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Many of you offered support as we navigated the nanny search process a second time around – thank you!   Despite all that I did to try to control the process – scouring SitterCity, bugging friends for trips and suggestions, reading more than 25 resumes, conducting more than 10 interviews, etc – God truly provided.  Since I’m not in the position to take care of Natalie full-time myself, God provided the next best thing – a loving family member!!!

And you thought my cheeks were big back then? (Jan 2011)

 

Whose arms are bigger? Mine or Auntie Rachel's? (Aug 2011)

For those of you who don’t know Rachel, she is my younger cousin (by 8 years).  Rachel just graduated from UW-Madison.  My sisters and I have spent countless holidays, summer days, birthday parties, trick-or-treating excursions, and more with Rachel and her younger brother, Brett.  Growing up, I baby-sat for Rachel and Brett about a day a week every summer – earning $3 an hour, which was awesome!  (Thankfully for Rachel – the going rate for a nanny in Chicago is just a tad higher than that!)  Some of my favorite memories from baby-sitting Rachel and Brett include:

• Baking cookies every day I baby-sat.  (I like to take partial credit for 19-year-old Brett actually knowing his way around a mixer and oven)
• Taking them to the Neville Public Museum once I got my license!!!  (3 accidents later, I’m pretty sure that privilege was revoked)
• Combing through catalogs to develop Christmas lists for Santa
• Watching Barney (Brett – yes, you have to fess up to this!) and Homeward Bound (Rachel) (Okay, I lie – I was so sick of both of these, but it kept them entertained while I picked up a little)
• Setting up a swimming pool in the kitchen, so that Rachel could swim while Brett slept (and without my Aunt Lisa finding out until years later!!!)

Except for that last bullet, I like to tell folks that Rachel learned from the best of them (the best being me, obviously – NOT Becky, who Rachel would cleaverly pit us against each other).

The lengthy search process also resulted in us finding a wonderful family to nanny share with (with the exception that they are Michigan grads – luckily, Connor and Natalie won’t be around each other this week, so they won’t be trash talking each other)!  Adorable and sweet Connor is less than a month older than Natalie.  When we were first about to meet Connor, I commented to Jordan that Natalie would likely dwarf Connor in size and number of rolls.  To our surprise, Connor is probably the only baby we met that can teach Natalie a thing or two about extra cushioning.  🙂  Given that we live in a two-story walk-up, Rachel (who is probably 100 lbs. soaking wet) is getting a work-out with these two.  Aren’t they sweet???

Connor, you may have bigger thighs and more hair than me, but I think I have you beat in the double chin category!

For those of you looking closely, between the two of them, how many rolls can you see in this picture? 🙂

Rachel has a lot of funny stories to tell about the two of them interacting, but I’ll save those for another post.  Kelly (Connor’s mom) and I are hoping that the two of them will motivate each other to become a little more mobile (neither have crawled yet) and learn to be good sharers.  Rachel will tell you that they are still working on both of these!

All in all, we couldn’t be happier about this arrangement and are so thankful.  Going back to work would have been so difficult if I was worried about who Natalie was spending time with – but I have 110% confidence in Rachel.  I know she loves Natalie dearly and is teaching her so many things.  Once, I overhead Rachel telling Natalie why it was important to recycle her plastic Gerber container (can you tell Rachel studied environmental education?).  In the first week, Rachel’s voice was incredibly horse as well – she was basically talking and singing to these two non-stop.  I showed her how to stream children’s radio on our TV, to give her voice a break – even though I dearly appreciate that, as studies show that hearing many words is one of the strongest ways to help babies develop and be smart adults!

Wait - its my turn!!! Can you please sit down, Connor?

If you’re ever bored on a Mon, Tues or Thurs, look out for these three at a nearby park. I’d imagine there’s never going to be a dull moment!  Keep up the AWESOME work, Rachel!

This is the first time I met Auntie Rachel! I was less than a month old! She's really cuddly...

When I first went back to work last spring, we were so lucky to find the wife of a Kellogg student to take care of Natalie.  Although I know I talked about them a little, I’m not sure if I ever properly introduced Amanda (the mom) and Gretchen, her adorable daughter who turned 1 in April, so she’s about 8.5 mo. older than Natalie.

Natalie loves both Amanda and Gretchen.  Amanda taught me so many things about being a mom – I’m forever grateful.  And, Natalie just loved watching Gretchen do EVERYTHING.  We thought her first roll would be on accident – after straining to see what little Ms. Gretchen was up to.

After the summer in Minneapolis for Amanda’s husband’s internship, Amanda and Gretchen are back in Evanston.  They came over last week to play.  Natalie was thrilled!  She let out a couple yelps of joy and kept on looking at me, as to say “Mom, they’re here!  Yeah!  What a wonderful surprise – thank you!”

