Shots, weights, sleepy-ones.

Me, I'm one of the sleepy-ones. I'm unbelievably tired today. 

The tomatoes are fine. Both are a bit of today because of their shots. For all of it's benefits, RSV vaccines can really take it out of them. I'm not complaining, I'm just telling you, both Jackson and Tabitha are feeling it today.

They weighed in at 15lb 6oz & 17lb 13oz, Tabitha being the heavyweight champion. She is also taller 27" to Jackson's 25 1/4", both have perfect weight to height ratios though so they are each perfect for themselves. Exactly what we like to see. Jackson still isn't on the chart for his actual age, eight months, but just below, maybe in the 1st percentile, maybe. Tabitha on the other hand is just below the 50th percentile for weight and just above for height. She's measuring up to other eight month olds even though they spent nearly fifteen weeks longer in the womb. Go Tabitha!

Another week almost over, another month of RSV shots and we're all doing great.

Making Baby Food

I love making baby food.

Choosing the food, 

making the grocery lists, 

organizing the supplies.

Cutting, cooking, tasting.

Keeping as much as possible. 

Knowing what's inside.

Putting the clean, 

fresh food into the food processor.

Cooking unripe fruits, vegetables, 

mixing everything together.

Seeing it go from big to small, 

untouched to ready for babies.

The entire set up, 

everything ready to be made for little mouths.

Putting everything in, attaching the lid, 

then pushing that little button.

And BAM! what was once a pear is now pear puree, 

nearly ready for little peanuts to eat.

Going from coarse to chunky.

Then from chunky to smooth in seconds.

Then freeze and organize, ahhh, choices.

I love making babyfood. 

When I first started making baby food I was excited but intimidated. What would I make? Would there be enough time? Could it really be as good as those tastey bites in the jars? Would the kids eat it? Was it better? Worse? How would it travel? 

The more I made, the better it was. I started with a blender then Clover bought me this awesome food processor, just like hers, for Christmas last year. I do it while the kids nap. Finding new combinations is the best part. 

There are loads of books out there. Super Babyfood was what I started with. But I love, Love LOVE Annabel Karmel. She comes up with the most random and yummy combinations. Her books are beautiful just to look through. And she's a mom. I also look at store brands, Ger6er, etc, for combination ideas. There are loads of websites out there and the possibilities are endless. Right now the tomatoes only eat about ten foods or so, but we've had at least twenty to thirty combinations. It's fun to make, we know what's inside, it costs so much less and having parents buy ingredients is a great transition. Going from formula to jars of food keeps parents from moving around the grocery store with baby in mind. They go to one aisle and done. Baby is compartmentalized. When I make a grocery list, introduce new foods and talk with parents, they begin thinking about foods and baby. Before long they make suggestions of their own and this proliferates itself when finger foods enter the picture. 

By dragging my feet just a little, parents get the opportunity to take initiative. This empowers them and involves them more in baby's development. It starts small, and grows out of control. I know I've done a good job when the parent thinks they no longer need me at all.

This sounds harsh, and when, in actuality, it happens, I feel frustrated and slighted. But consider the reverse.

A family of three is becoming a family of four. They invite Norah to come help when the new baby arrives. Planning to start her doctorate Norah asks if I can tag along. After a brief discussion both parents agree (I too was starting my doctorate this gave them two part timers). I'm not a conceited person, but Norah and I are amazing nannies. 

So here we are, new city, new family, new schools, the nicest mother you've ever met, an absolutely adorable two year old little boy and a father that just seemed to go with the flow (and travel a lot). Did I mention mom pampered us? 

It was awesome, we gave it our all. Mom ran around like a crazy person toting us with her while dad traveled. They never had to think about anything. Everything was done before they could let the tiniest part of the thought of it enter their minds. We all got along wonderfully. The kids were happy, we were happy, etc. 

Then, things started to happen.

Family would go on vacation, without us, why not? things were SO easy. And two year old would get hurt. They all got sick. Another vacation, again, things happening. Standing outside of the house, lil'dude falls and has to go to the emergency room.

We didn't know it at the time but we, Norah and I, were so helpful that mom and dad had just checked out. They never needed to think about the details, so they didn't. 

Things were off, but we couldn't put our fingers on it.

Then we went on vacation.

We were gone for a couple of weeks around Christmas. We had a great time and felt ready to go back to work. While we were gone though...

Apparently infant-girlie had been in bed and become so far buried under the down comforter that she couldn't breathe. When they found her she was blue. 

She was fine, but needless to say it was a wake up call. 

Things like this never happened when we were around but they were happening more and more when we weren't. Both having undergrad degrees in psychology we wondered if it could be Munchausen by Proxy. The type of accidents didn't seem to fit, but there was definitely something amiss.

Within a week we gave our notice and moved back to the East Coast. Not sure of the best course of action we kept in touch with the family and lived our lives. Within six weeks they were getting things back on track. No more random emergency room visits, less sickness, fewer accidents. And that's when we realized, we had been too helpful. Mom and dad were checked out and these accidents were caused because no one was paying attention. As soon as we were gone they had to get back in the game.

While we miss that beautiful city, we've never regretted our decision to leave. We still love the family and each of us has visited the other multiple times since our departure. All are well and we've remained close friends. I've intentionally left their names out of this because everyone makes mistakes and no one needs to be defined by them. You'll hear about them in regards to other things, but we'll not associate their names with this example. Suffice to say a nanny's job requires more than making the parents' lives easier. It is important to empower parents because they are the ones kids will spend their lives with, not the nanny.

Easy Tuesday Post and Update rolled into one!

