Life Goes On

So we are all back from vacation this week, and we've all had some trouble getting back to real life. However, it has been an easier transition than it could have been. I was back at work on Monday but their parents were off all day Monday and their dad was off most of the day Tuesday (their mother only worked half a day) so my days were slightly shorter and the girls got to see them off and on throughout the day.
Camila wasn't happy about going back to "school" on Tuesday, but lucky for both of us, it's closed today for Veteran's Day. We went on a Petsmart/Booksamillion trip this morning.

It's almost scary how quickly they're growing up. Emi has 3 teeth and is desperately trying to cut 2 or 3 more at once. She can stand on her own for probably a good 30 seconds, but is suddenly hesitant to take steps. (She does NOT like to fall.) She tries to sing in the car and waves "hi" more than "goodbye". She even says "Hiiiiii" sometimes, always long and drawn out like that.

Camila's vocabulary continues to explode. She called me on vacation and told me in clear, full sentences all about her trip and what she was seeing and doing. She sounded like an older child, no longer the tiny baby-voice I heard on vacations past.

When we got back we talked about our trips. She told me she fed cows. "Cool." I decided to insert an educational moment. "Did you know milk comes from cows?"

She laughed. "No!" She thought I was joking with her!

"No, it really does, I'm serious."

She laughed and shook her head. "Silly Baba!"

Then we talked about my trip. "Baba, you saw your friend Emily?"

"Yes, I did."

"And your grandma?"

"Yep."

Our new obsession is names: "What's your grandma's name?"

"Oh, I just call her Grandma."

(Sigh) "No. What's your grandma's NAME?"

Too smart for her own good. I think I was 7 or 8 years old before I realized grandmas have names too.

Yesterday we made brownies. She took the box from me and studied the back. "Hmmm. We need one egg!" Sure enough, we needed one egg! She had "read" the picture with the instructions.

Later, I asked if she had to go to the bathroom. She said no. "Are you sure?"

Her annoyed expression said it all, but she added, "I'm positive."

I cracked up. She probably picked it up from her dad, but I had never heard her say it before.
Her mother has slowly loosened up and let my friends be a little more involved with her. (Mainly after she discovered some of them babysit and it may therefore be beneficial for the girls to be familiar with them.) So Rachel came over yesterday because she had a Toy Story poster for them to paint.

They had a BLAST. Camila was hamming it up all over the place, making faces and noises and giggling. They painted the poster, built a puzzle, ate brownies, and Rachel taught her "What does the elephant say? Roll Tide!" Camila has no idea why this is funny but likes the reaction it gets so she has been saying it for people. (I am not a football fan in the least, so I have no preference.)

So overall, we have had a good week so far!

The only time they're both smiling in a picture is when they're looking at each other. It's annoying, but sweet at the same time.

The girl LOVES chocolate!

Blessed with Friends

I am on vacation yet again! I know it seems like I just did that, but remember that I get very few days off in between. This time I am on a Wisconsin-Savannah-Atlanta trip, visiting friends and family.
My girls are all well, though I haven't heard much from them this week. Their mother gets poor reception at their grandparents' house. That's why I'm on vacation; I had a week off work anyway, and I do try to do my traveling when they do theirs.
So far it has turned out to be a good time of year for it, though. Wisconsin wasn't very cold at all, nowhere near the Arctic I was kind of expecting. :) Savannah, though overcast, greeted me with pleasant temperatures as well. At least it feels like fall!
One thing that has been on my mind lately has only been confirmed on this trip. I have some amazing friends! I complain because they all live in different places or don't go to my church, or whatever I feel like complaining about on that day, but I really shouldn't. I am blessed with a wide variety of friends, each playing a different role in my life. I have old friends, young friends, married friends, single friends, mommy friends, Christian friends, Jewish friends, northern friends, southern friends, friends that like to travel, friends that don't, friends that write, friends that don't...the list goes on and on. I have varying degrees of closeness with these friends, but I would count them friends nonetheless.
I'm not trying to brag or be like "look at me, I'm so popular!" But it has been pointed out to me that not everyone has these resources. And that's really what they are: I learn so much from these different people. Even the ones I know that aren't Christians make me think and stay on top of knowing what I believe. And if my parents only knew the stupid arguments a certain friend has talked me out of when I was throwing an attitude. I think God placed her in my life to save me from an early death! (Just kidding by the way...as much as they may want to, my parents would never kill me.)
Thanksgiving is coming up, so thanking God will soon be on everyone's minds. But I think I owe God several years of thanks for all His blessings of friends. And to all my friends, everywhere, THANK YOU! I shall try to be a better friend to many of you!

