Take Your Daughter to Work Day

Happy Thursday disguised as Friday!! Yipee, we made it. Today's title is just wishful thinking but the picture is just how cute we would look if it was Take Your Daughter to Work Day. Anyway, yesterday's daycare update....it seems like it went a bit better for her yesterday. She ate 6oz all day instead of 5 and they said she is getting much better at the bottle so that is encouraging. There will be a day in the future when she takes bottles like a champ at daycare and we look back on this and laugh at how little she use to eat. She took 3 - 30 minute naps and did some tummy time and swing time. She still was a bit distracted at lunch but someone gave me the genius idea to take her out to the car and try there. We did that at the end of my visit yesterday since I was dropped off at first. It didn't work so well then but we are going to try it again this afternoon, that way Mike will be with us and we can have a family lunch in the car. And better yet even, it will be minus the noise of 1,000 monkeys dancing on bongo drums screeching lullaby's! When we picked her up for the day she made it home without the stage 10 meltdown. That was a welcome relief to both Mom and Dad's now fragile ears! It probably helped that it was actually nice out yesterday (high 50's even and sunny) so she didn't need the blankets (aka "bars") over her car seat (aka "mini-prison") so she was able to feel the air and see the outdoors. When we got home we had an exciting package from Grandma and Grandpa Soetaert full of Easter Goodies. The little white bunny slippers went right on Peanuts little feet to be greeted by a happy smile. After that she made it until about 7:00 so that was pretty good for a little tired Peanut. She did still have her nighttime meltdown in which she screams all of her troubles from the day for about 30min-45min. We were hoping we wouldn't be revisiting this stage of nighttime fun but it looks like daycare is taking us back a bit in the bedtime routine area. She fell asleep right at the point where I said to Mike, "I can't do this every night", then I looked over and her eyes were closing and she was out. I do believe she knows exactly where our limits are and will jump about 10ft past our melting points then stop, just to see if we can make it. Well we made it last night, she was out around 7:45 so that was nice, I was out as well and Mike was off to finish washing diapers and doing dishes while he watched his movie. Today we are hoping for an even better day...but better yet, a family weekend ahead. Have a great Thursday everyone. I might be around this weekend to post but if not have a Happy Easter as well!

Little Blue Hat

Here we go again, 5:30am on Wednesday...day three of full time. Tuesday went a bit better then Monday I suppose. We dropped Peanut off happy and ready for the day. When I went to feed her at lunch she didn't eat all that much because she still wasn't use to the idea, but I did get to play with her and some of the toys there while I was waiting for Mike to pick me up. I also go to talk to some of the ladies so that was kind of nice. She ended up napping more yesterday then Monday so that was a relief. She napped for a total of an hour and twenty minutes, much better then 35min! Although they did say she was fussy in the afternoon and just wanted to be held. We did have another stage 10 meltdown in the car though and we didn't even use the "little blue hat" (I think that can cause the meltdown most of the time). Once we got her home and out of the car seat, aka "mini prison" in her opinion, she was a happy little girl. We actually made it about 15 minutes later for bedtime last night so that was something (yes it was still light out and the blinds had to be closed to pretend it was actually night). She took longer to get to bed last night so that wasn't much fun for anyone. It seems her crying has increased in volume lately, I don't know if she's learning new tips and tricks from her friends at school or is just getting stronger lungs but let me tell you, when she is having her bedtime meltdown my ears ring! She finally fell asleep being bounced on the ball around 9:30, yes we started almost 3 hours before that. Some days we wonder what on earth we possibly did with all of our free time before Peanut joined us. Work is going alright, mostly it's still an adjustment so my eyes are falling out of my head by the afternoon but eventually I'll get used to it. I asked my manager about 4 - 10 hour days and she is okay with it but is going to check with her manager.....so I am waiting patiently in hopes that I can work 10 hour days, if only i could do 4 - 8 hour days instead! Today's picture is the infamous "little blue hat" that can cause stage 10 meltdowns. This picture is from the morning and we don't have meltdowns then...just smiles so that's much better. Happy Wednesday!

Sleep Deprivation

Tuesday....almost this weeks Wednesday since we have Friday off (thank goodness!). "How did our first day of full daycare go?" is probably the first question to pop into your heads....well let me tell you. Daphne is not a full day of daycare kind of girl....well, at least not yet. The actual day at daycare went well. I went to nurse her at lunch and she was happy as can be, smiling and laughing away. They gave me a rocking chair in the toddler sleeping area (kind of darker and closed off) so that was nice. Peanut, however, is not yet use to the idea of me feeding her at daycare. She was much more interested in the sights (lights, kids running here and there) and sounds (crying, squealing, 8 different songs playing at once) and couldn't seem to focus on the eating. That's alright though, I kind of expected it to take some time for her to understand that that is her one chance to eat for the day (other then her arch nemesis, the bottle). None the less, I left her happily on her back on the play mat with some blocks to look at. We picked her up at 4:15 to find out she had napped a total of 35 minutes....and I say total because it was 2 naps, 10 min & 25 min. Hmmm, that didn't sound like it was going to be a good night but she was in good spirits so maybe she would pull through. We got in the car and that was when Peanut decided to let me know exactly how much she didn't like being there all day. Instead of her usual baby talk all the way home I got a stage 10 meltdown (and of course all the red stop lights possible). We made it home and she calmed down but the rest of the night wasn't much better. Actually I shouldn't say night really since we were getting ready for bed around 6:15, so about 1 1/2 after we got home, still plenty light out. She had a series of other breakdowns before crashing at around 7:45 with me next to her hoping to get some sleep. She woke up every 2 hours to eat due to the fact that she only ate 5 oz all day at daycare (should probably be around 10-15oz) so she had some major making up to do. At about 3:30am I couldn't fall back asleep so I just laid there for awhile getting really excited for today (*wink, wink*). Hopefully today she will nap a bit more and eat as well, fingers crossed! Thanks for all your thoughts yesterday, maybe today you can send some sleepiness Peanuts way or maybe what she really needs is a bit less stubbornness...
(The picture found above is Peanut in her babylegs, my weekend creation)

