So as I mentioned in the last blog, my nanny job is ending. :( His mom decided to put him into day care full time. Last Wednesday was my last day. I took a ton of video and photos, and his mom gave me a nice card and an orchid. I was sad that day, but it didn’t hit me until the next day when I accepted another nanny job how much I’m going to miss him. Also just needed to process if I wanted to get attached to another baby again since it’s so painful to part. But that’s what life is about, of course. I’m not going to not love people just because I’m scared I’ll be separated from them someday. I do believe we were in each others’ lives at just the right time. Among other things, I feel like I was supposed to model to his mom how to nurture him (and the cat too, for that matter). They are a lot closer than they were in the beginning and have a great bond now. He also just recently entered the stage where mommy is his favorite so it’s made it a lot easier to leave since I’m not making up stories about him needing me.
Here is what I wrote in the card I gave him:
It has been such a gift to be able to watch you these past months, starting when you were a tiny infant at 2 1/2 months, until now at 16 months, running around and learning to talk. I wanted to compile some of things we did together so I would remember and you could read it when you’re older.
When you were younger, we read books together, and I sang you a lot of songs. Some of your favorite songs were Old Macdonald, the Itsy Bitsy spider, Patty Cake, and Do Re Mi.
It was so fun when you first started to giggle. I repeated the stupidest noises over and over just to get you to laugh. One of our inside jokes goes like this, “Uhhhhh . . . achoo!” I have us doing this twice on video, once at about 6 months and then again at 16 months where we both still thought it was just as hilarious.
We went on lots of walks together, exploring the streets of SF when you were younger and when you got older, we played at the parks and recreation centers. I was with you the first time you touched grass! You were weirded out at first but then decided you liked it.
It was fun to watch you learn how to walk, eat solid foods, and talk! The first words I heard you attempt were diaper (dipuh) and bathroom (badoom).
Some of the other things we liked to do were: play chase, play peek-a-boo, make funny noises back and forth during meals, cuddle on the floor (but not for long due to your unstoppable energy and curiosity!), have dance parties, drum on everything, yoga (you had the breathing down and everything!), play with toys, and throw all the pillows into the middle of the room to make a pillow pit.
I will miss being your nanny and hanging out with you on a regular basis, but look forward to popping in to see you how you’ve changed and grown.
I love you,
_________
Monday, August 15, 2011
Sunday, August 14, 2011
the story of Jasper
Neighbor Ted knocked on our door one night. “Are you missing a parakeet?” Um no. “Well there’s a stray parakeet who’s not afraid of people walking around the patio right now.”
I walked outside and Ted and I watched the little guy pecking around the cement patio for stray seeds. Ted informed me that he had knocked on a bunch of doors in the neighborhood already and nobody said they were missing their pet bird. He couldn’t fly well because his wings were clipped, and I was having visions of him clamped in the mouth of the neighborhood cats. We watched him for awhile and then when he flew on the rung of chair, I decided to bring the chair inside to see what he would do. He freaked out and flew back outside. I left the door open and then went to work convincing Dan that we should let him spend the night with us and then try to find his owner the next day. (Beside the cat hazard, I had googled that parakeets don’t usually survive outside in the area since they are originally from Australia.)
Meanwhile the little bird changed his mind about not wanting to be in our house and walked right back inside (probably remembering the warmth), hopped in the nearest plant and fell asleep! He must have been so tuckered out from whatever trauma had gotten him outside in the first place! I read that they eat millet so I put some millet and a bowl of water on the floor underneath the plant. We half-assedly bird-proofed the living room and went to bed.
Two days later, after nobody responded to the found parakeet signs we posted around the neighborhood, we were already pretty attached and were convinced that the little bird was a gift from God and his magical Universe straight to us. We had already been speculating how grounding he had been for us because we were both in a weird place job-wise. I had just found out my part-time nanny job was ending and was looking for a new one. And Dan was applying to jobs waiting to hear back and also contemplating new careers. So our new feathered friend was working as a much needed distraction from obsessing over the unknowns of our future.
