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Elsa, our 13 month old, said her first "real" word today other than the standard "papa, elsa, mama" words....she held up her milk-soaked nightshirt, and said, "shirt." She was so happy to express herself, and
said it many times.
In the dark of her bedroom, before I put her to bed, I gave her kisses and high fives.
I love her!
Some folks have asked me:
"How did you find your nanny?"
"Who watches your children?"
"How do you throw such big parties with 2 kids and a career?"
"How in the hell do you manage to keep a home AND work?"
"How do you have a life?"
The answer is always - the Brazilian Nanny Network.
Yes, there is a network out there. It's not secret, but it often overlooked by dazed and overwhelmed parents who have never been to Brazil, and do not speak Portuguese.
The Brazilian women who I have met have been gentle, warm, strong, loving, and dedicated.
Do I have more stereotypes to throw out there? Yes.
I can say that in my unscientific pool of experiences of maybe 20 Brazilian nannies (current, former, and in action), I have observed that Brazilian nannies have also been conscientious, educated, neat, and energetic.
Last but not least, I really have enjoyed learning more about their cultural perspective on children, playtime, food, and family.
That said, I have yet to really learn much Portuguese from these women, as I have been talking to them in my butchered Spanish. They don't even speak Spanish, but they piece it together better than when I speak English.
It's not perfect, but I am pretty happy with the relationships and help that I have had so far.
Over the 4th of July, I went to a BBQ where the requirement for all guests to be invited was that they bring their 2 children. Most of us where newbie parents of 2....and although I do not mean to be ungrateful, it was a bit lame. Very few of the parents really engaged with the kids at any point, other than to discipline them.
I was there for the adult company, but to not really enjoy the company of so many cute young kids....and to have YOUR kids discover how fun it is for a mixed group of people (by age) to play together - it all seems like the stuff that childhood and parenthood should be made of.
Instead, most of the parents just "managed" their kids, and fed them, and tried to sneak in networking time with other adults (we are in Silicon Valley, and this is an unfortunate by product of our professions).
I finally felt inspired to just jump into the jumpy house with the kids.
It was a bit brutal at first. Many of the other parents were amused (and appreciative) that I was throwing around their little ones, singing group songs with them, and tickling and entertaining for 30 minutes a stretch. I finally organized a "girl only" timeframe for the toddler girls to go in and play around.
Ultimately, I may have scared some of the folks there, but as the party died down, the folks who stayed really started to get into watching the sumo-fest that devolved in there....without me, at this point.
The scary thing for me was that a friend of mine is organizing another (children's) party around a jumpy house activity. I instantly thought of 
see more pwn and owned pictures">this jumpy house, and wondered....is the jumpy house the new "TV" which we hope will endlessly amuse our kids? I think that unless we engage with them, for many young ones, it is either a very rough and brief foray into "survival of the fittest," or something that is just plain dull.