Case of the Monday's

Good Morning and Happy Monday. Yeah, that just doesn't sound right, I don't know if anyone really enjoys Monday's. Oh well, none the less today is Monday and it is what you make of it. We have started our first day of the new full time routine and are hoping it goes well. At least it is a 4 day week! I have been thinking about possibly doing 4 - 10 hour days at work so Peanut only goes to daycare 4 days a week. Now the real question is can I make it through 4 - 10 hour days on random chunks of sleep...hmmmm. Any way, on to Friday's update. Friday at daycare went good, I picked Peanut up by myself, Mike had a meeting. She was swinging away when I got there and we had a cozy and relaxing last afternoon together. Saturday we all went out to breakfast and she slept through all but the last 10 minutes of it. Other then that we mostly hung around the house the whole weekend. We made granola and baby legs (these are like little leggings for babies, they wear them with onsies to keep there legs warm in spring and early summer). We also read books together and did tummy time. It was a great weekend, even with the minimal amount of sun. Looks like this week will be the same weather wise, gray and possibly snow....come on spring! Happy Monday, send Peanut your hugs today while she is at daycare all day.

The sun will come out tomorrow...

Well we made it to Friday. Another week gone by...Peanut is now 16 weeks 1 day old by the way. In 9 short days she will be be 4 months old. We were looking at some pictures yesterday of when she first came home, and oh wow has she changed. Today's picture is one of a super fresh peanut, doesn't she look different?! Yesterday went pretty well at daycare, she only took a 10 minute nap for them though, the little stinker. Other then that they said she was happy as usual. She made up for her lack of napping when we got home and took about a 3 hour nap in the afternoon. She went to sleep last night much better then the past two nights so that's good. Yesterday at work there were more layoffs! Mike and I were not affected, even though I wish they had asked me to go part time, I would have been ecstatic! I am thankful we were not affected though, seeing as it was a pretty big layoff. 35 people from my side and 15 from Mikes (although no engineers and no one in our direct area). We don't have any plans for the weekend other then to enjoy each others company and maybe attempt to go out to breakfast tomorrow if Peanut is up for it. Hope you all had a great week and we get some nice weather so we can spend some time in the sun this weekend! Happy Friday...

Lil' Picasso

We are now officially over the halfway mark of the week!!! Woooohoooooo! Daycare yesterday went well, she had 3oz's to eat, played on the floor mat, did some swing time and took two little naps. When we got there she had a pacifier, we were shocked and amazed seeing as she would never take one for us before. The rest of the afternoon went pretty well, except for Peanut's raging determination to not nap. She also had a hard time going to sleep again last night...we are really hoping that it has more to do with growing pains/daycare adjustment then with possibly catching any daycare disease out there. We did have another surprise waiting for us when we picked her up yesterday....Peanut's Masterpiece! Isn't it great?! We also have the chance to sign up for parent/teacher interviews so we just might do that to see how they think she is doing. Other then that today will should go as usual. Happy Thursday everyone, see you Friday!

Bunny Ears

Wednesday, ahhh the middle of the week. I am both thrilled and saddened. We are only two days away from the weekend (if you pretend today is over, of course) yet we are one day closer to the dreaded "full time" week. At least the weekend comes first. Yesterday went well for everyone, Daphne had a good day at daycare, she was there an extra hour yesterday even! She enjoyed her swing and play mat time. She even continued to work on her painting project by painting with her little feetsies again! Mike picked her up yesterday because I was at lunch. He did inform of the dreaded news he found when her got there, posted to the door....in the Infant Room there has been a reported case of Strep Throat....AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, not something we want to hear at all. What happened to a cold or cough? We just get to skip right over those and go to strep throat?! We are hoping she is not going to get this because if she does it will be very sad...When I drop her off today maybe I'll attempt to lick all contagious surfaces in the room in hopes that I can give her the right antibodies in my milk, not sure how that will work but there's hope! Lunch with my engineering team went well, we went to Whistling Straits, a Kohler restaurant at one of their golf courses. It was fancy inside, lots of giant wood rafters and big wood tables. It was fun, but I think what I ordered had dairy hidden in it (even without the cheese I told them I didn't want), so needless to say, Peanut was not a happy camper last night. She took about 2.5hours to get to sleep but was still asleep by 9:00. I won't be eating dairy for awhile now, lesson learned. Hopefully by doing that she will feel better, we'll see. Hope you all had a good start to your week and have a happy Wednesday!