New York Nanny Center » Family

Henry Goes to the Beach

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 11:16:51 +0000

Every summer for over twenty years I have gone “Up North” to Harbor Springs, Michigan. Spending summers there is something I am very grateful for. I’ve made new friends over the years, catch up with old friends, experience new things, and, in most recent years, spend extended time with my family. This experience has become even more special since Henry has come into the picture.

Our family.. plus a little too much ice cream

Living in Chicago comes with many advantages. There’s an abundance of culture, people, and endless amounts of “things to do.” However, it can also be very busy, overly structured, fast-paced, and stressful. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE CHICAGO, but taking a break every summer is awesome!

Henry relaxing and enjoying a nice snack on the beach

Last summer was the first summer Henry was exposed to parts of my childhood. It was fun–he learned to walk, ate sand for the first time, and dipped his toes in the Michigan side of Lake Michigan. This summer is even better! Henry is sturdy on his feet and has said new words like “beach”, “watermelon”, “boat”, and “bug-gy.” His eyes light up when he realizes he’s on his way to the beach. He’s not afraid of the water, loves to chase the birds, and has tripled his vocabulary since arriving. I’m thankful for this time and sharing these new experiences with him.

Our little man goes kayak shopping

I am also grateful for my husband. Without his hard-work, understanding, and love for his wife and child, we would not be able to spend such a long period of time in Michigan. We are grateful when “dada” can be with us, but appreciate the sacrifices he makes so we can spend extensive time at the beach. We love you, Dada (Bob!). Henry is also lucky that he gets to spend a week in South Haven, Michigan with his Chicago family. He is surrounded by people who love him and want him to be part of old family traditions. Sharkball, Lobster Parties, and dipping your toes in the lake aren’t a bad way to spend your summer!

We’re so blessed in our life and look forward to all the new experiences and memories we will create as he gets older.

Happy Summer!

-Maureen is a Sitter2Mom, a working woman (our Chicago City Coordinator), and mother of Henry!

Sick Babies

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 15:26:28 +0000

Oh man, I have come to the conclusion there is nothing sadder than a sick baby! Today marks day 9 of my 11 month old being sick. She is finally getting over a rough bout of coxsackie but is now battling a terrible cough and runny nose. At this point in her life, I definitely feel as though I have a handle on her personality and general demeanor, and she has just not been herself these past few days. The worst part of it all is having no idea exactly how she is feeling or what I can do for her. It is heartbreaking!

I’m also having a hard time deciding when to know if it really is just a cold, or teething or if it is in fact time to bring her in to the doctor. I did not bring her in for the coxsackie, just talked to the nurse and followed her instructions. With a cold though, you never know if it could be worse, an ear infection, virus, who knows! I try really hard not to be an nervous nelly, but I also think it’s important to trust your gut and do what is your best for child. That being said, I talked to to the nurse this morning but have gone ahead and decided I will be bringing Ashton in tomorrow – it will just make me feel better!

-Samantha is a former BFC sitter, event planner, and elementary school teacher. She and her husband live in New York and are first time parents!

Baby Proofing: The Vicious Cycle

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 02 Jul 2014 13:25:04 +0000

I’ve finally figured out the ultimate baby-proofing technique: full body armor, equipped with helmets and kneepads.

Kidding (sort of). Baby-proofing is extremely tricky. Once you think you have it figured out, those little explorers beat the system again and again. The climbing is the worst. What are you supposed to do? Remove all of your furniture and turn your house into kiddie playland? My toddler twins love climbing on the couch and waving out the window to people passing by; of course it’s accompanied by the sweetest sounding “hi.” Because of this, I’ve had to take the cushions off and line the floor with them. This helps, but then the jumping on the cushions begins. Sigh. Then I thought, what about a major distraction? Insert ball tent with tunnel that takes up my entire living room.

Oh well, I’ll just have to accept the fact that this is what it is until they move out.

-Courtney is a Sitter2mom, mother of the most adorable twins, and sister of BFC President, Lindsay.

Talking, Technology, and the Terrible Twos…

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 13:03:17 +0000

Three months ago my sweet Henry wasn’t saying much. These days he has a lot to say! Henry has a sound for almost every animal, names for his toys and objects around him, and will have in depth conversations with me about some very serious topics. I have NO IDEA what he’s saying, but I can tell from his hand gestures that he thinks it’s very important! He has recently become obsessed with Thomas the Train. Admittedly, Thomas is a hard word to say, so he has shortened it to Tom. Yesterday, I tried to get him to say, “mom” so I was saying, “This is Tom and this is Mom.” Today, Henry calls Thomas–”Tom-Mom.” No luck for me, but it’s pretty awesome to see how quickly he’s picking things up. I guess that means I better start watching what I say around him!

