Milestones

September 10, 2011
Little Man is 14 months old.  He can run (mixed with face-plants) and knows a lot of words!  HE KNOWS MY NAME TOO!  The family went to the beach, a couple of weeks ago, for a week and when I returned to work last Monday, Little Man was sitting in his high chair, eating breakfast, and when I walked in the room, he looked up with a huge smile on his face and said, "JESS!"  OMG it made my heart smile!!!!!  Let's see... what words does he know....  Cheese, hot, Mama, Dada, ball, book, "baba" (the name he has given his paci), his sister's name, Jess, dog, "uh-oh!" (that's a personal favorite), and the "I Love You" song from Barney (he will start singing it randomly... SO CUTE!)... hmm, he knows more than that, but I'm having a brain fart right now...  He can follow simple directions!  Tuesday, while his sister was at preschool, I decided to take him to the park (he loves the park!), so I asked him to get his socks and shoes that were in the other room.  I realized after I asked that toddlers can only follow one direction at a time, so he only brought me his shoes, which had been the second thing I asked for.  After he brought his shoes, I said, "Ok, I need your socks too!  Can you get your socks?"  He gave me a big smile and got his socks.  Y'all, this kid is SO SMART!!!!!! 

I can't believe that it has been almost a year since I first started my Nanny job... When I began working there, he could barely hold his body up... now he can run, say a few words, and follow simple instructions!  It has been amazing watching him grow!  I'm just honored that I was chosen to aid his development...  I have stopped doing much for him, but if he gets frustrated with a task, I help a tiny bit.  For example:  he was trying to get his socks off on Thursday, but was having issues getting it over his heels, so I pulled the socks down over the heel so that he could pull them the rest of the way off.  I asked him if he wanted a snack, and he ran to the fridge, but couldn't get the door open, so I pulled to get past the suction, and he open it the rest of the way :)  He is so proud when he does things himself!

He is also in Preschool now!  Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I was fortunate to get to meet his teachers, as well as his sister's teachers, a week and a half ago.  I felt the need to introduce myself so they would know who I am when I come pick the kids up... though they would have known anyway bc when I went to get Little Man on Tuesday, he was sitting on the floor (the door to the room was open) and when I said his name, he looked up with a huge grin, got up and yelled, "JESS!" while running to me.  I must say that when he and his sister run to me , like that, it makes my heart so happy!  I love these kids so much!!!

As for Sunshine: she's 3 years old and is in preschool four days a week!  I was sad that I wouldn't be able to spend a full day with her anymore, so last Thursday, I took her to get ice cream with Travis.  She ended up with chocolate all over her face, so I pushed my ice cream cone into my face so we would match.  Travis took a picture that we call, "Chocolate Smiles!"  Little girl is also super smart, and SO HELPFUL with Little Man!!!  I'm so proud of how she has grown.  In the year I've been with that family, I have taught Sunshine: how to look both ways before crossing the street, how to say "yes ma'am," "no ma'am," "yes sir," and "no sir,"... my favorite thing I've taught her is the "courtesy flush"!  Whenever she does her stinky business, she flushes so the stink doesn't spread.  Her mom thought it was funny the first time Sunshine did it without me around!

Oh, and the kids have a Southern accent now...  The parents are from Virginia, so they blame me *looks up innocently*  The kids now say, "Hah" (Hi) and "Bah" (Bye).......  My response to their parent's comment about the southern accent was, "My work here is done!"  (which, of course, made them both crack up)




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June 18, 2011
Speaking of my boss, I had to take Little Man to the ER two weeks ago!  His mother was out at a business lunch (you would know that the ONE DAY something serious happen, Cath wouldn't be home!!!!!... as you know, she works from home) and I had gone to use the bathroom (which I hate doing while both kids are awake) and wasn't in there for more than a minute.  When I opened the door, I heard a thud and then Little Man started screaming.  I figured he had bumped his head again (he's beginning to walk and falls all over the place).  As I walked to where the kids were, I saw blood all over Little Man's face.... his nose, his mouth, his jammies, and the floor were covered!  Let me tell you how scared I got!  I picked him up and put him in the kitchen sink while grabbing my phone and a paper towel.  I was shaking so badly, so it took a few tries to dial his mom's cell phone, and when I called, she didn't answer.  I called a total of 7 times, too!  I finally called Travis, and he immediately began to head over.

