What the babysitter said

It was a Lincoln kind of night yesterday; Drew and I ate at a restaurant in North Portland called "Lincoln," and then ended up seeing "Lincoln," the movie. Corrie (sp?), a new teacher at Rachel's preschool, agreed to babysit and Rachel was so excited that she began counting down the days earlier this week. After Corrie arrived, Rachel couldn't push us out of the house fast enough. "Goodbye!" she kept saying. "Put your shoes on and go!" No separation anxiety issues with this one...

Drew told me later that while I was changing into going-out clothes, Corrie gushed about Rachel. And I mean gushed. "Rachel is the most well-behaved, sweetest, smartest kid at St. James," she declared. She told Drew that she was very impressed by how well-mannered she is and that she had wanted to meet us for a while because "whatever you're doing, I want to learn." (Corrie is quite young, probably in her early 20s I would guess). When we got home she said Rachel had been a lot of fun; right after we left, she said, Rachel asked her, "Do you have any relatives? What are their names?" and basically made Corrie go through her entire family tree. And then Rachel started making connections: "So, Peggy is the wife of..." etc.

Corrie also told us that last week during naptime Rachel snuggled up to her and then said, "Tell me about something special in your life." Corrie was so floored, she had to really think hard to answer!

According to Corrie, they STILL remember Rachel in the infants and mobiles section of St. James and often remark what a sweet little baby she was. Corrie also tells all her friends about Rachel, to the point that they're demanding to see photos so she has taken one or two to show them. She told all of her friends how excited she was to be able to babysit Rachel, even after a long day at school.

I was blushing by the end of it but secretly pleased that at least one person at St. James appreciates how wonderful our little girl is -- and let us know!