I wanted to! Theoretically, if my clothes got dirty, I could even take the baby to my house so I could change, as long as I check with them first and let them know where we are. How awesome is that? And I fall in love with A more each day I see him. He's recently started laughing, and it just melts my heart. He is the most adorable child on the face of the earth. No joke.

Okay. That's enough of an intro for now! My goal is to post at LEAST every Friday or Saturday with funny anecdotes or thoughts about the week. Possibly more if I can get my act together. We shall see!

Thanks for reading :-)