Speaking of Lily’s new daycare, we definitely decided to go with Tammy after I called her for references on Monday morning. The people I called gave her a glowing report so I stopped at her house after work to fill out the necessary paperwork. Paul had to report for jury duty in Howell that day. Thankfully, the case that he was a potential juror for ended up settling out of court so he was only there a half day. He ended up coming in to work for the afternoon since it was so busy.
I had a dentist appointment on Tuesday evening. They told me to bring Lily with me to get her teeth checked as well. Her checkup was super quick. My dentist just had me hold Lily on my lap and lean her back which caused her to open her mouth. She took a 20 second look around while Lily cried then it was over. The dentist said that everything looks good but that Lily will definitely need to take daily fluoride supplements because we have well water. She was glad that Lily was off the bottle and not into juice as those are both big cavity-causers. Lily hasn’t gotten any more teeth lately so she still has 12 of her 20 baby teeth. She only has two more sets to go which are her eye teeth and her second set of molars.
Wednesday was bittersweet as it was Lily’s last day with Kirsten. It was sad for me to gather up all of Lily’s bibs, toys, clothes, etc, and move them out of Kirsten’s house forever. Kirsten has been Lily’s sitter since she was a mere 9 weeks old and I worry about her having to adjust to something new. Not only will Lily miss Kirsten but I will miss her too. A year ago, I didn’t even know who Kirsten was but then she quickly became one of the most important people in our lives. I will miss talking to my friend every day. After taking everything home from Kirsten’s, I spent most of the night putting some of it away, packing a tote of essentials for Lily’s new daycare, and cleaning the house. One new thing is that I have to pack Lily’s lunch for her new daycare as snacks and drinks are provided but not meals. Lily usually wants to eat what everyone else is eating so this will be yet another adjustment for her.
Thursday was significant as Lily turned 13 months old and started her new daycare all on the same day. The goal was to leave nice and early to give Lily a lot of time to adjust to her new setting before abandoning her there but we didn’t properly factor in Paul’s earlier start time, the added driving distance, and the fact that Lily would have a hard time getting up and ready 45 minutes earlier than normal so it didn’t work out quite as planned. I ended up having to drop Paul off at one of the U of M parking lots to take the shuttle bus to work and I took Lily to Tammy’s by myself. She was happy to be there until I handed her over to leave then she panicked and started crying like her heart was broken. It was so hard for me to walk out the door. I had tears in my eyes, too. All day at work, I prevented myself from calling to check on her as I was powerless to do anything to help her adjust, anyway. Only time can do that. Lily seemed desperate for me to pick her up and quite ready to leave as soon as we arrived to take her home. Tammy said that she had an okay day but didn’t nap or eat well which wasn’t surprising considering that she was stressed by the change in her routine. When we got home, my parents came over with dinner and a gift for Lily. They got her a toddler swing that my dad then installed on our swing set. She absolutely loved it! She also enjoyed walking around our yard in the nice, warm weather. Her new favorite thing is to pick a daffodil and then carry it around outside with her. When she comes back inside, she presents it to me as a gift. She is so sweet.
We had to drop Lily off at Tammy’s even earlier on Friday as we had an early morning meeting. This time Lily started crying as soon as we knocked on Tammy’s door in anticipation of us leaving her. I got her to calm down by cuddling with her on my lap but then she got upset all over again when I had to hand her over to Tammy to leave. Lily actually seemed kind of peeved at us when we picked her up after work. According to Tammy, Lily still didn’t nap or eat very well. I know that adjusting to her new daycare will take time but I hate to see my baby stressed out. I am glad that she only had two days of her new daycare then gets the weekend to de-stress with us. Paul has next week off of work to do projects around the house while Rachel is home on her spring break. We still plan to send Lily to daycare but perhaps for an increasing amount of hours each day to allow her time to adjust. I am really hoping that Lily does eventually adjust to her new daycare and that she will be happy there like she was at Kirsten’s.
After work on Friday, we went to Meghan’s house to make her dinner and see baby Abygail. However, it was really hard for me to make dinner and visit with Meghan as I hadn’t factored in how mommy-desperate Lily would be after two days of insecurity at her new daycare. Paul had to take Lily outside to play so that I could make dinner, otherwise she cried for me to hold her. Lily had fun playing outside and ate a lot of dinner with us but then she got quickly exhausted since she wasn’t napping well at her new daycare so Paul took her to the car while I tried to snap a few pictures of Abygail. Lily zonked out quickly on the drive home.
