After much job searching, trying to find a "real job", I settled for the next best thing, which is really THE best thing in my mind--nannying. I spend my week, Monday through Friday (and occasional weekends) with kids from three different families. I want to introduce them.
Kailas. Named after the tallest mountain in the Himalayas "Kailash", commonly known as K2. Kailas will be 3 in March and is one of the most interesting kids I have ever come to know--in a good way. He's extremely smart and well spoken for his age. He's 99% fully potty trained, which I have also come to realize is rare. He loves learning words in other languages and has an incredible memory for words and people and events. When I read books, Kailas likes to point at the faces of characters and ask me what the face means-whether it's happy or sad or angry, etc. His favorite foods are cereal bars and hummus (not together). He's a sweet, generally well-behaved boy who is constantly searching for new things to learn.
Talin. I can't remember the origin of his name, but it has something to do with India or Hinduism. Talin is Kailas' little brother and the second son of a woman who is of Indian decent and wants to preserve that culture in her boys. Talin will be a year old in May, which makes him about 8 months old right now. In the time that I have been watching him, he has learned to sit up and to crawl. He is a very mellow baby, and rarely cries. Things that make him smile are hearing his name, seeing himself in the mirror, being tickled, and watching his older brother do just about anything. His favorite foods are (pureed) tomatoes and carrots and apples--together or seperate.
Luca. Luca is three years old and is someone I did not instantly click with. He's fairly hard to understand when he talks, and often answers questions the opposite way of what he actually wants. Example: "Luca, do you want cereal?" "No." Then he cries because he doesn't have cereal. He's always very excited when I walk in the door and often cheers "Sawah!" as I enter. He loves his firetruck puzzle and he loves to sing and "play" guitar. His favorite foods are peanut butter and jelly and honeycomb cereal. He also loves chocolate milk. He's being potty trained, and in the past week or so has really come a long way. He needs a very long time to adjust after he's woken up from his afternoon nap, but is generally happy after he's had a snack. I think we're starting to understand each other more as time goes on.
Auden. Luca's little brother who is 16 months old. Auden is the fastest crawler I have ever seen. He's taken his first steps while I've been babysitting him, and will walk for you if you make it a game, but otherwise sees no need for walking. He is the sweetest one year old I have ever met. The only time I have ever heard him cry is when I put him in his crib if I run to the bathroom, and he stops after about 10 seconds and plays happily until I come get him. He smiles when he goes down for a nap, he smiles when he wakes up. He gets a confused look on his face when his brother hits him, but then smiles again pretty quickly after that. He loves to cuddle, especially after his naps. He says "yuh" a lot, especially in response to the question "do you want some honeycomb?", which is definitely his favorite food. He does what I call "the honeycomb dance" whenever there is the actual cereal or just the box, in his sight.
Clyde. Clyde will be three in February and LOVES trucks. He can name more trucks than I have ever heard of. He talks really fast and repeats things over and over until you acknowledge what he has sad. He loves Richard Scary books. He can walk for literally miles and never rides in a stroller. Clyde can focus on one task for very long periods of time. I've seen him play in a miniature sand box, or with his trucks in his room for hours at a time. He has a very advances palette for a 3 year old--I've seen him eat things like pesto and goat cheese and arugula. He's an interesting kid and is about to have his entire life changed by....
Ada! The one girl that I am now a babysitter for. She was born on Saturday, and is Clyde's little SISTER! I know nothing about her and will meet her later this week. I can't wait.