Whoa that's crazy, dude!

When that exact sentence left Camila's mouth last week, I stared at her. Then I laughed. I have no idea where she picked it up, possibly at school (since her father insists it was not him).

She has been doing all kinds of crazy things lately, but they make me laugh. Last week I laid her down for her nap but a few minutes later heard her calling me. I went to go see what's wrong, only to be solemnly informed, "My toes aren't working."

I repeated it to be sure I heard correctly. "Uh-huh! Baba, you fix it?"

They looked okay to me. "Can you wiggle them?" She did. So she could move them. I inspected each individual toe, wiggling them and feeling for any abnormalities. I found one little spot on her big toe that looked like maybe an ant had bitten her. I pressed it lightly. "Does that hurt?"

She thought a minute. "Yes." I pressed it again. She said "Ow" but it was in a monotone. She was just stalling.

"There, I fixed it. Go ahead and go to sleep." She rolled over and snuggled with her cow, the problem apparently solved.

She has also discovered what is is to LOVE something. We're reading a book and mention chocolate cake: "Yum yum, I LOVE chocolate cake!" We're walking and we see some clouds: "CLOUDS! I LOVE clouds!" We're in the store and we walk by the balloons. "Oooh I LOVE balloons!"

Her imagination cracks me up. Monday on the way home from the grocery store, she was cradling her Clifford cup of juice and saying, "Aw, it's okay!"

"Is Clifford scared?"

She nodded, then tacked on an emphatic "YES."

"What's Clifford scared of?"

She sighed. "CATS."

I laughed. Where does she come up with this stuff? "Doesn't Clifford know he's a big red dog and the cats are probably afraid of him?"

She laughed too, and shook her head. "Silly Clifford!"

Such a mess, but so cute!

Emi will be 8 months on Monday and has not only figured out how to crawl on all fours (as opposed to her lunge/scoot method), but is trying to take steps! It seems so unfair that she be walking for her first Christmas, but I'm pretty sure it will be that way. We have to drop the crib down a few pegs today. I heard a noise when she was supposed to be taking a nap, so I tried to peek in the door. I came face to face with her, standing at the end of the bed and grinning ear to ear. I don't think I'm ready for this!

Swinging in the backyard with a friend last month.

One of our first cool mornings! We had a cardigan and tights!

Fall is here!

WE NEEDED JACKETS TODAY! Seriously, do you know how nice that was? By the afternoon it warmed up to high 70s, maybe 80, but this morning was windy and a little nippy! Maybe fall is coming after all.
October and I have a love/hate relationship. It seems like everything goes wrong in October, and traditionally it has not been a good month in my family. It often feels like the air is heavy and depression runs high. I hate October 31 and I know a lot of people will think I'm crazy, but I feel like a lot of the emotional issues are more due to spiritual oppression. It has been documented that there is increased demonic activity around that day.
Yet...I love October. I love the way the air finally cools, the fair comes to town, we are rapidly moving toward the holiday season. It was October when I quit the daycare and started being a nanny, so it now brings memories of going on my interviews on cool fall days with my windows open. I remember meeting Camila for the first time when she was 6 weeks old. I remember getting the call that I got the job. There are a lot of good memories in October too!
I have had a very busy couple of weeks, but not all bad. I got to go to the beach for a whole weekend with girlfriends a couple weeks ago, and apparently I have needed a tan all summer. So many people have commented on how flattering a little color is on me. This past week was WILD, a lot of hours, but we had fun! However, I am trying to find ways to get my own life a little more under control. Saturday I had agreed to babysit for a friend who had to cancel, so instead I got my car under control. I got the oil changed (it was only 2000 miles overdue), went to the car wash, vaccuumed it out. It was like a whole new car!
I still want to get my room cleaned and rearranged, and would like to have it done before my vacation at the end of the month. Can I do it? Maybe. I'm going to try. It would be reallllly nice to have a cozy little living space to come home to, even if I just fall into bed and go to sleep. It would lower my stress levels, that's for sure.
We shall see!

They Make Me Smile

We have made it through another week! This one was somewhat traumatic at times. The dog was on the brink of death for a couple days. This dog has been a part of the family since even before Mommy met Daddy; he was the first child. He is now the cantankerous fixture of the house that both girls ADORE. Everyone's heart broke to think of him going.

