The Nanny

If you'll recall, I had great anxiety about the nanny selection process. For a thousand reasons, but primarily, wrestling with the idea of leaving my baby for work, and the fact that it is really hard to determine if someone is qualified while I'm still figuring out how to take care of him myself.

I mentioned I interviewed about 15 people, and ultimately went with Paula who was one of the first gals I met. She just felt right. I don't know how else to explain it. They all have the essentially the same experience on paper, so it comes down to who you think will fit best with the family. And she seemed great, had exceptional references, was good with Ben and Stella. What else could I ask for?

I was afraid to jinx things in the beginning but I'd be remiss not to post something at this point about her. She is awesome. She has initiative and came in ready to set schedules - feeding, napping, playtime. She has helped him master the morning nap, and is working on the afternoon one. She has stretched his feeding times to four hours which works wonders beyond explaining. She has fattened him up with her 8 oz bottles but my milk production has fallen right in line. Maybe he was always eating this much and I never noticed?

He adores her, and surprisingly it doesn't upset me (I'm the first to admit I want him to love me best, yet find myself calmed by him having more people to love in life than just us). She kisses him and really means it. She is as excited by his developments each day as we are, and eagerly reports them to me at the end of the day when I get home.

I'm just so thrilled it is working out. I'm working on getting some pics of her and Ben so you can see them together, but in short, I love knowing she is here with him when I can't be.