That includes getting her fed, washed, changed, teeth brushed, hair combed, clipped and pig-tailed. It does not include me taking a shower or brushing my teeth. I've been taking her to school, which starts at 8am, and then returning home to shower and get ready for work. But now that her bangs are shorter, I'm hoping I'll be able to squeeze in a shower in those 45 minutes.
She's still enjoying school. Every kid has a communication book where teachers will write what the kid did that day or if the kid needs more supplies. And parents can write messages to the teachers in the book too. It's really for kids whose ayis take them to school, so since I take Sydney to school and pick her up too, I usually talk to the teachers directly. I really appreciate the communication book because her teachers do a good job at letting me know how she's doing, what she enjoyed doing that day, what words she said that day, etc.
Now that Sydney is at school, I'm working from home a couple days a week. There's nothing like sitting around in my pajamas all day that puts a smile on my face. I'm still at the F-ing Office twice a week and I'm still cranky about it. I pick up Sydney everyday instead of letting the ayi do it, much to her disappointment and annoyance --- more on that below. I really enjoy picking her up at school, having her run to me and giving me a big hug as soon as I walk in the door. It just makes my day!
After 4 months of training (not counting the first month that we moved to Shanghai), I'm finally able to put Sydney in her crib at night, kiss her on forehead, say good night and walk out, and have her put herself to sleep. She always cries when I leave but it only lasts a couple of minutes. Sometimes I hear her talking to herself for a bit before drifting off to sleep. I'm not able to do the same for afternoon naps yet. But we are working on it.
Sydney can say a couple more words since my last update on her. She's quite chatty now, which was noted in her communication book. She insists on doing everything herself, even things that she isn't able to do yet (like change her clothes, change her shoes, and put on lotion after her bath). I usually watch her struggle with these tasks for a while until she bursts into tears from frustration, and then Mom swoops in to save the day. I like saving the day.
Our ayi is having a hard time with Sydney being in school all day and then being with me when we are home. Sydney would wave to her when we get home but then ignores her until the ayi takes her outside while I make dinner. Even then Sydney doesn't always want to go without me. The ayi even bribed Sydney with a cookie, which she knows she is not suppose to do. Then she was annoyed when I took the cookie away from Sydney. Our ayi is practically elbowing me out of the way to get to Sydney when we get home, only to be rejected by Sydney. And then she makes excuses for it saying that Sydney is just tired, or Sydney is just hungry. I want to tell her, it's because Sydney misses her Mom who she hasn't seen all day. I feel like she's keeps competing with me for Sydney and there's no competition. When I meet with my tutor this weekend, I'm going to ask her to teach me how to say "Sydney is not your daughter."
I'm actually torn between disliking our ayi and feeling sorry for her. She has had 2 miscarriages and was told by her doctor to stop trying because she can't have babies. She keeps telling me over and over again how much the other kids that she's worked with love her, even more so than their moms. It's sad but it also creeps me out. Everytime I think about getting rid of her, my friends here remind me how hard it is to find an English-speaking ayi who is honest and hard working. Then I change my mind. I was hoping that with Sydney in school now, I only have to deal with her for 2.5 hours. But it is a long 2.5 hours.
Sydney turned 15 months last Thursday. We didn't see a pediatrician for her check-up because she received her 15 month vaccination at her 12 month visit. I am curious to know how tall she is now. I know that she is 21.4 lbs from her doctor's visit last month for her bronchitis. But I just put a handful of clothes away because she's outgrown them so I know she's growing.
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