Honeys on the Honey Pot

Veggie pick-up was today, and both kids came. Jake played with a dog there for a good half hour. Both kids were so happy!!

Which was nice 'cuz then we left to go get Jake a flu shot. He was not so happy. Really, in fact, he was the most miserable I've EVER seen him. I had to hold him down to get the shot (not easy! the boy is strong!) and afterwards we got ice cream. Tonight Tara asked him if he'd been brave and he shook his head, and said "not really!". Understatement of the year, but nice of him to admit it. He also admitted the shot hadn't hurt much after all.

A few more pix:

I Kid you not...

I have spoken to about 20 nanny/babysitter candidates so far. I am very, very tired of speaking to them. Some are very nice young ladies, and some are nice older ladies, but there is a preponderance of people who are, shall we say, just not likely to be a good fit.

This exchange was one of my favorites, during a first phone call to a woman who sounded a lot older on the phone than she did by email.

Me: So, can you tell me what you're looking for? What would make the job successful or satisfying from your point of view?

Her: uh....

Me: (prompting in the silence) What would make a good fit for you in terms of the family you work with?

Her: ...well... I think... it might be important.... for, you know, the family to be, uh, looking for a babysitter.

We've met 2 in person and they were both nice enough. It's just really hard to get a sense in a quick visit.

I feel like I need to heed advice from my former boss Lloyd (co-founder of Sesame Street and generally very wise), on hiring. If you get what you expect 50% of the time, you're doing quite well. I just wish I didn't have to play these odds with my precious daughter 60 days before my semester at Duke starts!

Jake Bakes!

Jake and I spent Sunday morning baking and decorating a cake. We had a nice time. We had tried to invite Abby to help but all she wanted to do was play in the sink, so we let her do that!

Wall-E!

I found this photo on my phone yesterday. Jake had a haunted house work at school and decided to draw Wall-E, from memory, and put him in the picture. Then on the way home he apparently took a close-up photo of it with my phone. It looks so much like Wall-E, I think! He did draw one ghost but the rest of the picture, he explained this morning, is boxes Wall-E was lifting and his house. It is quite the drawing!
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Abby is 21 Months Old

And she's holding her own, more and more. Here, Jake invited her to join him in the leaf pile, and then 2 mins later, was trying to push her out of it. She wouldn't budge. (It kind of reminded me of a Brady Bunch episode - anyone remember that??)

She also had snack at the playground at his school today, and fit in among the 3-6 year olds just fine. She sat there next to them on the picnic table as if she were there every day. Jake was very cute trying to explain to the teacher what she could and couldn't eat and then taking Abby's hand and leading her gently but quite firmly around the playground. It looks like this sibling stuff is starting to pay off!

And I guess the other big news this month, at least for me, is she is FINALLY saying "Mama." So I figure that's about 500 days of literally back-breaking, sleepless work raising this child before she decided to call me by name. Friends who have no children yet - take note!!! I'm sure also in a few years I'll wish the mommy, mommy, mommy will stop. Right now, I'm still enraptured, every time! :)

Racecars!

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On the Farm

Abby and I went to our local CSA to pick up veggies yesterday and she enjoyed this new bear, as well as a small haybale maze.
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Heartbroken

Our beloved babysitter announced tearfully today that she's moving to CA on December 1. It was a surprise and a shock on so many levels! First, because we love her and Abby and Jake do too and having someone we trust as much as we do her has made our current work lives possible. She's watched Abby since she was 7 months old, nearly 3/4 of her life. Second, because she's a Ph.D student and we really thought she'd be around for another year at least. But, she doesn't like her program and wants to make a fresh start. Her decision is made, alas.

She's generously offered to help us find someone new so she and I spent much of naptime writing ads and placing them on various sites. I found a few possibilities already and one has written back, so it looks like the lugubrious task of finding a new person to entrust with my children has begun. This is not fun and I do not really have time for it, but there it is. It's suddenly more important than any other deadline I have. I'll be thinking about this a lot I bet as I fly to CA myself tomorrow.

Anyway, Tara sent some very nice pictures she took of Abby, which I thought worth posting now. Abby is so happy with her!! I guess this is the first of many transitions for my young daughter!