Day Care

My baby is growing up! Today was her first day of day care and there were no tears (either from Hannah or me). My first day back is actually Wednesday, but I need a few days to get my room ready. I'm both excited and nervous about going back to work after 21 weeks off. It will be nice to be around adults for a change and to get a break from the feeding/diapering/wiping up spit up that fills my days now. But I'm nervous about how I'm going to be able to get everything done between work, Hannah, and the house.

Hannah is going to an in-home day care halfway between our house and my school (plus a little to the west). There are two other kids: a 1 year old boy and a 2 year old girl. Miss Pat has 3 kids of her own, but they are all older. The youngest one is in junior high and the other two are in college. She used to be a paraprofessional at a school in Shawnee Mission until a parent convinced her to start a day care. When I visited the day care I was impressed by how verbal and advanced the kids were. She really works hard to get them ready for pre-school. She even starts teaching them sign language at 8 months. I think she'll probably have to teach me, too!

Miss Pat said Hannah was a good baby and had a great day. She ate from her bottle, took her naps, and of course loved all the attention from Pat and the kids. As much as I'm going to miss being with her all the time, I think it is good for Hannah to be around other kids. But it is very hard to let go!

Here she is on her first day: