Contagious Laughter

Who doesn't love to be around someone with a contagious laugh? I think Jayden may have that characteristic.

I was listening to his belly and for some reason, Jayden found that hilarious.

At the end of that video, he starts to fill his diaper, hence the startled exclamation from me as I move away.

We have hired two nannies to watch Jayden while I work. After posting a want ad, conducting interviews and talking it through, I think we've chosen a couple of great girls. Both have watched Jayden a few days so far and he really seems to love them which is the most important thing.

We had a rough start with nannies in the beginning. The first one I hired quit after the third day and now I've developed a complex. Because my first nanny quit so quickly, I'm afraid that these nannies will do the same thing. I worry that Jayden will be affected by having so many different people watching him all the time. During the interim before hiring permanent nannies, we had two babysitters that would watch Jayden off and on. So, so far, he's had 3 different caregivers, plus me and DJ. And now he has 2 more. It seems like too many but I'm hoping these two nannies, Barbara and Nicolette, will be the last ones for a long time.

As a result of my fears I have been trying to make this the best job Barbara and Nicolette have ever had. I don't ask much of them and I try to stay flexible but on the other hand, I don't want to be walked all over either. They agreed to do some cleaning for me as well when Jayden takes his naps but it's hard for me to tell them to "Please clean the bathroom", "Please put away the dishes",  "Please vacuum the floor", etc because part of me feels like I could just as easily do it myself and I don't want to be telling them what to do all the time. I typed up a comprehensive list of "Things They Could Do While Jayden is Sleeping" so I wouldn't have to keep telling them but they didn't seem to catch on that I just wanted them to DO the cleaning and not have to be TOLD to do the cleaning. Ugh. I think it comes down to the fact that I really just don't like asking for help at all. That, and I haven't developed the specialized skill of delegating very well. Some would say that I'm good at bossing people around but that's really not something to be proud of now, is it? Maybe that should be one of my New Year's resolutions. I'll have to think about that. It's all just another step in the process of learning how to be a mom!

Jayden Milestones: Something we have noticed about Jayden is that he is afraid of sudden or loud noises. I don't think this is unusual for babies but it's something I have to be careful of. I've had to watch how I react to things especially. One day, when he first started chewing on his hands (he does this all the time now), he gagged himself when he put his hand too far into his mouth. Naturally that alarmed me and I jerked his hand out of his mouth. The poor little guy didn't realize that he had done anything wrong since it doesn't bother HIM when he gags and he began wailing. I felt so bad because I knew I had scared him. Those cries are the worst and it's all I can do to not cry with him because I feel so bad knowing I caused those tears.