Sunshine had run to her mother's room after having a near-panic attack, which I hated for her, but I was panicking too!  I managed to clean the blood off of Little Man's face and found where he got cut.  It was about a half-inch cut along the bridge of his nose, right between his eyes.  I couldn't get the bleeding to stop bc every time I put pressure on his head, he would shake his head side-to-side, which only aggravated it more.  I called Trav back to get advice, but then decided to dial 911 bc I had no carseat, and therefor had no way to take him to the ER myself.  Travis showed up a few seconds before the firetruck arrived.  (It had been 15 minutes since he fell, so I was working fast!)  Travis stayed with Sunshine while I rode in the ambulance with Little Man.  If it wasn't for the fact that Trav has babysat the kids with me before and was friends with my boss, I wouldn't have allowed him to stay behind... I swear, that man is the best thing that has ever happened to me!

I did finally get ahold of Cath, and she was grateful that I had been able to think on my feet, although I was still freaking out on the inside!  Anyway, Little Man had to get 3 stitches, and they came out last Sunday.  He's doing so well, and was such a trooper when the Doc had to stitch him up.  Turns out, he had slipped on the wood floor and cut himself on the corner of the toy chest, poor guy!  That was one experience I NEVER want to have again!!!!!


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March 16, 2011

Well, Little Man has officially learned about object permanence! Monday and Tuesday, after I left the kids’ house, Little Man’s mom texted me to tell me he had started crying when I left.  I have to be honest, I was a bit skeptical… until today.  As I was leaving the house, I had one foot out the door, saying goodbye to Little Man, and he started whimpering, rushed over to me, and began to tug at my leg.  C came over, picked him up, and said, “he loves you!”  I stepped on the other side of the storm door (so I was outside and they were inside) and C put Little Man down.  He proceeded to cry, while standing up and hitting the door with his hand.  C brought him outside and said, “that has to make you feel good!”  It did, but at the same time it made me sad because I don’t want him to be unhappy!  Though my heart was filled with joy that he feels an attachment to me J

I’m in class right now (we’re having our break), and we are talking about cognition in infants, toddlers, and two year olds.  Two topics are object permanence and attachment.  Little Man has definitely learned object permanence!  He knows I still exist, even when I’m not in the room with him.  As for an attachment, well, he definitely has an attachment to me.  (I admit, I have an attachment with him!  I adore this kid!)

Little Man is hitting his milestones at a rapid pace, and though it can be difficult to keep up, it makes my job even more fun!

Though I love Little Man, I also love his older sister, Sunshine.  I always enjoy having some time together.  We like to read and play Candy Land (when Little Man isn’t trying to eat the cards or place markers!)  She’s an amazing little girl, and I’m so happy that she is going to be a part of my wedding!

My heart is so full of love.  I love driving into the kids’ driveway, knowing I have two smiling faces waiting for me when I step in the house.  Talking about them to Travis, I get animated.  He says I light up, and he knows how passionate I am about childcare because of the thrill I get from helping the kids develop into healthy people!

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March 10, 2011

Little Man got his first tooth!  It's barely visible, but it's there!  I babysat for the kids Saturday night, and poor guy woke up screaming!  I gave him a bottle and rocked with him until he fell asleep.  The tooth broke through Sunday.  Of course, now Little Man is drooling all over the place!  I am covered in "Little Man Drool"!

