The Great Sulker

C has become The Great Sulker, a being who sulks at the slightest disappointment and pouts when not the center of attention. I am not positive when this transformation occurred, but sometime in the last month. And like many of the new antics of late, I'm not sure if they are just typical 2.5 year old behaviors or his reaction to so many changes. In any case, I now have this toddler who will dramatically throw himself to the ground, belly down, put his hands to his face, turn away from us, and Sulk. And if he can't be horizontal, then he simply brings his fists to his eyes, shoves his bottom lip out, and pouts with as much emotion as one can possibly pout. Mind you, there are no tears involved in this new ritual. And he quickly recovers, complete with smiles and charm, if he gets his way or once again becomes the center of the universe. It is quite pathetic, and funny, and sometimes very annoying.

Our nanny is fabulous; she started last week. Her English is impressive, she is sweet and fun and creative, she gets The Great Sulker to eat all of his food, she is very attentive and helpful, and C seems to adore her. I worry that C will become too spoiled with so much attention though. Right now I think it's good for him, and he deserves it with all that he's been through over the last couple months, but I worry about the lasting effects (see "worry" in the dictionary and I bet "a constant state of being for all mothers" is at least one definition). But how do you tell a nanny to not do too good of a job - play with him and be attentive but you don't have to be right beside him ALL the time, it's ok to ignore him a little bit sometimes, your main responsibility is to care for this child but don't always make him the center of your world... Her English is great, but I don't know if she'll quite get that.

In other news, or rather non news, I had my first leisurely breakfast in months today. After our nanny arrived I went downstairs to eat by myself, and ran into one of J's colleagues. We had a very pleasant discussion, talking about the uniqueness of Peace Corps, living and working overseas, our families and the distance created by our jobs, etc. Since our nanny started adult conversations have once again become part of my life, and I am so thankful for that. J and I have gone out to dinner, without C, twice in the last week. I went shopping this morning without a bored and frustrated toddler to care for. I have found time to start this site and resume doing work. It is grand.

The shopping outing was, surprise!, frustrating! I would have given my left arm for a Target. When moving into a new house, the convenience of a Target is priceless. I can't complain too much, because this place did have just about everything I need. But, when the packaging and brands are all totally unfamiliar, it takes a decade to decide what kind of laundry detergent I should get, buy kitchen sponges (ok, that may seem ridiculous but I did spend like 5 min. in front of the sponges. They have the kind I like, but at a ridiculous $1.50/sponge, I had to decide on something less ideal), buy a ton of random stuff that we only need until our sea shipment arrives in a month, search and search unsuccessfully for the garbage bags, tinfoil, etc, think you're going crazy cuz you can find the forks and spoons but not the butter knives - only to discover later that Indonesians don't use butter knives - who knew! Anyway, it was a small adventure, just part of life getting settled outside of the US.