So I should have written this post last week, but just didn't feel like it because I was bummed out.
I knew that I was probably being naive thinking a new daycare would just instantly fix all the biting...and it didn't. She made it a week. Three bites last week Two on one day, one a couple of days later. Two were squabbles over toys, the other one was a "big" kid helping too much. I get it. She was frustrated.
But I feel so bad that I haven't found the "thing" that teaches her this isn't okay. Usually, I feel like I know her so well, and now I just feel like I'm missing something...
Drop offs in the morning are a bit rough too, and we're both struggling with that. I can literally count the number of times she cried in the mornings going to her other daycare, and now the mornings are filled with lots of tears. When I pick her up in the afternoon she is great, just playing away, but I really hate leaving her crying every morning.
I know this is a big change and she's still adjusting, but *ugh* I really hope things even out before we have to introduce preschool in a couple of months...
Showing posts with label day care. Show all posts
Showing posts with label day care. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
New School
Today is Claire's first day at her new school. It's a brand new facility, and it is a combination preschool and daycare. Right now, Claire is going to start with just daycare, but we might add morning preschool two days a week for her. She will start at the district preschool in January, and it will be four mornings a week. I think the two mornings of preschool might be a nice transition for her.
Claire has been at her previous daycare center since just before her first birthday. They were there through so many milestones...crawling, walking, first signs and first words. It's bittersweet to leave, but Claire needs a different environment. A room full of 13-16 months old isn't challenging her to do new things, and they are prey for her constant biting. Her last day at daycare was *hard*. She came home with six bite reports, when her previous record was three.
Claire will know four or five kids at the new center. They are mostly kids that were in the previous daycare, but that had to move because they had turned three, so she hasn't seen a couple of them for a while. I'm glad she will have some familiar faces, but am still awfully nervous. It will take the staff a little while to get to know Claire, and while her speech is coming along, her two dozen or so words won't tell them much. The director has been brushing up on her signing skills, but I have a hard time with some of Claire's signs occasionally, and I know my girl well.
The drop off at school this morning went....ok. I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The daycare room has doors off of it that lead to the kitchen and the lobby. Apparently, they usually leave these doors open. In the 20 or so minutes I was there with Claire she was (obviously) in and out of all the rooms many times over. She may stay in her room with the doors open, but I seriously doubt she will. Other things will probably need to be moved if the staff doesn't want her touching them. A cd player on a low table just calls Claire's name. I know we will get these things all worked out together, but today I have a feeling that Claire will show the staff * exactly* what changes need to be made. The staff that was in there this morning already remarked on how busy she is...yes, she's 2 1/2. She's into everything, exploring and playing. You will not be able to sit back and just watch her....
I hope that this change will be exactly what Claire needs. She'll have peer models that are once again older than her. I hope that her speech continues to take off, and that her behavior gets under control. I hope that this is just the transition she needs to be successful in preschool in a few months.
Claire has been at her previous daycare center since just before her first birthday. They were there through so many milestones...crawling, walking, first signs and first words. It's bittersweet to leave, but Claire needs a different environment. A room full of 13-16 months old isn't challenging her to do new things, and they are prey for her constant biting. Her last day at daycare was *hard*. She came home with six bite reports, when her previous record was three.
Claire will know four or five kids at the new center. They are mostly kids that were in the previous daycare, but that had to move because they had turned three, so she hasn't seen a couple of them for a while. I'm glad she will have some familiar faces, but am still awfully nervous. It will take the staff a little while to get to know Claire, and while her speech is coming along, her two dozen or so words won't tell them much. The director has been brushing up on her signing skills, but I have a hard time with some of Claire's signs occasionally, and I know my girl well.
The drop off at school this morning went....ok. I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be. The daycare room has doors off of it that lead to the kitchen and the lobby. Apparently, they usually leave these doors open. In the 20 or so minutes I was there with Claire she was (obviously) in and out of all the rooms many times over. She may stay in her room with the doors open, but I seriously doubt she will. Other things will probably need to be moved if the staff doesn't want her touching them. A cd player on a low table just calls Claire's name. I know we will get these things all worked out together, but today I have a feeling that Claire will show the staff * exactly* what changes need to be made. The staff that was in there this morning already remarked on how busy she is...yes, she's 2 1/2. She's into everything, exploring and playing. You will not be able to sit back and just watch her....
