So far, so good re: the big daycare switch.
Finn's start at his new daycare was delayed a day by the snow we got on Monday. He was disappointed, actually - we drove over there on the slippery roads, because when I called they said they were open. The plan was to drop him off for an hour, go have breakfast, then pick him up again before the weather got too bad. Our timing was off, though, because the school decided to close just before we arrived. So we turned right around and got back in our car, and Finn put up a bit of a fuss. He was looking forward to playing at his "new school."
Take 2 was yesterday morning. M. and I both dropped him off, and he didn't cry at all. He was shy and reserved, but I expected that. He gave us both hugs, then we had the teacher distract him a bit while we left. I called at 10 am, and he was still doing fine - according to his teacher he was being active and having fun. He napped well, ate well, and even used the potty a couple of times. When we went to pick him up, he was excited to see us but didn't cry at all. In fact, he tried to stall and play with more toys instead of leave, so I KNOW he was having fun.
This morning was the start of what will be our normal routine, I hope. We left the house at 7 am (what we always aimed for before, but often didn't make), and M. took Finn to daycare while I took off for work. I made it in to the office just before 7:30, which is nice - I can leave a little earlier for the day than I used to. It was definitely strange to not be the one dropping Finn off, though, and even with NPR blaring the car seemed too quiet. M. managed to make his usual train despite the trek out to the school and back.
Fingers crossed that this all continues to work out!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Trying to Leave out the Melodrama
Today is Finn's last day at his daycare, the place that has been caring for him since December 18, 2006. He was 8 weeks, 3 days old when I first dropped him off. Here is a picture taken that day:
There were surprisingly few tears that day on my part, I should note. I'm not good at public displays of emotion, and I was a little too anxious about pulling off the whole "work professional/mom/try to see my baby as much as possible" balance thing to worry much about tears. I arrived at work with mascara relatively intact.
We've been very happy with Finn's school about 95% of the time. The expectation that any childcare is absolutely perfect for your child is unrealistic, so I think we've been pretty darn lucky. And so I fear there may be significantly more tears from me today (the raging pregnancy hormones pretty much guarantee it). After all, what are the odds that we'll be just as lucky a second time?
This also means an end to my commute with Finn. I'll be making the 30 minute drive each way by myself from now on, as the new daycare is near home. No more constant chattering that identifies EVERY type of vehicle we pass, or demands that no, we're not driving, we're RACING! Oh, I shudder for the day he learns to drive, drat that movie Cars.
I have lots of good memories of our drives - Finn babbling and singing away as a baby; concentrating so hard on his car seat toy that he fell asleep with an arm in the air, reaching for it; more recently calling out "Mommy, I love you" from the backseat over and over again. Lots of bad memories, too, of course, like all the times I frantically reached back to feel for his pacifier and shove it in his mouth; the debates on whether I should just pull off the highway and breastfeed him because oh my God, THE SCREAMING, it was heart-rending; the endless rounds of Raffi on the radio.
It means an hour less time with Finn each day, which has become more like quality time and less like torture (for both of us) with each month he's gotten older. So, needless to say, I have mixed emotions.
And then there is the issue of the new school. Will Finn like it? Will he like his teachers? Will he make new friends? Will he feel comfortable and accepted? I know the answer to all those questions, at this age, is yes of course, but I also know that it will take some time. And my heart aches a bit for the confusion that Finn's going to feel over the next couple of weeks.
As we pulled off the highway today, REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It" came on the radio. And I'm so not that melodramatic, I promise. This isn't college where one tends to imagine every depressing song was written truly, deeply about your own sad state of affairs, and songs have such MEANING. But I couldn't help thinking that Finn might think, just a little bit, come Monday, that his world is ending. At the very least, changing to something rather unrecognizable. It twisted that knife made of Mommy guilt, just a little bit.
So if you have a nice, warm, fuzzy story about how your young child changed schools/daycares/nannies and quickly adjusted, please share. It will cheer me up.
On an entirely different note, I set up a little online baby pool for friends and family to guess when Finn's brother or sister is going to be born, as well as the other pertinent stats (gender, weight, length, etc). Check out the ExpectNet.com box on the righthand sidebar for a link, and place your own guess if you'd like. While there will be no cash winnings for the closest guess, I can at least guarantee bragging rights and an announcement of the winner on this blog. So, at least to the 8 or so people that read this, you will be famous!
