Daycare Report

We are now three weeks into our new normal and it has been quite the adjustment. A look back...

Before the first day of daycare

Going to miss these sweet cheeks

Week 1: The first day was the worst. Actually, the anticipation of the first day was the worst. There were quite a few tears shed leading up to it. By me of course, not Kylie. We did a quick drop off the first morning in the Lincoln Lutheran parking lot (in which no tears were shed!) and then it was immediately back in the swing of things in the classroom. There's not much time to stop and think about things during the day, so 3:15 came fairly quickly and Kylie was back with her momma. She was exhausted though, as was I. We headed home where we both proceeded to take naps for the next couple hours!

Our biggest struggle the first week was finding a balance between Kylie's eating and sleeping. At daycare she would eat every time she cried, even if it was because she was tired. So she ended up eating way more than necessary and taking very few naps. She would crash at the end of the day which meant I didn't get any time with her in the evenings either. It was rough for this momma who was used to spending all day, everyday with my baby.

We had a doctor's visit at the end of the week where we learned she had jumped to 10 pounds, 4 ounces (second percentile). That's right, she gained the same amount in just one week as she had the entire previous month.

Week 2: We turned the corner on Kylie's eating habits at daycare. Thanks to the doctor's visit the previous Friday we knew she should be eating about 3 1/2 ounces at a time. I started sending only what she would need each day which helped considerably. They told me she's very social, and likes to babble and be with the other babies. She did start to nap a little better, which in turn meant we got more time together in the evenings. She continued getting up at least once, often twice, at night.

Week 3: This week started with an extra day to hang out at home since we didn't have school on Monday. Tuesday morning at 6:30 we got a phone call telling us that our daycare provider's daughter had gotten the flu. We certainly didn't want Kylie exposed to that so we quickly came up with a plan for me to stay home the first couple hours of the day while Ryan went to Seward to get work he could bring home. Then we switched and I headed to school for the rest of the day while Kylie enjoyed daddy daycare. It was grandma Nancy to the rescue Wednesday as she came to watch Kylie so we could keep her away from the germs one more day. They had such a fun day together! So it was only two days at daycare this week. Kylie seems to adjust well though and continues to be such a fun, happy baby.

As for me, I'm adjusting now too. Having Kylie with me after school everyday has made me MUCH better at time management than ever before. I get more accomplished during the day, and we have been leaving school around 4:00 every afternoon (instead of 5:30 or 6:00 pre-Kylie.) What little down time I do have during my day (i.e. my 25 minute lunch break) is spent pumping so I can continue to breastfeed as long as possible. Ryan has been incredibly supportive, doing anything he can to help in the evenings with dinner, bedtime, washing bottles, and being a great daddy. He has also taken over the morning routine of getting Kylie up and ready so they are actually getting even more time together now.

Seriously though, what are we doing up so early?