The daycare room only had about six kids in it this morning, since a lot of them are in preschool. This should give the staff a chance to get to know Claire a bit more before they add a bunch of kids for lunch and afternoon daycare.
I hope that this change will be exactly what Claire needs. She'll have peer models that are once again older than her. I hope that her speech continues to take off, and that her behavior gets under control. I hope that this is just the transition she needs to be successful in preschool in a few months.
Monday, January 3, 2011
The First Big Change of the New Year...
...is Claire's!
Today she started her new daycare. For the past 8 months or so we've had a sweet Grandma type gal watching her and one other little guy. It has been a perfect situation. The other mom and I have been friends for years, and the kids are 1 week apart in age. Since it's always been just the 2 kids they've gotten lots of love and snuggle time.
This winter our daycare Grandma decided to take a 2 month vacation. Which meant that we needed to find someplace new for the kids. Living in a small town means that there aren't too many choices for daycare, and all the in-home day cares where I would want her to be, were full. There is one daycare center in town that has both an infant and toddler room. And it just happened to work out that they had 2 infant openings right at the time we needed them. So, the kids were able to stay together!
There are some benefits to the new center that I'm really excited about. Claire hasn't eaten any baby food for about 3 months, and it's been hard to send table food to the old daycare for her. Since the new place serves lunch she is able to eat with the toddler room. While she's been growing well, I think this will help put a little more weight on her as we transition her off the bottle.
I'm also excited about the interaction with the new kids and the staff. While I loved our daycare Grandma, she didn't spend a lot of time on the floor playing with the kids. There are a couple of kids who are just learning to crawl too, and I think having kids at, as well as above, her gross motor level will be beneficial.
This morning when I dropped Claire off, she did perfect. She doesn't have any separation or stranger anxiety, so I know for sure I was more nervous than she was! I talked to the director just a few minutes ago, and all is well, just as I knew it would be!
Today she started her new daycare. For the past 8 months or so we've had a sweet Grandma type gal watching her and one other little guy. It has been a perfect situation. The other mom and I have been friends for years, and the kids are 1 week apart in age. Since it's always been just the 2 kids they've gotten lots of love and snuggle time.
This winter our daycare Grandma decided to take a 2 month vacation. Which meant that we needed to find someplace new for the kids. Living in a small town means that there aren't too many choices for daycare, and all the in-home day cares where I would want her to be, were full. There is one daycare center in town that has both an infant and toddler room. And it just happened to work out that they had 2 infant openings right at the time we needed them. So, the kids were able to stay together!
There are some benefits to the new center that I'm really excited about. Claire hasn't eaten any baby food for about 3 months, and it's been hard to send table food to the old daycare for her. Since the new place serves lunch she is able to eat with the toddler room. While she's been growing well, I think this will help put a little more weight on her as we transition her off the bottle.
I'm also excited about the interaction with the new kids and the staff. While I loved our daycare Grandma, she didn't spend a lot of time on the floor playing with the kids. There are a couple of kids who are just learning to crawl too, and I think having kids at, as well as above, her gross motor level will be beneficial.
This morning when I dropped Claire off, she did perfect. She doesn't have any separation or stranger anxiety, so I know for sure I was more nervous than she was! I talked to the director just a few minutes ago, and all is well, just as I knew it would be!
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
First Day at Daycare
Today is Claire's first day with her new babysitter. I've been back to work for 5 or 6 days, but Claire has always stayed with Darren or Mimi, and today will be completely different for her. She'll be with a new person, in a new house, with another baby around, and I have no doubt she'll be fine. It's me that's going to worry!
Our babysitter, Sharon, is wonderful. She's an older lady and she has tons of experience, both with her own kids, grand kids and all the other babies she's watched. She only watches one other baby, so she should have lots of time to spend with both of them. I am very comfortable with her, but I really hate leaving Claire.