That night we decided to get him a cage since he was currently living in the plant and pooping all over the wood floor. We picked him out the cutest cage, the prettiest toy, and the fanciest organic seed mix they had, and brought it home to him. The next day he was chirping more than he ever had, and it seemed clear that he was used to being in a cage and felt safe in his own space.
As the week went on, we decided to take down the signs in the neighbor hood and give him name! The name Jasper had been in my head since the first or second day. I had no idea why . . . I had never had an affinity for the name before and we didn’t even know he was a male until later in the week.
So Jasper it was, and one day, I looked up on the internet what the meaning of the Jasper stone was, and found out that the name had been divinely inspired because it described exactly what Jasper was bringing into our life including. . .“good in time of needed change without the chaos a total upheaval would cause” . . . “protecting us from ourselves” . . .”and keeping us grounded and from getting carried away, or lead astray, and being diverted from your goals.”
So we have a bird! Who would’ve thought? We’re reading up on how to get him to come in and out of the cage, we play music for him everyday (he LOVES Mumford and Sons and pretty much anything with a good beat), and we talk constantly about him to our friends, probably even more than our friends with actual human children talk about their children.
Oh! AND we’ve already duked it out over his last name so we’re all prepared for when we have kids. Jasper Kilmer-Nordheim. Dan gave in to the hyphen. :)
I walked outside and Ted and I watched the little guy pecking around the cement patio for stray seeds. Ted informed me that he had knocked on a bunch of doors in the neighborhood already and nobody said they were missing their pet bird. He couldn’t fly well because his wings were clipped, and I was having visions of him clamped in the mouth of the neighborhood cats. We watched him for awhile and then when he flew on the rung of chair, I decided to bring the chair inside to see what he would do. He freaked out and flew back outside. I left the door open and then went to work convincing Dan that we should let him spend the night with us and then try to find his owner the next day. (Beside the cat hazard, I had googled that parakeets don’t usually survive outside in the area since they are originally from Australia.)
Meanwhile the little bird changed his mind about not wanting to be in our house and walked right back inside (probably remembering the warmth), hopped in the nearest plant and fell asleep! He must have been so tuckered out from whatever trauma had gotten him outside in the first place! I read that they eat millet so I put some millet and a bowl of water on the floor underneath the plant. We half-assedly bird-proofed the living room and went to bed.
Two days later, after nobody responded to the found parakeet signs we posted around the neighborhood, we were already pretty attached and were convinced that the little bird was a gift from God and his magical Universe straight to us. We had already been speculating how grounding he had been for us because we were both in a weird place job-wise. I had just found out my part-time nanny job was ending and was looking for a new one. And Dan was applying to jobs waiting to hear back and also contemplating new careers. So our new feathered friend was working as a much needed distraction from obsessing over the unknowns of our future.
That night we decided to get him a cage since he was currently living in the plant and pooping all over the wood floor. We picked him out the cutest cage, the prettiest toy, and the fanciest organic seed mix they had, and brought it home to him. The next day he was chirping more than he ever had, and it seemed clear that he was used to being in a cage and felt safe in his own space.
As the week went on, we decided to take down the signs in the neighbor hood and give him name! The name Jasper had been in my head since the first or second day. I had no idea why . . . I had never had an affinity for the name before and we didn’t even know he was a male until later in the week.
So Jasper it was, and one day, I looked up on the internet what the meaning of the Jasper stone was, and found out that the name had been divinely inspired because it described exactly what Jasper was bringing into our life including. . .“good in time of needed change without the chaos a total upheaval would cause” . . . “protecting us from ourselves” . . .”and keeping us grounded and from getting carried away, or lead astray, and being diverted from your goals.”
So we have a bird! Who would’ve thought? We’re reading up on how to get him to come in and out of the cage, we play music for him everyday (he LOVES Mumford and Sons and pretty much anything with a good beat), and we talk constantly about him to our friends, probably even more than our friends with actual human children talk about their children.
Oh! AND we’ve already duked it out over his last name so we’re all prepared for when we have kids. Jasper Kilmer-Nordheim. Dan gave in to the hyphen. :)
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