There were surprisingly few tears that day on my part, I should note. I'm not good at public displays of emotion, and I was a little too anxious about pulling off the whole "work professional/mom/try to see my baby as much as possible" balance thing to worry much about tears. I arrived at work with mascara relatively intact.
We've been very happy with Finn's school about 95% of the time. The expectation that any childcare is absolutely perfect for your child is unrealistic, so I think we've been pretty darn lucky. And so I fear there may be significantly more tears from me today (the raging pregnancy hormones pretty much guarantee it). After all, what are the odds that we'll be just as lucky a second time?
This also means an end to my commute with Finn. I'll be making the 30 minute drive each way by myself from now on, as the new daycare is near home. No more constant chattering that identifies EVERY type of vehicle we pass, or demands that no, we're not driving, we're RACING! Oh, I shudder for the day he learns to drive, drat that movie Cars.
I have lots of good memories of our drives - Finn babbling and singing away as a baby; concentrating so hard on his car seat toy that he fell asleep with an arm in the air, reaching for it; more recently calling out "Mommy, I love you" from the backseat over and over again. Lots of bad memories, too, of course, like all the times I frantically reached back to feel for his pacifier and shove it in his mouth; the debates on whether I should just pull off the highway and breastfeed him because oh my God, THE SCREAMING, it was heart-rending; the endless rounds of Raffi on the radio.
It means an hour less time with Finn each day, which has become more like quality time and less like torture (for both of us) with each month he's gotten older. So, needless to say, I have mixed emotions.
And then there is the issue of the new school. Will Finn like it? Will he like his teachers? Will he make new friends? Will he feel comfortable and accepted? I know the answer to all those questions, at this age, is yes of course, but I also know that it will take some time. And my heart aches a bit for the confusion that Finn's going to feel over the next couple of weeks.
As we pulled off the highway today, REM's "It's the End of the World As We Know It" came on the radio. And I'm so not that melodramatic, I promise. This isn't college where one tends to imagine every depressing song was written truly, deeply about your own sad state of affairs, and songs have such MEANING. But I couldn't help thinking that Finn might think, just a little bit, come Monday, that his world is ending. At the very least, changing to something rather unrecognizable. It twisted that knife made of Mommy guilt, just a little bit.
So if you have a nice, warm, fuzzy story about how your young child changed schools/daycares/nannies and quickly adjusted, please share. It will cheer me up.
On an entirely different note, I set up a little online baby pool for friends and family to guess when Finn's brother or sister is going to be born, as well as the other pertinent stats (gender, weight, length, etc). Check out the ExpectNet.com box on the righthand sidebar for a link, and place your own guess if you'd like. While there will be no cash winnings for the closest guess, I can at least guarantee bragging rights and an announcement of the winner on this blog. So, at least to the 8 or so people that read this, you will be famous!
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Photos, Finally
A quick dumping of some of the recent pictures that have made it into our iPhoto library:
Finn playing with his cousins Bo and Ty in Wisconsin a few weeks ago
"Taking a picture" of Daddy taking a picture
Meeting Bucky the Badger at the Madison airport gift shop
Having some serious train play time
Hmm, do you think there's a family resemblance?
Me and the belly at 30 weeks (a week ago)
Finn and M. goofing around
I have gazillions more pictures, but most just did not come out very well. We are actually hoping to buy a new camera in the next month or two, because ours just isn't fitting our needs these days. Too many out of focus, red-eyed (ah, the curse of having blue eyes!), and/or washed out photos. If you really like your camera, let me know what it is. We are looking for something that can deliver a sharp, realistic looking picture in the amount of time it takes a toddler to wiggle. Is this an impossible dream?
Finn playing with his cousins Bo and Ty in Wisconsin a few weeks ago
"Taking a picture" of Daddy taking a picture
Meeting Bucky the Badger at the Madison airport gift shop
Having some serious train play time
Hmm, do you think there's a family resemblance?
Me and the belly at 30 weeks (a week ago)
Finn and M. goofing around
I have gazillions more pictures, but most just did not come out very well. We are actually hoping to buy a new camera in the next month or two, because ours just isn't fitting our needs these days. Too many out of focus, red-eyed (ah, the curse of having blue eyes!), and/or washed out photos. If you really like your camera, let me know what it is. We are looking for something that can deliver a sharp, realistic looking picture in the amount of time it takes a toddler to wiggle. Is this an impossible dream?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Ramblings
Last night, I asked Finn whether he thought the baby was a boy or a girl. Usually when I ask him this, he answers "Boy and girl," despite all my assurances that no, really, there is just one baby inside Mommy's belly. But last night he definitively said girl. I'm sure I'll ask him again later and get a different answer, but I'm just glad he's no longer predicting twins for us :-).