One thing I am very excited about is Sharon's willingness to learn about DS. Sharon is very good friends with our neighbor (who was a nurse), and she has been educating her and answering her questions. I brought a copy of Babies with Down Syndrome to her today
, and she was excited to have some reliable information to read. I also told her to ask me anything at all, and I would share with her what I know, or find an answer for her. I'm hoping she takes me up on this, and we can learn together!
, and she was excited to have some reliable information to read. I also told her to ask me anything at all, and I would share with her what I know, or find an answer for her. I'm hoping she takes me up on this, and we can learn together!
Friday, March 5, 2010
IV Free
Claire is now IV free! It was pretty much just hanging on by the tape in her hair so I had them take it out. She is doing pretty well, but we've had to keep bumping her O2 up over the past couple of days to keep her levels around 90. She still isn't on much, but every time we move it up she's a little further away from going home. I'm still hoping for Sunday, but it may be Monday. Sorry for the poor picture quality, but I have to use my phone.
Tomorrow I'll get out of the hospital for a while. Jake heads back to CA on Monday for his infantry training, so I'm meeting them at the zoo to hang out with them before he leaves again. We had this planned before Claire got sick and I'm really bummed that we won't be able to take her like we wanted to.
That's one of the hardest things for me with her being sick...we were soooo careful to keep her away from sick people, were hand washing fanatics, and hardly took her anywhere. And yet here we are. I want to be able to take her places and do things with her, and I feel like we don't get to do that. I know this is a bad time of year, and she won't be quite as fragile after she heals from her surgery, but I feel like she's already missing out.
Darren is feeling better, but he still has a terrible cough. He came in for quite a while today and hung out with us though. He'll come back in tomorrow and stay with Claire while I go to the zoo.
I may have the day care situation worked out. I hate to be too happy about it for fear I'll jinx it, but if it works, it will be close to perfect!
I met the cutest little boy today. He was cruising around the floor in a red wagon. Every time his mom would ask him if he'd had enough he'd sign 'more' and off they'd go again for another lap. He had his heart surgery (for a slightly different defect than Claire's) a couple of months ago, and is back because he got RSV then a secondary infection. I talked with his mom a bit about his signing and his surgery. When I said goodbye to them, she asked if Claire had DS. I said yes and she got a huge smile on her face and said I was so lucky.
I really needed that today. The uncertainty of DS still scares the crap out of me. I needed to meet this mom who is thrilled that her boy is starting to talk at 3. I need to remember that Claire will do all the things that other kids will do, just on her own timeline, and to enjoy the slower pace. It is truly a blessing that I met this beautiful little boy and I hope I get to spend some more time with him. His wonderful smile was exactly what I needed.
Tomorrow I'll get out of the hospital for a while. Jake heads back to CA on Monday for his infantry training, so I'm meeting them at the zoo to hang out with them before he leaves again. We had this planned before Claire got sick and I'm really bummed that we won't be able to take her like we wanted to.
That's one of the hardest things for me with her being sick...we were soooo careful to keep her away from sick people, were hand washing fanatics, and hardly took her anywhere. And yet here we are. I want to be able to take her places and do things with her, and I feel like we don't get to do that. I know this is a bad time of year, and she won't be quite as fragile after she heals from her surgery, but I feel like she's already missing out.
Darren is feeling better, but he still has a terrible cough. He came in for quite a while today and hung out with us though. He'll come back in tomorrow and stay with Claire while I go to the zoo.
I may have the day care situation worked out. I hate to be too happy about it for fear I'll jinx it, but if it works, it will be close to perfect!
I met the cutest little boy today. He was cruising around the floor in a red wagon. Every time his mom would ask him if he'd had enough he'd sign 'more' and off they'd go again for another lap. He had his heart surgery (for a slightly different defect than Claire's) a couple of months ago, and is back because he got RSV then a secondary infection. I talked with his mom a bit about his signing and his surgery. When I said goodbye to them, she asked if Claire had DS. I said yes and she got a huge smile on her face and said I was so lucky.
I really needed that today. The uncertainty of DS still scares the crap out of me. I needed to meet this mom who is thrilled that her boy is starting to talk at 3. I need to remember that Claire will do all the things that other kids will do, just on her own timeline, and to enjoy the slower pace. It is truly a blessing that I met this beautiful little boy and I hope I get to spend some more time with him. His wonderful smile was exactly what I needed.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Ugh!