I had an amazing experience yesterday!  Well, it was amazing to me...  I was sitting on the couch with Sunshine, and she leaned up against me to snuggle.  She looked up at me and said, "Jess, I love you."  OMG it took everything in me not to start crying!  It was so sweet!!!  I told her I loved her too, and we commenced taking silly pictures of ourselves with the photo booth application on my MacBook.  We took some very silly shots!  One of them is of a "two-headed" Sunshine! haha


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February 21, 2011


Today, I had a taste of what it's like for a mother to want to protect her child.  I took Little Man and Sunshine to the park for a little bit, though Little Man couldn't do much, except sit on the ground and look at the rubber mulch.  Sunshine, however, had a run-in with a little boy who decided it was ok to kick an almost-3-yr-old in the shin... multiple times... I was sitting on the sidewalk, Little Man was in front of me, on the ground, and Sunshine went to go on one of the slides.  I posted on facebook that I was at the park with the kids and how much I loved hearing Sunshine's laughter, though silently I was thinking about how much it would suck if Sunshine ended up getting hurt and crying.......  Well, I looked up to see her running to me, red-faced, tears streaming from her eyes!  She told me a "little guy" hurt her.  I held her for a few minutes, gave her some words of encouragement, and she ran off to the slide again.  This time, I watched her run to the slide, and saw a little boy walk up to her, no words exchanged, and kicked her in her shin... TWICE!  She started crying and running toward me again.  I lost it.  I picked up Little Man, walked right past Sunshine to the slide, where the little boy had gone up the ladder.  I made the motion with my finger for him to come down the slide, and he just sat there, so I said, "Why did you kick this little girl?  What possible reason could you have had for kicking her?"  When he didn't respond, I said, "I'm waiting..."  This kid was visibly nervous.  He looked at me and mumbled, "I don't remember."  I replied, "That's because you had no reason!  You do NOT kick other children!"  I turned around, took Sunshine's hand, and began walking to the swings.  A lady with a baby strapped to her walked by and asked if the little boy in the blue shirt hurt the girl holding my hand.  I said, "Yes, three times" (one of the times was the one I didn't see).  She went to the slide, made the boy come down, had him sit in time-out, then dragged him over to apologize to Sunshine.

For those few minutes when I was letting that little boy have it, I saw red.  How dare he mess with MY little girl (not actually MINE, but the girl I babysit for)... I could finally understand why my Dad had me kick an oversized throw pillow around our kitchen when I was a kid, bc some girl kept kicking me at the bus stop... Daddy wanted me to fight back, but I never did.

I keep getting little tastes of what it will be like to be a mom.  The only thing I haven't experienced is the overnight deal, but that will come when I have my own babies


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February 20, 2011


Speaking of Nannying, Little Man is EVERYWHERE!!!  He pulls up and has begun to try walking while holding on to the couch of coffee table, whichever one he has his hands on.  I swear, this boy is going to be walking by 9 months!  (He's barely 7 and a half months old!)  He's so cute, and Sunshine is super sweet with him!  She loves her little brother, and tells me so every time I'm at their house!

I need to figure out what we're going to do tomorrow...  Monday's are fun because I have both kids all day... last week we went to the park...  Maybe tomorrow we can hit the library.  If I had the money I would take them to Discovery Place, but alas, I'm somewhat broke!


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February 7, 2011


Little Man pulled up for the first time, today!!!  He was sitting on the floor, beside/under the coffee, and was reaching for one of his toys that I had strategically placed, and used both arms to pull himself from sitting to almost standing!  He began to move one leg to give himself more support, but fell back on his bottom.  He spent the next 20 minutes between the couch and the coffee table, trying to pull himself up again, but then decided to climb up my legs instead.  I pulled him onto the couch with me and he played on the throw pillows for the next few mins.  He was looking at me and laughing like crazy!!!  It was so cute!

I can't believe how fast he's growing.  Only 7 months old and he's crawling all over and trying to pull himself up!  He's a very happy baby when he's not hungry or sleepy and I absolutely love him!  His sister, who will now go by Sunshine (bc she's a little ray of sunshine), is also developing.  It's not as obvious as Little Man, but I can see it as the days pass.  She's got a great memory is very smart!  I love to sit and read to her, though she knows many of her books by heart.  She is also full of wonder - asking, "why" for EVERYTHING!  It can get annoying, but I try to remember that she is only 2 (almost 3) and wants to learn about why or why not something does or does not occur.  I just adore her!

