New family May 22, 2007

Rose is leaving.  She’s moving to Seattle in August.  So we’re interviewing new families to find a replacement.  I met the first one (only mom and baby) today and they seem like the best match so far in terms of age, but I also found out that Rose’s end date is later than we thought it was going to be and 2 and a half months after this potential family’s desired start date.  Hum.

Rose started crawling last week.  She’s still getting good at it, but she can make it pretty well around the room…eventually.  Liz has started pulling herself up and she reached for me while her mom was holding her for the first time last week.  She’s started crawling over to me and trying to pull herself up on my legs which is very endearing.

Mike is going to be in Chicago Wednesday only a few miles away, and I don’t get to see him   Friday…friday….friday

Taking the pain May 14, 2007

My neck, chest, and bossom (or is it the plural bossoms?  This is a hot topic in the apartment) take quite a beating while I’m rocking Liz to sleep.

Yes, she cannot yet put herself down, and she’s still sleeping in her swing.  It’s not what I would chose, but I respect the parent wishes.  I don’t think it’s horrible either.  She’ll learn in her own time.  Besides, she’s going to grow out of that swing soon, and then a new situation will have to be found and she will have to adjust.

Ok, back to the topic at hand.  Liz likes to slap, claw and pinch me in an attempt to keep herself awake.  Ouch.  But what can I do?  She doesn’t know that she’s hurting me.  She doesn’t really understand that concept yet.  At least her mom has started trimming her nails more.  There were a few weeks where it was really painful.  I do what I can to discourage her, and try and at least get the concept across that she shouldn’t do that, but it often helps keep her awake.  Grrr…

Any advice welcome April 18, 2007

The girls seem to enjoy being read to, and I try to read to them every day, but it’s starting to become a frustrating experience for all of us.  Both girls, but Rose particularly, love to get their hands on one (or two) of the books, and of course what’s in the hand ends up in the mouth.  There are a couple books that are either plastic or cloth, and in the past having those has been enough to pacify them.  No longer.  So I’ve started giving each of them a cardboard book during story time, but attempt to not let them chew on them.  A paci in the mouth is a temporary fix, but they are often spit out in order to obtain the more enjoyable book corners.  I tell the girls no (with sign) and gently pull the book away from their mouths often re-insert the pacifier, but I’m not sure they’re old enough to process what’s happening.  Will repetition be enough to teach them not to chew on the books?  I’d like to eventually be able to take them to the library for story time, and the sooner the better, but I want to wait until I know that they can be trusted with at least a cardboard book.  It’s also hard to read a book and monitor both girls with their books at the same time.  What have other’s experiences been with teaching babies how to treat books?  I’m not just concerned with teaching them how to treat books either.  When they chew/suck on the cardboard the dye and other chemicals in it leach out and end up in the girl’s mouths.  Not good.

Back to blogging April 13, 2007

I tend to bounce back and forth between my blogs, so to catch up on the other side of my life, and to hear some fantastic news, go here.

So there’s alot to catch up on, and so many things I’ve thought of to blog about and then didn’t, so I think I’ll list some stuff, forget some stuff, and slowly catch up as things come to me.

Rose clapped and waved for the first time last week. It was very exciting. There have been a couple of times where all three of us have had clappingfests. Sitting in a circle all clapping our hands. It never lasts long, but it’s so cool to see the excitement on their faces.

Another moment I love is when the girls look up from their little circle of toys and realize there’s another baby sitting across from them. If they time it right, and both become aware of each other at the same time, they start talking to each other. Their little babble conversations are one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen.

Liz is becoming much more mobile, but not actually crawling yet. She mostly rolls where she wants to go and then sits up. She just started sitting up on her own this week.

