Things They DON'T Teach in Baby Class (Part 1)

1. Teething - Oh don't get me wrong, teething is in all the books and you hear other people talk about teething. Its not like you don't know what it is or what to expect to an extent. What you don't know unless you've had a child before is that teething lasts FOREVER. Case in point: Sophia got her first 2 teeth at 5 months on the dot. Somewhat early in the teething range but still nothing unusual. She is almost 14 months and is still teething. And she isn't even close to done. She currently (as of today) has 13 teeth! And 3 of them are the dreaded molars. But she still has 7 more to go before she is done. She should have all of her baby teeth by 3. Yup 3, I am hoping by 2 so that we only have 10 more months of this..... (what its actually like to have a teething baby is a whole other blog in its self.)
 
2. The musical toys - Ahh yes the adorable musical toys. Babies love them! Press a button, something lights up and a song plays. Press another button or lever or handle and you get another light and another song. Fantastic.
Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat....well ok you get the point. You will here the same songs...wait not even songs, parts of songs, over and over again until you think you may go insane. Some toys must be hidden. Some toys must be turned off (until they figure out how to turn them on...) some toys must die. Any toy creator who makes a toy with only 1 volume level....LOUD is a sadist. I'm talking to you maker of the Vtech Ladybug toy!!

3. 3 feet down rule - This rule applies only when your precious little baby is suddenly mobile. Not the cute- rolling- around-mobile. I'm talking on-a- mission-to-move mobile. Actively crawling to start with. If you have a toddler or crawling baby you know the 3 foot down rule. If not ,here it is...look around the room you are in right now. I am sure it looks lovely. Now look at the bottom 3 feet of this room....what do you see? Probably normal, non mobile baby stuff. You may have even put the outlet covers in already (good job). Now I'll tell you want you see....disaster waiting to happen. Bahahaha (evil laugh)!!! Why? Because all the stuff that looks normal will become problematic once your very inquisitive baby can move. I am sure you know outlets and cords are bad. But what about all the other stuff?
Bookshelves with books or dvds below 3 feet become tons of fun for a toddler. Pull them out one by one and chuck them over their shoulder or carry them off into another room.
 Anything with a door or a handle? Yeah that will be opened and whatever was "safe" behind it isn't.....ask my friend about her son and the box of tampons....lol.
What about things you don't even think about...like the dishwasher? Ever try to empty a dishwasher with a crawling/walking baby around? Ha! They go right for the knives in the bottom cutlery section faster than you can blink. Dog water bowls = water amusement park. Dog food = baby food. I could continue but I think you got the picture....

4. Baby food - The baby food stage is so fun. Introducing new things to your baby and watching their instantaneous reactions is wonderful. Thats why there are so many "baby didn't like green beans" pictures on facebook. Or whatever new food is introduced. The look of pure joy, hatred, shock or disgust is priceless each time. Now what you don't know is that some baby food is delicious. If you make purees yourself you will realize this quickly. I have one friend in particular who I am pretty sure made extra sweet potatoes for herself each time. And also some toddler foods are quiet tasty as well....Crunchies are actually cheese puffs. Healthier for sure, but also come in a variety of flavors! Even cinnamon maple.....however I prefer, I mean SOPHIA prefers mild cheddar.

Sophia's "What the heck is cereal" picture ;)

Now this topic is endless and I have an actual list of things to add to this but it would take forever, so for now you will have to make due with installment #1. I am sure my 5 readers will be waited on bated breath for the next installment ;)

Daycare: Who Cried More?

I have been lucky enough to be a stay at home mom full time for the past year. Being able to see Sophia change and grow everyday for 13 months has been an amazing honor. It has been the most rewarding, demanding, under appreciated, exhausting, exhilarating job I have ever had. I was able to build and nurture a bond with my daughter that is my happiest achievement.

With that said, after a year of talking to a human being who does not talk back (yet) for the majority of my days and living in a quaint town where I know no one....I needed some adult time.  I am sure I will look back and cherish those first 13 months of me and Sophia time as she grows. However when you realize that you haven't left your house for 2 days and you are wearing the same combination of yoga pants and t-shirts on a daily basis, you begin to crave the "outside" world a little bit.

I was lucky enough to land a part time 2 day a week job at a local contractors office. Good pay, flexible schedule, hot boss...whats not to like?
My husband, Bill is my boss and has been very supportive of me going back to work on a part time basis, especially since it helps our bottom line and gets more done around his office. I on the other hand get to drive to work and drink Starbucks on the way, sit and do computer work (and chat on MS Messenger with my friends....shhh!!) and feel like I am only responsible for  me and the tasks at hand for 10 -ish hours a week. Its great!

Whats NOT great is the daycare drop off process....

Now let me say that we found a WONDERFUL daycare center 5 minutes from our house that takes 1 year olds part time. Its brand new and the director is wonderful and has a masters in Early Childhood which warms my elementary school teacher heart. Bill and I were very impressed with the center, the director, the staff and our neighbor's son goes there as well and they had only great things to say. So, all in all we got lucky and are very happy with the "school" Sophia goes to twice a week.

With that said....the first couple of days of daycare drop off is HORRENDOUS. There is no way around it. There is crying. Lots of crying. Baby crying. Mommy crying. Scared crying. Guilt crying. Separation anxiety crying. Just crying crying. And since my little miss is very aware at 13 months, she KNOWS I left her. She isn't a little baby blob who may sense that I am not immediately around but that she is safe. She can look around the room and say "not the momma, not the momma" and cry. :(

Needless to say every day for the first 2 weeks that I dropped her off I was a mess. As soon as she started sobbing, I would sob. I cry on my way out of the building, to the car, in the car, on the phone to anyone crazy enough to take my call (thanks Bill & Val & my mom). I would then make the mistake of going back to check or calling to check too soon and continue crying. I so wanted to run into that room, grab my baby and bolt.

But I didn't. And I am SO GLAD that I didn't. For the last week, Sophia did not cry one little baby tear and I didn't cry any big giant I'm a bad mommy tears. She had fun! Lots of fun! And I have started my refrigerator art gallery of pictures made with painted hand and feet prints :)

Handprint Flower

Handprints and 1st Macaroni Necklace

Everyone said "It gets better" and they were right....even though I didn't want to believe them.