New York Nanny Center » twins

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.

Built In Best-Buddies

Lindsay Bell — Fri, 02 May 2014 19:16:12 +0000

Watching the relationship between my twins evolve as they grow is truly remarkable. I’ve been thinking about how lucky they are to have each other and to never feel alone. It makes me comforted to know that they will (hopefully) have each other’s backs, to have a friend to laugh with, to cry with, always. I was lucky to have a similar experience growing up with 4 sisters. We all span within an 8 year time frame so we were all very close in age. I had a wonderful childhood and hope nothing but the same for my children.

The past few weeks have been notably fun to watch. The girls follow each other around, find little cubbies to giggle in together and more and more frequently embrace each other. I love each and every moment I have to watch them learn, grow, and smile, and look forward to guiding them through this journey, together!

-Courtney is a Sitter2Mom, sister of the President, Lindsay Bell, and mother of Ava and Amelia!

Best Dressed Lil’ Frankensteins

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 28 Apr 2014 16:52:13 +0000

Another busy trip to the east coast led me to my granddaughters’ front door for another wonderful visit. They are now walking stiffed legged and arms out like lil’ Frankensteins. They are so proud of themselves as they giggle and lunge toward you, looking for praise for their accomplishments.

My daughter had them dressed in the cutest pajamas that they had gotten as gifts. I found that they were made by Burt’s Bees and sold at Target. The pajamas had their unique little touches and the material was of such good quality and very soft. I wish they made them in my size.

-Mama Bell

Happy Rainy Birthday to You

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 13:32:54 +0000

Two daughters, two granddaughters and myself took a five hour trip to help my 29-year-old celebrate her birthday. Besides the five passengers, the car was packed with two portable cribs, two booster seats, a twin size stroller, diaper bag, food bag, and four pieces of various sized luggage. It’s exhausting just writing it all down! When we got there, we realized their apartment was not childproofed. After placing all travel gear in the appropriate rooms, we started moving all of their cutsie room décor to untouchable levels and covered up the potential danger zones with furniture. It was serious tetris-like manipulation. Immediately after babies were left loose, the DVDs and books from the shelves covered the floor. A once neatly appointed living room quickly turned in to a typical disheveled dorm room. The apartment owners (aka babies’ aunts) handled it all well and the birthday girl was so appreciative of her birthday company that it was all worth while!

Mama Bell

Happy Birthday!

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 17 Feb 2014 18:07:15 +0000

You are Grandma’s lil’ miracles

that have grown to be one year.

Both cute as a bug and precious to hug

So nice to cuddle and hold near.

I hope turning one is happy and fun

as you stumble from table to chair.

I remember the first time I held you kissed you and whispered your names

You have changed my life forever,

my heart will never be the same.

Happy first birthday Ava and Amelia.

With love,

Grandmama Bell

Back to the Babies

Lindsay Bell — Mon, 10 Feb 2014 19:15:31 +0000

With all the adult plans and excitements, I can’t forget to mention spending time with the grandbabies! At eleven months they are the most fun. They walk around objects holding on for dear life, squeezing through nooks and crannies all the while watching to see if you were going to chase after them. Crawling around at Olympic speed, moving heavy objects with a single push, waving, hugs and climbing like monkeys on everything and anything they shouldn’t have, have been added to their repertoire. And I almost forgot their dance moves to the counting song that my husband now hums from listening to it so often. Although all these changes are fun and amazing to watch I don’t want to forget almost one year ago cuddling the most beautiful and helpless newborns.

Mama Bell

Sick Baby: 1, Mommy: 0

Lindsay Bell — Thu, 16 Jan 2014 16:11:09 +0000

Life has been quite the whirlwind lately. The girls have been so out of whack with their sleep schedules; on top of it, one of them came down with an ear infection, teething, and I’m pretty sure roseola all at the same time. I have never felt so helpless. As a mom, you try night and day to make sure your child receives the utmost best care possible. So when your kiddo comes down with something, you panic (at least I did) because you don’t know what’s wrong since they can’t tell you.

Now, on to the sleepless nights. I’ve attempted sleep training and the cry it out method- but none seem to be working very well. I have found it challenging, especially having both girls in the same room, and sure enough they wake each other up. I’ve read countless articles and advice on getting your baby(s) to sleep through the night. Last night, I finally tried a little something new and luckily enough it worked and they slept 10 hours! Hopefully it wasn’t a fluke- will let you know next posting!

-Courtney is a mother of twins, former sitter2mom, and an original LLD sitter!

Cruisin’ to the Cape

Alison Gore — Mon, 22 Jul 2013 16:53:47 +0000

On the road again, but this time not to babysit, we were the grandparents along for the family vacation ride. Growing up, my grandparents always were with us for family events including vacations and I loved having them along. They were the patience that counteracted my high strung father. This 14 hour trip was dotted with traffic accident jams and highway construction delays. Cape Cod was as beautiful as when we took our family there years ago.

Happy 5 months!

It’s great for families, filled with great beaches, yummy seafood, and tranquility. Our tranquility was interrupted by crying alerts, including a new tune we called “cry of the banchee” vocalized by one granddaughter. My daughter planned this trip to Nantucket, Hyannis and several local restaurants which on paper sounded great, but the reality of two 5 month olds put a damper on her itinerary. There’s always a next time though. We ate a lot of ice cream, took some lovely walks on the beach, shopped local thrift stores, enjoyed local cuisine, and made some great memories in Cape Cod 2013.

-Mama Bell

Grandma’s NYC Escape

Alison Gore — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 18:38:27 +0000

My daughter and her family had Father’s days plans with his family so I had a chance to escape to visit my daughter in NYC. Bright and early, 6:15 to be exact my son-in-law dropped me off at my daughter’s apartment on his way to work. I arrived earlier than expected due to no traffic and had to text, call twice, and buzz twice to wake up my daughter so I could get in. Sorry for the wake-up call but it was a free ride! I waited until she got the sand from her eyes and we went to the favorite bagel place for a quick breakfast. Feeling revived, we were on our way for a day of shopping fun in the West Village. Since that is the area of the so called celebrity sightings I kept my eyes wide open, but with no luck. We had dinner plans at a place in SOHO, another star gazing area of the city, where I talked my daughter out of ordering rabbit as it made me think of the backyard bunny. On to the Highline, something I’ve wanted to do for awhile and never had a chance. But after a day of walking the streets of NYC our feet and legs were having trouble with their normal right-left-right pattern. Giving in to exhaustion, our walk was cut short as the thought of a bed sounded better. Sunday we walked through Central Park, had a great brunch outside and went to the bus station for my trip back. As soon as I left my daughter for the daunting bus ride she ran into Julia Roberts on the sidewalk. It’s okay though, because I got to see these little faces when i got home.

Happy 4 months to my favorite lil’ darlings!

-Mama Bell

Flop House on Clark Avenue

Alison Gore — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 19:35:20 +0000

Two families merged this past weekend for a celebration of Baptism. One family came from Ohio, and others from New York, Boston, Washington DC, Philadelphia, and Ireland. Our family of eight planned on staying in my daughter’s house, a 3 bedroom bungalow.

Papa Bell & the gals

Then came the in laws from Ireland and a brother and his wife. Upon entering their house it looked like a shoe store. There should have been a “Beware of Shoes” sign on the front door. Seats were at a minimum and you needed a sign-up sheet to use the bathroom. Even though it was crowded and the poor house transformed into a frat house for the weekend it was a great family affair.

P.S. I spent the day cleaning on Monday.

-Mama Bell