The Nanny Search

We are trying enannysource.com to search for a nanny. We became paid members and received the privilege of searching profiles of potential nannies. It's better than the newspaper. Or craigslist.org. Found lots who looked great, and found a few who returned calls or emails. Over the past few weeks, I've phoned screened a handful, met with a few in person and had our "finalist" care for Enzo for a few hours while I watched like a hawk. A nice hawk. A hawk's whose heart was breaking seeing someone else be so caring and gentle and attentive with him.

Being a working mom is going to be the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I just know it. Harder than the 32 hour labor. Harder than being 8 months pregnant with a broken ankle. Harder than climbing a 40' pole in the middle of the woods to prove to myself that I can conquer my fears. This is going to be the true test of my womanhood. My motherhood.

Since I was in charge of interviewing the candidates, Jeff's job was calling references. The surprise and shock of these moms he called when they realized that a DAD was hitting them with questions and scenarios and questions that required them to contemplate character and ability to handle emergencies! I proudly listened in on a muted phone. So lucky to have Jeff.

Criminal background check = complete. All clear.

So, Nancy the Nanny, she is. Very sweet, very in tuned to his needs. Already. That's a good sign, right? Unless he likes her better.

Come on, as if.

Mastitis

Mastitis = OUCH.

Major ouch.

"An Outward Sign of God's Grace"

"What is a sacrament?" the Deacon asks at Baptism class. Ugh, shoot. Darn it! I remember this from 2nd grade. Wait, I got it. St. Louise School. Mrs. Alba. Hold on, I almost have it. After 16 years of Catholic school, you'd think it would flow (like Enzo's spew) from my mouth.

Leave that to the clown in the back of the room who confidently proclaims, "an outward sign, instituted by Christ, to give grace." Are you kidding me? The Deacon throws him a candy.

This is going to be a loooong night...

The class that I thought was an hour was 2 and a half hours and I thought I'd want to jump in front of traffic after how it started. But actually, our Baptism prep class was really insightful and meaningful. We talked about the symbolism of Baptism. We talked about the Sacrament being more about introducing Enzo to having a relationship with God and less about wiping away Original Sin. We talked about how our religious and spiritual lives will be the example to Enzo. We wrote a prayer to God for Enzo. And of course, I cried. (What is happening to me?!)

Enzo spent the evening with my mom because when I asked if we can bring the baby, the Deacon told us it would be best to leave him with Grandma. Yeah, then out of the 15 families there, there were 4 babies being carried in. Ugh!!! Me=jealous.

By the way, the lucky Godparents who get to be Enzo's spiritual advisers for his whole life are John Gaudio and Josie Jesmer. Actually, it's Enzo who's super lucky.

You like how Enzo asked them to be Godparents?

Rice cereal - already?!

My little boy is growing up way too fast. He was put on rice cereal today! Our new doc said that he's in the 90th percentile for weight (just like his mom, boo!) and that he should be getting his calories from multiple sources even though he's younger than normal for "solids." Uh, does that mean I have a fat kid? Or is my milk like special power food? With special nutritional compounds? For superheroes?

My mom had to do the honors and a.) buy his "first cereal", and b.) feed him his "first cereal." It was comedy to watch. Developmentally, he's only a 3 month old, so he knows not the business of a spoon and bowl. (The doc said no bottle, she wants him with the real deal spoon and bowl.) He gummed the spoon, sucked at it for a while, realized his mouth was full, and gulped. Blest! The next spoonful of very milky cereal ended up all over Mom. He exhaled and it shot out all over. She got to be the first to have cereal all over her, too.

No real answers for the continuing projectile spew and sudden/sharp/excruciating(?) abdominal pains he still gets. I did get schooled that the acid reflux meds prescribed to us by the old doc (which I refused because I read that the med was really strong) isn't even FDA approved for infants!! No wonder insurance wouldn't cover it. Can you call that mother's instinct?! Geez, I swear, you try to trust your docs to know what's best. Then, the med I decided to go with (Baby Zantac) wasn't even making a dent bc we were instructed to give him .1mL (how we even measured that, I'm not sure. It seemed like 1/16 of a teaspoon). The new doc said for it to even register, we need to be giving him .4-.7mL. Okay... I'll get right on that. So, that's what we'll do.

We made it home

The biggest challenge of vacation this year was getting home. We were suppose to take off on Saturday night, but a mechanical failure grounded our flight home. The part was not available in Honolulu so it had to come from the mainland.

We had to deboard the plane and take all our luggage with us. Of course, we got off the plane after Lihue airport closed, so the lights in the baggage and pickup area turned off. Then there were only two shuttle buses ferrying 11 passengers at a time. By the way, it was raining.

AJ got to speak to the coordinator and got us on shuttle after standing in line for an hour. Of course there was another line at the hotel the airline put us up at...so another hour waiting in that line. Then it took half an hour to get a crib in the room.

The next morning, there was an hour wait at the restaurant...and they ran out of food. We stood in another line for an hour trying to get back to the airport. Of course they ran out of room on two tour buses, so we took a special shuttle bus. We we the last to check our bags at the counter, then the usual TSA line...giving us about 10 minutes before we had to board the plane.

The plane was delayed in taking off for about an hour because they had to add extra fuel (the first fuel truck ran empty so a second had to be brought in).

After 19.5 hours of mechanical, logistical, and human delays- we finally landed at LAX late last night. Enzo took all the delays in stride and had a smile when we landed. That is all that mattered.

Diving In

Enzo liked the pool....

... and hated his hippo inflatable pool shade.

Following this episode, we realized we were in the "relaxation pool." We quickly made a get-away with wet and screaming baby.

I'm Baby Enzo and I'm Three Months Old!

So, it's true. Enzo is three months old already!! So, his colic and acid reflux should disappear now that he's more mature. Doesn't seem to be the case thusfar, but we are counting down!

For all the adorable pictures we've taken of Enzo in Hawaii, I want to draw attention to the fact that his father chose a pic of the hotel lamp to feature on the last post. Jeff really did like that lamp!! Ummmm....

Anyway, in honor of Enzo's 3 month birthday, we went to an indoor/outdoor church which was much nicer than indoor/outdoor carpet. Since about 75% of the congregation was comprised of visitors, they did some special blessings. When they asked if anyone was celebrating a birthday, there was not one person who spoke up. I so badly wanted to say -- yes, it's Enzo's birthday, but I didn't want people to think my child was a year old and he was malnourished for being so small. We celebrated with a candle in a rice crispy treat instead.

Hau'oli La Hanau, Little Enzo!!

Aloha

Today Enzo had a few firsts. He had his first plane flight. He was exceptionally well behaved. Even the passengers in the row behind us complemented him on being such a good flyer. Enzo also had his first diaper change on an airplane too. Enzo set down on the island of Kauai and has been extremely talkative (baby babble) ever since.

Guess who slept in his big-boy crib?

Nope, not Jeff. Enzo!! Since I needed to pack up for our upcoming trip to Hawaii, I needed my bedroom back. It was time for Enzo to graduate from the mini-me bassinet that has been situated next to our bed (which he is about 4 inches from outgrowing at this point) to the spacious sleigh-crib in the nursery. We gently placed Enzo in his crib and he slept for ten hours. Woo hoo! It was so nice to not have to brush my teeth and wash my face in the dark for fear of waking him up. Let me just say that I awoke with every little noise amplified on the baby video/audio monitor. And the neighbors' squeeky garage door needs to be greased!

Hey...that's a good idea

Enzo had a really good idea to take a nap. I took his lead.