Baby time

Watching a 9 month old has put me back on baby time. For once I'm not talking about my baby cravings, though those have been predominant lately. What this fellow has been giving me is a perspective that I haven't had in awhile.

Each. Blade. Of. Grass. Is. Fascinating.
Oh. My. God. A. Stick.

It's adorable, and mind-numbing, and eye-opening, and I'll confess that sometimes I sit and play on my phone while he pokes the same squishy block over and over. But he's just learned how to pull himself to standing, with a little cruising on the side, and things really are an adventure.

I'll update more soon, about both him and the 4.5 year old girl I watch in the afternoons. I'm working a lot of hours, but so far I'm happy with it. Two really good families. I'm having a strong desire for familiarity that hits often, since this is my first city change in three years...but this move is ideal.

!!!

Damn it feels good to be married.

Don't get me wrong; V and I have been married for over two years, and we were legally married (not that weddings that occurred in states where it wasn't legal weren't legit).

But the erasure of all the technicalities is immense. No more listing as single on federal forms. No more pausing to try to figure out which employment papers are for the organization (and so can have married as the status) and which ones go to the government (and so can't), like I wrestled with for V's summer job. No more separate taxes. No more fear of end of life care defaulting to our parents.

No, I'm not naive enough to think it's all roses from here. But right in this moment, all I want to do is celebrate.

I shouldn't be this excited about taxes, but dammit, I am.

Popping in

We're here, our heads are mostly above water, and I'm starting with two new families at the end of this week!

I'll have a 4.5 year old girl three days a week, and an 8 month old boy two to three days a week. I'll give more details later, but for now, just know I'm in love with both of the families, and the kids are lots of fun. And I'll get hands-on experience with cloth diapers!

I still have eight thousand places online to change our address. Think, think, think.

More potties

I was accidentally tricked into potty training again, though not in as malicious a way as that sounds. Kali, Danielle, and Laura's mom is taking a 3-day teacher recertification class, so I'm on day 2 of 8-hour days with these three. Thankfully Kali still naps for the last hour and a half, and her sisters go upstairs for quiet time at the tail end.

Last weekend, their parents decided to do a potty training boot camp with Kali, so off came the diapers, on went the undies, and life has proceeded as close to normal as it can. This child has a bladder of steel; she held it for 6 hours yesterday. Today we've had one accident and one success.

But really, the families I'm talking to in our new location I specifically chose because the kids weren't potty training age - one is too young, the other well past it. I guess this is my send-off from this baby, though. Yippee?

My "plan" was to become over-saturated on these three, so it wouldn't be as hard to say goodbye. Leaving will still be difficult, but the saturation part is taking effect, at least at the moment. I'm ready to go home. Instead, I have writing to do.

Last night we said goodbye to two families, including Bug and Andrew's. Their parents made us dinner, and then their mom started crying when we went to leave, which almost set V and I off. We feel so much like family - she was talking about how we were, and how we've known Andrew since he was born - and it's hard leaving family behind, family that I'm actually really attached to.

Tonight, we go say goodbye to Patrick and Lilly's family, but the kids are coming over (with their new nanny, who I like) for a playdate tomorrow, which should both make tomorrow better and make it easier to say goodbye to them for real without their mom hovering over us.

And then, we move.

New horizons

Looking for childcare positions when we moved here was a bit of a challenge, but I at least could go and meet the families. I've been doing long-distance research for part-time positions in our new location; I miss the days of being able to schedule a meeting and know right away whether it was a potential or not.

I've had two phone conversations now, with two different families. I won't be able to meet with them for another week and a half to two weeks, which is frustrating, but at least both seem promising. I might even be able to make both work out, which would be a great thing financially. If both work out, I'd be starting with 25 hours per week total, working up to 35-40--more than I've ever done, with childcare, but I think a fresh start might make that doable.

Oh, and both positions are for singletons. That's sure to help. I'm not sure, aside from times with Kali, I've ever only watched one kid at a time, regularly. Not saying it'll be a breeze (parents of one, don't hate me), but certainly a change from juggling two or three.

V and I are going to work on rebranding the photography business for the new environs, and I'm hoping to follow up on a quiet dream of mine to do event/wedding coordination on the side. I'm excited about the prospects, and about new kids. (Of course, Kali was a whiny grump today, so that might be a small part, but you should know I'm not honestly that fickle.) And, well, making money will be nice.

A few more weeks, then the world turns upside-down. Though it feels like it already has, with the half-packed (who am I kidding: 1/10 of the way packed) house and all the sold furniture. So much to do..