Two things need to happen soon, or I’m going to need to say something.  I’ve been told both things are going to happen repeatedly in the last month, but I come back the next day or after the weekend, and they’re still undone. Liz’s crib needs to be lowered, which right now isn’t really a problem while I’m here because she’s still not using it during the day, but that’s hopefully going to change soon, and I think her parents use it sometimes in the evenings.  She has the strength to pull herself up and now that she can sit up on her own, she could potentially fall out.  The second is a more immediate concern of mine because I’ve started getting really nervous every time I leave the girls alone upstairs to make a bottle or use the restroom.  Liz’s mobile enough that she could find her way over to the stairs and fall down them.  A very, very scary thought indeed.  I’ve started putting her in the exersauser or putting a really fat pillow in front of the entrance when I leave, but really, a gate should be put up.I get to try out the double stroller for the first time today! Yay for sun!

Signing and sitting up March 13, 2007

Music: Hey Jude by the Beatles

I had tentatively started using signs with the girls in the past month or so, but wasn’t sure about the timing. Was it too soon for it to be of any use? But I recently discovered a community of nanny bloggers (yippee!) Several of them talk about signing with their kids, and I asked Shel when she started and her response was 6 months. So I’m a little behind with Liz, but I don’t think it’s going to be much a problem. Today I started using the signs for hungry, tired, water, sleep, eat, no, finished, calm, and ILU. Getting them to make eye contact can be a challenge, and I’ve been more successful with finding times to use them with Liz, but it’s exciting. I do have some reservations, but they have nothing to do with childcare, maybe I’ll go into that another time.
Rose’s sitting up on her own! I still have to sit behind her in case she loses her balance, but it’s exciting. We’ve been working toward this for about a month now. She’s doing pretty well at correcting when she starts to lose her balance, but there are still times when she topples over.
Yesterday I was told for the first time that one of the girls looks like my child. On our walk a woman who was probably about 4-6 months pregnant told me that Rose looks like me. The was even after I had told her that I was only the nanny. My roommates thought it was because of the eyes; Rose and I both have big eyes with long lashes that sort of dominate the face. But hers are brilliant blue and mine are just plain brown.
It’s glorious today! Can’t wait for our walk.

Lean, mean, baby machine February 27, 2007

Rose turned 6 months old yesterday She is in the 25 percentile for weight, but 75 percentile for height! She’s long and lean. Instead of sucking her thumb she sucks her index finger.

Syllables and job leads February 22, 2007

Music: Arms of a woman by Amos Lee

Liz has started saying syllables like “ba” and “ma”. And she uses the “ma” when she’s unhappy. The other day she was in her exersauser and I was feeding Rose a bottle, and Liz started getting fussy, and I swear she said “ma, ma” and was looking toward the stairs. It made me so sad. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t connect the “word” as a label for her mother, but that it’s more of an innate usage of the sound. I wonder why that is? She uses “ba” when she’s happy or excited. “BABABABABA”

Liz was fussy again today while I was giving Rose her bottle. I had tried to feed Liz to sleep, but she wasn’t taking kindly to the idea and after an ounce she refused to eat any more even though half an hour later she was hungry enough to eat 3 more ounces. She knew that if she kept eating she would go to sleep. It’s amazing the will power these babies have. So I set Liz down on the blankets, supplied her with plenty of her favorite toys, and made Rose a bottle. So Liz starts getting fussy, just like I knew she would, but she’s not all out wailing like I thought she might. Instead she was desperately trying to distract herself. She’s let out a couple half hearted wails and then pump her legs a couple times and tug at a toy then repeat. Awww…

Daily walks have started up again. They make the day much more manageable. Rose has started arching her back when she’s falling asleep and since I have her in a front carrier, it’s kind of a funny sensation to have her head arching into my chest. She also does this low, guttural, sustained gurgle when she’s tired to try and keep herself awake. It’s quite funny.

I’m often asked about the girls when I go on walks. Most people assume they are twins. I’ve started saying “thankyou” when people say they are beautiful and stead of being awkward. I guess I haven’t contributed to their beauty in any way, but I do feel a bit possessive of them. But seriously people. They’re both blond and blue eyed. I’m a dark brunette with brown eyes.

