My main job this summer is to be a part-time nanny for two boys. I was hoping to get a "real" job at a restaurant or retail store, but this is what God has provided for me and I am very thankful for it :) The family is related to a friend of a high school teacher of mine - so that's how I heard about the opportunity.
The two boys are Brian and Christopher. Brian will turn six next month, and Christopher just turned 2 last month (Christopher is above, Brian is in the picture riding his bike).
I babysat one evening in May as a trial run of sorts, but I really started my job on June 1st. The first week, I worked during the mornings and only had Christopher because Brian was at a tennis camp. Christopher and I had our schedule down pat :D He and his dad would pick me up from the train station at about 9:00, and then he and I would play with his yellow truck out front, look at the flowers, and walk along the rock pathway counting the rocks. Sometimes I would push Christopher in his tricycle. After a while, we would go to the park not too far from their house. The first day, all Christopher was really willing to do was go up the regular steps and walk around on the playground. By Friday, he was climbing up just about every way to climb up, going down the slide by himself, and swinging in all the swings :) We would play for a couple hours, then go back to the house and eat lunch, look at a couple of books, and then he would go down for his nap.
Even though Christopher just turned two, he is very smart! He knows the ABC song pretty well, can count up to about 7 (though he often says "one, two, four, five..."), is fairly good at identifying colors and shapes, knows what and where all his facial features are, knows lots of words, and is almost potty trained! Both boys go to a Montessori school, and I think that is where Christopher gets most of his training.
These second two weeks I have gone in the afternoons and have had both boys. I get there at about 12:30, feed the boys lunch, and put Christopher down for his nap. Then Brian and I usually do play dough, play with his pirate ship, he gets dressed up in costumes, and sometimes we look at books. I also take Brian to his swim lessons, and last week I took him to Ride and Glide (a bike camp at the YMCA). Sometimes the boys and I go to Barnes and Noble and look at books there.
Christopher is super cute, and thankfully he and I hit it off pretty well :) I taught him my name on Thursday or so of the first week, and he's always excited to see me when they pick me up from the train station :D I was going to put in some of the cute things he's done, especially the first week, but I feel like I've already forgotten some of them :(
One is that he says "Peek-a-bo, I see you" in the cutest voice! He also says "I've gotchyou, I've gotchyou" any time he's feeling nervous/scared/uncomfortable. He has the biggest blue eyes - lots of people comment on them when they see him. And he can say "yes!" or "okay" in the cutest voice possible if he wants to do something you're suggesting. Also, he always notices what is on my shirt! I wore two different horse shirts two days in a row, and so now he keeps asking for horses when he sees me :)
His dad told me this funny story - evidently the mom has the same kind of tennis shoes that I do. So one day she was squatting down talking to Christopher and he looked at her shoes and said "Esther's shoes!" So that shows you that he is a *very* observant young fellow! :D
Brian and I get along pretty well too....we had more of a rough start, but that's rather understandable since he's six and thus has stronger opinions! I think we have come to a fairly good understanding, but we still have a couple tough spots once in a while. I can't really think of anything cute or funny he's done yet...oh well.
I'm only going to blog about the positive/fun things that happen.......but believe me, that doesn't mean that's the whole story. These boys are, of course, human just like all the rest of us. But I just try to focus on the positive and love on them a lot.
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