May 07, 2015

Au Pair Update!

Many people have asked me how it's going with our au pair, so I figured I'd give you all a quick update!
Matthias has been with our family for three months now and we couldn't be happier. 

I was very apprehensive about leaving my baby with a stranger, but after only a few short days, I could tell how much fun Fox was having with him and that he loves him. Still, it's not easy to leave for work every morning, because obviously, I'd rather stay home with my boy, but my adjusted work schedule helps tremendously and knowing that Fox is in good hands and has fun is all the peace of mind I need. I never worry about him during the day and having another person teaching him different things is just awesome!
After a few days with Matthias, Fox started to sit up independently from the laying down position, a few weeks after that he was crawling and soon after that he was walking! Katie always tells me that I "baby" Fox, which is probably true, because I just want him to stay little for a little while longer, but Matthias always encourages him to be "a big boy" and Fox has learned so many things from him!

I was also concerned about having another person living with us. Even though we had multiple people living with us for years (Katie's sister Ashlie lived with us twice and my friend Julia lived with us for a year after she got divorced), I knew that it's always an adjustment. Luckily it has been nothing but great! 
He is very respectful of our house, cars, things and rules and has been a great help around the house as well, emptying the dishwasher, doing Fox's laundry, bringing out the trash, etc. Ashlie and I suckered him into watching the "Bachelor" with us a few months ago and he loved it and is already talking about the next season we'll be watching together…haha. While he has made a few friends and usually goes out on the weekend, he has also been spending a lot of time with us and our extended families. 

We love that Fox remains in his familiar environment and that our dog isn't home by himself all day long. To socialize Fox, they have been going to activities almost every day, the playground, the baby gym, baby dance and story times.
No one can make Fox laugh like Matthias does and you can truly tell that they love each other. 
Matthias always makes sure to say good night to Fox, on the weekends or at night when he is "off", he still plays with him and smothers him with kisses and it's just an awesome thing to watch. 
While we have many grandpas and uncles, we love that Fox has another consistent male influence in his life as well and we're already sad to think that he won't be with us forever. 

Once he returns to Denmark, we are not sure what we'll do going forward. If you only have one child, having an au pair is ridiculously expensive (you pay the same amount no matter how many children you have) and since we want Fox to socialize more once he gets older, we are thinking about enrolling him in pre-school when he is two years old. I know that if we get another au pair, there is no way they'll be as awesome as Matthias, but I'm sure we might consider it again when we'll have another baby. 

4 comments:

  1. That sounds wonderful.
    I think it is very important for kids to socialize and form a close bond with a number of different people (ideally, as you mentioned, of different genders).
    So, well done you for getting Matthias to support you with Fox. Is he thinking of staying a second year with your family?

    Btw.: I have wanted to ask you for a long time what your plans are re language development. English only or English and German? Your thoughts and experience would be greatly appreciated as we are in a similar situation.

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    1. We are teaching him both languages. I try to only speak german to him, but his preferred language will probably be english since he is exposed to it more. I hope that he'll pick up some german from me though!

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    2. Thanks for the insight. Hopefully he will have a German speaking buddy or two once he gets a bit older. Fingers crossed!

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  2. Have another baby quick & keep Matthias another year, lol... :)
    It's good to hear things are going so well.

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