The Daycare Dilemma

I worry about the day we have to put Trevor in daycare. I'm sure though the day will come. :o( My thoughts are divided. Here are my thoughts on the good, the bad and the really really ugly.

Daycare centers
bad... often little one on one and often little routine of same person taking care of the children due to high turnover. Good that there is better checks and balances less likely for something to happen due to neglect or malice of the provider. Good that if one person is sick there is someone to cover. Bad that they are so expensive. Bad that the hours are limited and with my schedule it would be difficult.

In home providers
Good that the same person everyday takes care of the children/routine. Good that the expense isn't so much. Bad that the hours will be somewhat limited though not as bad as most daycare centers. Bad that if the person is sick you are out of luck. Big bad that worries me the most; How does one know REALLY how your kids are being taken care of when you aren't around. Bad... how do you know what possible dangers lurk in that person's home. Poisons in an unlocked cabinet? Nice dog that might go schizo? Older children in the home that might harm your child? Mental stability of the provider? Will they go crazy and shake your baby? These things REALLY scare me. And these are all true things I have heard about in news stories.

I wish I knew how to comfortably send Trevor to daycare when the time comes. The ideal would be if someone I knew and trust would take care of him. But alas... both grandmas are out of the question due to their own jobs and I don't have any friends in the daycare biz. So maybe in time this will all work itself out. So in the meantime I should just be happy to have my baby safe at home with Travis, myself, or the grandparents! I know I'm in good company of mothers returning to work facing exactly this dilemma. I know in my heart statistically nothing is likely to happen. But every time I hear one of these stories, my fears are etched just a little bit deeper. hehehehehe maybe we'll win the lottery and I'll get to stay home with my babes. Oh wait, I suppose I would have to buy a ticket first right?

Trevor Belly Laughs for the first time

Jeez, I am bad about this. I started this as a draft over a week ago just now getting to finished it. The first day Trevor laughed he thought everything was funny. He laughed first at daddy's duck voice that has always entertained him. Up until then he had squealed and grinned. But once he started laughing he couldn't stop. He also laughed when I tickled him and when we pick him up by his clothes and swing him around. Daddy started that one. I was a little annoyed that he kept stretching out Trevor's clothes. But what the heck I guess! Trevor really enjoys it. He really laughed the first time I did it. Something unusual for me to do I suppose.

A couple of everyday things that aren't seemingly funny that Trevor seems to think are absolutely hysterical are: Changing his clothes, whispering, and looking at himself in the mirror. It's so funny that he just can't stop laughing it seems. I get the clothing... it probably tickles. And his reflection... smiling baby and mommy looking at him. But his fascination with whispering eludes me. The tiniest whisper brings on rounds of giggles and full blown belly laughs.

Now it seems my main goal for the day is to make Trevor. (hehehe one isn't enough... I try all day long!) And usually we don't have to try to hard thankfully. But some days it can be tough!

Productive "middle-of-the-weekend"

Since Travis starts school on monday and I have this huge issue with putting Trevor in daycare, I'm sacrificing Sundays indefinately. Jeez... the sacrifices we make for our children. Really it isn't a big deal. It's nice though that my mom is going to drive 2 hours on Mondays to take care of Trevor. That was the only gap where our schedules overlap and one of us couldn't be with him.

So now my "weekend" is Wednesdays and Thursdays. Add to that Tuesday (my new years day holiday since I worked new years) Anyway, I got a ton of stuff done. One of my resolutions is to be better organized. I worked on cleaning out my scrapbook room and have a ton of stuff to freecyle. I posted it to the group and with in 5 minutes I had 5 people all begging for my stuff! Since I've been doing "digital scrapbooking" I think I'll be getting away from the regular scrapbooking. It's a shame to think how much money I have spent on scrapbook supplies! If I were to guess the retail value of my craft would be at least $15,000.

I also cleaned my desk, it was a mess. I cleaned/organized computer files. Did a bunch of cooking to go in the freezer for times when I don't feel like cooking. When I cook... I want to ~COOK~ As in an all day marathon kind of thing. I don't like to cook on a daily basis. I discovered Once a month cooking and I'm just getting started. I'm on a yahoo group that people send recipes that are really yummy! I was surprised to know what all can be frozen to serve later. I made: a ton of chili, twice baked potatoes, browned a bunch of hamburger, and made Trevor a bunch of baby food (carrots, potatoes, and sweet potatoes)

I enjoyed spending the last 3 days at home. Apparently Trevor did too. Travis said he was really fussy most of the day and was half asleep when I got home. He saw me and smiled really big. I walked away to change my clothes and he started crying. It made happy and sad all at the same time. Happy that he missed me and was happy to see me. And sad that I had to leave him to go to work.

