It's finally getting better

I almost don't want to say anything because I don't want to jinx it, but I think maybe we have turned a corner when it comes to dropping Zoey off at daycare. Starting Tuesday, there have been no tears at dropoff! She will make this little pouty face where she sticks her bottom lip way out and give me these sad, sad eyes, but no crying! The pout definitely still gets to me, but it is way better than crying, clinging to my leg, etc. I feel like we are finally getting there and I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to go well.

We are surviving...

That's about the only way to put it. This transition has been really difficult. I think it's been starting to get a little better. She is still crying every day when I drop her off and it is really heartbreaking. But I'm just trying to get in and out as quickly as possible so that it's not a big scene when I leave where she is screaming and clinging to my leg or trying to lunge back into my arms. I guess that when I leave, she has been settling down pretty quickly, but it still doesn't make it much easier to walk away from her when she's crying. As far as the rest of the day, it's not consistent yet and some days are better than others. She is still really clingy and will follow the teachers around wanting to be held, or sit on their laps, and so she will get really upset sometimes if they are doing something else and she can't be held, or sit on someone's lap and cuddle. She is definitely a snuggler! I guess she has gotten really spoiled being home with me and now she is used to the constant one-on-one attention. So, somedays when I pick her up they will tell me that she had a really good day, and other times it's a rough day and she was upset and crying a lot. Luckily, everyone there is very accomodating and they are doing everything they can to try to make this easier for both of us. That's the only good thing in all of this, that I found a center that I like so much. Hopefully, in time, it will just get to be second nature for all of us and there will be no more tears.

Day 2 was worse than day 1

Well, she still didn't cry when I dropped her off this morning, so I thought that was a good sign, but when I called to check on her late this morning and they connected me with her teacher I could hear her screaming in the background. She said that she had been okay for a good part of the morning but was having a rough time at that moment. And when I picked her up this afternoon, they said that today was worse than yesterday and that when she wasn't distracted by playing, she would follow the teachers around the room crying and wanting to be with them. When I got there, she was sitting in the rocking chair with one of the teachers and clutching onto her baby doll for dear life. So at least I know that they are trying to comfort her and hold her as much as they can, but it this is still breaking my heart. :( I really think it is going to be better if I just don't call to check on her during the day. Because it is not doing me any good to call and hear her crying when I am still stuck at work for another 5 hours. Ugh...this sucks ...

Day 1

Today was Zoey's first day of daycare. Overall the day was okay I guess. I dropped her off around 7:20 and she was fine when I left. She watched me pretty intently when I was walking out the door, but didn't cry. I lingered out in the hallway for a little bit to see if she would start once I was out of sight, but she didn't cry. I, on the other hand was a different story. As soon as I got to my car, I started, and cried all the way home :(. I called to check on her around 11:30 right before my hair apt and they told me that she was having a really rough time and crying a lot :( That really broke my heart and I was so tempted to just cancel my hair and go get her. But once I'm at work tomorrow, I can't just drop everything and go get her if she cries, so I decided it would be better to just leave her there so that she starts to get used to it.
So, when I called back after my hair was done, they told me that she was having a better afternoon, and didn't cry at all at naptime, went to sleep on her own, but only slept for 15 minutes. But she seemed to be in a good mood for the rest of the afternoon after her little catnap, and the rest of the day went much more smoothly I guess. When I went to pick her up, she was sitting at the table with all the other kids having a snack and she didn't immediately reach out for me or start crying when she saw me (I guess those graham crackers were pretty tasty - lol!). But once she finished and wasn't distracted by the snack anymore, she got down she started crying and clinging to me, and then when we got to the car she didn't want to let go of me to get into her carseat - poor little thing. So, it will be interesting to see how she reacts tomorrow morning when we get there.

one week...

I can't believe that is all that I have left as far as my stay-at-home mom days go. :( Work officially starts a week from today and I am starting to freak out. I know that I am so lucky that I have been able to be home this whole past year and still have a job to go back to, but I think in a way that makes it even harder. If I went back to work after six or eight weeks, I would have never really gotten used to the luxury of being home. Buit because now I am so used to being home with her it is going to be like a major shock to my system when I have to go and work a full day. I still have never been away from her for a whole 8-hour day. I know that's a little crazy, but I have some separation anxiety when it comes to leaving her. I think that the transition is gonna be way worse for me than Zoey. :( I am just so glad that we found a daycare center that I love so much. I really think that it is going to be good for her and I know that she is going to love having all the other kids to play with. It will be okay. We will both survive. I just have to keep telling myself that...