Travis and I want Sunshine to be in our wedding.  It looks like I'm going to have 3 flower girls, which will be interesting!  I'm not too worried.  As of tomorrow (Tuesday), we will officially have our reception site booked!  I'm way excited!!!  Let the planning begin!!!!!


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January 24, 2011


This morning I took T and J to the Aviation Museum!  The kids loved it!!!  Well, T loved it... I don't think J knew what was going on, haha.  I even got T to run around with me and "fly away" (which consists of putting our arms out like wings and circling around saying, "fly away" over and over), which was so cute! Have I mentioned how much I adore the kids I Nanny for???  Yeah, they're the best!

Little Man (J) got baptised yesterday!  It was at the 8:30 service, and I was right there, sitting in the pew behind Catherine (T and J's mom), Chris (T and J's dad) and Cath's sister + her two sons.  I was so proud when our minister blessed J.  Travis said that I looked like a proud Aunt, haha!  I was just so happy!  Now, I hadn't seen the kids in over a week, because the family had been out of town, so after the service, I went to the nursery to see all of the munchkins.  T was at a water fountain down the hall from where I was, but as I walked closer I did my "one-finger-wave" (where I put up my pointer and wave) T came running down the hall and jumped into my arms!  I was a fantastic feeling!

It's like I tell my friends, this isn't work to me, not even a job... being a nanny is the most rewarding "job" anyone can have!  I get to watch, each day, as these two wonderful kids grow and develop!  Little Man is finally crawling, too!!!  He's getting into everything, and I can't turn my back on him at all!  I used to be able to go in the kitchen and get some water without worry, but even that can be dangerous, because I need to keep eyes on him!  He crawls slowly, for now, but I know that won't last too long, especially as he learns how to coordinate his arms and legs!


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January 15, 2011


Work" is going well!  J is just over 6 months now, and that boy is getting mobile!  OMG it's getting very interesting in that house... he doesn't crawl, but he'll get on all fours and rock... he tries to crawl, but I think he's decided that rolling around works just as well.  He's so beyond cute!  I just love that little man so much!  His sister, T, is on the better side of 2 years... she'll be 3 in early April.  She is a ray of sunshine!  I love taking her places, she's just so good!  We love to read books and do puzzles, we also painted a bird house to put up in the spring!  I love planning activities she can do that enriches her mind and provides entertainment, as well.  Y'all, she is just so smart!  I just love these kids so much!!!!!  I don't like calling my job "work" bc it isn't work... it's way too much fun to be work!


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November 29, 2010


ime tends to fly by without warning.  It seems like only yesterday we said goodbye to my Daddy and my world was turned around... but now... I'm the happiest I've ever been!  I know I said this a couple of posts ago, which shows that my happiness hasn't gone anywhere!  :)  I mentioned that I had begun a Nanny job, and let me tell you that it is THE GREATEST JOB ON EARTH!... well, it's the greatest job to me.  The kids are amazing and I am having so much fun watching them grow and develop.  It feels so wonderful to know that I am helping them develop in a positive way.  As a recap, the little boy is almost 5 months old (will be 5 mos on December 3rd) and the girl is 2 and a half.  They are the most wonderful children!  I love Mondays because I get to be with the little girl all day, since she goes to my church's weekday school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays.  I love taking her and her brother to different places to explore new things, seeing the look on their faces when they discover new things makes me feel amazing :)  Little man has grown so much since I started working with the family... he could barely hold himself up when I first began, and now he's lifting himself up off the floor and smiling and rolling from his back to his stomach.  He's very close to being able to sit up on his own, and has recently begun eating rice cereal!  It's not an  easy task, but he's starting to get the hang of it :)


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