It’s summer. That means tons of fresh fruit and veg. We’ve grown sugar snap peas and have corn and beets coming soon. The neighbor has given us fresh cucumbers and plums. Lorelei discovered corn and it was glorious. We’re also spending a ton of time outdoors. We inset a plastic tub in the ground so Lorelei could climb in and play, but she mostly likes to throw toys in and watch the splash. There has also been a lot of sprinkler under the trampoline time.
Lorelei is a climber. As soon as she could walk she started climbing. She already loved to climb up/down the stairs, but now she seems to think she can just walk down them...The trampoline ladder is a big favorite. And of course the 12 foot ladder I was using to clean the gutters. The biggest problem is she’s fearless and doesn’t always look at how far down it is. She also has a strong inner cat and will sit in anything she physically can (or almost can). That includes kitchen drawers, plastic bins, her car seat, and small toy boxes. Occasionally she gets stuck and her consternation is pretty adorable.
We’re pretty sure she’s started talking. She definitely says dada and mama and usually they’re directed at Pip and I respectively. She also might be saying nana. She’s still only signing all done and a version of more, which is surprising to me, but she’s her own person. I’m dying for the day she says Mo at Moriarty. My heart will melt.
My stress level is slowly lowering, slowly. I finished my old job and start the new one in 2 weeks. I’m taking a real break and trying to decompress but at first my anxiety just flared way up. The new nanny (Debbie) started a couple weeks ago. We went through 2 other nannies between Katie and Debbie. The first short term nanny let Moriarty play alone in the creek and jumped full out on the trampoline while Lorelei was on it. We tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I couldn’t sleep from worry so we just replaced her quickly. The next had an injury flare up and was put on extreme light duty the day after she started. AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH So we just paid a placement service and found Debbie. She has a background as a nanny, subbing in Montessori classrooms, teaching Kindergarten, etc. Debbie is also helping Moriarty with his emotion management. Before Covid Moriarty had full on meltdown tantrums about once a month? Give or take. Starting mid summer it changed to most days. I think he’s just suffering from missing friends, and limited activities, and jealousy of the baby, and fear of Covid. Helping him when he’s screaming, flailing, headbutting, and hitting us is a new level of draining. Having another adult with a little more emotional distance is helping so much. The school district schedule had the kids in front of the computer 6 hours a day so I pulled him from the district and we’ll home school. I’ll have to figure out how to add more social time to his life, but do it safely.
All that said, the good times are really good. The giggles are contagious. The cuteness is overwhelming. Moriarty is still struggling to give Lorelei space when she asks for it, but we’re working on it. He just loves her SO much. It could be worse.
Photos, pass “mal”