While things are going great at the new daycare and its helped incredibly that London has her friends Evan and Blake there, she still seems to need an adjustment period.
Morning drop-off has been rough. London pretty much will not let me put her down and cries the second I try. Tears at my heart strings, of course and so when I do manage to get her into the arms of one of the providers I bolt.
Naps were a bit rough for her as well. Until yesterday, she wasn't even getting an hour of the much needed sleep in, which made for a few cranky evenings. Luckily, yesterday she slept almost 2 hours, which is normal for her if she is not at home.
And when I go to pick her up, I peep through the window and watch her for a minute before going in and announcing my presence. London, each time, has been happily playing but of course is ecstatic to see me as well.
I'm personally liking the daycare much more myself. Every provider has introduced herself to me at least once - at the last daycare I only learned names over time by hearing other people refer to them or call for them.
And this is a new one for me. I had a meeting this morning and came back to a message. It was from the daycare, just informing me that while London was playing with another child, she was pinched. It's standard for them to call and alert the parents just so we aren't surprised by the report at the end of the day. Cameron and I are just glad London didn't do the pinching!
The last daycare we might be told something at the end of the day, but it was usually when London had done something wrong or had been injured to the point that an accident report needed to be filled out. Of the 3 times London required an accident report, only once did I actually receive it!
Let's just hope morning drop-off gets better. It may take a little longer than it has before, which I think was about a month, since London transitions to a new room next week and therefore, has a new drop-off room.
~ Sarah
Jun 7, 2012
Jun 6, 2012
Baby Bump Wednesdays: 19 weeks
How far along: 19 weeks
What Fruit or Vegetable size is Baby: Mango/Large Heirloom Tomato
Average Size: 6 inches, 8.5 oz.
What’s going on with Baby’s development: Baby’s 5 senses are developing in the brain. Arms and legs are proportional to the rest of the body.
Total weight gain: 13 lbs.
Maternity clothes: Yep
Stretch marks: Loving the Bio Oil
Sleep: Still getting up about once a night and the body pillow is my best friend. I think the extra body heat, while pushing Cameron and Tulley away is attracting Kelsey as she is back to sleeping on my hips!
Best moment of this last week: London’s 2nd Birthday party and seeing the drywall up on the outside of the office.
Miss anything: Wine, Corona, running
Movement: Wasn’t so sure I was feeling anything still, just pressure here and there, until I was lying down on the exam table at the doctor’s office when I felt a few small taps here and there. When the doctor went to go find the heart beat it was in the same area as those kicks! The doctor says I am still 6 weeks away from the more defined kicks.
Food cravings: Reese’s mini Peanut Butter cups, frozen
Anything making you queasy or sick: Nope
Have you started to show yet: Yep.
Gender: Unknown – 1 weeks to go!
Labor signs: Nope.
Belly button in or out: staying steady at half-way out
Wedding rings on or off: engagement ring
Happy or moody most of the time: Been a little moody this week. We’ve had a lot going on.
Looking forward to in the next week: Taking London to the Monterrey Bay Aquarium for the first time, finally and just getting away from it all for a little while. And of course, finding out baby’s gender on June 12th!
We had our monthly appointment with the doctor Monday afternoon. And I could hardly wait for it, as I had been unconvinced that I was feeling the baby at all and was chomping at the bit to hear the heart beat. Hearing that heart beat is the only way I know baby is doing good and I get anxious toward the end of each month until I hear it.
Well, while I was laying on the exam table waiting for the doctor to come in I felt two little pokes, sort of like a small amount of pressure on the lower right side of my belly. Sure enough, that is where the doctor found the oh so strong heart beat! With London I felt the typically described flutters – this kid I just feel random points of pressure which is very different from the flutters. But now that I know I watch for them. I felt a few yesterday at work and then while watching TV last night felt the kid going from the left to right side and back a few times, like it was playing pong in my belly!
The doctor says that I am still a good 6 weeks out from feeling the baby all the time. I think this is also when I’m supposed to count kicks for a few minutes a couple times a day to make sure all is going well.
Anyway, the doctor said all my numbers are great – my blood pressure was spot on, which took me by surprise given all the stress from last week’s events. And next week we get to find out this baby’s gender. I can hardly wait. Cameron is still convinced another little princess is on the way. I’m not so sure, as I had hardly any morning sickness, say 4 days tops, and London caused me so much more grief. But I’ve been known to be wrong – like the fact that I was so sure I wouldn’t get pregnant on the first try this time around. I honestly expected that we would just now be getting pregnant – not be half way through it!
Another little girl would be great. London, I’m sure would love to have a sister to pal around with as they grow up. Plus, we wouldn’t have to make any changes to the nursery and we have all the clothes and toys.
