My little man is growing so fast

Joe is turning into a little man right before my eye's and I don't mind telling you I don't like it one little bit (lol). He wants to do everything for himself now - getting in and out of his booster seat at the table, and his car seat in the car, not holding my hand when we walk down to the mailbox, feeding himself. I mean it's great and all, real progress in the growth area, but I miss my baby.

Today I took him to day care and then just hung around talking with Joanne. Joe was so cuddly and I couldn't bear to part with him. He sat in my lap, stroking my face, and just being with me and I was in heaven. I ended up staying for two and a half hours and then decided to take Joe with me when I left. He did play for a while with the other boys, and had snack with them so he still got to have his bonding time with the other kids, so I don't feel guilty. Well except for the fact that I messed up Ms. Joanne's regular schedule - needless to say none of the kids had their pre-school portion today, but I don't think they minded. They all were having so much fun using their imaginations.

I feel so blessed to have Joe in my life, and to have found such a wonderful caregiver in Ms. Joanne.

Me time, Me time - YIPPEE

I went for a night out with my mommy group last night to a Passion Party and dragged Crystal and Kelli along with me... and may I say not kicking and screaming. My friend Jackie was hosting it and from the minute I walked in the door I was laughing. If you have never been to one of these parties ladies, I'm telling you that you have to go if for no other reason than the laughter, plus you might pick up a point or two to go home and try with your significant other (wink wink). And don't worry if you don't want to buy any of the toys shown in the above picture they have great lines of lotions, potions, and bath products that are really of a grea quality.

It went for about three hours then I made my purchases in a non-descript bag - black with a big red heart on it, and then the three of us headed out to a late nite dinner at the Olive Garden. It was so much fun to hang with my sisters for a while and talk about nothing and everything at the same time. I didn't end up getting home until almost 1:30 and needless to say I am exhausted, but still feel the joy of spending quality time with my friends in my heart.

Aqua Man has come alive

I swear my boy must have been a fish or a dolphin in another life. If he spots an inch of water he has to be in it, as fully submerged as he can be.

The other day it was just a little to cool for a "good" mom to allow her child to go swimming. So I made the conscious choice to not fill his baby pool for him even though he kept pointing to it to indicate that was his first choice for activities for the day. Mom and I just laughed at his persistence.

I tried to get him engaged in riding his tricycle in the back yard, playing with his balls, dump truck, bowling set - basically anything and everything in my backyard arsenal. I had him sidetracked for a little while with the sidewalk chalk - yes he ended up covered head to toe in chalk dust of all colors but in the end what does Joe choose.... to play in Bubba's water dish.

He truly is my little Aqua Man.

Day Care Dilemma's on HOLD

Well I checked out one or two other day care options and they are no where near up to the standard of Miss Joanne's, so I have decided to keep him where he is and just pray that she still will have a drop in spot for him come August. If not, well my research this past week has shown me for the price of two days at a lesser quality day care I can enroll him full time with Joanne for only $5 more than their quoted daily prices and just use her on the days I choose. I can't believe that the other day care's in my area are more than double her price and don't even offer a pre-school element to them. Plus I can't imagine anyone being as loving to him as Joanne is. I feel really blessed to have found her.

Day Care Dilemma's

Well as you know I enrolled Joe in day care one day a week and thus far it hasn't gone that great. He did awesome the first week, the second she called me a few hours in after not being able to console him and not wanting to have him stressed any longer. So we put our heads together and decided that 9:00 to 2:45 was too long for Joey, especially the nap section, so we decided to try 9:00 to 12:30 which is when the kids go down for nap. He did a little better but it was still taking almost two hours before he got into the swing of things and relaxed enough to play with the other kids. That was my main reason for enrolling him. Last week we decided that maybe seven days between visits was too long and so he was having to refamiliarize himself each time to the new environment. A weeks not long in your and my mind, but in a kids world it's forever. So we decided that perhaps it would be best if he came a couple times a week, on Tuesday and Thursday's and see how it went.

Alas it just isn't to be. Miss Joanne left me a voicemail this afternoon saying that Thursday's wont work as she already has a full house that day, did I want to do a Tuesday/Wednesday combo, or she could do Mon/Wed. I guess I could make either of them work, but then she mentions that as Joe is considered a drop-in (meaning he doesn't attend full time) that come August she wouldn't be able to accomodate him any longer since she's taking on two additional full time children.

So my dilemma now is do I ride out the summer, trying two days a week to see if I can get him used to it and/or should I just look for a new provider now since he'd have to make a change come August? I love Miss Joanne's daycare - she's caring, fun, and provides a teaching aspect, but at the same time it's not making sense to me to get him acclimated with her if it's not going to be for the long term. Or do I just call it quits on the idea all together at this time and wait until he's a little older?

I wanted him in daycare to ensure that he had consistent play time with others since it is hit or miss on playdates due to my pain, plus I thought it would be good for me to have a little "me" time as well. Now I'm not sure what to do. If any of you readers out there have suggestions, I'm all ears.