Bad Judge of Character

A wise man once said something to the tune of, "If bad things keep happening to you, you're the common denominator so look at yourself before blaming others." His name is Dan Savage.

Damn, that man has taught me a lot. I highly suggest you all listen to his podcast Savage Love. Especially if you're conservative because he just GETS you guys.</ sarcasm>

For reals though, he is hilarious and if you're a liberal, crunchy girl like myself you will enjoy.
Anyways - I have once again found myself at a point where I have selected someone to care for my child who is not trustworthy. And for the first time in my life, I had to fire someone yesterday.

It started before I went back to work. I wanted to find a reliable babysitter for childcare needs outside of the daycare realm. I met with this girl who I found on care.com and had coffee with her. She seemed perfect! A sophomore in college (will be around for a few more years!), previously a nanny for a family of 4 kids (experience!), reliable transportation (a NEED because Nolan needs to get to daycare), early childhood education major (perfect major for a babysitter!), etc.

In hindsight, Mary Poppins was most definitely on drugs.

I had her watch Nolan a few times and those times all went fine... but then this happened:

1.) When I texted her the night before a babysitting job (to be at my house at 6:15ish am) she told me that she had strep and wasn't on antibiotics for 24 hours yet but she could still come watch Nolan... Ummmm no. My baby was 3ish months and I definitely didn't want to expose him to those germs. So I told her not to come.

2.) Another morning when she was scheduled to watch Nolan - I confirmed with her the night before and everything was ready to go. But 6:15am came and went without a text saying she'd be late. I sent her a message asking if everything was ok but got nothing. Finally at 7:00 I had to call my daycare provider and drop off Nolan early and pay $1/minute for it... She later called me in tears saying she set her alarm clock for PM instead of AM.

3) Finally the last straw. Last night I emailed her to give her some details of Friday morning's baby sitting job where I needed to be out the house by 6:00am. Her exact words were:

Hey sorry I just got this have been busy wih [sic] finals. My dad was planning on taking me to mall of America tomorrow for the weekend to celebrate the end of the semester but if there is nobody else to watch Nolan I can always try to plan it another time I feel bad I forgot that I had this day down to watch him!

Gee, thanks for making other commitments.

So I had to respond with this:

I'm sorry but this arrangement just isn't working out. I need someone reliable to watch my son and I don't feel like you have proved yourself to be someone I can trust going forward.

I have to wonder, since you didn't cancel before I sent this email,  if you were going to tell me you went out of town or if I was going to find myself without care on Friday morning.

Good luck to you on your finals.

So I'm back to square one finding someone who can watch Nolan.

This comes back to me though, I found a shitty daycare provider who ended up f*cking me over at the last minute, and this grosky biotch who thinks that she can just do as she pleases. 

I'm going back to care.com to find a new caretaker but this time I am going to have to bring Brian in on the interviews because I so clearly am an awful judge of character.

Unfortunate Addictions

I may be playing a little fast and loose with the word "unfortunate" but yeah - I've got a problem. It involves me and my baby. Specifically me spending FAR TOO MUCH on things he will look adorable in. So every time that Baby Gap sends me an email I cringe on the inside because it means I have to OF COURSE look at their website and have an inner battle where I figure out whether or not I want to spend far too much money for a pair of jeans that he won't wear that often because I only ever put him in PJs

Aunt Amy Love!

Since it's been a few weeks since my last post, a picture heavy blog is in order. So let me walk you through the past 2ish months!

A few weeks back my Mom gave Nolan his present - a CUSTOMIZED bookshelf which she burned/painted herself.

Pay no attention to the fact that I never give 2 thoughts about how I look, even for pictures! For the record, those tank tops are a nursing mother's must have (Target, they have clippy straps for quick access *wink wink*)

View from top

Front

Top Right Angle

Top Left Angle "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good"

I bought a hat that is supposed to be for a 2 year old because that's the smallest I could find... Look at how this kid rocks the conehead look:

Welcome Grandma Lynn!!

"Ya know, Dad, this hat is like really warm and kinda big. You've gotta talk to mom."