But a little boy would be just a nice. I know London will be able to hold her own with a boy, as she already does with Blake and Evan, her buddies from daycare. And the changes to the nursery wouldn’t have to be huge – just replace the purple with blue and change it to an Under the Ocean theme. I’m so glad the main color is a mint-chocolate chip green for this very reason. And I know Cameron would love a son to go hunting with in the future. Plus, a boy would even us all out. Only time will tell I guess. And that’s if this kid decides to cooperate at the Ultrasound next week. I’ve known a few kids who would not.
So what’s your guess? Boy or Girl?
~ Sarah
Jun 5, 2012
Bye-Bye Sweet Mel Mels
Melody was Cameron’s and my first dog together, our first fur-child. We do have a classic video of her telling Tulley off when Tulley was a puppy trying to get Mel to play with her, not to mention all the photos we have been able to take over the years. And of course we have the memories. The smile on her face in the back seat of the car after I sprung her from the Fremont Animal Shelter after she had gotten out of our backyard comes to the forefront of those memories. She may not have been the greatest people-person dog, but she was a great dog for us. I will miss her roo-roos (aka howling sessions, which we often encouraged), even though we hadn’t had any in the last year of Mel’s life.
We will always miss her and look for her in the usual places by routine right now. I know this will eventually change and the sting of remembering she is gone will eventually ease, but it’s going to take quite some time. Even Tulley seems to be a little down and appears to look for Mel here and there, even sleeping on both dog beds throughout the night. I am thankful that London is not old enough to truly realize Melody is gone. I’m also glad my parents were in town to watch London while we said good-bye.
~ Sarah
Toddler Tuesdays: Sympathy
London has started to progress more developmentally, particularly in terms of understanding when someone else is hurting. And she’s started to show signs of sympathy when someone else is hurt. Basically, she’s is grasping the concept that others have feelings too and maybe the world doesn’t totally revolve around her and her needs.
Example 1: I was sitting at the kitchen table next to her while she ate dinner. While adjusting I bonked my knee on the table leg and cried out in pain. London leaned over and put her arm behind my back and patted it, and nuzzled up to me while I cringed. I have to say it did make me feel better.
Example 2: Last Tuesday, after our busy Memorial Day weekend working on the front office I was feeling the extra activity I had put my body through. I was feeling achy and quite miserable, and wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it to work. Cameron was still in bed and I had brought London in to say goodbye. I was sitting on the bed next to Cameron and he was trying to comfort me. London noticed this and crawled over from where she was cuddling with Tulley to come cuddle me.
Example 3: So maybe it was her fault that I was almost in tears. I was sitting on the stairs for some reason, holding London by my side when something caught her eye and she moved her head quickly. This movement caught me off-guard and she clocked my right on the brow bone with her hard head. My dad was right there and witnessed London trying to comfort me after realizing she had hurt me.
Hopefully understanding that she can hurt others will teach London to not do things that hurt people, like hitting or kicking, and thus we can be a bit more proactive versus reactive to such occurrences and not have so many. I’m sure Cameron would love to teach her to not kick her legs out when she is in the shopping cart seat and he is pushing. All I can say is London has amazing aim and it does seem like she kicks on purpose just for a laugh.
~ Sarah
Example 1: I was sitting at the kitchen table next to her while she ate dinner. While adjusting I bonked my knee on the table leg and cried out in pain. London leaned over and put her arm behind my back and patted it, and nuzzled up to me while I cringed. I have to say it did make me feel better.
Example 2: Last Tuesday, after our busy Memorial Day weekend working on the front office I was feeling the extra activity I had put my body through. I was feeling achy and quite miserable, and wasn’t even sure if I was going to make it to work. Cameron was still in bed and I had brought London in to say goodbye. I was sitting on the bed next to Cameron and he was trying to comfort me. London noticed this and crawled over from where she was cuddling with Tulley to come cuddle me.
Example 3: So maybe it was her fault that I was almost in tears. I was sitting on the stairs for some reason, holding London by my side when something caught her eye and she moved her head quickly. This movement caught me off-guard and she clocked my right on the brow bone with her hard head. My dad was right there and witnessed London trying to comfort me after realizing she had hurt me.
Hopefully understanding that she can hurt others will teach London to not do things that hurt people, like hitting or kicking, and thus we can be a bit more proactive versus reactive to such occurrences and not have so many. I’m sure Cameron would love to teach her to not kick her legs out when she is in the shopping cart seat and he is pushing. All I can say is London has amazing aim and it does seem like she kicks on purpose just for a laugh.
~ Sarah
Jun 4, 2012
Day Care Issues Again!
Thursday evening was not a good one for us. Around 8 PM we received a call from the mother of one of London’s daycare classmates. She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but felt I should know that another child in another class had been hit in the face with a plate by the director and owner of our daycare facility. In front of that child’s mother no less. The director’s whole response to the incident was “Oh, I thought it wouldn’t hurt”.
