Practice Baby

I have been working on getting my pictures organized and filed away neatly, a project I started a while ago that got put to the side with the onset of morning sickness. I'm quite pleased with my progress, I've made it all the way up to February of this year! (Quite a feat seeing as how I picked back up somewhere around February '09)

While going through them I came across some from my time as a nanny so I took a break and spent some time going back through and reminiscing about my adventures with Athena. I jokingly refer to her as my 'practice baby' because I was with her for the first year and a half of her life. Andy and I would joke that if she turned out bad that I wouldn't have to deal with her as a teenager (although I do believe her mother may hunt me down if that happens!)

It was fun to get up to go to work and get to take care of a tiny little baby and spend my days snuggling her (usually on the couch while watching bad tv because laying her down would almost always end in tears.) And as she got bigger I was there to see her smile, find her feet, play with toys, say her first words, try foods for the first time (and go to doctors appointments to find out she was allergic to EVERYTHING!) We spent a lot of time together and she spent time with my family as well. She was particularly fond of Andy, who would come have lunch with us on his breaks.

When I decided that I was no longer going to be her nanny it was bittersweet. I knew it would be hard leaving after being with her almost every day and watching her grow but I knew I would still see her and her family. It wasn't longer after I left that I found out I was expecting and would be having a baby of my own. I think my time with my 'practice baby' helped me take a very educated approach to my pregnancy, birth plan, my decision to breast feed, as well as the way I wanted to parent.

Athena and her family are in Hawaii now (really? had to live somewhere good after I quit, got married, and had babies so I couldn't go??) and I keep in touch with them through Facebook and Skype. I still get to see how things are going for them and watch her grow in pictures. I know she won't remember much, if anything from our time together but hopefully there will be stories to go along with the pictures of our adventures together. (And I'm sure her mother will continue to blame me for the squeally voice she uses when she says "hi" or "good morning")

Hopefully it won't be too long and my 'practice baby' and my babies will get to have a play date and make some memories of their own!