brother, sister, sorta

we are really lucky to have some fabulous childcare. my friend jennifer has been a nanny for years, and has a wonderful way with children. her own child started kindergarten a couple of weeks ago, just as i was coming back to work. perfect timing for jenn to take on a new baby. serendipitous, if you will... and the baby so far has been easy with this transition--happy and healthy. he will sleep anywhere and eat anything you put in his mouth. he's laid back and awesome. and his peace of mind with jenn makes it SO much easier for me to come to work in the morning, let me tell you! i know she will treat him like her own baby, and i trust her completely.

what's interesting about our arrangement is that it's providing the critter with a surrogate big sister, jennifer's daughter, gabriella. i suspect that their relationship will be long and sibling-like, which is fine by me. i love that, whether we choose to have another baby or not, kieran is in a position to take advantage of our chosen extended family. and this will be good for G as well. she's adorable with him, and has been from day one. she held him in the hospital before he even came home. and once home, she asked a thousand questions about him every time she saw him. she strokes his head and plays with him and makes him smile. she loves him to death and is possessive of him when other children are around, but she also wants him to go home at the end of the day and give her mama back to HER. she asks those questions that a big sister asks--do you still love me as much as that baby? jenn was telling me that G came home from school the other day to find the critter napping in HER room--a clear territory violation. she finally decided that this arrangement was ok as long as jenn promised never to change a poopy diaper in her room. i am still laughing about this. but how cool is this--it's like jenn and i are sharing our family with each other. our baby is surrounded by people who love him, and so is gabriella. it's cliche at this point to say that it takes a village to raise a child, but man--our village rocks.