Oh my gosh, Gretchen. What are you playing with? Can I play with it too? You are so cool.

Look closely – you can see that Natalie’s entire body is tensed up, as she’s excited to see what Gretchen was up to.  Natalie was exhausted, trying to keep up with Gretchen, so she fell asleep on the stroller ride home (about 2 minutes after this picture was taken).  Falling right back in, Amanda picked her up when we got home and Natalie cuddled up on her, as Amanda took her upstairs.  I got to carry Gretchen, who is lighter than Natalie and has so much more body control – what a treat, up our 2 flights of stairs.

Hey girlfriend!!!

It was also fun to see what Gretchen, at about 17 mo, is up to.  I loved the pitter patter of feet all over the house – a sign of things to come!  So fun.

Amanda and Gretchen, thanks for visiting us in the City – come again soon!!!

Natalie said her first word directe at a person/object today – DaDa.  Natalie and I were playing on the bed, Jordan came in to say hello, and when he was leaving, Natalie said “Dada”.  So sweet… and isn’t she just the smartest little girl? 😉 (At least, that’s what her parents and grandma think!!!)

Go Irish - Beat those Bulls!

Natalie wore her 2T(!) (luckily – there’s some room in there for at least the entire season; thanks great Aunt Sandy!) ND dress today.  Unf, all the cuteness in world didn’t help the Irish win, but her Dad said, “She was the only good thing about ND today.”  Natalie definitely knows how to brighten a room.  Finally, thanks to Kat and Mike for hosting us for part of the game – even though that meant a poopy diaper, spilled water and mashed green beans on their floor.  What good friends.

Hmm... even though I don't think this guy has ever held a baby before, this is kinda fun. Weee!!!! Kat, you promise he won't drop me, right?

Natalie is learning new tricks everyday!  My fav are kisses – she gave me 2 over the weekend and 3 yesterday!  Her mouth is open and she leans forward – often ending on my lips!  I’m addicted. 

I'm a sweetie. No wonder I get so many hugs and kisses. I like to give them back too!

Natalie’s grunting has also increased exponentially, thanks to Connor, the little boy who is a month older than Natalie who we nanny share with.  He is adorable too.  More on Connor and Rachel (my cousin and their nanny – we are SO LUCKY!!!) soon… as soon as I can get Jordan to download the pics from the camera (okay, okay, I know I should learn this), since I don’t have an iPhone.  And, just today, Natalie’s been whistling.  I have no idea where she has learned this – maybe Rachel?  I also think its related to two teeth coming in on the top – imagine having so many new things popping up in your mouth.  Strange! 

These are leaves, not potato chips! I'm a healthy eater.

Also, we had a super fun time at the park with our friends, Molly, Megan and Jeff, who now live less than 1.5 miles away from us.  Yeah!  Megan is a super blogger – here’s the link to her blog post, complete with pics in Molly’s voice. 

http://babycashew.blogspot.com/2011/08/parks-parks-parks.html?showComment=1314755732331#c957570900854689691

Enjoy!

Our first blog poll…. Why was Jordan so tired this weekend?

A. He’s been working like crazy, preparing for a big pitch day to investors
B. He spent 4 hours with Natalie (inc. 1.5 hrs just the two of them and another 0.5 hrs in the car)
C. He ate something bad

Hey, why is Daddy sleeping? Its time to play. I even told him I'd share my toys.

Although you might suspect A or B, the answer is actually C.  Leftover Tums from my pregnancy helped remedy that!

Happy weekend!

Natalie and I received an invitation to Aunt Becky’s baby shower. By the looks of this invite, I have the feeling that I was only invited because Nat and I are a package deal. 🙂 -Erin < />

On Friday, Natalie celebrated 8 months.  The time is definitely flying by – having a kid is so much more busy than just waiting to have a kid (being prego).  Its been a great 8 months and Natalie just keeps on keeping us on our toes!

What?!? I'm 8 mo today! YEAH! I'm so big.

Weight/Height: She won’t know these stat until her 9 mo. appt, but she seems to be getting taller and heavier – though less dense.  I can actually see her neck.

Developmental Milestones: This girl sits like a champ – and has for quite awhile.  And, she is beginning to be mobile… her routine goes: Sit, lean forward to fall on her belly, roll over (still left shoulder only), land on back, wiggle/squirm, and squawk until someone helps her sit upright again.  She also loves to walk, with assistance, and can walk from one end of the house to the other.  She isn’t crawling yet, but has shown a bit of interest in trying. 