I passed a woman with a dog and two youngish children one day and she turned and seeing Liz in the stroller said “Oh! two babies.” See most people think that I’m an idiot and carry my baby in a packer, and push an empty stroller… I love looking like a dimwit. So back to the woman. I turned slightly, smiled and said “yep ” and started walking again. She followed this with the exclamation “you look good!” I turned back a bit confused and said thanks. I was turning back toward my walk when I realized that she thought they were mine and that I had lost all my pregnancy weight already. I turned back saying “oh! they’re not mine”

Today another woman with her own baby in a carrier and also with a couple kids in tow struck up a sidewalk conversation with me, and upon finding out that I was their nanny, asked “is it all week?” I guess she knows someone with a one month old who wants someone for a few days a week. Nothing like getting leads on the job. Not that I’m looking to move away from my current job, it’s pretty near ideal, but it’s interesting how once you have a job, others seem to line up at your door.

I have Friday off because I’m going to Seattle this weekend, so tomorrow’s my last day this week. Yippee!

Sleep and Sharing February 19, 2007

Rose’s started fighting sleep as hard as she can. She stayed up for 3 hours and 40 minutes, and fought tooth and nail till the last moment. None of my usual tricks worked. Usually if I hold her while I’m making lunch and she’s already tired, I’ll take her upstairs with me, lay her down and she’ll fall asleep watching me eat. Today that almost worked, but when she could tell that she was really drifting she started getting fussy, so I laid down next to her and hummed to her as I stroked her little head. She calmed down for a little while, but then she started getting fussy again, and this time she started wailing. The thing is that when she’s this tired, nothing but sleep will make things better. So I was finally able to rock her to sleep. Usually when I try to rock her, she arches really hard and gets really upset. But her crying woke Liz up Luckily, I was able to rock her back to sleep after putting Rose down. Rocking Liz back to sleep is a delicate process. She sleeps in a swing, and most of the time it doesn’t work, even though she hasn’t slept enough. Often her mom’s voice will becoming from the next room, and it’ll distract her enough that she can keep herself awake. It’s hard to tell when she’s going to go back down and when it’s a lost cause. Sometimes it’ll take as little as 5 minutes, sometimes as much as 10.

Another thing I’ve been meaning to post about for a while is the fact that “the grass is greener” mentality starts early! Around 6 months old, Liz started wanting the toys Rose was playing with. Sometimes, especially if she’s tired, nothing else will make her happy. Usually I gently tell her “no, Liz, that’s the toy Rose is playing with” and block her chubby little hand. One time I was writing in their book (I keep a daily journal of when they eat, when I change them, and when they take naps) with Rose in my lap and Liz was sitting facing us, and I looked down just in time to see her take the toy Rose had been playing with, the expression on her face was priceless. I think she knew that what she was doing wasn’t ok with me, but she was very happy about getting the toy. Sharing, that’s going to be a concept that’s going to be hard for Liz. She gets what she wants most of the time.

Things the girls do to stay awake February 1, 2007

Liz:
Turns her head back and forth quickly. She turns her head and starts to zone out, so she’ll turn her head sharply, repeat.
Thrashes
Wants to jump
Pulls her hair
Scratches her face repeatedly
Pulls out her paci (pacifier)
Wails
Refuses to eat even when she’s hungry

Rose:
Repeatedly lifts her legs and throws them back down violently.
Pulls out her paci (this is the baby equivalent of slapping yourself in the face to stay awake)
Thrashes her head (she has a bald spot on the back of her head from doing that)
Cries when cradled
Stares without blinking;seriously, this girl could win any staring contest
scratches at her eyes

I don’t understand the baby instinct to stay awake at all cost. If I could sleep whenever I wanted to, I’d love it. I guess they don’t have any concept that live goes on as normal when they close their eyes. They probably think they are missing something important when they sleep. I wonder what it is that motivates them to stay awake as long as possible.

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.