Team Newman / Ferme

That’s where we are at the moment in relation to childcare. Our nanny quit last week, giving us the two weeks notice as per the contract, but we haven’t had any applications to replace her. At least not recently. Plus she’s sick again this week! The really shitty thing about the whole situation is that she’s been next to hopeless since she finished her probation and Richard wanted to replace her a couple of months ago. However, I’ve been resisting because the boys like her and I really didn’t want to subject them to an unnecessary change – especially since we didn’t know if the replacement would be better or worse. So we’ve half heartedly had our job advertised at Nanny SA and have received a few applications during the last few weeks, but we haven’t really put much effort into interviewing anyone. So now that we need a nanny pronto, nobody’s interested.

Really, we’ve been totally screwed by this girl, and I really pity the poor woman who’s employed her. I don’t know if it’s the Generation Y thing, but her whole attitude since the beginning has been about what’s best for her. There was no real interest in what was best for the boys or what would inconvenience us. We employed her just over 6 months ago, and in that time she’s had at least 6 weeks leave. Honestly, she has to be the sickest person I’ve ever come across – and of course, she wouldn’t change her lifestyle to try to avoid getting sick. The only good thing is that we don’t pay her for sick days. She has also asked to change her working days two or three times (and we complied); to be paid early multiple times (and we complied); and to be paid in advance once (and we complied). We asked her to work extra hours twice, and both times she originally agreed (“Sure, no problem”), but then she found an excuse to renege at the last minute – even though it stuffed up our plans. At the beginning she said she was keen to cook for the boys, but she only did that a few times before it stopped happening. She probably only washed their clothes three or four times during her entire employment. We asked to make up all the boy’s bottles each day, but that hasn’t happened for months. And we made the mistake of allowing her use of our computer in her spare time and to eat our food if she was hungry. So instead of using the computer in her spare time, she started using it as soon as the boys were asleep putting off her other chores until the last minute. And most days Richard and I ended up cleaning up after she helped herself to lunch. The boys love going for walks in the pram, and Richard and I really enjoy taking them out for at least 45 minutes every morning and afternoon. However, our soon-to-be-ex nanny’s idea of a walk lasted about 10 minutes!

She was really unable to commit to anything and stick with it. When we employed her she was studying nursing at uni, which we thought was a positive even though it meant I had to rearrange my days at work around her days at uni. But she quit that. She also said at the time that she had prior commitments which we would have to work around – so I arranged my working days around her prior commitments, but then when the time actually came she didn’t bother with her original commitments. I rearranged my working days so that she could concentrate on a new business she was interested in starting, but then after a few weeks she took a second job on one of those days. Now she must have quit that job too.

So why did we stick with her? Because the boys liked her. They were familiar with her and comfortable with her. They would go to her to be picked up and ask her for cuddles. And she seemed to like them too, so it was enough for me. What a mistake that turned out to be. So here we are – two working parents without any childcare options. What are we going to do? Well, today we’re going to put our name down at the childcare centre – even if it takes 12 months, we have to start sometime. We’re going to keep hoping that Nanny SA comes up with the goods. We’ll look at family day care and see if there’s anyone in our area who can help. And we might even end up flying my mother down from Queensland to help – though I’m doubtful that she’ll have the physical ability to look after two 18 month old boys. And we’ll be taking leave – lots of leave. We probably won’t get a holiday at Christmas now.

We had the boys 18 month immunisations last Friday and it went relatively well. They were immunised for chicken pox, so there was only one needle which was good. We kept Dan out of the doctor’s room until she was ready to give him the needle, so he was in and out in two minutes. I think it helped as he didn’t spend the whole time in absolute hysterics. So far there have been no side effects, but they might get a few spots at the end of the week.

As you may have guessed, things have settled down into a fairly stable, consistant routine recently. There have been times when I should have posted updates, but I guess I’m getting lazy. In recent weeks we’ve had another visit to the OT, who thinks that Dan is doing okay. He’s a bit below par on his aural and oral sensitivities, but it’s not something to be overly worried about. The next time we see her she’s going to assess his fine motor skills.

