My worldly girl
Earlier today, Mariel and I were playing a game of "guess how much I love you."  She topped my "I love you all the way up to the sky" with "I love you all the way down the pipes to the ground."
As I was getting her to bed, she kept interrupting my lullabies with slobbery kisses, laughing "I love you so much!"  So we played again, and this time she won with the farthest away thing that she could possibly think of. "I love you all the way to.... New Hampshire!" 

And the answer is NO.
Patrick and I had to fire our nanny today, for reasons I won't go into.  We are so thankful that we will have some help from our friend Sarah while we try and figure this out again.  I guess I feel a bit of relief right now.  I can start a new round of worrying again tomorrow, when I start my new search.
Anyone know a good nanny in St Louis?

Daddy's back!
After a week away (split between Kansas City and Las Vegas) Patrick is home.  We all did fine without him, although we did miss him and I was getting pretty tired by the end of the week. 

We had a fun girls' weekend, with trips to the farmers market, halloween decorating and crafts, lots of cooking (and the accompanying eating), and shopping.

Mariel set up a "store" in the kitchen which she spent much of Saturday tending.  She has interesting sales technique. She offered to sell me some toys for $45, and when I said I did not have enough money she gave me imaginary money to use. I bought the butterfly, and then she took it back, saying it really cost $55. Hmf.

Sunday morning we skipped church (its not so fun to go with Noella at this age) and went to a new sculpture park in the city, Citygarden.  Not only is it beautiful, it is also intentionally designed for interaction, making it a great place to bring kids.

Mariel got to climb, swing, splash all over, and by the end even decided to find a place for a little rest (it looks a little like she is a homeless kid in this picture, but I thought it was an interesting view of the sculpture!)

And Miss Noella is getting bigger and bigger- here are two shots of her for her 9 month post, a little late:

She really loves this toy, pushing herself all over.  It is fortunate that we have a sunken living room, because it helps to keep her somewhat contained!

This is just before she attempted to dive off of the bed.  I wonder if I should just start taking pictures of her while she is asleep?

Noella- 9 months
Noella is still a big girl- 20 lbs (90th percentile) and 29 inches (75th percentile).  One and  a half teeth (on the bottom).  Crawling all over, cruising while standing, putting everything in her mouth.  She now knows the word "no" (and, as my mom asked, can distinguish between the "No" sound as part of "Noella" and as part of "NO NO"), although she doesn't really like it.  She does put on a very funny pout in response, though.  She LOVES eating, particularly anything she is allowed to feed herself.  Also cups of all sorts.  In other words, she is right on track. 
I would take a picture but 1) she won't stay still (unless, perhaps, she is chewing on something forbidden, like a camera or cell phone) and 2) Patrick too my camera to Kansas City.  So my attempt at a picture may come soon.

Can we start over?
Day One of having our nanny come without her son.  Its been an intense (and stressful, and exhausting) month as his behavior deteriorates into more severe autistic tendencies.  Mariel's crayon colored carpet incident was a relatively benign example, but it was become clear that his very constant and immediate needs were really interfering with her ability to take care of, supervise, and be fully attentive to my kids.  So he is going elswehere for now, and after he turns three will be in more intensive therapies.
This has not been what any of us thought we were getting into.  So she and I talked this morning, at great length, about what I have been unhappy with and what I am hoping to see.  We both seem to agree that about 90% of my concerns relate to his presence and how her attention has been compromised more and more. I guess we have a starting point, an idea of what I don't think was going right.  Now we have a new situation, and are figuring out what to work in order for to feel good, confident, and fully comfortable.
It is such a strange experience, trusting your children to someone else.  You are never (or at least I have never met anyone who is) completely happy with everything.  And you don't want to be too over the top controlling, even if you would rather do everything yourself, your way.  So maybe I let too much go unsaid- and after today I have probably said too much.  In this, as in everything else, I think I have to let go of the idea of finding a balance. 
I hope we can start over, try this again, reevaluate.  I want this to work out, want to feel as comfortable and happy as I did when I hired her in May, before her son's problems really went downhill.  But am I stretching too much? Hoping for too much?  Its a relationship as much as an employment situation.  So we will see how this week goes.
I am so tired.  I spent most of the weekend wrestling with what I was going to say to her and trying to figure out the framework for my concerns (its not easy to tell another mother you are not confident in her judgment about supervisions or discipline!).  It was a fairly emotionally stressful morning (coupled with a VERY wierd meeting on campus today).  But I have work to do (after not getting anything done this morning).... and miles to go before I sleep...