These days Henry is extremely curious about everything I’m doing. He’s always been interested in new things, but now he wants to do what I’m doing. Sometimes it’s great, like when he wants to help me put things in the dryer, but other times it’s not so awesome. It’s not good when he wants to help me cook on the stove, or opening and shutting a hot oven. These are the times where I pull out my trusty friend, the iPad! The iPad is the most coveted and valuable thing in Mr. Henry’s life right now. He loves it so much that I have to hide it from him so he doesn’t spend all day on it! Finding the right balance with technology is key. Henry is very engaged with the ABC and 123 games, loves the Curious George App where he builds trains, rockets, and dinosaurs, and loves the animal flashcards. I’m actually impressed with how quickly he catches on to things and how well he can operate the iPad! Try taking it away….not a happy camper!

They call them the Terrible Twos, but we’ve already entered this phase way before the 2nd birthday. With Henry’s newfound independence comes some strong opinions. What Henry wants to do is not always the safest, cleanest, or healthiest thing. Telling Henry that he can’t do something makes him very unhappy. I am a believer in positive discipline, but it’s hard to always remain calm and patient when your toddler throws a tantrum. I’ve found that it’s just better for me to walk away and let him sort it out! You can’t reason with a child who doesn’t know the concept. To him it is the end of the world that I put his goldfish crackers in the wrong cup. When he calms down, he goes about eating the crackers like there was nothing wrong in the first place! I don’t try to understand it!

All these things are just part of the phase Henry is in. I love all the talking and think his little voice is the sweetest sound i’ve ever heard. I’m impressed with his knowledge of technology and how quickly he’s able to figure things out. And despite his tantrums, I still think he’s the most amazing, lovable, and funny kid I’ve ever met!

-Maureen

Another Father’s Day

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 23 Jun 2014 12:26:13 +0000

Father’s Day has been bittersweet for me. Celebrating Father’s Day with my kids is always a happy, fun time, but then there’s the sadness I feel that goes with the loss of my dad and grandfather. They were both great example of what Fathers should be and they left a positive, lasting effect on my life. When I look out my window on Father’s Day, I always think of them. My dad because he went with me to dig pine trees at a local tree farm to transplant in my yard when I first moved in, and my grandfather who planted the maple tree seedlings that now tower overhead. The trees that had to be planted precisely so many feet apart according to his direction. Nothing crazy, just little things we did together as I knew their help and guidance was always there. On this post-Father’s Day blog, I want to thank not only these two men in my life but also my husband. He has lived up to their example of what a father should be and I’m so thankful to have chosen him as the father of my children.

-Mama Bell

Life with Two!

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 12:59:21 +0000

We were blessed to welcome our second daughter into the world in early April. As much as I don’t love being pregnant, I found myself extra thankful this time around to have nine months to mentally prepare for life with two. It also gave us time to build excitement with our ever-so-sassy 3 year old. Each day, Avery reminded us how excited she was to have a baby sister and never let a day go by without telling me how big I was getting. Gotta love the raw honesty of children!!

Baby Sydney

When Sydney arrived, all the mental preparation and plans we had made went out the window and we went into full survival mode. You forget how hard it is to make logical and smart decisions when you are sleep deprived (and thank goodness we forgot or no one would have more babies)! For a week or two, Avery had a little more candy than usual and got to play on my iPhone, which is not normally an option. She thought that was pretty cool. When she wasn’t taking advantage of her tired parents, she was doting on her sister!

Avery doting on Sydney

While life with two is definitely more challenging, it has also proven to be much more fun. As I lay my head down at night, I can’t help but smile at the many laughs my girls provided throughout the day. Hope I’m still laughing when they are 13 and 16!!

-Mindy

The Importance of Date Night

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 11 Jun 2014 04:59:35 +0000

Pre baby, my husband and I had a great tradition of Friday night being date night. My husband is a real planner so usually on Wednesday, Thursday morning he would start the convo via text/email about where we should go for dinner. We would try our best to come up with new places to go in neighboring towns, or even in the city. More often than not, we would wind up at one of our favorite stomping grounds but it didn’t matter where we were as long as we were out of our apartment, and for me, enjoying a dinner that I did not cook! I was always amazed how much we had to talk about at dinner seeing as we saw each other every single other day of the week, but perhaps it was just the fact that we were out of the house and ordering off a menu that allowed the conversation to flow.