Beach day

Today was Zoey's first real trip to the beach. I had taken her once before with my mom and sister, but it wasn't really beach weather so we just took a walk on the beach. So, today since it was so hot, we decided that it would be a good day for a real beach trip.

We just went to Beaver Island since it's close. It was SO busy. I don't think that I have ever seen so many people there.

Getting reading to go in the water:

Swimming: We pretty much just stayed in the shallow water, but Zoey loved being able to sit in the water and walk around and splash around.

After swimming, we found a spot on the grass to sit and have a snack but she was more interested in trying to climb in and out of her stroller. Lately she tries to climb in/on everything! She's such a little monkey! :)

First family camping trip

Well, we survived our first annual family camping trip to Letchworth. My family has been renting cabins there every summer for over 20 years now. Last summer when Zoey was born was the first time that we ever missed a year.

So, we had a really nice time. The weather wasn't the greatest. We had quite a bit of rain, but we still had fun and were able to have a campfire every night. It was definitely hard camping with a baby, but we managed. The cabins are pretty dirty, with hard floors so I didn't feel like I could just let her walk around, so there was no where to really put her and just let her play. And naptime/bedtime was always a challenge. Since we were away from home and not on any type of normal schedule, I never knew if or when she would nap and when she would finally settle down for the night. But overall, it was a good week.

Zoey/family pics:

And some beautiful scenery pics that Joe took.

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday Zoey!!! I can't believe that we have a one-year-old! I have been feeling a little emotional about her turning one, I really can not believe how fast this year has flown by!

Today was a very nice day. We spent the day getting ready for her birthday party and then around 4:00 had our families over for her birthday party. It was a very small party -only 12 people including Zoey, but that was perfect! It wasn't too overwhelming or stressful, so I was really able to enjoy the day, and I think Zoey definitely did too. She had her first taste of cake and ice cream, and was really interested in opening her presents. It was so fun!

Here are some pics:

Her simple, Betty Crocker from-the-box, Birthday Cake. I'm not very creative when it comes to baking, but it definitely tasted good! :)

Waiting to see what this birthday cake thing is all about...

She wasn't too sure about the cake at first....But after some encouragement, she dug right in!

Presents!

Zoey received lots of nice presents, and really seemed to enjoy opening them. It was a big change from Christmas when she couldn't really open things and didn't seem all that interested in what she was getting. She was very excited about her new toys, but waited very patiently for Daddy to take them out of the box so that she could play with them.

Baby sign language is so fun!

Zoey started signing for nurse about a month ago, and since then it's like she can't get enough and is picking things up left and right. So now, her "vocabulary" is up to 10 words. In addition to nurse, she knows baby, book, kitty, doggy, eat, drink, more, fish, and shoes. It's so awesome that she is able to start communicating with us even though she isn't able to talk yet. And she gets so excited and proud every time she spots something that she can "talk" about. This morning we went to the Target and when we went down the pet supplies aisle, she was so excited to see all the dogs and cats on the packages that she just kept pointing and doing her signs for "doggy" and "kitty". It's really amazing to see how much she is noticing and taking in even though she isn't able to verbalize it.
For all you moms out there, I would highly suggest it. I think that my family all thought that I was wacko at first, and even Joe would sometimes roll his eyes when I would do signs with her. But now that she has started doing it back, everyone is so excited about it and loves that she can "talk" to us somewhat.

I think she has mastered "da-da" and "hi"

Well I think we can finally count at least one of them as a real word. Zoey has been saying "da-da" for a while now, but she I don't think that she was really associating it with Joe. But within about the past week or so, she has been saying it every time she sees him, she will wave goodbye to him and say "da-da", or sometimes when he is outside, she will crawl up to the front door, start banging on it and yelling "da-da" to him. It's pretty cute. So, I guess that it's official and "da-da" is before "ma-ma". But then she will also kind of babble it to herself all day long when Joe is no where in sight, so that makes me second guess it a little bit. I don't know when it really "counts" as a true first word??? But, she has also started saying "hi" in the correct context, so I guess maybe we should say that is really her first word? It's really cute, she loves to wave and say "hi" to the dog and cats. She gets so excited when she sees them and will wave and just keep repeating "hi, hi, hi". SO adorable! She loves the animals so much. She's still working on saying "kitty", but doesn't quite have it yet - it's mostly just "kuh, kuh" or "ki, ki", but you can tell she is trying.