We picked Rachel up from the airport on Saturday which was a debacle that reconfirms my assumption that all Metro Airport employees are completely brainless. No one knew which gate we needed to pick Rachel up at! The main display said that her plane would arrive at gate B12 but then when we got to gate B12, its display said that the flight had been moved to C2. When we got to C2, its display didn’t say anything about where the incoming flight was from yet there was a plane sitting at the gate. Of course, there were no employees at either gate to help us. I asked an employee at the next gate over for help. Big mistake. She had no idea where the plane at C2 was from and just told us to go back to B12 as that was where the computer said that Rachel’s plane would arrive. We tried to explain to her that the display at B12 said to go to C2 which caused her to stare at us with a blank look on her face and say absolutely nothing. Thanks for all your help! So Paul went back to B12 and I stayed at C2 figuring that one of them had to be the correct gate. When Paul got back to B12, there was a plane pulling up and someone was actually working at the gate desk but he told Paul that no plane was due there for hours and to go back to C2. When Paul pointed to the plane pulling up behind the dude and asked him where it was from, the guy said, “I don’t know,” and just stood there, refusing to check on it. Another fantastically helpful employee! And what wonderful security they have that a plane can apparently just pull up and unload with no one having a flipping clue which plane it is or where it’s from! Paul stayed at gate B12 with Mr. Helpful and Rachel ended up getting off the mystery plane at that gate. Thank God there were two of us there or Paul would’ve had to run all over the airport between gates having no idea where to pick up his daughter. How horribly disorganized Delta is! Rachel was sad that Lily didn’t recognize her at first but, thankfully, Lily quickly warmed up to her sister then couldn’t stop giggling at her. On our way home, we stopped at IKEA for some toy bins and then went to Wal-Mart for groceries. Lily is so funny because she says “Mmmm” when we put stuff in the grocery cart that she likes. She was especially interested in the tortilla chips. Our last stop before heading home to relax was to get some Easter flowers for my mom and grandma at English Gardens. Sunday was Easter which will be a separate blog entry.
I only ended up pumping a few days this week as Lily still refused to take a bottle at Kirsten’s. I thought that maybe she would revert to wanting a bottle again for comfort at her new daycare but she had no interest in it there either. I will still try pumping a bit next week just in case she does go back to wanting a bottle but I admit that it would be nice to not have to pump anymore. Finding time to pump at work is always so stressful and sterilizing the parts every night is a pain in the butt. Even when Lily is with me, she only wants to nurse at night now. I always wondered how I would wean her but she seems to be initiating it herself. I read the following on babycenter.com: “Weaning is a long goodbye- emotional, sometimes painful, and freeing at the same time. But weaning needn't signal an end to the intimacy you and your child have established through breastfeeding. It just means you have to replace breastfeeding with other nourishment and nurturing activities.” I definitely have mixed feelings about her weaning as I will appreciate the freedom from pumping but will miss our special time together. As the article suggests, we will have to find an alternative special activity for the two of us like cuddling and reading a book or singing songs together.
There hasn’t been any overtime offered at work in a long time but our Blood Gas Lab lost a bunch of employees and offered us some of their open shifts. I used to work OT shifts there all the time before I got pregnant. I ended up signing up for 6 OT shifts between mid-April and mid-May because we can definitely use the extra money. Most of the shifts I signed up for are on the weekend and I made sure that I had at least one weekend day free to spend with Lily even though I could have signed up to work both days each weekend. I also only signed up for one double shift as I am already sleep-deprived enough. Most of the OT shifts I signed up for are afternoon shifts but two are on midnights so we need to think about getting Lily transitioned to her crib before my first overnight shift on April 18th. Paul still doesn’t trust himself not to roll on Lily so she has always slept between me and the wall, not between me and Paul. I worry about her being without me overnight since she does still get up multiple times in the night to nurse but Paul encouraged me to pick up the extra shifts and claims that she will be fine and he can always give her a bottle if necessary. Paul’s sister, Debbie, recently used the Ferber method on her daughter, Sophia, who is three months older than Lily. Sophia was also still sleeping with Debbie and getting up multiple times in the night to nurse. Debbie had outstanding success with the Ferber method and now Sophia is sleeping through the night in her own crib. Perhaps we will have to try that with Lily but all I can think of is the episode of Modern Family where Mitchell and Cameron ‘Ferberized’ their baby (coincidentally also named Lily). I fear that, like Cameron, I will not be strong enough to do it because I can’t stand to hear my baby suffer. If we do try it, it won’t be until after next week when Rachel’s gone and Lily’s had more time to adjust to her new daycare. I don’t want to bring on too many changes for her all at once!
Here are some pictures from this week.
Lily unhappily getting her first dental checkup on Tuesday:
Lily playing with her Fridge Farm. I love this overall dress and her new Robeez shoes:
Walking outside with Grandma and a daffodil on Thursday:
Lily and her daffodil:
Lily waiting at the big kids' swing for a ride on her new toddler swing:
It's ready:
Papi pushing Lily in her new swing:
So much fun:
Lily checking out more daffodils. She loves flowers:
When I sent Paul and Lily outside to play at Meghan’s, I gave them a few Oreos to snack on. I had no idea how messy Oreos could be! Added to that, Lily picked some dandelions which clearly she was munching on as well as is evident by the yellow staining atop her Oreo smears:
My super messy yet very happy little girl:
My mommy especially loves my leg chub:
Holding baby Abygail. I can barely remember Lily being this small even though it was only a little over a year ago:
What a cute little duckie:
I love this blanket:
Adorable tiny sleeping baby Abygail:
Adorable but not so tiny sleeping baby Lily:
Paul and Lily heading into the airport to pick up Rachel on Saturday:
Everybunny loves this cutie:
Heading down the escalator to the tunnel of lights and music:
Lily loved this pile of crazy furry rugs at IKEA:
Lily loves to put various toys in her gumball machine but then can’t figure out why it won’t dispense them properly. Paul once found my cell phone in there:
Rachel and Lily sharing some soup:
No comments:
Post a Comment