Rebellin

I haven’t written because I’ve been in the midst of a child care quandry. Now that Catherine is gone from daycare, I’ve been more critical of the care she’s receiving. I don’t think that she is getting the interaction (affection, songs, activities, etc.) that she was with Catherine. It bothers me to know my daughter is pretty much on her own when someone isn’t taking care of her basic needs (diaper changes, feedings and naps).

So I looked at a few more daycares this past week. One made me really appreciate my current daycare more. But another was offering what I’m talking about — activities with the babies to stimulate them. It’s more of a free-for-all at Little Miss’s current daycare.

But, the daycare lists in this town are out of control. The other daycare I liked couldn’t get us in for a year.

And then I got a call today from Catherine, who wants to be Little Miss’s full time nanny out of our home.

It really would be ideal. My problem with the arrangement is what if Catherine decides to quit on me? My current daycare has a list 2 years long. I’d really be in a lurch. I’ve communicated this to her, and she guarantees that she’s in for the long haul, but that’s a lot to invest in someone’s word.

I also worry about socialization. I think Little Miss really enjoys the kids at daycare. On one hand, she’d get undivided attention, but will that hamper her social development?

I just don’t know what to do. It’s really all consuming for me, and it is a really big decision. It’s my daughter’s care. What could be more important???

I will be discussing Catherine’s offer with JB tonight, and will let you know what we decide. Sorry the news isn’t more exciting than that.

One of the things that made being a working Mom a bit easier was the fact that both Little Miss and I adored her primary caregiver at daycare, Catherine (name changed for her privacy). She was a warm, loving person that cared for Little Miss as one of her own children. I cannot tell you how valuable that is.

And she quit yesterday due to problems with the daycare management. I can hardly express how extremely upset I am by this. The other care givers at daycare are OK, they’re just not Catherine. I called Catherine on the phone yesterday, who was crying and saying how much she already missed Little Miss. I’m sure we’ll still keep in touch with her and have her babysit on occasion, but there is a huge void for me when it comes to the day-to-day care of my daughter.

I couldn’t sleep last night because I was so bothered by this. Overnight, I went from being completely satisfied with my daycare to feeling like I should perhaps look at some other options. I know that things might look up once I find out who her new official caretaker is, but that person will unfortunately not measure up to Catherine.

And to top things off, when I picked Little Miss up yesterday, I was given a notice saying they’re raising rates $50/month. It just stings a bit more when I know that I’ll be paying more for care that just won’t be on par with what it was when Catherine was there.

My baby took her first steps last night. I knew it was coming any day, but I can’t help but feel like we’ve crossed this threshold… That she’s now one step closer to being a toddler.

It’s amazing how proud those steps can make a parent. She worked her way up to four steps last night, and each one made my heart swell. As I put her to bed last night, I whispered to her that she’d be amazed at all the places she would walk one day.

Little Miss and I had a wonderful weekend. JB was off at a back country skiing class, so it was just us girls. It was a quiet, low key weekend, and it was just what I needed. I wasn’t in a rush to go anywhere, and instead of busting my butt to get chores done while she napped, I took the time to read a book and nap myself. True luxury, I must say. We went to the park, played on the slides (because the swings were SHEER TERROR), and went on a hike on Sunday.

And on a separate note, I’d like to wish Little Miss’s Papa, Jack, a very happy birthday today!

Well, I’m back from Seattle. It snowed about 1/2 inch overnight, and I got a kick out of seeing how everyone in the Seattle area COMPLETELY FREAKED OUT over the scary road conditions after 1/2 inch of snow. In fact, once I arrived at my company’s offices this morning, I saw that half of the parking lot was empty. I then discovered most of the people I was supposed to meet with today hadn’t made it into work today.

It is a bit baffling. Back when I worked in Michigan, even a blizzard was not a viable excuse for missing work. I was specifically told that a blizzard just meant you should get up earlier since your drive would take longer.

I was sharing a rental car with a coworker, who stayed at another hotel. As my coworker was leaving this morning, she came across a poor woman that couldn’t get a cab to come get her in the snow, so she had no way to make it to her interview at our company. My coworker offered this woman a ride, and then my coworker got completely and utterly lost trying to find my hotel, which was about 1/4 mile away from hers. We finally got that poor woman to her interview about 20 minutes late, but considering her interviewer wasn’t answering the phone, I wonder if her interviewer even made it into the office. Anyway, quite a way to start off an interview day, especially at my company, where interviews are day-long marathon sessions.

I arrived home and picked up Little Miss from daycare. As I put her in her car seat, she started clapping. I have been trying to get her to clap for months, then I leave for two days, and voila — clapping. She clapped the entire way home. At every stop light, I would clap along with her, and I’m sure the people in the cars around me thought I had completely lost it.