Another quick work story from me, one that ties in to the whole "Is it a boy or a girl?" question: As I prepped my lunch one day a week or two ago, one of the elderly ladies that does some part time work for us asked me whether I was having a boy or a girl. Upon hearing that the gender is a surprise, she exclaimed, "Oh, how awful!" Now I know, when I was pregnant with Finn, that I was slightly judge-y about those pregnant women that chose not to find out the sex of their babies (sorry!). My thinking was that there were going to be PLENTY of surprises in the delivery room as a first time mom, and besides, don't you want to bond with your baby while it's in utero??? But I certainly never tried to make anyone feel badly about the decision to have a delivery room surprise (I hope!). Maybe this woman was just assuming that I would want to take advantage of a technology that was not around when she was giving birth?
Regardless, I don't think it's "awful" that I don't know my baby's sex. We really have just about everything we need to welcome a baby into the world, boy or girl. Yes, if it's a girl, I'm short on pink onesies. The horror! But I do happen to have about 1,674 white, green and yellow onesies. The child will be adequately dressed, that is certain. And more importantly, knowing the gender of your child before it's born doesn't guarantee better/more instantaneous bonding, as I found out with Finn. Yes, I loved him intellectually as soon as (before) he was born, but would I say I was "bonded?" I don't think so. I was way too shell shocked by the upheaval, and in too much pain, to really "bond" with my cute, tiny, hairy, constantly hungry baby instantly. It took time. I expect it to take some time this time around, and I'm not worried about it.
On a final note, M. and I are hoping to find a gift of some sort to bring to Finn's soon-to-be-old daycare on his last day next week. Since he has been there from 8 weeks old and migrated through 4 rooms/8 head teachers, we want to get something that will show appreciation for ALL the support he has gotten, not just from his current teachers. For lack of better ideas, we've been defaulting to the concept of a large gift basket, genre unknown. I thought I'd put it to you, though, to see if anyone had any ideas of brilliance. Any thoughts on an appropriate gift for Finn's daycare?
Another quick work story from me, one that ties in to the whole "Is it a boy or a girl?" question: As I prepped my lunch one day a week or two ago, one of the elderly ladies that does some part time work for us asked me whether I was having a boy or a girl. Upon hearing that the gender is a surprise, she exclaimed, "Oh, how awful!" Now I know, when I was pregnant with Finn, that I was slightly judge-y about those pregnant women that chose not to find out the sex of their babies (sorry!). My thinking was that there were going to be PLENTY of surprises in the delivery room as a first time mom, and besides, don't you want to bond with your baby while it's in utero??? But I certainly never tried to make anyone feel badly about the decision to have a delivery room surprise (I hope!). Maybe this woman was just assuming that I would want to take advantage of a technology that was not around when she was giving birth?
Regardless, I don't think it's "awful" that I don't know my baby's sex. We really have just about everything we need to welcome a baby into the world, boy or girl. Yes, if it's a girl, I'm short on pink onesies. The horror! But I do happen to have about 1,674 white, green and yellow onesies. The child will be adequately dressed, that is certain. And more importantly, knowing the gender of your child before it's born doesn't guarantee better/more instantaneous bonding, as I found out with Finn. Yes, I loved him intellectually as soon as (before) he was born, but would I say I was "bonded?" I don't think so. I was way too shell shocked by the upheaval, and in too much pain, to really "bond" with my cute, tiny, hairy, constantly hungry baby instantly. It took time. I expect it to take some time this time around, and I'm not worried about it.
On a final note, M. and I are hoping to find a gift of some sort to bring to Finn's soon-to-be-old daycare on his last day next week. Since he has been there from 8 weeks old and migrated through 4 rooms/8 head teachers, we want to get something that will show appreciation for ALL the support he has gotten, not just from his current teachers. For lack of better ideas, we've been defaulting to the concept of a large gift basket, genre unknown. I thought I'd put it to you, though, to see if anyone had any ideas of brilliance. Any thoughts on an appropriate gift for Finn's daycare?
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