When they found out he had a bowel obstruction (second time this has happened, by the way), they opted to have surgery and while he is not home yet, he IS recovering nicely.

Monday was our first day trying the "big girl" gymnastics class. I am probably bragging but I was SO proud of how well Camila did. She is behind in skill level, obviously since she has only been taking it six weeks and in the baby class they don't do a lot of actual tumbling. The teacher had to remind her to sit down and wait her turn a couple times since she is used to more free play than "class", but she obeyed well and paid attention. She listened better than some of the children that were close to four! Since she liked it and the teacher voted to keep her in it, we are officially signed up for that class.

Mom's Day Out is going quite a bit better. She insists on wearing these hideous bright orange sunglasses that came in a pack of swimmy diapers forever ago. They SAY "Little Swimmers" on the bridge of the nose. But for two weeks now she has to find them before we leave and she wears them all the way into the classroom. She also takes Pluto along as a comfort object and now we are down to barely-there tears at drop off. (More than I would like, but I just have to deal with it.) She is bonding with her teachers more, which is helping, and I am also getting to know them better which helps my comfort level. They seem very hands-on and kind, and the older one assured me that she (unlike a LOT of daycare providers) would tell me if Camila was not adjusting and should maybe wait a little longer because she doesn't like to see the kids unhappy. But she said that Camila is opening up a lot and actually playing with the other kids and participating in music classes and not crying during the day. The last three times they said she has done very well.

Emi is still determined to learn to walk, but has not quite made it yet. I dreamed last night that she just got up off the floor and walked past me before I knew what was happening. There is a scary-real chance that it just might happen that way! She is talking more and more...there are a few times I was certain she said "yeah" and "hi" this week, as well as continuing her "Baba baba" practices. She babbles constantly and is in love with her sippy cup/the water inside the sippy cup.

I heard a song during Camila's gymnastics class (there was a radio playing softly in the background). I don't know anything really about the song or the artist, so I can't promote it, but a few phrases caught my ear. It sounded like more of a love song but was talking about "you make me smile", and all the crazy things the guy would do for this girl, but it reminded me more of children and how they make us smile and all the crazy things we do for them (dance like a fool, for instance). They really do. I'd do more for those girls than probably anyone else in the world. Even on the roughest of rough days, they do silly, funny, cute little things to make me smile.

And other times, they don't have to do anything. Yesterday after MDO I gave Camila a shower and dressed her in comfy clothes for nap then the three of us settled on the couch with a book. I read story after story and in between Camila would just snuggle in my lap. I'd ask her, "Ready to lay down?" She snuggled closer and would say, "No! One more?" Emi alternated between cuddling on the other side of me and playing happily on the floor. We read for over half an hour, the perfect quiet time. It was the very definition of contentment. (I did finally force myself to put them to bed but it was hard. I miss her SOOO much when she's gone all morning.)

I can't wait till I have my own kids that I don't have to send away for 8 hours a week at such a young age! I know I wouldn't be able to stand it. (Although I manage to keep Camila down closer to 6 hours a week by dropping her off a little later and picking her up a little early.)

Here are a few good pictures I got this week:

One of my favorite sister pictures yet. I just wish you could see a little more of Camila's face.

Camila is getting better at smiling on demand. It's a little "grimace-y" still but coming along.

A spontaneous hug from Camila. I think Emi was worried something was up!

Munchkin News

Okay, wow, we've had a big couple weeks!

Camila celebrated her 2nd birthday. She's so grown-up, even for 2. Today at gymnastics they did evaluations and we were recommended to move up to the 3 year old group. She takes instruction very well and can almost execute her flips by herself. She can swing over the foam pit by herself, "swing like a monkey" on the bars, and walk across the balance beam like it's nothing. She is the youngest recommended for advancement so I'm pretty proud of her. :)
The other day she went in her playhouse (that she got for her birthday) and I heard, "Where's the knife? Oh, there it is. KNIFE!" HAHA she had gotten a birthday cake 3D puzzle thing for her birthday with a cake server that she calls her knife. I think she's delighted to have a knife she is actually ALLOWED to have. But it was kind of scary!
Then I pretended to eat the whole "cake" and remembered she had gotten a doctor's kit for her birthday. "Dr. Camila, can you make my tummy feel better?"
Her compassionate reply? "No, watch Dr. Phil."
I have NEVER watched Dr. Phil or let her watch it and supposedly no one else has either. But I made that ONE passing joke, and she still remembers it over a month later. (I was turning on Mickey and when I turned the tv on, it was on a local channel and Dr. Phil was playing. "You wanna watch Dr. Phil?" It was a joke. But she said, "yeah!" and for 3 days begged to watch Dr. Phil, even though she has no clue what it is.)
Mom's Day Out is going somewhat better. She doesn't cry until I actually leave, and actually on Tuesday she didn't really cry, just whined a little bit. Her mom dropped her off Tuesday and said she cried some, but we sent Ricky (her stuffed chinchilla) and her teachers said it's the first day she actually seemed to enjoy it. (Which tells me she HASN'T been enjoying it this whole time, which is what I was TRYING to get through to certain parents who have been determined to make her go...but I'm not bitter.) Her parents have said the end of this month will be the final decision.