We’ve also purchased the boys first pairs of shoes so that they can run around at the park without getting sore feet. Lachlan has already worn a hole in his shoes and has also developed a case of tinea (Athlete’s foot) – at least that’s my diagnosis. If it doesn’t get better with the fungal cream I’ll have to take him to the doctor.

The boys were a little under the weather recently, but we only really knew because they both developed a rash on their legs. Dan got it first so we took him to the drop in clinic to see a doctor. The doc thought it was a viral rash, but wanted to do a urine test to make sure there was no bacterial infection. We had to go back a few days later to be told that bacteria had been found in the sample, but he wanted to do another test to make sure. We never got the results of that test so we’re assuming it was okay. Sometimes I think doctors forget how difficult it is to go anywhere with twins – especially now that both of them are walking (though one still requires aid). They refuse to give results over the phone, and expect us to sit in the waiting room for one to two hours to be told that everything’s fine. I don’t think so!

I should clarify my comment about both boys walking. Lachlanis completely independent and is almost able to run. He is also climbing onto everything he can,  including his pram, the couches and the coffee table. He has a passion for going outside and will howl with despair anytime he sees the front or back door open and it closes before he can get out.

Daniel is furniture surfing all the time, and will crawl to the table, couch or any nearby person and pull himself up to standing. If he has selected a person, he will then grab their hands and arrange himself so that he can walk and take off – with complete disregard for where that person is, or what that person may have been doing. We’re really trying to encourage him to use a walking trolley, and he’s getting better and better. He can’t steer yet, and will generally only walk forwards if he’s walking towards a person. Of course, when he reaches that person, he grabs their hands and arranges himself so that he can walk, and takes off… Still, we’re hoping that he’ll start to use it voluntarily someday and his world will open up!

One of Lachlan’s favourite things at the moment, is being held upside down. I started doing this a little while ago and now it’s completely out of control. Whenever Richard or I are sitting on the floor, he walks up puts his head in our lap and his bum in our face and waits to be picked up. It’s really cute and quite ridiculous.

Onto our usual problems…

Both boys are sleeping pretty well now and sometimes neither of them wake at all. Lachlan has been teething, with his molars coming through so there have been some problems there. Daniel has a habit of waking early in the morning too and we have to lie there an listen to him talk and giggle. We were hoping that he’d be able to sleep in a bit more with the changeover to daylight savings time, but this morning he was awake at 6:30 regardless. The transition to daylight savings hasn’t been too difficult. We started a couple of weeks ago, putting them to bed 15 minutes, and then half an hour earlier than usual at night. However, we’re still trying to put them to bed at the same time during the day, so they’re now having an afternoon nap after they have an early lunch.

Daniel has hardly vomited at all over the last several weeks. Just once or twice from overeating or from getting something stuck at the back of his mouth. We’ve tried a few different foods with him and he generally gags (but doesn’t vomit – yay!) and then refused to eat them. He was really offended when we tried to give him ice-cream. Lachlan didn’t like it much either. I made a tuna mornay with pasta the other day, and Lachlan really liked it, but Dan cried the whole time. So we’ve conquered one problem but food is still a big issue for us. They have a good diet and eat a really good quantity of food, but we’re still struggling to introduce different textures and more solid food. On the whole though, Dan’s good eating and his crawling and walking have lead to him getting physically quite strong and solid, which is really good news.

And finally, Lachlan is still pooing in the bath regularly.

Our new, biggest problem which has emerged over the last couple of months, is Dan’s attitude to going anywhere unfamiliar – or even some familiar places. He’s started whinging all the time, and will cry uncontrollably whenever we go places like the hospital (understandable), kindergym, or any kind of shop. We think it’s a reaction to all the trauma he’s had to endure going to doctor’s, but we can’t figure out why he hates kindergym and shops. It’s certainly making life difficult at the moment.