Well, it’s good to be home. I just couldn’t hug my baby or smell her sweet smell enough tonight.

My baby turns 11 months old today. It just doesn’t seem possible that she is almost a year old. Holy smokes, I have a party to plan!

My favorite memories of Little Miss from this past week:

- She hugs and cuddles her stuffed monkey, and likes to rock as she does so. Twice this past week, she has fallen over backwards as she cuddled her monkey.

- Rubber Duckies aren’t just for bathing! She has latched on to her new rubber duckie, and takes it with her for diaper changes and meal times (don’t worry, I keep it clean!)

After she turns one, is she no longer a baby?

This past weekend, JB and I took turns skiing. My day was Sunday, so I headed out for a few turns. They still need a lot more snow, but I managed to entertain myself and work on my ski legs for several hours.

At one point, I skied past a man who was teaching his daughter to put her skis on her shoulder while she was walking. I saw her, and was giving her plenty of girth, but her father said, “watch out for the man behind you!”

I just had to close my eyes and shake my head. So it’s not just Little Miss that confuses people on her gender. Apparently, when I ski, I look like a man.

As I skied by, I heard him say, “WOMAN! Watch out for that WOMAN!” He probably saw my pony tail sticking out of my helmet as I skied by.

And I thought I looked cute in my ski outfit. Perhaps I just look manly.

Side note: Remember how I said that people always tell me that my baby looks tired? Well, yesterday after she awoke from a 2 hour nap, I took her to the grocery store. A woman came up to me and said, “every time I pass you, your baby looks more and more sleepy.” Then she turned to Little Miss and said, “you’re not going to make it, are you, little one?”

I really don’t know why my baby always looks tired. The entire time we were shopping, she bounced up and down in the cart, reached for the items I put in the cart, and talked to me constantly. It really baffles me.

Here is a collage of photos that document what 2006 was like for us. It was quite a year!

Update: If this window isn’t showing all 74 pics, click here.

It’s time to wrap up the second holiday weekend and start thinking about getting back to life and work as normal. *cringe* The breaks sure were nice, even though I didn’t find much time to blog.

I had hoped to go out for New Year’s Eve, but when I asked our sitter if she was busy, she said, “um, yeah, I don’t think I’ll be babysitting that night.” I don’t blame her. I wonder if we’ll have a proper New Year’s Eve for many years now…

We did manage to stay up until midnight, and polished off a bottle of champagne we received as a gift on our wedding day.

Little Miss helped us celebrate (wink, wink). Here is a pic of our baby lush before the partying began:

Here she is after:

Disclaimer: Just kidding!!! Our baby hasn’t ever had a drop of wine… She is just really enamored with our wine glasses, providing many photo opps. I thought the second photo was hilarious because it really does look like she’s had a few too many.

Anyway, today, we celebrated the New Year by going snow shoeing. We didn’t time it well with Little Miss’s nap, so she screamed most of the time. JB decided he wanted to try out his new backcountry skiing backpack, so I ended up carrying Little Miss on my back. My, is that a workout. Here she is before the meltdown:

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. I’ll leave you with my latest favorite pic of little miss M. And in the New Year, I hope to have some good stories to tell all of you, as this website is becoming stagnent!

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It’s time to wrap up the second holiday weekend and start thinking about getting back to life and work as normal. *cringe* The breaks sure were nice, even though I didn’t find much time to blog.

I had hoped to go out for New Year’s Eve, but when I asked our sitter if she was busy, she said, “um, yeah, I don’t think I’ll be babysitting that night.” I don’t blame her. I wonder if we’ll have a proper New Year’s Eve for many years now…

We did manage to stay up until midnight, and polished off a bottle of champagne we received as a gift on our wedding day.

Little Miss helped us celebrate (wink, wink). Here is a pic of our baby lush before the partying began:

Here she is after:

Disclaimer: Just kidding!!! Our baby hasn’t ever had a drop of wine… She is just really enamored with our wine glasses, providing many photo opps. I thought the second photo was hilarious because it really does look like she’s had a few too many.

Anyway, today, we celebrated the New Year by going snow shoeing. We didn’t time it well with Little Miss’s nap, so she screamed most of the time. JB decided he wanted to try out his new backcountry skiing backpack, so I ended up carrying Little Miss on my back. My, is that a workout. Here she is before the meltdown:

So, that’s what we’ve been up to. I’ll leave you with my latest favorite pic of little miss M. And in the New Year, I hope to have some good stories to tell all of you, as this website is becoming stagnent!