Emi has been growing like crazy as well. She now has two teeth and another coming in. She is scooting around the floor but is determined to walk. She managed to pull up twice now, but can't catch her balance to stand on her own. She will take steps holding fingers though...it will be soon!
She has also learned to shake her head "no" and most of the time means it! If I lay her down to change her diaper she shakes her head. If I get her ready for bed she shakes her head (and sometimes tries to throw a little fit). If you ask her any kind of question she grins and shakes her head no. So in that case, she doesn't know the difference between no and yes, but she knows it's an answer to a question.
She has also learned to say my "name", her first word! Yesterday she screamed it at me when she got mad ("BABA BABA!"), but then today, she's been saying it over and over to me, in a more conversational tone. Yesterday, whileI was talking to the cleaning lady, I looked over and her eyes were fixated on my mouth and she was moving her jaw up and down. It looked almost like she was mocking me! It was sooo funny but I'm also excited she's so interested in talking now.
My babies are so big. :( At gymnastics today, one of the moms finally asked if she was mine. I told her I was a nanny and she was floored. Then I told her I LIKED it and she about passed out. It sounds mean, but I honestly don't think she even likes her own little girl. She is definitely NOT the nanny type. (And not particularly the employer type either, although that little girl could use a nanny in her corner.)
They keep me busy, but I had a day off at the beginning of the week and came back totally refreshed. Overall, we've had a good week!

Tip #3: Commitment

This is more for anyone thinking of being a nanny than anyone who already is. Anyone who has the job now knows from experience: it's a HUGE commitment.
You are in charge of someone's child. You commit to teach good behavior both by actual teaching but also modeling it. For however many hours a week, you are basically a parent. And just like a parent, you will reap the consequences of any mistakes you make. (Only there are also two "other" parents that have to approve this parenting style!) You have to be consistent, patient, flexible, observant, and did I mention patient? Not having children of my own, I can't say if it's more frustrating to deal with other people's children or your own. But as far as I can see, there are pros and cons to both. You have total freedom with your own, and there maybe isn't as much at stake if you do mess up. But with other people's kids, you can give them back most times and if nothing else, look forward to quitting time! :)
You are also committing your time. It depends on what the parents do as to how big of a commitment is required. I work for two doctors. That means I don't have even one parent with a consistent schedule, so it can be VERY hard to make plans. In a lot of ways I got lucky that they had a second child. With the mom being off work for nine months (she took a leave of absence when she experienced problems), I was able to take two vacations and work slightly better hours (40-45). Now she is back at work. Life is awful for all of us, except maybe the kids. :)
Example: I am in day 10 of a 12-day stretch. They asked me at 6:40 Friday morning if I could go out of town with them for the weekend. I said yes; probably shouldn't have. I had casual plans with a friend and canceled, hurting her feelings, and I feel very bad about it. (When I learn how to balance commitments, I'll let you know.) But I went. So I was working alllllll weekend, till Sunday afternoon. It was nice just to get out of town, and we went to the beach. It rained most of the weekend, but we were in a condo and could look at the waves from the balcony.
But I didn't get even one tiny break to go take a walk on my own. Should I have asked for one? Probably. There is a different between total commitment and getting walked on. But going back to being positive, I didn't and I'm going to enjoy pretty much what I got. They did take us all to dinner. (A late, dressy one, and the girls did FANTASTIC! Go me!)
Then we came back and yesterday, I worked 7:15-6:40. It was a long day. But...they're doctors. They got stuck and there was no way around it. I almost didn't make visitation at church, but I ran straight there after work. I was close enough that I was only 10 minutes late, and had called to let them know. I didn't make it home till almost 9 pm because my mom needed me to stop at the store. It can be hard to run a life on the side.
So just a friendly warning...think about what you're about to do. Make sure you can handle what you're about to take on.