Grandma Becky has come over and babysat for us while we went to a freeeeeeeezing cold tailgate. I'm sure she enjoyed watching Nolan more than I enjoyed freezing my butt off while pumping in the car, in the front seat, while people (drunk people) wandered by. HELLOOOO NURSE!

She's blinking... whoops

OK I LOVE THESE PICTURES! These are from Thanksgiving at Grandma Becky's. How often do you get a smiling picture? Let along one where he's sooo cuddly with Grandma?

OMG I could just melt.

Of course I got a little creative one day.

Don't worry Sanctimommy, I left him unattended after this so I could drink some booze. 

Santa wasn't as nice in person as you might think. For starters he didn't actually say "ho ho ho" nor did he tuck his pant leg in for the photo. I even tried to get him to play along and I asked him if Nolan had been naughty or nice and he barely muttered that he was (of course) on the nice list.

Ohhhh how I judge.

Moving right along... Nolan has started eating solids... or wearing them at least!

You took a picture? Uncool Mom!

To be honest, Nolan looks the best when he's not wearing anything at all ('cept a diaper... he's not trustworthy enough to be sans diaper yet)

He's a strong tummy timer!

He loves being tickled.

And of course neglected.

I only joke about the neglect. Yes, I posed him with xmas lights for pictures. Some people have posted similar stuff on facebook and get reamed out for not taking care of their baby. For the record, I was with him the whole time, and the thing about me getting a drink above is a joke. #disclaimer

My little buddy dressed as Wilson in a DIY halloween outfit. 

So I shall leave you here. Coming soon: Hopefully a bunch of blogs because I'm getting TWELVE days off starting Friday at 4ish.

This Too Shall Pass

Baby raisin' is hard work. And the hardest part of all so far (for me) is the lack of sleep. It's obviously a major drag and it's impossibly hard to keep optimistic when certain babies *ahem* are sleeping 12 hour stretches. (LUCKY!)

Last night after a particularly emotional day which was a long time coming from sleep deprivation - Brian volunteered to do all the night wakings/feedings/changing diapers etc. So finally after 4.5 months I finally slept 7 hours in.a.row.

They say this is the 4 month sleep regression or the 4 month wakeful. Where my baby WAS sleeping pretty well and well on his way to sleeping through the night on a regular basis until once upon a time he decided that it was time to start growing or that he misses me in the middle of the night or whatever it is. So this tired lady has been a sleep deprived walking zombie.

My problem yesterday was comparing my baby with another baby who is sleeping extremely well. So I decided I need to focus on the things my baby does well that other babies maybe aren't doing so well (this isn't supposed to be a jab at anyone who's currently having these problems, I just need to focus on some positive!)

• He isn't colicky. Praise the flying spaghetti monster for this! I have heard horror stories of those with colicky babies and I count myself incredibly lucky that he is a happy baby!
• He doesn't spit up... like ever. Ok there's been a few times, but I can count each of those times on one hand.
• He's healthy! This is most important. That baby is right on track with weight and height and he's hitting milestones left and right :)
• He's not rolling over completely yet... I know this is kind of a silly one, but until he actually starts rolling over, I do get a little break by setting him on his activity mat and not worrying that he's going to get up and start moving around. He'll be crawling before I know it and for now the fact that he's immobile is a blessing in disguise.
• He surprises me with some nights of longer sleep. In fact, last night when Brian was watching him he slept a 6 hour stretch #ishouldhaveknownthatwouldhappen
• He's laughing and smiling. That baby loves being happy! He loves playing with me. He's grabbing my hair and for some reason thinks it's delicious. He grabs my mouth/teeth and it's pretty hilarious.
• He LOVES bathtime! OMG so cute! He flaps his arms up and down when he's excited and he does that in the bath. He also is kicking his feet and splish splashing! At first I wasn't sure if that meant that he was uncomfortable and wanted out until he paused, looked at me, and gave me a HUGE smile! 

And on a similar although not completely related note - we must always remember that coffee exists and I have access to it. 

OH AND - I have 2 full weeks of work before I have 12 days of vacation IN.A.ROW!!!