NDNorth: Dear Nannies...

As many of you know, the first week of October was the Chinese National Holiday. This being the case, the work schedule for our nannies was a little bit different, and more challenging. Some of our nannies were out of town, so our foreign staff spent a good portion of the week at the orphanage helping out with the shifts. The nannies did an incredible job making the crazy week go smoothly, and Wendy, our special education teacher, wrote a few notes to the nannies after her multiple-day shift at the orphanage. Here they are, in part...

Thank you to everyone for adjusting so willingly to our smaller staff. Thank you, especially to Anna for changing your holiday schedule and learning how to work with new kids in order to help us.

Thank you to Wangjuqing and Liza for working so tirelessly all these months with our precious children.  It is a challenging job and you are doing such a good job. They are blessed to have you as their mamas.

Some observations from the small room:  Leon is now working on using a small cup to drink instead of the spoon bottle. If everyone practices, he should be able to use it well in a few days. Jiayou Leon!

Ruby has been sleeping better, and we even saw her roll herself over all the way to her tummy!

 I hear so much talking from Leon and Clara . Keep up your wonderful work in talking to them and encouraging them to respond.

Timothy and Selah are feeding themselves!!  Great job, Timothy and Selah.

Little Yang is doing a good job keeping his own lips moistened with the pink swab!

In the big room, thank you for keeping up the schedule while you have fewer nannies. Here are a couple of highlights that I observed when I was there.

Ask Leanne about the fine motor activity she did with the kids at 4:30. Kristiana, Emerson and Stephanie did an amazing job with their sitting, reaching, sharing and learning their colors and the big/small concept. 

 I enjoyed doing the ball activity with the group. Ask Garland about how little Timothy is beginning to sign "I want".  You can also practice having him sign this before you give him a bite when you are feeding him. Rina was also interested in communicating, but needed help.

Evangeline sat well in her high chair during the meals. Keep doing this! It is a good chance to interact with her.

I look forward to seeing the work other nannies are doing next time I am there.

Thanks for all of your hard work!