Trevor Discovers His Toes

Yesterday Trevor found his toes! He now has a toy that travels with him everywhere! After his bath I like to leave him only in his diaper for awhile so he can lounge without being restricted. I plopped him down on his blanket on the floor and he pulled up his legs and grabbed his toes with both hands. He played with them for about 45 minutes! Now you can't keep his hands off of his toes, especially when he doesn't have socks on!

It was so cute I had to take pictures of course!!!

Sleeping through the night

Exactly 1 week ago Trevor slept through the night, a whole 8 hours, in his bassinet. It was only the third time he stayed asleep in his bassinet for any length of time. And of the last seven nights, five he has slept through the night in his bed. The other two were nightmares, he was awake frequently and squirming all night.

I made a choice early on that Trevor would sleep with us in our bed. It has made it much easier for all parties involved to get a little more shut eye. The added benefit is that it makes it so much easier to nurse throughout the night. I barely (if at all) have to wake up to feed him. Looking back over his first days home, I was a zombie. He woke up usually every 2 hours through the night. He started sleeping for longer periods at about 6 weeks. Thankfully so because that was when I went back to work.

We started co-sleeping when he was about 3 weeks. At first I was scared that I would suffocate him or roll over on him while I was sleeping. After a few very well rested nights and realizing that when he was next to me I slept very lightly. I was almost subconsciously aware where he was, where the pillows and blankets were, where my arms were, and where Travis was.

I did read many articles on co-sleeping, both pro and con... So in the early days I thought about it a lot. Pro's: Better sleep of course, also co sleeping children have a lower risk of sleep apnea, and studies have shown that infants have more rhythmic breathing patterns when sleeping next to a parent and possibly a lower risk of sids. Con's: Parents chance rolling over on babies or suffocation though there is a much lesser risk for lighter sleeping parents. Which I am so I wasn't terribly worried about it. Another Con (which was the biggest for me) is that it is hard to get the kid out of your bed when the time comes. We are starting to transition Trevor back into his bed and this has been a challenge but not as bad as I thought.

Nicknames

I'm sure I'll add to this one from time to time. One of these days I'd like to do a scrapbook page of different names we call Trevor from time to time.

Treeeebor
Stinky Butt
Squirm Worm
Tubor (daddy calls him this all the time)
Butt Chunk (daddy)
Brat
Blakey Boy
TB
Chunka Lunka
Peanut
Boybie
Mr. Man
Snorkel & piglet (because he gets a funny little snort with his hungry cry)

Happy New Year

We rung in the new year at home. It was a quiet evening for us. I was working like mad trying to get insurance claims filed for work. All 2005 claims had to be filed before midnight. Yuck! I brought about 30 claims home and worked for about 4 1/2 hours. What a way to spend new years!

Travis sat in the office too and downloaded music, organized music files and played his games. Trevor was in a good mood! He was babbling alot throughout the night. He does that alot now. He has learned how to make all different sounds and he practices alot.

Trevor has become quite the night owl! He definately takes after us, especially Travis. Trevor seldom goes to bed to stay before 1am. So needless to say Trevor was up to ring in the new year with us. We didn't have any wine or champagne in the house, so our toast was Mt. Dew in champagne glasses. I gave Trevor just a tiny little taste on the tip of my finger. He seemed to like it! But it is not something we will be repeating anytime soon. I don't want him to become a Mt dew junkie like us!

I'm really bad about keeping resolutions, This year my resolutions are:
1. To eat healthier... and hopefully lose a little weight
2. Journal/Blog/keep up with Trevor's baby book on a regular basis
3. Work on my Digital scrapbooks on a regular basis
4. Get all my 35mm pictures scanned/archived
5. Keep the house a little cleaner/better organized

Well so far I'm blowing # 1, I've been sitting here eating cookies all night. I'm doing good on # 2 though!

Here's to a Happy 2006!