October 7 Beginning preschool

On September 26, 2005 Lacie officially began preschool and on Tuesday September 27^th, mommy officially went back to work. The previous week we went to daycare every day in the a.m. and stayed through lunch - just to sit in and play with them and to get a feel for the teachers and the children. Lacie enjoyed herself but was always ready to go home. Every day when we left that trial week I cried on the way home - Lacie did not know that by the way. Anyway - one day I left her in the room for about 15 minutes to talk to the daycare director about food issues and while Lacie did well in my absence - mommy sat in the director's office and bawled like a baby. She handed me a tissue and kept saying - all mommies go through this - it is perfectly normal to feel sad.

The week of the 26^th, I worked a short week – only six-hour days to ease Lacie into daycare. She apparently did well – but each day picking her up she seemed to be less excited about life. By Friday she did not seem herself. I took her temperature and she had a 101 degree temp – her first temp since we have had her. Only one week into preschool and she is already catching some bug. That Saturday a.m. we took her in to see the doctor. He diagnosed her with an ear infection and indicated she was wheezing and prescribed antibiotics and breathing treatments four times a day for two days and then two times a day for two weeks. UGH! So we went home with the nebulizer machine and picked up a boat load of drugs. I was surprised at the hype over a little cough and ear infection and slight fever. Yes, ME – worry and obsessive mommy – was a little bothered by the doctor’s prescription of the breathing treatments. It seemed a little extreme. By late afternoon and evening Lacie became very lifeless. Her temp had shot up to 104.6. OK that did not set well with me. 101 I can accept – 104 did alarm me. Her cough began to get worse as did her congestion. I then appreciated the breathing treatments. At least we could do something actively to try and help her feel better. The breathing treatments were very difficult at first. You tell an 11 month old she has to sit still with a Donald duck mask on her face for 20 minutes. I remembered how my little nephew (he is not little anymore though) had breathing treatments and watched Barnie and he did very well. So, we put in a Baby Einstein video and she actually sat still and watched “Baby Bach” during her treatment. We have been so good to make sure she is not a couch potato baby – and now she gets to watch Baby Einstein two times a day for breathing treatments. She absolutely LOVES to watch those videos. I am amazed how totally involved she gets. By Sunday afternoon she was much better, but still not totally herself and of course we also had just experienced the first week of daycare.

We began our second week of work and daycare this week on a full time schedule. Each day she is getting better and adapting to her teachers and new friends. Each day she comes home exhausted and is ready to go to bed by 8:00 or 8:30. Of course I spend more time rocking her after she falls asleep at night – I miss my days with her. Lacie’s teacher told me she gets excited during circle time when they see flash cards of animals and colors and shapes and they learn the animal sounds, etc.

Mommy has been liberated where food is concerned. Lacie is enjoying real food at daycare (within reason and some restrictions), but now I know that we can feed her regular foods more often than baby food. She absolutely loves cheddar cheese and so now she gets it as if it is desert because she will not eat anything else if we give it to her first.

Daddy is doing a great job taking care of Lacie in the mornings and evenings. I try and leave for work around 7:30 and he takes over until she goes to preschool at 9:00. After I feed her the morning bottle and lay out her clothes for the day and leave for work, John is busy fixing breakfast - regularly cheerios, bananas, and cheddar cheese. Occasionally he gives her applesauce instead of the bananas. Daddy then deals with the dirty diaper, cleans her up and dresses her and then they head off to school. My only request is that she not get there before 9:00. Daddy has also been picking Lacie up by 5:00 and getting her home by 5:30 and giving her an evening bottle – which is soothing for her and also gives her a jump start in case lunch was not good or her afternoon snacks were not satisfying. They are really bonding now that I am out of the picture for a couple hours a day. This has been great for both of them. Soon I will begin picking her up after work once we have a few more days/weeks of adjusting for all of us.

Lacie is still very happy and just loves to laugh and play and love and be loved on. She continues to amaze us every day with her spunk and her wonderful personality. She is also beginning to assert herself, which is fun to experience – for now. Life is good!

Here is what Lacie looked like when I picked her up the first day. No, mommy did not do her hair.

Here are pics of the results of only one week of school - already reading . . .

And breathing treatments