It has been a tumultuous winter, but the summer has arrived and I am back to blogging.

I am not only a nanny, but a student, a wife, a crafter, a writer, an editor, etc. So, I have cut down on my nannying schedule in order to be able to better balance my life. I have gone from nannying for three families to exclusively nannying for the family I have been with longest. Mom K, Dad M, and kids C and K. This is a much better arrangement for me and the family enjoys being able to call me on a whim and know I am most likely available at a moments notice.

After spending much of the winter inside due to snow or rain, the children are thrilled to be able to spend time visiting parks, zoos, farms, playgrounds or just walking around the neighborhood watching seasons change and visiting with neighbors. As K has passed the year old mark (April 8th), I notice we need less and less gear. A couple of sippy cups, a snack, a couple of diapers, baby wipes, a blanket, and sunscreen do the trick these days, much to my delight.

C is getting more and more independent. Frequently he asks me to let him "read" a book alone or go to the playroom by himself. Their house is a fairly open layout so I can see and hear him pretty much anywhere and feel free to let him be. He is also more and more enamored with his sister K as she is more interactive (more on this later). He talks to her, helps her get her coat on, tells her about the animals at the farm and the zoo. Quite endearing. This year he has been going to pre-school once a week. In the fall it will increase to twice and week and I will be picking him up and dropping him off one day a week. He talks about school some, mostly about his friends there, and rushes to show me the projects he has done every time I arrive at their house to nanny. I love being a part of his growth and a witness to his inquisitiveness.

K is amazing! She is not walking on her own yet, but she moves around the room holding on to furniture and sometimes resorting to crawling from place to place. She no longer needs to hold on to two hands, one is enough. She is talking more and more. Some of her favorite words are: yes, eyes, duck, cow, quack, meow, dog, cat, this, that, mmmmmm (when something tastes delicious which is almost always), dada, mama. She repeats sounds and sometimes tries to repeat words I say. She loves to play with C's plastic animals and moves the horses around on the floor saying "clop, clop" because I told her that is the noise their hooves make. SO SMART! Her stuffed Dora doll is one of her favorite things because it is about the same size as her. She drags Dora around the house with her, a constant playmate. K also loves shoes, any shoes. She takes her shoes and socks on and off and tries on shoes that other members of her family have left around the house. She also likes sitting in front of the mirror in the bathroom brushing her hair and her teeth. When I started nannying, K, now 13 months old, was three months old and watching her turn into her own person is such a privilege.