Hi Sara:
Congrats on your new job!! You will love spending your days with Harper (and Jake when/if he is not at school). I have truly enjoyed my time with the Wheelers and am sad to leave. My husband, Kevin and I will be in Colorado until the end of June so if you have any questions please give me a call or text, I am happy to help! 262-527-9475. You obviously will find ways that work best for you but here is an idea of my schedule with Harper, foods she likes and things I try to do to help out around the house.
Harper’s Schedule:
7:30: Harper is usually up when I arrive or will get up soon after. She may share breakfast with Jake and Greg otherwise I feed her around 8:00. She does better eating when it’s quiet otherwise she is a bit distracted. :) I change her diaper and get her in clothes for the day during this time.
until 9:30 - we play at home, read books and I start laundry (if there is any).
9:30 - 11:00 - Harper may take a morning nap which can last anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours. During her morning nap, I pick up Jake’s room, make his bed and do any dishes that need to be done. I also take the garbage, recycling and diaper pail (if they need to be emptied) out at this time.
when Harper wakes up - We play for a bit, eat lunch and then head out for an activity.
2:00 - If Harper slept in the morning she will go down for nap two around 3:00 otherwise if this is her first nap she will start to get sleepy around 2:00.
Once she wakes up - she will have a snack and then if it’s nice we will play outside otherwise we play indoors. Monday, Wednesday, Friday I give her a bath at this time and end with a snack.
Harper’s Nap:
She has a fleece blanket in her crib, and may want to bring in her pink bunny. She gets 6 - 8 oz of milk depending on what she has had to drink in the morning. If she has had a lot of milk I water down her milk with 4 oz of water; if this is her first amount of milk I don’t add any water. She sleeps with a sound maker and humidifier; depending on the temperature the heater. Don’t be alarmed if she wakes up with a bloody nose. I don’t imagine she will in the summer but sometimes she would in the winter with the dry air.
I give her a hug, kiss, “love you” and then lay her down with her bottle and fleece blanket near by. If she fusses soon after going down I leave her and let her put herself to sleep. If it’s been awhile I will go in there to see what is going on. As she gets older this may change depending on Betsy and Greg’s wishes.
Harper’s Food Preferences:
- Always a water cup
- Mac and cheese
- mixed veggies (from freezer) minus the beans, she chokes on these
- sometimes she will eat an apple (minus the skin, it’s too hard to digest)
- cut up hot dogs (she likes if you put a piece on her fork and give her the fork so she can feed herself)
- cut up pizza
- sometimes she will eat cereal or Jake’s leftover oatmeal
- yogurt
- eggs (she likes if you put a piece on her fork and give her the fork so she can feed herself)
- Cheez-Its
- Goldfish
- string cheese
- cut up cheese quesadillas
Jake’s Food Preferences: (He will let you know what he wants but a few favorites)
- cheese quesadillas
- cherry tomatoes (“potatoes” as he says)
- hot dog with ketchup
- oatmeal from the stove top (heat up water and serve a bit watery)
- Egg sandwich (made by his Dad)
- rice and beans
- noodles with pesto
- Cheez-Its
- goldfish
- York Peppermint Patties (special treat!)
- string cheese
Activities We Enjoy:
Again these are just suggestions, you two will come up with your own agenda but a few things we like.
- Park in the foothills off of Horsetooth I think it’s call Spring Canyon or Fossil Creek
- City Park
- Walks around Old Town
- visits to the fountains
- Foothills Mall Indoor play area
- Library (all three are great for her to visit, if you want check out the websites for Peek a Book times, a story time for her age) If you visit Council Tree Harper enjoys looking out the windows and watching the dogs at the dog park. :)
- Clothes Pony has a sing along on Fridays upstairs. It’s free and I believe at 10am.
A few ways to help out:
- I do laundry on Monday and Friday and obviously if the hamper is full that day as well. Every Monday Harper’s bedding gets washed.
- Vacuum, based on when it is needed
- Dishes - I run the dishwasher anytime it is full. I also run it if all dinner dishes will not fit that way it is empty for them.
- Counters, wipe down every evening
- empty recycling, garbage and diapers (in Jake’s room) as needed
- pick toys up: Harper will play with toys in toy box while Jake will play with toys in closet as well as toy box toys. My rule has always been one activity at a time from closet toys. (Side note: if Jake does not want to share his toys with Harper, which was fine with me, he needs to play with his toys in his room with door closed)
- They have cleaners come every other Tuesday so the cleaning/straightening is minimal however I always wanted to leave the house clean each night.
- When needed I would go through Jake’s dresser and Harper’s chest and refold items and check sizes on Harper’s cloths.
- Pick up a few items at store (which was great, for an activity for you and Harper) such as diapers, wipes, milk, Cheez-It’s and keep an eye on diaper genie containers (kept in closet). Your receipt goes on counter and they will reimburse you.
- During Harper’s naps you will find things to do - wash Jake’s sheets, sometimes his stuffed animals, just little things to help out.
Some Important People to Jake and Harper: :)
Meema - Jean (Betsy’s Mom)
Bapa - Mike (Betsy’s Dad)
Mimi - Kathy (Greg’s Mom)
Papi - Tom (Greg’s Dad)
Elsie & Will - cousins (parents Glen & Katie (Betsy’s cousin Katie))
Maya & Carter - cousins (parents Amy & John, Greg’s sister))
Noah - friend of Jake’s (Jordan’s son, friend of Betsy & Greg))
Neena - nanny before me (Elena is her and Jason’s daughter)
Like I said these are suggestions and ideas on what worked for us. Please call/text if you have any questions. I hope you enjoy your time with the Wheelers as much as I have!
Cheers,
Angela
PS: At the end of the day I would email a wrap up of our day just a few sentences with a picture or two to give Betsy, Greg and Betsy’s parents an idea of our day. Feel free to continue the tradition.
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