First Day at Daycare

Today was Natalie's first day at daycare and my first day back to work. This day has been dreaded since before Natalie was born, with the dread creeping further and further into my psyche as we quickly (all too quickly) approached it. If I was a drivers ed teacher and had passenger seat brakes, I would have slammed them on last week to slow things down a bit, but alas, here we are. And I'm happy to say that we made it, though it was not without tears. I cried on the way to the daycare, then cried again as we walked to her room, then cried again when I kissed her goodbye, then cried off-and-on all the way to work. The teachers and staff consoled me and assured me that every mom reacts the same way when dropping off their sweet bundle for the first time. In fact, I was told that it would be perfectly normal to cry every day this week, and then next week I would probably feel better.

Luckily, Natalie's teachers are very sweet ladies. When Patrice talked to Natalie for the first time, Natalie smiled up at her with her sweet flirty smile, and that made some of my sad feelings disappear. Then they put her in the swing and as she contentedly swooshed back and forth, more of my blues melted away. Then they put her on the play mat for tummy time and she looked just as comfortable as she does at home, so my heart lightened a little more. I'm still not totally tear-free, but I will get there. Each day will get easier and eventually, though it's still hard to totally believe, I'll be one of the breezy moms who drop their babies off with a smile.

Here's a photo of Natalie and Patrice:

Natalie the Flirt

Due to the Southeastern SnowIceMaggedon 2011, Jeremy worked from the safety and comforts home all week. His desk is in the living room, right next to Natalie's swing. Every time she was in her swing and he was at his desk she tried her best to get his attention. She cooed and she gooed, she smiled and laughed, she gurgled and blew bubbles. So intent was she on getting him to look her way, she even resorted to fake-crying at one point. She was determined to distract him from work and get him to pay attention to her! When her efforts paid off and she got a glance from her daddy, she'd smile and squirm in obvious delight. It was the funniest thing!

Natalie the Flirt is 10 weeks old today. Her personality continues to blossom and she's becoming a really fun baby! She's started to grab things more often. Sometimes when I'm changing her outfit, I'll think that it's snagged on something and I'll look down to find it in her clenched fist. I'm thinking she'll start grabbing onto toys and stuffed animals soon, but she hasn't done that yet. She really doesn't pay much attention to her toys except to watch them as I puppet them in front of her, but I don't think it'll be long before her legions of toys start getting some love and attention.

Rollin' Over, Part II

It was no accident, Miss Natalie knows how to roll over! She did it for us about six times this morning! Look at this sweet thing:

Rollin', Rollin', Rollin' Over

Natalie has been doing a great job holding her head up lately. She's been rather enthusiastic during tummy time, raising her head about 90 degrees and holding it there for extended periods of time. Today during an especially fun tummy time, I quickly left the room to get my camera so I could video her. When I got back into the room, she was in the process of rolling over from her belly to her back! It may have been a freak accident; I don't know... but it sure was exciting!!

Unfortunately I didn't get the big event on video, but here are a couple I took of her doing tummy time (it looks like she's trying to crawl already):



I love the look of pure determination towards the middle of this one:

Two Months Old!

Miss Natalie had her 2-month checkup today and weighed in at 10 lbs 10 oz. and measured 23.5 inches. She also had to get two shots (vaccinations) in her legs and she's not a very happy camper about that. It makes me so sad to see her in pain and hear her shrieks of distress. She is asleep on my chest right now, peaceful for the moment.

We also had our enrollment meeting at her daycare, FIO 360. I held it together until we went into the classroom and then the tears started flowing and there was no holding them back. Something about seeing the cribs lined up against the walls and hearing a couple of little babies crying just put me over the edge. Also, Natalie will be the tiniest one in her class and that made me a little sad too. There's really nowhere for the little ones to lay except in a crib or a bouncy seat, so I'll be happy when she can sit up by herself so she has more options. The daycare is really as nice as they come and I know she'll have good learning opportunities there; it's just incredibly hard to imagine leaving my little girl with strangers every weekday. Hopefully we'll get to know the teachers and soon enough they won't feel like strangers at all.

I didn't get Natalie's 2 month picture today, so I'll take one as soon as possible and post it!

Happy New Year!

Listen up! Natalie would like to tell you her hopes and dreams for the new year:



She's been doing a lot of cooing and gaga-ing for us this week. This little one really enjoys hearing her voice, and so do we! It's so fun to listen to the new sounds she's discovering she can make.

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends' sweet 7-month old son, Everett. He's twice Natalie's size and I wish we'd taken a picture of them together to show the size difference. He was so funny and really loved to laugh. Every time I said "woof, woof" to him, he would just fall out laughing. I look forward to making little Natalie laugh like that!

2010 was certainly a year of "firsts" for us as we went through pregnancy and then welcomed Natalie Elise into the world. It's crazy to think that I was pregnant for most of the year... from February all the way to November! Some days it seemed like I'd been pregnant forever, and now I have a hard time remembering feeling so totally different, with my big belly poking out further and further each day. I was so aware of my own body all that time, and now some days I barely remember to feed myself; I'm so focused on Natalie and ensuring that I meet her needs. My world truly revolves around her and I understand now how special it is to be a mama.

2011 will bring many firsts, too, as Natalie grows and develops new skills and personality. She'll be two months old on January 6th, and soon enough it will be November and she'll be turning one year old! It'll go by in such a hurry. Sometimes I find myself thinking, "I can't wait until she starts talking" or "I can't wait until she fits into that cute dress". At times like those I have to remind myself to sloooow down and take this adventure one milestone, one day, one breath at a time. An experience as amazing as this should be savored.