Everyone enjoys good company and good food!

Our daughter is now 10 months old, and I think I can count on one hand the number of times we have gone out to dinner, not including the two weddings we have had where we had a babysitter. There are a lot of reasons for this, too tired to even think of going out, not wanting to leave our daughter, wanting to save $ instead of paying for dinner and a babysitter, but at the end of the day no excuse is good enough. My husband and I had the great privilege of going out this past Friday and it was exactly what we needed– some alone time to talk about things other than our daughter, to actually take longer than 15 minutes to finish a meal and to have not just 1 but 2 drinks! It was exactly the refresher we needed and as a result we have vowed to reinstate Date Night, however, it will now more likely be once a month as opposed to once a week, but hey, Ill take it!

-Samantha

The Sweetest Sound

Lindsay Bell — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 23:46:45 +0000

Almost exactly one year ago, my husband and I moved from New York City to Arlington, VA with our five month old baby girl. Within days of our arrival, I learned about the local cooperative playgroup and knew it was something we wanted to do. I also knew we had some time to wait as the minimum age requirement is 12 months. So we waited, and applied and applied again and when we finally made it through the lottery system it felt like Parker had been admitted to Harvard! Except that I was the one who had to fill out the lengthy paperwork, undergo background investigations, and attend CPR & First Aid Training while Parker gets to play, eat snacks, and do group activities. Yup, just like college.

It’s always been really important to us to have Parker around other kids her own age. When I was working, I applied for group day care as soon as we got pregnant and was promptly put on a long wait list. J Now that I’m home with her, I make sure everyday we have a play date, group class, park visit or story time to attend. Parker is one social butterfly…as long as mommy is her wing man. So this co-op is a new experience for her. Two hours two times a week, sometimes without mom.

Leading up to the big day, I talked about how much fun it was going to be, how many friends she’d make, that she’d get yummy snacks and that I’d come back to pick her up when it was all done. Today, my adorable 16 month old toddler popped out of her stroller, sippy cup in hand and walked into her first day of cooperative playgroup without glancing back at me.

OK, she eventually looked to see if I was still there, but she was a natural! It was mom who felt awkward. I guess I should have been giving myself pep talks. I didn’t know what to do with my empty hands as I walked home. And once I got there, the silent house felt strange. I still raced through my shower just in case I got the call she needed me and after I cleaned up her breakfast, I didn’t know what to do. I had had fantasies of what I would do with these two hours to myself but they were all failing me now. Apparently, this co-op experience was new for me too!

When I went back to pick her up, she was happily involved with some friends and it took her a minute to see me. When she did, she threw her hands in the air as she ran over to me breaking the silence of my past two hours with new sounds that were music to my ears, “mama mama mama!”

-Jolynn is a Sitter2mom, fitness professional, and mother of Parker. Her and her husband moved to D.C. about a year ago from the big city!

Breakfast at Tiffany’s

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 02 Jun 2014 16:59:49 +0000

Once upon a time there was a beautiful, young bride to be who wanted to step in Audrey Hepburn’s shoes for a day. So on the day of her bridal shower in her own backyard, the tables and chairs were adorned with Tiffany blue covers and chair ties, tables decorated in pearls, the famous black sunglasses, gift boxes and Hepburn photos.

Music from the soundtrack of the movie played in the background as she opened her gifts. Guests dined on a variety of delicious muffins, bagels with cream cheeses, fruits, spinach salad,(the bride’s favorite) pasta salad and an array of quiches. Mimosas were served as were cupcakes decorated with the Tiffany colors and Audrey’s picture.

Guests took home a cookie favor of the little black dress. It was a glorious day, great weather, friends and family and a very excited bride to be.The shower was fantastic, Darling.

The darling Mother of the Bride,

Mama Bell

A House Hunting We Go!

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 26 May 2014 06:08:30 +0000

My daughter and her family are planning on moving back home. So, on my last visit I agreed to drive back home with her and the kids so she could house hunt.

Being an avid House Hunter television show watcher, I thought this would be great fun. Of course I forgot the fact that we had no babysitter for the kids as the babysitter wanted to house hunt. Three days in a row we packed the kids up and went driving around looking at houses. I felt like my arms certainly got a work out as we carried them for most of the time. Actually, they were troupers through it all, and I’ve had to pinch myself awake at night to watch the Dancing with the Stars Finale.

-Mama Bell