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From: Sara
Date: 12 Dec 2006
Time: 15:13:21 -0600
Remote Name: 69.107.81.148
Per Sharon's wish, I am updating progress with the latest news from Astrid's first day at daycare. I didn't get a call yesterday from the director of the program so that was good. I waited until 4pm (on the dot) to go and pick her up. When I arrived she was in the arms of the teacher. I asked if she was okay and she told me that she wanted to be held all day. She kept hanging onto the teachers instead of interacting with the children. When Astrid saw me come into the room to pick her up she was fighting to get out of the arms of Miss Julie and ran over to me. It made me melt. I was afraid that she would have treated me like chopped liver, but she is loyal to me. After Eric and I left from dropping her off in the morning, we peeked in the window and she seemed to be doing fine; she was sitting at the table with the other kids doing a project. Miss Julie told me that right after that she cried for over an hour. She was very reserved and shy the whole day, and didn't play with any children. She ate lunch okay. For nap time, they have small cots that the kids sleep on. Nap time is from 12:30 - 2:30pm. She sang in her bed for about 1 1/2 hours, and took a small nap afterwards. Miss Julie caved in and fed her a bottle because she said that it was the only thing that would make her relax (bottles are a big no-no in the program ... they make the kids drink from cups). Astrid enjoyed playing outside the most, where she could run around and explore. She liked playing with the balls and climbing on the jungle gym. I guess at this age from what the teacher told me, that they don’t really make friendships until they are 2.5 years old. Personally, it makes me crazy to think that she would be fostering a friendship with a snotty nosed kid. As soon as Astrid and I stepped in the house, I stripped her clothes off, poured her a hot bath and scrubbed her clean (literally). I let her soak in the tub until her hands were like prunes. We then played, read and watch “Monsters, Inc” until it was time for her to go to bed. She was exhausted, and fell asleep as soon as I put her down. She slept in this morning until 8:30 (and so did I). I need to buck up and get ready for Friday, because she is going back and I have to get used to my days without her here with me. I do think that Grandma misses her now that I’m home with her, but I love hanging out with her too, so I haven’t taken her over there much. This is a really fun age and she and I are like peas in a pod. When I go back to work in January Grandma will take care of her for 3 days and the other days will be spent in daycare. I think that it is a nice balance. I really don’t want to make Grandma get burnt out by taking care of her, so this is the reason why Astrid needs to go to daycare. It will be fine … I just need to get over the initial anxiety that someone else besides myself and family can do a good job.