Crawling & Yawning

It's tough work being a baby!

Sleeping at daycare

Wesley had a rough day at daycare yesterday. I dropped him off a little later than usual and was using the daycare so that I could take some time to garden and clean the house. A little after noon I got a call saying he was crying most of the morning. I think he is teething and coupled with the separation anxiety, the decision was made that he would be better off at home. Fortunately, I wasn't working, so that option was a possibility.

I had to work today, so I had to take him back to daycare. After placing him in the arms of a very sweet caregiver, I knew in my heart that he would have a better day today. Needless to say, I didn't get a phone call today and when I arrived at the center, he was napping very peacefully. I hung out in the room for almost a half hour and decided he had been napping long enough, I wanted to get out of there. I decided I'd snap a few pictures, but that didn't wake him up. So, I gently woke him up by rubbing his back and then pulling him into my arms. I cuddled him softly and rocked him in the rocking chair until he really woke up. He was so happy to see me and I was very happy to see him too! It was such a nice reunion.

Caught red handed!

Someone has been in my shoes! They were all neat and organized. Wesley looks quite proud of the mess he has made. How could I not laugh and snap a few pictures?

Separation Anxiety

Separation anxiety has set in. I was so lucky to have a really good day at work and I was able to run over to the daycare to see Wesley on my lunch break. I was so excited and raced over. I got to the room and immediately hugged my sweet baby and covered him with kisses. He seemed a little stunned to see me, and I was told it was timre for his bottle, so I went ahead and nursed him. The minutes raced by and he finished his feeding and I had to scoot back to work.

I tried to place him on the floor to play and he immediatley started to cry. Talk about heart breaking! Leaving him when he is crying was excruciating! Every fiber of my being wanted to hold him, reassure him, talk and cuddle, squeeze and kiss, comfort and soothe. I picked him back up and squeezed him tight, told him I'd be back in a couple hours and then handed him over to one of the caregivers. He started to cry again and I kissed him goodbye and left. It was hard. One of the hardest departures I've ever had. It pains me to know he doesn't understand.

When I returned (raced over there!) two hours later, he was sleeping peacefully in the crib. The caregiver said he didn't fuss long and said he had stopped before I even left the room earlier. Maybe, in my head, I made the experience out to be worse than it was, maybe I was just so absorbed in my own guilt that I hadn't noticed. Either way, her words made me feel slightly better.

I am still fearful of what the future holds. Then again, what parent isn't fearful for their child's future. I hope it is a phase that he outgrows. I hope that he transitions to our new daycare with time and I hope that things go smoothly next week when I drop him off at daycare next week. Sometimes, I worry that part time daycare doesn't provide Wesley as much day to day structure because he isn't there daily... only 2 days that vary from week to week. I know consistency is important to babies and, as we got through this transition, I believe it!

My heart tells me Wesley will be fine in time. He certainly won't remember this when he is older. I guess this is just one of the many challenges ahead. And, as hard as this one day care exit was, if this is the worst thing in our lives today, life isn't so bad!

Make New Friends

Wesley had his first day at his new daycare today. We were on a wait list for this school and finally got in! This center was our preference because it is closer to where we live, on the campus where I work and costs a lot less with my employee discount. Cheaper and more convienent - yea all around! We did like our previous dayare, but this "new" one is just a better fit for us and our needs.

That being said, Greg used to be the one dropping Wesley off in the morning. Now, it is my responsibility. It was strange, going someplace, taking him out of the car seat and then driving away. It was sad, and in some ways writing it out makes it sound worse than it really was. When I took him out of his car seat, I held him in my arms and cuddled him as I checked him in, got his stuff in order, and said my goodbyes. He turned to the assistant director and reached out for her and easily went into her arms. He hasn't experienced much stranger anxiety as of yet. It was a fairly easy parting and for that I was glad.

When I went to pick him up after work, he was playing quietly with a Cookie Monster rattle. I picked him up and smothered him with hugs and kisses. Then I tried to set him on the floor so I could take a couple pictures to document his first day at his new school. I took a couple pictures, but Wesley did NOT want to be put down. He kept crawling over to me and tried with all his might to tell me that in my arms was the exact place he wanted to be. It made me feel so good to be needed, but so awful that he had been missing me and feared I would leave him again. The daycare provider said he would cry whenever one of them (there are 2 assigned to the infant room) would leave the room. Oh how sad! I cuddled my baby and fed him the bottle he was due to eat, and then he let me set him down to snap a few more shots. He relaxed a bit with the coaxing of the providers as well and I can tell he is in good hands with caring people at this new facility.

Of course, when I got him in the car, he knew he was going home and I got the BIGGEST smile!

Parting words

Our last full day we drove into Inlet, where they had a nice park for everyone to play at. The pirate ship was a huge hit, Wesley loved playing peek-a-boo through the porthole and Eilee had a ball as well. Then we went down by the beach and let Wesley play in the sand (while taking pictures of course!) and then we went back through the playground where the parting words on a mural summed up some wise advice for the end of our trip.

Take nothing but memories

Kill nothing but time

Leave nothing but footprints

Wesley's First Wave

To Aunt Nicole aka "Cole"

Little Stinkers!

What is more fun than dressing up two cuties in costumes? We scored these skunk costumes at The Children's Place for $.99 each! When we saw them, we knew they would make some special memories. Oh, our poor babies!

Water fun & Please don't feed the bears!

After a very messy lunch, we decided to just go ahead and get Wesley in the pool. Eilee wasn't too sure about getting in, she mostly just played from outside the pool, but both babies enjoyed playing with the toys, especially the squirt bottle and then we broke out the bubbles.

Then I got Wesley dressed and we found a sunny patch of forest for a few pictures with Wesley's bear. Thankfully, the real bear did not show up for pictures! The bear picture you see is from earlier in the day and let me give credit where credit is due... the last two amazing shots in this blog entry were Christine's pics. The last shot is of her dog Simon, doing a little sunbathing.

Smile for the camera!