Stick 'Em Up

Life is different. We've been having our nanny come for about 2.5 days on average, the last few weeks, and it's been like night and day for me. For one, because she's here so much, I only work when she's here. That means, on the days I'm with Greyson, I'm 100% with him. I'm not scrambling an email together here, feeding a spoonful there, sketching a design here, changing a diaper there. These days, when Greyson's napping, I don't work at all. I play with him more, spend hours just lying on the floor next to him, just enjoying his every nuance and expression. It's nice to have the band width to enjoy my son. That's worth all the money in the world. I always prided myself as the ultimate multi-tasker, but I have to admit, it feels good to do one thing at a time. I know I've said it before, but I cannot express enough how thankful I am to the Lord for this nanny. My relationship with our previous nanny had been so bittersweet, I never really understood what it would be like to have help, true, unadulterated help, until now. Now work is work, and Greyson is Greyson and I'm loving it.

Grey Grey is increasingly delightful and affectionate. He constantly says "Mama" now, not just when he wants something, sometimes even when he's just cuddling in my arms, he looks straight at me, says it and smiles. Sometimes he'll be playing by himself on the living room carpet while I do dishes, and he'll say "Mama" and I look over, and he's just looking at me smiling sweetly, not needing anything, just wanting to say my name.

He still talks incessantly and since we've been having the nanny more regularly, I notice the intonations in the sounds he makes are changing. They're becoming more melodic and the cadences are similar to those in Mandarin. He stands now, and can take steps if he's supported. He's been having some sleep upheavals lately, refusing to nap but not fussing, just spending time crawling, singing, and spinning around in his crib. I think he's got so much going on physically with the crawling and standing, that it's too much to process. He's started to make a point with his fingers and sometimes he'll shake his fist with with his finger pointed upward like a politician. He knows how to give high fives, kisses, wave (when he feels like it) and the latest, when we say "Stick 'em up!" he raises his hands. It is entirely adorable.

Here's a video of Greyson "wa wa"ing.