another family addition...

So I mentioned before that we had some other big plans in the works: we decided to get an Au Pair!  And she arrives today!

Why an Au Pair you ask?

We decided long before Samantha came along that we wanted to try and raise our children bilingually.  In addition to wanting our babies to be able to speak fluently in their father's mother tongue, we thought it would be a shame to not take advantage of those sponge-like baby brains and their ability to absorb a second language uber-easily.  And while you wouldn't think this age is super important (they don't even talk!), it turns out to be one of the most crucial points for language development there is.

While we always imagined having an Au Pair later on (like when we had a bigger house!), finding a German-speaking childcare option in San Francisco proved to be impossible.  There are no German daycares, the German-speaking Nanny options were few and far between, and of those we did find, they just didn't feel right.

So we decided to move our Au Pair plans up a tad bit earlier.  We buckled down and interviewed (over skype!) close to 10 different young women.  We fell in love with our match and cannot wait to meet her.  

So as if having a baby weren't enough of a life change, we have another member of our family joining us as well!

(In our two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment mind you - more details on how we're making this work to come. :)

xoxo

KK

back at work

Today is my first day back at work.

I'm excited to get back into the swing of things, but I'm sad.  Real sad.  This little munchkin is one lovely babe to spend time with.

We've had a busy past few weeks - there has been so much excitement that I haven't had a moment to tune you in. 

The highlights include...

Having Stefan's lovely mother stay with us to explore SF, help out, and hang with Samantha:

Taking Samantha on her first flight:

Dressing her up for Halloween:

Celebrating my fabulous sister's incredible nuptials:

And spending some time in Milwaukee with my parents:

It's been a pretty incredible finale to this pretty incredible maternity leave.  More details to come I hope although I'm in uncharted territory here with the whole working with a baby thing.  I make no promises.

xoxo

KK

babies

When Stefan's family was in town a few weeks ago, they asked what strange thing we did with Samantha each night when she slept:

Why swaddle her of course!  

I just assumed everyone swaddled their babies.  Everyone here talks about it as though it were a given.  Before we left the hospital, they made sure we knew several essential swaddling techniques.  And it's even one of the five Ss of The Happiest Baby on the Block.  (A soon-to-be parent must-read!)

But they don't swaddle babies in Switzerland.  And guess what!  Babies there turn out just fine.

So then it got me thinking about how different people raise babies around the world.

Did you know that in Finland, babies sleep in cardboard boxes?

from here

And that in Guatemala, Mayan mothers give their newborns freezing cold baths?

And that in Scandinavia, mothers leave their babies in strollers outside to nap in sub zero temperatures?

from here

But then in the Dominican Republic, babies are kept exclusively indoors?

And while today we're told to only let babies sleep on their backs, when we were newborns, parents were told the stomach was the safest spot to sleep.  And while pediatricians today warn against the dangers of taking a baby in public spots prior to her vaccinations, our parents' generation took us out on day one!

The fascinating documentary Babies is further food for thought when it comes how best to rear a child.  While the baby from Africa plays in the dirt with his brother and the baby from Mongolia is left swaddled on a bed and the baby from San Francisco is fawned over by her parents with constant visual stimulation and an endless narration of life from her mother (totally guilty!), they all end up reaching their developmental milestones right on track.

It's fascinating how different countries and generations and cultures do things oh-so differently, but how - guess what! - most babies turn out just fine.  
Which is a good thing to remember to keep First-Time-Mom Syndrome in check.  

xoxo

KK