So that mother and the mother I was talking to spent all day Thursday looking at new daycares and had found one close by to enroll their kids into (all 5 of them), starting Friday. I got the center’s name and went back into the house to talk with Cameron.
We quickly decided London was not going back to her old daycare at all. We both stayed home on Friday to begin our own search, starting with London’s playmates new facility. We toured the new center mid-morning and liked it a lot, feeling comfortable with not needing to look any further. And thankfully, they had space for London. She could start today. And so she did. And I spent a good hour or two on filling out all the paperwork yesterday.
One thing I really dislike about changing daycares is the amount of paperwork involved. I know its necessary and all, but it can be quite redundant too. And sadly, this is the second time we have had to change daycares in less than a year (3rd actual daycare). But what conspired at the last one is just not okay with Cameron and me, losing our trust that our precious little girl is safe, and happy, while we are at work. What frightens me even more is the thought of us putting our pending arrival in the care of the old daycare.
I just hope the new daycare works out for the long haul. And I have thoughts that it will, since it is owned separately from the people that run it, and it’s nationally organized. And London seemed to adjust well, just from what we saw from her during our tour and from what I saw this morning when I dropped her off. She didn’t seem fazed and didn’t cry when I left. I also think it will really help having two of the boys from her last class in her new class! And I am so thankful for the relationship we have created with the first mother and are now creating with the other mother so we can look out for each other.
Licensing has been contacted regarding the plate incident. Did I mention I saw the boy that was hit on both Friday and Saturday or the fact that he had a black eye?! When I was first told about it Thursday night, I was thinking he was hit in the back of the head and had a bruise or bump. Nope, front of the face right below the right eye on his cheekbone. I’m just glad London and the other kids we know are out of that place. All us mothers only wish we had the numbers to several of the other parents of children we know at the old place so we could share this information with them now versus them finding out from licensing when the report is completed.
Poor Cameron has to deal with the old place today. He’s so great for being willing to do it without me. I had confrontations like this, though I would go through it in a heartbeat for London if it was necessary. Finding a new daycare was enough for us to handle on Friday, among other things, so Cameron’s going in today to collect London’s things and tell them we will not be paying them for the next two weeks, even though our contract with them says we will. They broke our trust in protecting our daughter, first. And then Cameron gets to pick London up from the new daycare a little early, which will be nice for both of them, given all the changes so quickly.
Have you had any such daycare nightmares?
~ Sarah
So that mother and the mother I was talking to spent all day Thursday looking at new daycares and had found one close by to enroll their kids into (all 5 of them), starting Friday. I got the center’s name and went back into the house to talk with Cameron.
We quickly decided London was not going back to her old daycare at all. We both stayed home on Friday to begin our own search, starting with London’s playmates new facility. We toured the new center mid-morning and liked it a lot, feeling comfortable with not needing to look any further. And thankfully, they had space for London. She could start today. And so she did. And I spent a good hour or two on filling out all the paperwork yesterday.
One thing I really dislike about changing daycares is the amount of paperwork involved. I know its necessary and all, but it can be quite redundant too. And sadly, this is the second time we have had to change daycares in less than a year (3rd actual daycare). But what conspired at the last one is just not okay with Cameron and me, losing our trust that our precious little girl is safe, and happy, while we are at work. What frightens me even more is the thought of us putting our pending arrival in the care of the old daycare.
I just hope the new daycare works out for the long haul. And I have thoughts that it will, since it is owned separately from the people that run it, and it’s nationally organized. And London seemed to adjust well, just from what we saw from her during our tour and from what I saw this morning when I dropped her off. She didn’t seem fazed and didn’t cry when I left. I also think it will really help having two of the boys from her last class in her new class! And I am so thankful for the relationship we have created with the first mother and are now creating with the other mother so we can look out for each other.
Licensing has been contacted regarding the plate incident. Did I mention I saw the boy that was hit on both Friday and Saturday or the fact that he had a black eye?! When I was first told about it Thursday night, I was thinking he was hit in the back of the head and had a bruise or bump. Nope, front of the face right below the right eye on his cheekbone. I’m just glad London and the other kids we know are out of that place. All us mothers only wish we had the numbers to several of the other parents of children we know at the old place so we could share this information with them now versus them finding out from licensing when the report is completed.
Poor Cameron has to deal with the old place today. He’s so great for being willing to do it without me. I had confrontations like this, though I would go through it in a heartbeat for London if it was necessary. Finding a new daycare was enough for us to handle on Friday, among other things, so Cameron’s going in today to collect London’s things and tell them we will not be paying them for the next two weeks, even though our contract with them says we will. They broke our trust in protecting our daughter, first. And then Cameron gets to pick London up from the new daycare a little early, which will be nice for both of them, given all the changes so quickly.
Have you had any such daycare nightmares?
~ Sarah
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