Sleeping: Natalie goes to be around 7:30 p.m. and wakes up around 6:30 a.m.  Sometimes, she’ll still wake up in the middle of the night, but we’re trying to break her of that.  If she wakes up at 5:30, I usually feed her, so that we can squeeze out an extra hour of sleep.  She takes two naps a day, ranging from 45 min to 1.5 hours.  I personally love this sleep schedule – she’s awake long enough for us to do fun activities and sleeps longer, so that we still get a break!

Food: Barley, rice and oat cereal, level 2 gerber food, smushed bananas and avocados.  She likes my homemade yellow squash, but doesn’t like the green beans.  BabyCenter says we can start moving into cooked noodles and cheese – so fun!

Favorite Activities: Swinging at the park, watching other kids at the park, walking at the park (sense a theme here?), Dancing, Looking at people who look different than her, playing with her toys (the caterpillar rattle from Gloria has been a lifesaver – she doesn’t like her diaper changing table much), Singing, Talking, Drooling, Silliness (esp. from her Dad and Pop).  She is getting better at reading books, but her bouncey gym doesn’t keep her engaged quite as long.  She also likes watching people go by from our front porch/stoop area.

Wanna see me blow a rasberry?

Today also marks Nana’s and Pop’s last day with us in Chicago/Evanston.  We are so appreciative of them being able to spend most of July & August with us – Natalie knows them so well now, and they were a big help, admist all these changes (new jobs, new home, etc).  Over a yummy Nana-made dinner last night, they confirmed that they want to come back next summer.  Nice work, Natalie!  Your cuteness and charm worked! 🙂

Have you met my Nana? Everyone should have a Nana!

I've gotta get this thing off of me! (Insert grunt here)

Until our nanny – my little cousin Rachel! – starts next week, other family members have been pitching in to watch Natalie.  Thankfully, Auntie Becky had wanted to come down for a visit anyways!

What?!? Oh no. RJ, stop sticking yourself out there so much. I'm used to being the star!

As you can tell from the above picture, Auntie Becky’s pregnancy is coming along well – she’s 24 weeks!  Our nickname for the baby is RJ – Rob Jr (Becky’s husband’s name is Rob). 

Okay, Auntie Becky, you're right. I can share you. As long as you PROMISE that RJ is as fun as you are!

After Auntie Becky & RJ left, Natalie sent some pictures and wrote the following email:

RJ –
 
Thanks for coming to visit me and sharing your mom with me.  You are welcome that I put her through the ringer today, with my difficulty napping this morning.  I’m just trying to break her in for you!  Keep up the good work kicking, and I cannot wait to meet you officially in Dec!
 
Love,
Natalie, aka The Big Cousin, aka The Boss of You

P.S. Give your mommy a hug for me!

Natalie is thrilled that the NFL reached an agreement with players… and she’s ready for some football!  

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

Natalie has been getting in shape for the season by jumping up and down in her bouncy gym.  In fact, her increased activity level is actually causing her to slim down a bit… is it possible that we’ve really passed the peak of her chubbiness?  Kinda sad.

Go Pack Go!  Go Irish!

I know life with a kid is busy, but these have been an especially busy few weeks.  On Aug 3, we did the reverse move… after 5 years (nearly to the date!) in Evanston, we bucked the trend of moving further out into the suburbs once you have a kid and instead headed into Chicago.  I’m excited to be starting a new job with Chicago Public Schools (www.cps.edu) (on the education side, but not as a teacher), which I was connected to through a leadership development program (The Broad Residency, www.broadresidency.org– you should check it out if you’re interested in doing mission-driven work!).  And, CPS requires that you be a resident of the City of Chicago, so off we went! 

I have spent the last 10 days unpacking – with the help of Nana and Pop, who have done everything from organizing our kitchen to decorating to putting up curtains to taking care of Natalie.  (THANK YOU!!!)  And, lucky Jordan, has pitched in on nights and weekends, after very full days of work.

Don’t you worry though – my last week as a stay-at-home mom (for now!) was still super fun.  Here are some of the highlights….

A typical morning with Nat

Um, Mom... aren't we supposed to be reading?!? Get back over here!

Hmmm... I like it. No I don't. Yes I do. I'm not sure. Mom, what the heck is this thing? (Answer: a cherry)

Nearly 8 mo sure is a fun age, but Olivia, Max, Ella and Molly - you make 11 mo old look even better! Thanks for letting me crash your play date! I'll see you at Molly's 1st year bday next month!

Oh my gosh. You guys are a blast! I wanna crawl, walk and scoot like you! (Molly, you've gotta teach me that 360-degree bum rotation thing you do)

(Note from mom: Purposefully silent - Natalie definitely likes to examine situations.)

Hop on Pop! (Dr. Seuss reference)

I have had a fabulous 8 weeks at home with Natalie – she is such a sweetie and I feel so blessed to be her mom.  However, I feel great about who she will be hanging out with while I’m at work… more on that in a future post!