To echo Nategrabes and Emma_Linda:
If Mike came to Chicago right now, I would not be upset
sympathizing with my fellow bloggers January 30, 2007
cold, cold, cold January 29, 2007
Liz’s bottom two teeth finally broke through. It’s really really cold outside, and the upstairs is also really cold. I just want to curl up in bed and read and be warm. When is it going to be warm again. I want to take the girls out on walks again.
A long nap January 26, 2007
I only have Liz again today, and she just slept for 2 hours, and now she’s really happy and playing well. She is so cute when she gets excited ( and smiles, and sleeps, and almost all the time). I wonder how Rose’s doing with her grandma. I must say I like this one baby thing. I miss Rose, but I can do such a better job if I can give one of the girls all me attention. I anticipate their needs better because I can pick up on all the little hints. Liz’s playing with the tag of one of her toys. Seriously, I think she might play with the tags of things just as much as she plays with the actual toy. She’s going to be hungry soon, but for now she’s just happy playing with her toys. I think this might be my favorite times of the day, when she’s just woken up and I let her play on her own for a little bit because she can entertain herself, and I can just watch her and give little encouragements now and then. It’s good that she’s learning to play on her own better. When I first started she really couldn’t entertain herself. Of course she couldn’t sit up on her own either, but Rose can’t and she’s always been able to self-sooth/play on her own. That’s kind of changing, lately she’s been demanding my attention whenever she’s awake. Ok, Liz’s hungry now. She aways acts a little tired when she’s hungry. That used to confuse me alot. She has the cutest way of talking. 
Sigh January 23, 2007
It’s 2 and I’m getting my first real break of the day and trust me it won’t last long. I took about 15 minutes to make and eat lunch earlier when Rose was still awake. I had her in her bouncy chair down in the kitchen with me. I also made her a bottle during those 15 minutes and she had about 3.5 ounces before she was completely passed out and wouldn’t eat anymore. So I took her down to her crib. She woke up! She was totally wide awake again. Now I know this girl’s tired, because she only slept for 30 minutes and has been up for almost 3 hours. This has been Rose all day. I DO NOT WANT TO SLEEP. You know what she’s been doing to keep herself awake? Screaming. A loud piercing screech. So of course if I’m trying to put Liz down and Rose’s at all tired, it’s nearly impossible to get Liz to sleep. I feel a bit like ripping my hair out. Ah, there’s Liz waking up. Time for some sweet potatoes.
Just Liz January 22, 2007
Today Rose is with her grandma so it’s just Liz and me. I like being able to work with just one of the girls. I can focus in on them better and I notice more things. Like how much babies can learn by having a few toys in front of them. Like today Liz was figuring out that if you have two toys, one in each hand, and you want to hold one of them with both hands, you have to put the other one down. She was also able to get a toy that was almost out of reach without falling over, a feat for her. She also started bouncing in her “exersauser” today. Before she’d only sit in it and play with the things on the sides and get bored quickly. You should have heard her laugh while she bounced. It’s amazing to watch kids discover new things. The wonderment they express is contagious. I want to look at the world like that and be amazed by the simple joys one experiences in life.
Cursing the cold January 18, 2007
It’s been super cold here. Of course we haven’t had the really horrible weather that some of the country is getting, but cold enough that I don’t even consider taking the girls out. Days that we don’t get a walk get long for all three of us. The girls accumulate tiredness and crankiness throughout the day, and are worn out by the last couple hours. They also start wanting to see their parents. By the end of the day it’s hard to make them both happy, because often they both want to be held, and I can’t hold/comfort them both for very long. My most recent solution? I calm Rose down, put her in the swing with a toy to hold onto, and I bounce Liz on my hip standing in front of the swing so the girls can look at each other and Rose can see me and I can make her giggle with my funny faces. Whatever works. I miss the walks because it’s sort of a break for me. Liz will fall asleep without me having to coax her into it, and neither of the girls needs much attention. It’s a nice breather. So I’m looking forward to the warmer weather.
Life is good January 17, 2007
Liz just slept for an hour and 15 minute and Rose’s still sleeping. Liz is always so much happier when she sleeps for over an hour at a time. Yeah for happy babies. Last night we had a stressful 15 minutes when both girls decided the had to be feed RIGHT NOW and then their crying fed off of each other and they wouldn’t calm down to even to eat, and feeding two babies at once is hard!
It’s only 9 o’clock January 11, 2007
And the girls have already gone down for their first naps. Normally this wouldn’t happen for Rose for at least another 30 min and for Liz an hour, but Liz woke up really early this morning and I’ve been getting better at anticipating when she’s tired enough that a bottle will put her to sleep. If she isn’t coaxed to sleep in that prime time slot with a bottle, then she gets cranky and I have to spend the next 30-60 minutes getting her down. If she still doesn’t go down in that time slot than it’s almost impossible. It’s almost like the more tired she is the more drive and determination she has to stay awake. So both girls will probably wake up in a half hour. If I’m lucky one of them might sleep for a little longer. Liz never used to sleep more than 30 minutes if we weren’t on a walk, but last week she all of a sudden started taking hour long naps some of the time. Weird how baby’s schedules change without any apparent reason. Rose used to take 2 hour naps in the afternoons, and now she pretty much only takes 30-40 minute naps. Both girls will nap longer if we’re walking. Which is a big reason why I often will take them out for 2 hour walks in the afternoon. Besides, who needs a gym when you can carry 15 pounds of dead weight and push a stroller for 2 hours.
I have been with the girls for a month and a half now and I’ve seen them grow so much in that time. Both girls rolled over for the first time since I started with them. Both started eating food for the first time. Liz learned to sit up on her own, which she does really well, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the type that doesn’t crawl much because she can stand pretty well with only a little support. It will be a while before she starts pulling herself up and walking, but she spends so little time on her back and belly that I really don’t think she’ll do much crawling. sometimes I think I should keep putting her on her stomach like I used to before she could roll onto it, but I’m not sure it’s really all that important that she crawls. She loves to sit and stand, but why not just let her do those things and help her learn the things she needs for walking.
I’ve become quite attached to these two little ones. I’m starting to think that I could stay with them for a number of years, and that childcare might be the best career choice for me. I probably won’t be a nanny for the rest of my life, but with a few classes in early childhood development, I could get a decent job in a nursery, or possibly even start my own day care someday. I love being a caregiver, and although I don’t sit there and get excited about going to work every day, I enjoy what I do, and I don’t dread it either. My days go by surprisingly quickly for working 10 hours. I’ve had other jobs where I’ll work 6-8 hours and it feels like eternity.
Rose has started being extremely vocal. She’s going to be a singer. When I sing something a little more interesting than a children’s song she gets a huge grin on her face and sometimes she tries to sing along. She’s also discovered the art of gurgling which she does as loud as she can. Liz has gotten so much better at being put down for longer periods of time. It used to be that she could only stand it for 20-30 minutes, now she can go 40-60 depending on how tired she is. She’s also learning to entertain herself. Rose has never really had a problem with that. She just hangs.