Lucky for me Norah is bored at work today. She's stuck there waiting with the tomatoes on her mind apparently. A few months back, okay, that's not true, quite awhile ago, she tested Jackson and Tabitha using the Bayley. (see this post if you are curious)

Today, because she's bored, she's done it again, although not as completely. The first test she actually did for practice and this one she did from observation and memory, not exactly precise, but it gives us a great idea because Norah is rather observant. This is what she has to say;

I looked at the bayley for gross motor and both Tabitha and Jackson are at 6mos! That's good since they are 5mos corrected!  okay, actually from my guessing it put Jackson at 5:10 and Tabitha at 6... but still, close enough.

4:20 and 5 for fine motor
8 for expressive communication
6 for receptive
5 for cognitive

I think, based on the test items, that they would have more chances to practice these skills if they were frustrated more often, not having toys given to them... Still, they're doing really well! I guessed for fine motor and that puts Jackson a little bit behind corrected age, but not much, and everything else is right on target with corrected age, so not too bad.  A lot of the things I said they couldn't do had to do with getting objects that were out of reach by manipulating the world around them, more than moving themselves or fussing... receptive vocab stuff they peaked out at understanding "no" (since they never hear it) and social routines like peek-a-boo and pati-cake (also not a part of their world)... so they should be showing more understanding of how to stop something, or themselves, or how to ask for something or show they like it (which is measured by requesting social routines)...

And there you have it! Later this week I'll have some weights and heights to check out where they are on their growth charts. 

Monday, oh yes, it was Monday.

Monday for sure. Morning naps were crap but both tomatoes were ADORABLE today. They grew over the weekend, you can't imagine how long they both are, how agile Tabitha is, social Jackson has become or how huge her cheeks are! Roger wasn't feeling well so he didn't go to work. Norah had the day off because of MLK day (another blogger's excellent post here) so she joined me. And the five of us spent the day closed inside against the frigid New England weather. 

Big news in our world is Tabitha's rolling over. She now does it as soon as you put her to bed and then cannot get to sleep, although over the weekend she napped 45 minutes and then literally turned over and couldn't get back to sleep. Once she's over she can't get back, but, as Roger and Sara have learned the hard way, turning her back just annoys her and starts the screaming frustration. Sara actually asked for the bumpers to be extended from two-sided to three-sided and Norah offered to make it happen. The top of each crib faces the other so that they can see each other. This end was kept open while the other three sides are now bumper protected, before the two sides along the walls were bumped but no others.

Having Norah at work with me affects things differently then one would expect. She actually avoids coming as much as she can because of the way it affects me. I am terrible but I jump on the opportunity to get as much done as possible. I love the extra set of hands and don't stop during the entire time she's there. Every few hours she gets me to sit and eat, because she cooks, but other than that she barely sees me.

Thus no daytime blogging. None. Too busy.

Today Norah took pictures of he tomatoes (although I did get at least a hundred this morning while she changed the crib bumpers).  She helped me with each feeding and switched the laundry, not to mention all of the playing, singing and fun she had with the babies. I have to tell you, I warned Roger and Sara that it could happen, it's happened. Jackson is smitten with Norah. I don't know what it is, all of my boys adore her. Addison was the same. we'd take out the kids and he was glued to Norah. They love her and now Jackson does too.

Despite the tiny morning nap, damn 45 minutes anyway, playtime, feedings and afternoon naps were beautiful. Plus I organized and accomplished so much! Aside from regular Monday activities, laundry, sheets, formula, bottles, etc, I made squash! Sara thought she'd get to it over the weekend, but I wasn't holding my breathe. No big deal, but I've made most of their food o far. It's hard for new parents to make time for each other, themselves,  snuggling, playing, interacting, feeding, napping and making food. Not to mention a food you've never cooked for yourself. Right? Not an issue. Tomorrow, squash day 1. I also made apples, carrots, avocado, peas and a few vegetable mixes. My babies eat well!

It was a very, very good and productive day (which is most of what made it SO good!). This week we have our next round of RSV shots and weigh ins, fingers crossed we're doing as well as we think we are. 

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Okay, whether or not you've noticed, I try to blog each day that I work, but not more than once. And today I was tagged. So this post is a bit longer than expected. Tagging follows... 

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I have been tagged by Carolyn at Ramblings of the Other Mother. So here it goes....


First, The Rules:

1) Link to the person that tagged you.
2) Post the rules on your blog.
3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4) Tag at least three people at the end of your post and link to their blogs.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
6) Let the fun begin!

1. I love, Love, LOVE to be busy and productive (surprising I know).
2. Working with a single, first-born baby is so much harder than taking care of infant twins.
3. I've worked for four doctors, my wife has worked for five.
4. (this might ruffle a few feathers) Having a puppy was so much tougher than taking care of babies; a) babies wear diapers, b) babies don't have teeth right away - especially not sharp puppy-teeth, c) babies can't hurt other people when you first get them, d) you can bring a baby anywhere and carrying it makes things better, e) babies don't need endless amount of exercise and biscuits to get them to listen.
5. (if you didn't like four, you won't like five either) Puppies and babies are so similar; a) both need more sleep than people think they do, b) limits benefit both in building relationships and developing their senses of self, trust and comfort, c) they both need constant supervision, d) neither know what they need so you need to be confident and consistent in what you do, e) both are smarter than they look, f) babies and puppies learn really fast - this is good and bad for us as caregivers
6. I love my dog but nothing can compare to time spent with a baby. I'm so glad we got him well before we considered having a baby (we're not close yet, but considering it).

I will tag...
1. This Melbourne Nanny
2. BabyBlueprint
3. uterus x 2

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