ROBOT SMALL

Here is the first guest post on this blog, from JP who has been taking care of Ivo for the last 6 months or so. JP is soooo great, I cannot impress to you how lucky we have been to have her around. When she first came to the house, she was wearing a LSU sweatshirt! Instant karma. I think her personality and Ivo's are very compatible. They are both laid-back, mellow and happy. She is a Venice beach girl, she lives by the beach and she takes Ivo there all the time. The thing I love about her, (because I am a total hippie at heart) is when she brings him back home and he is literally filthy with sand in his ears! This is not a joke. I seriously think it's great. Sometimes, in this life, you have to get dirty to have fun! Especially babies, it means that she lets him do his thing without hangups, and I know she never lets him get into anything gross, just sand and mud! All my fave baby pics of myself are when me and my sis are making mudpies! She is also like McGyver, she can cope with anything. Run out of diapers? Put a dishtowel on him with elastic bands! I can TOTALLY relate! The reason why I totally dig her with Ivo is I think her instincts are the same as mine when it comes to parenting, and I know that when it comes time in her life to have a baby, she is going to be a GREAT mom.

I asked JP to write a post for Ivo, since this is his baby book, about their time together, since Ivo is starting at a daycare soon. He won't remember hanging out with her during this period of time so much, but I know that being with her has been great for him, his personality, self-esteem and all the great things that there are about Ivo. I totally feel that she is part of our family. So here it is, in her words, with her pictures.
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what to say about little ivo? he's a pretty awesome kid. when i first met him, he was a baby, and now he seems more like a little kid. i mean, i guess he's still technically a baby, but he understands a lot more, now. he's always been ready to try something new, and he wants to do whatever you're doing (which means that you have to watch what you say and do around him, b/c he's started to mimic things).

he is super smart. he loves discovering things. when we go anywhere, he is usually interested in what you aren't showing him, not in the main attraction: at the pool, he wants to hang out by the outdoor showers or in the locker room (oh yeah--he also LOVES the ladies; he is such a flirt in the locker room! and in general, he likes pretty young ladies. i'm not lying. he likes older people, too, and some men, but mostly he likes ladies of a certain age range). what else at the pool: the stairs, of course, are a main attraction anywhere, though he's tiring of those a little bit. birds, he's been into pointing at birds and saying bird for the past few weeks. he likes holes in things. he wants to stick his fingers in holes in the ground or in fences or in anything.

he loves books! i swear he can actually read, but can't make the connection to speak. he knows lots of words-- like ball, more (which he can do the sign for, too; more can mean hungry or it can mean i want some object that i can't reach and i want you to get it for me or put me in reach of it), milk (he can do the sign for milk and for potty, but uses them to mean many different things, too), broccoli, tree, dog, swing, slide, sand, water/agua (he says both). he knows lots of words. it's strange, b/c hanging out w. him all day long makes me think that we are telepathically communicating, when in actuality, it's probably that his happiness relies on a few key things so that it's easy for me to know what he wants (which is probably to go outside or to sit on the counter or to have a bottle or to play in the sink or flush the toilet). he loves sand.

he eats everything, which i love, b/c i eat everything. well, he doesn't like meat. but other than that, he eats everything! broccoli, cheese (he loves cheese), pasta, goldfish crackers, cheerios, all fruit (except grapefruit--i tried it and he wasn't into it).

it's been so fun lately, b/c he's walking well enough that it's easier to take him places. and he understands when you are playing games w/ him and you can make him laugh that way.

i never thought i wanted kids, and ivo is a good argument for having them. sometimes, i exhaust myself playing all day, and am tired when i get home, but a few hours later, i miss him and can't wait to see him! today, i went to the store and saw all these people with babies and i wished that little ivo was with me.

he is starting day care next month, and i am happy that he will be around other kids and around lots of cool toys, but i am going to miss that kid! he is so fun now, more like a little person that is hanging out with you than a baby that you have to take care of.

oh, and i love it when he wakes up and smiles and laughs and goes right back to sleep. once, while he was napping, there was a balloon in the room and he opened his eyes, pointed at the balloon and said "balloon", giggled, kicked his leg into the air once, and then closed his eyes and went back to sleep (he loved that balloon, he would crack up laughing when we'd let it float up to the ceiling and then we'd bring it back down and do it again. he couldn't stop giggling.)

ivo is also one of the sweetest kids ever. he has been super mellow lately. i don't know where he learned this, but yesterday, i was showing him the sign for "i love you" and when i said the phrase, he hugged me. i tried to show him how to blow kisses and he hugs me when i say that, too. he is such a sweet, happy, amazing kid!

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Don't worry, JP will be around all the time still, because the way things are looking we are going to need more than just daycare for a long time. This film is f-ing crazy, and I never talk about it on this blog, because it's all about Ivo, but hey, Ivo, you should know that while you were a tiny kid, your parents were going crazy. And not in a good way.