Daycare for Baby James

I have been posting a lot lately, and I am not sure if it is that we have a lot going on, or if I am trying to make up for the fact that I will soon probably not be posting at all since I start my job on Monday...  Anyway, I am hoping I will continue to post.  I really already enjoy looking back at all my posts and find it is a good memory of our days together.  So, hopefully more will come soon!

This week, on Tuesday, my baby started "school."  This is a full three months sooner than when Joel Andrew started school, but so far is working out a ton better.  I know they are different kids, and no matter what age Baby James probably would not care since he is Mr. Happy no matter where he goes - but when I dropped Joel Andrew off at 13 months, it was the WORST.  He was at the peak of his Mommy-clingy stage and cried and cried and cried for weeks.  The first day I dropped him off, I told them I was just nearby and they can call me back for anything or any reason.  Sure enough 2 hours later, they said he had had enough.  He cried the entire time.  It took a while for him to warm up, A while!

Not Baby James.  I dropped him off, and did not hear a thing from Daycare.  I came to pick him up, and saw him in the monster 8-kid stroller, from the back.  His little fuzzy sticking straight up hair, looking out at all the kids and the ladies looking at him, having a ball.  He didn't even flinch when he saw me.  Just a smile, and then back to having fun.  This made me feel good, and a little sad too.  What about me?

Daycare decided he was so awesome, so flexible, that they would move him to one nap a day, after one day of being there.  I freaked out a bit.  Here they were, for weeks, comforting me and telling me they would do whatever was on his schedule, it would be an easy transition - and then after one day they wanted to change his whole schedule around.  When I asked why - they told me that was when all the other babies slept.  They did not venture to explain that this meant it was quieter and easier for Baby James to have a good nap - instead it came across as "it is easier for us if he just does it our way."  I was devastated.

But, Joel Husband reminded me that he had been having a hard time napping in the afternoon recently.  We always had to wake him up from his morning nap now, 2-1/2+ hours... And, we would be starting swim class this weekend which is smack dab in the middle of morning nap.  Maybe one nap would be better?  A final poll to my Facebook peeps and I found that many kids, especially the second or third borns, drop to one nap as early as 10-11 months (though many were more like 18 months).  Joel Andrew was 13 months.  So I took a breath and said, whatever.  I can no longer micromanage this kids sleeping, I will not be there for the bulk of his week.  I need to let go.

The next day, Baby James passed out on the playroom floor at 9:45am for 45 minutes while everyone played around him.  He then proceeded to sleep for 2-1/2 hours in the afternoon.  Daycare is keeping the two naps.

So, he is adjusting well.  And, I guess so am I!  I will post soon about my Mommy week.  4 days of kids in daycare and no work meant me getting a lot of stuff done (but not as much as you would think).  I am worried about getting out of the house in the mornings, and Joel Husband was in Canada all last week so we could not really practice what a normal, non-Canada like day would be like.  Wish us luck for Monday morning!