Back to work

I will be returning to work full time on Feburary 2nd. I'm going back to my old job as the Director of IT for the LFM and SDM programs at MIT, and am really excited about it! This decision was made a while ago, but I wanted to wait to blog about it until details were finalized. I found that while I enjoyed being home, I really missed working too. I'm planning to work 30 hours/week and take Java II this spring, inching ever closer to that Master's degree.

We are welcoming Rachel, our au pair tomorrow morning. Rachel is from Brazil, and has worked as an au pair (international live-in child care provider) for the past year for a family in NH. Having an au pair is more than just live-in child care however, it's considered a cultural exchange. Rachel will live with us (on the third floor), eat meals with us, and be a welcome member of our family. We're excited to learn more about Brazil and some Portuguese while she's staying with us. She will spend up to 45-hours/week with the kids, M-F while I'm at work.

In addition to welcoming Rachel, we will be welcoming Rebecca (just to keep you all on your toes!) as our roommate on January 31st. She will be taking the other room upstairs, and sharing a bathroom with Rachel. Rebecca is a friend from our small group, and brings with her another family member - a little puppy, MacGyver! I forget what kind of dog he is, but he's one of those adorable little purse-dogs. Maisy already enjoys chasing him.

I had my last day all by myself with the kids on Friday, and we had a sweet time just staying home and playing (it was wicked cold out). Dexter is "Mr. Toy" these days, and is quite strong. He's still not rolling over, but is making progress in that direction. He goes back and forth on whether or not he likes to be spoon fed - most of the time he'd rather pick up his own finger foods. This results in gagging/spluttering just about every meal (just like his Paw-paw).

Frankie continues to talk up a storm. She can count to 13 (20 sometimes), and sings an adorable version of the ABCs (na-na-na-na-p). She knows a lot of colors, and gets them right about 80% of the time. She can identify a triangle, circle, and square, most of the time. She knows the difference between letters and just scribbles. On Friday I put a bib on Dex that had some wording on it. She said "Dex ABC bib. Dankie ABC bib." I asked her if she meant that she wanted on with the letters on it, and she said yes. She still can't take her clothes off herself yet (except this one sweater), and loves to "wash hands!" which just means standing at the kitchen sink playing in the water. She's also fascinated with turning the lights on and off at the switch.

Frankie loves to bring Dexter toys


Mr Toy

Always interested in what big sister is up to...