Today was one of those days that I am just glad is over...I'm tired and frustrated and so ready to go home. I know things will be better tomorrow, but I'm tired of crying today.
My day started by running into the R word on a book blog that I frequent. It was a picture that was a parody of the inspirational posters you see a lot in offices. I emailed the gal and told her I thought her post was in poor taste and hurtful. She removed the post and we ended up having a great email conversation, but it just kind of set the tone for my day.
Darren is still sick. This morning he was running a fever and I told him he needed to get to the dr. They said it's just a virus and gave him some cough medicine to help him feel better. He's staying home again tomorrow to hopefully feel better. He hasn't really been to the hospital since Claire has been here since he's sick, which I totally agree with, but it also means that I don't get much of a break. I know the nurses keep an eye on her, but I really hate to go too far in case she needs me. This makes me awfully thankful that I'm not a single mother.
On the daycare front, I got a text from our gal that she isn't going to be able to watch Claire after all. She has some liver issues and got sick a couple of weeks ago. Her dr advised her to take it easy so she doesn't get sick again. I know she needs to do what's best for her, and if she's not healthy I don't want her around my baby, but it just puts me in a bad spot since I was supposed to start back to work this week.
On the good side, I think Claire is finally feeling a little better. She is still breathing hard and her cough sounds terrible, but she was awake more today and actually quite smiley. She also has this adorable habit of sighing while she eats, and she was sighing again today. She hasn't lost much weight since she's been in the hospital and is up to 8 lb, 10 oz! I am still hopeful she might be released tomorrow. I tried to get a picture of her smile, but she wouldn't cooperate.
My day started by running into the R word on a book blog that I frequent. It was a picture that was a parody of the inspirational posters you see a lot in offices. I emailed the gal and told her I thought her post was in poor taste and hurtful. She removed the post and we ended up having a great email conversation, but it just kind of set the tone for my day.
Darren is still sick. This morning he was running a fever and I told him he needed to get to the dr. They said it's just a virus and gave him some cough medicine to help him feel better. He's staying home again tomorrow to hopefully feel better. He hasn't really been to the hospital since Claire has been here since he's sick, which I totally agree with, but it also means that I don't get much of a break. I know the nurses keep an eye on her, but I really hate to go too far in case she needs me. This makes me awfully thankful that I'm not a single mother.
On the daycare front, I got a text from our gal that she isn't going to be able to watch Claire after all. She has some liver issues and got sick a couple of weeks ago. Her dr advised her to take it easy so she doesn't get sick again. I know she needs to do what's best for her, and if she's not healthy I don't want her around my baby, but it just puts me in a bad spot since I was supposed to start back to work this week.
On the good side, I think Claire is finally feeling a little better. She is still breathing hard and her cough sounds terrible, but she was awake more today and actually quite smiley. She also has this adorable habit of sighing while she eats, and she was sighing again today. She hasn't lost much weight since she's been in the hospital and is up to 8 lb, 10 oz! I am still hopeful she might be released tomorrow. I tried to get a picture of her smile, but she wouldn't cooperate.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Dr appts and daycare
I look pretty tired in this picture of us from Valentine's Day, but I don't have very many of Claire and I. I always seem to be behind the camera, so this one will have to do for now.
Claire had her one month well baby check up and her one month cardiology appointment last week. Both appointments went very well. She weighs 7 lb 1 oz and both doctors were very happy with her weight gain. The cardiologist echo'ed her heart and said it looks great. There isn't any enlargement at all. He said he won't echo her next month, but will do a chest x-ray instead to make sure her lungs still look good. They will continue to monitor her growth, but at this point the Dr is optimistic that we can push her surgery back to 4-5 months of age if her weight gain continues at this same rate.
On the daycare front we found a great situation for Claire. The gal we found recently left her job and has been staying home. Her kids are older (middle school and high school) and she wanted to have a baby around again. She was initially looking for a couple of kids, but when we explained Claire's heart condition she was fine with just taking her. We spent 2 hours at Carmen's house getting to know her and she was great with Claire. She has a beautiful and spotlessly clean house and is reasonably priced. We feel *very* blessed to have found her!
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