Day Care Week Two

Another crazy week! Livi cried on Monday morning when I dropped her off for daycare. She had a runny nose and seemed a little out of sorts, too. I went over at lunch time and gave her some medicine and she was napping, but seemed okay, so I was really surprised and worried when they called me that afternoon to come pick her up because she was sick. The poor child was throwing up and running a fever. I ended up keeping her home until Thursday. She was one sick little girl. We ended up going though numerous changes of bed linens and pj's...

Thursday we started in daycare again and she cried all morning long. She was fine when I picked her up that afternoon. Friday she cried again and they tell me she was irritable all day. Jill, her EI instructor spent an hour with her that afternoon and said she did think Alivia was starting to adjust to daycare, though. Hopefully the crying will start to wind down a bit next week.

Work, at least, is slow at the moment, making it easy for me to take the time off to be with Livi while she was sick. Things will be picking up again soon, though, as I start teaching in just a couple weeks in addition to doing my regular work. It feels strange to hear someone call me Professor Davis...

My mom is doing very well since her surgery. She's easily tired, but is up and about and looks great! Livi and I went to see her today--we didn't get to go earlier in the week because Livi was so sick.

Also on the positive side, I was reading through the What to Expect the Toddler Years book and was happily surprised to realize how well Livi is doing now. She actually is on par with her peers in most areas of development. She's still behind in size, walking and speech, but in all other areas she seems to be pretty much caught up. I also read that walking and/or speech will often take a back seat to other things they are concentrating on and then suddenly they'll start catching up on those, too, so maybe she'll be doing the independent stroll soon! One can hope! She'll probably always be small for her age, but that's okay, too! She's utterly delightful just the way she is!

~ Jeana

First Week in Day Care

Oh, my God! I never imagined how incredibly hard it would be to put Alivia in daycare. She was find when I dropped her off the first day, but dived into my arms when I arrived to pick her up. Since then she just dissolves into tears when we walk in the door each morning and her caretaker tells me she cries off and on all morning long. It just breaks my heart and yet I know that she needs to be there right now. She needs that interaction with other kids and to start learning things from them that I just don't know how to teach her. I know that mom and I have been holding her back in several ways and I know that she'll eventually settle into it and start enjoying it, but right now it's an absolute heartbreaker to see her cry like that.

Of course, the real reason for starting daycare right now is that my mom had surgery today--a cardiac bypass--and won't be able to take care of Alivia for a couple months. The surgery went very well and, knowing my mom, her recovery will be rapid. She's one very strong woman.

This has been a busy week--both at work and at home. Last week was even busier, with a trip up to Georgia for a memorial service for one of my aunts thrown in for good measure. Alivia and I did find time to do a little shopping, though, and we got some new photos done, too. Here's my favorite--a Livi Surprise! We had a lot of fun with it this time and it shows! I can't wait till she's smiling like that about daycare!

~ Jeana

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter, everyone! Alivia and I enjoyed our first Easter together. I let her dive into her basket right after breakfast and she sampled a little of everything and wasn't really impressed with any of it. She loves marshmallows, but didn't like the peeps at all. I guess the hard sugary coating on it wasn't to her taste. I don't like them either, so I can't say I blame her. She did manage to bite off part of her bunny's ear and get a little chocolate on her face, but really wasn't all that in to the candy. Not a bad thing at all in my book!

Later this morning we went over to Justin and Gil's for an Easter cookout. Our friend JR brought his kids, too, so there was another baby for Livi to interact with. Mia is still too young to really play with very much, but Livi did try. Mia is about 11 months old and is a little shorter and a lot heavier than Livi. It was cute to watch them eye each other up. Mia enjoyed playing with Livi's music toys and Livi didn't mind sharing.

Gil organized an egg hunt for the kids and Justin's mom Diane kindly helped Livi find her eggs while I got a chance to grab a hamburger. Livi found four eggs--including a difficult camoflage one! She quickly caught on to how it was done and really enjoyed herself. It was fun to sit back and watch her having fun!

Here's another egg hunt pic. This week Livi and I will try to get back on our regular schedule again--although it will be changing again next week in a big way. This week is the last week before my mom's surgery and so next week Livi will be going into daycare at the college for a couple months. It will mean we get to sleep in a little later in the morning, but it will be a whole new world for Livi during the day. There are five other kids in her group at the daycare and we are hoping that she will start learning some new things from them such as feeding herself, walking more, talking more, etc.

Last pic--like any child, Livi loves it when mommy swings her up into the air! Her EI teacher will still visit her every Monday morning and I will be taking her out of daycare for her PT and ST classes a couple times each week. And then, in May, I'm going to start teaching one night a week and she'll be staying with Diane after daycare on those days. Thank goodness for Diane! She lives really close to the campus I'll be teaching at and just adores Livi.

So that's where we are and where we seem to be going... I hope everyone had as lovely an Easter day as we did! As you can clearly see, Livi remains the sunshine in my every day!

~ Jeana