Talking

Joshua loves to talk. It is the cutest. He has become a real conversationalist. We talk about everything from typical things that happen in the day to sports to politics. He even likes to talk on the phone. Josh has had some nice phone conversations with dad at work and enjoys leaving voicemails for Grandmom Adele on her cell.

That Winning Smile

The first time I saw Josh smile was around 4 weeks. I know it could have been gas, but I think it was a smile. It wasn't until Halloween day that his social smile seemed to be a regular occurance. (6 weeks). I was lucky enough to capture it on camera in his halloween costume. (See my post on 10/31).

Now, we get to see the smile every day, and it is amazing. When Josh wakes up in the morning, I walk over to him and say "Good morning, Joshy". He looks back at me with a big smile. (He definitely doesn't take after his mother in being a morning person). Yet, now each night that I go to bed, I look forward to waking up the next morning to see that winning smile once again.

I Found a Nanny

I thought it was going to take weeks and weeks and 50 interviews to find the right nanny. When I found myself rushing to check references and thinking "we need to grab her", I knew I found the one. It ended up that I only had to meet 6 people before I found her. She seems to have the experience, personality, and philosophy that I was looking for in a nanny. I feel pretty good about her. Nothing compares to me being able to stay home. However, I think Josh will be in good hands.

Sorry Bubby

The first night in Florida not only did Josh sleep through the night, but he didn't wake up until 8:30am. I guess Josh knows he is on vacation too. :)

My grandmom came over for our traditional Sunday brunch, which consists of lox and bagel. She was excited to see Josh again, and I gave her as much holding time as possible. Unfortunately, maybe it was a little too much holding time.

Babies poop. Anywhere at anytime. Babies poop. More times than not, it isn't much of a problem, even if the baby poops when sitting on your lap. Today, my my grandmom was not so lucky. Josh pooped on his Bubby Evelyn. When I say that Josh pooped on her, he really did. It was the biggest explosion ever. I have never seen him poop so much. It got all over him and grandmom. I am not sure much of it stayed in the diaper at all.

Sorry Bubby!

On Our Way to Grandmom and Grandpop's House

Josh and I traveled tooday to Florida to visit Grandmom and Grandpop. It will be a nice visit and we will get to see his Bubby Evelyn as well. It will be the first time that my grandmother gets to meet her Great Grandson, and I know she is really excited.

As much as I was looking forward to the trip, I was not looking forward to the flight. Lugging all the stuff plus the baby was going to be a challenge. Plus, who knew how Josh was going to behave. I had 2 big suitcases plus a carry-on, boppy, baby bjorn, and the stroller. The airline let Keith come to the gate with me. Very nice of them, especially with the added security. It was a huge help as just getting through security was a challenge. I had to take the car seat out of the stroller, fold the stroller, and put the stroller and car seat on the conveyer belt while holding Josh through security. Fun Fun Fun. I brought the BabyBjorn so I could put Josh in that to carry him on the plane. Luckily, the plane wasn't 100% full so I got to bring the car seat on the plane and give Josh his own seat.

Well, the separate seat for Josh turned out to be a car seat holder, and he spent the whole plane ride on my lap. When I sat down, I layed Josh on the Boppy, put the nursing cover over me, and started to nurse him. The notion was that he would be feeding when the plane took off and would not be bothered with his ears during take off. Well, I started feeding him too soon. By the time we did take off, he was done eating and just hanging on there "grazing". Joshua ate too much. This led to lots and lots of spit up all over him and and some on me for the first half of the flight. I felt bad for Joshua and also for the man sitting on the aisle who was witnessing all of this. Since I was prepared, I had a change of clothes for him and changed him into something dry on the plane.

Josh was pretty good though. He hardly cried or fussed for the 2 1/2 hour flight. (Minus the spit up). I managed to not have to change his diaper during the flight. (There is no way I would have been able to get out of my seat). He didn't seem to complain about that either. Hopefully the man on the aisle seat didn't seem to notice Josh's baby fresh scent was not so fresh at the end of the flight. :)

On the landing, there was no way I was giving Josh more food. So, I gave him a pacifier and that did the trick as well. Josh didn't seem to complain about his ears popping.

Grandmomand Grandpop met us at baggage claim, and they were so excited to see their new grandson. I am now "second fiddle".

I have Changed

They say that parenthood changes a person. It does. There are way too many to mention, but it hit me the other day when I was at the nail salon. (OK, so some things have not changed. ha ha. Well, I haven't had a manicure or pedicure since Joshua was born, and I can't remember the last time I went 3 months without having either. Please give me some credit). Back at the nail salon, they had a stack of magazines. I passed over Lucky, Shape, and even Vogue. I picked up.... Are you ready for this? ......................... Working Mother Magazine!
And, I even enjoyed reading it.
It made me realize that plenty of women make both raising a family and being a successful business woman work. The key is flexibility by the employer. I don't work for a company that offers anything even remotely close to what some of the other companies in the magazine offer. But, if I can have a quiet, private place to pump, a little shorter work day/week, and a little less stress in my work day - then I will be happy too.

The Nanny Search Begins

Keith and I decided that we didn't want to send Josh to daycare. Since me staying at home is not an option either, we need to turn to hiring a nanny. Keith's mom has agreed to watch Josh 2x per week, and I am going to have Fridays off, so we need to find a nanny 2x per week. Nannies are expensive. A 5 day a week nanny can cost $700-750/week. Who has that kind of money? Even for our 2 days per week need, it is still expensive.

If you want to get your child into the right day care, you need to pretty much start the search before you even conceive. By the time you are out of your first trimester, you better have deposits down at several day care centers or you are screwed. In my Mommy & Me class, everyone was talking about their day care statuses whether it was a day care center, in-home, or nanny share. It made me realize that I needed to get my butt in gear.

I started my nanny search by posting an ad on dcurbanmom and Craig's List as well as responding to a few ads. I also called a nanny agency, but they said they don't really do part time. Trying to respond to people in between taking care of Josh has been a real challenge. It also has been more difficult in getting responses to people who are available only 2 days. Plus, half of the responses I was getting were by nannies who A. wanted to bring their child B. not authorized to work in the US or C. wanted to start tomorrow and not wait until January.

I started interviewing the nannies and it was nerve-wrecking. These women all seem nice, but how do I really know if they are good enough to leave alone with my son. I went through all the basic questions with everyone, and it allowed me to get a sense of everything. I assumed for 2 days per week I would just be paying them hourly as a 1099 employee. Well, one nanny wanted vacation, sick days, 10 holidays, and her taxes done. Hello high maintenance! During the process, we interviewed one woman who really stuck out. She seemed to be what I was looking for in a nanny. I set up a second interview for Keith to meet her and we shall see...