And Then Start the Issues

Sadly :(

I got an email from our DHP today telling me that her brother who is getting married in two weeks will be needing her and the rest of the wedding party to help out with the final set up on the Friday. So there we go, my first "oh dear god what are we going to do with the baby because the DHP can't take her" incident.

Luckily my dad will actually be in town, at least in the morning and my mom can take the afternoon off. *sigh*

It's so hard for me to accept that the person who I actually really like and trust to care for my baby because I can't isn't honestly and truly 100% reliable. If she was a centre she'd be totally perfect. I knew that stuff like this was inevitable, I just hoped not to have to deal with it ever. Silly eh?

So Happy With Daycare

After all my daycare troubles, I'm so happy with the care we've found. She's energetic and fun. She provides healthy snacks and lunches and outdoor time. Plus she doesn't think we are crazy for wanting our baby to still be rear facing despite being a year old, in fact she kept her own children rear facing until age 2 and she even has her 3.5 year old still harnessed and her 5 year old in a high back booster. That's nearly unheard of! Not to mention she follows our philosophy of not being helicopter parents and she lets her do her thing. Even if she falls down, she lets her pick herself back up all on her own. And her own kids are very well behaved.

Finding a daycare provider, was probably the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I was truly worried about what we were going to do with her once I went back to school. It's such a weight off my shoulders to know that someone is looking after my baby and she really cares about her. Every time this week that I've gone to pick her up, I'm told about how great of a baby she is and how much she is enjoying having her. Now sure you can feign happiness and say whatever you want, but I can tell she's being genuine. I can see that the baby is happy, fed and clean. And when we are saying goodbye, the DHP is interactive and always with a report on the day. You can't fake that kind of thing.

It was incredibly difficult for me to say goodbye to my little baby on her very first day. But knowing she is in a fun, safe environment with a caring person watching after her really put my mind at ease. Knowing that an impartial observer sees my child as a well adjusted, happy, playful, independent little girl makes me feel so proud of her and I know that she will thrive there. It really is a relief.

Updates on the Weekend

The birthday party was a huge success. Lots of friends and family joined us at our home for a fun BBQ. We had a very spoiled little girl. It was tons of work and lots of stress, but it was all money well spent and everyone had a good time. But thank goodness she only has one birthday a year. It was pretty exhausting.

Then yesterday, she started daycare. She was up pretty early but did pretty good. Hubby said she didn't cry at drop off. Then I went a bit early to pick her up. She was sitting eating a rice cake and barely looked at me. Our care provider said she was great! She napped well, ate well, had tons of fun playing and was very independent for a 12 month old. I was overjoyed to hear this. I had been so worried that she was going to have a really hard time with everything. Girlie surprised me!

Seriously Bad Blogger

I've been so busy I've sorely neglected my blog again. Here is a rundown of why:

Girlie's birthday party. It's tomorrow. I've spent far more than I'm willing to admit on food, drinks and decor. My fridge is packed full of hot dogs, drinks and fruit and veggie trays. We spent the entire day cleaning the house(and I still need to tackle the kitchen) and started to decorate. I also made the cupcakes, which will be iced tomorrow. I gave up on the bunny cake. I just couldn't get it together so I bought a cake. I'm expecting around 30 people. I must be nuts, I know my mother thinks I am.

Appointments, appointments, appointments. Her 12m appointment was oodles of fun. Her doc is always behind and the stoopid medical assistant insists on getting weights and then leaving you in the weighing/changing room for another 5-15 minutes. That's maybe all fine and dandy when babe is itty bitty and doesn't know any better. But for a mobile 1 year old? You've got to be kidding me. So she was already annoyed with the fact I wouldn't put her down and then once we finally got into the room I took away a book she was trying to eat. That set off WW3. Oh.my.god. She SCREAMED. Screamed solid for a good 10 minutes, full on shrieking, tears, ugh it was brutal. Then she fa-reeked when her doc tried to measure her and freaked even more when she got her 3 shots. Oy.

Daycare. After my never ending saga and finally finding someone we are happy and comfortable with, we are now just in the final planning stages for her transition in. She starts Monday and I'm really not sure how I feel about it. On one hand, I'm thrilled at the prospect of someone else dealing with her all day. But ask me how I really feel Monday at oh say 11am.

School. The countdown is really on. I'm still waiting for one of my books to come in the mail and the other I'm going to have to pick up at school. I'll be headed down there sometime this week to get my student ID as well as purchase my October student bus pass.

So that's been my life for the past week. Crazy and I think it's only going to get worse.

And it's DONE!

I got the email today, I have a spot for my girlie for daycare that I am comfortable and happy with! YAY! She starts on the 26th. In her email, the DHP wrote that she would be happy to have her and was surprised at how comfortable she was in a new environment and thinks she'll fit in well.

I'm so pleased, and so relieved. Now to put on my big girl panties and break up with yet another DHP before I'm even scheduled to start!

The Waiting Game

We are presently waiting for the dayhome we visited Wednesday night to get back to us. She said she should by Sunday. I'm hoping she is a yes. She has a nice home with good space and is pretty convenient. Here is hoping.

I also visited another home yesterday. Pretty close to our house and includes meals and snacks. But she cares for two 3 year olds(one is her own) as well as a 17 month old. The 17 month old seems so far behind my newly 12 month old. He doesn't walk, is very shy and quiet and seems so very attached to her. My kid is wandering all over the place, is chatty as can be and is quite comfortable playing without me. I don't think the DHP knew how to deal with a young toddler with such independence. We are pretty free range parents, she wanted to hover. I'd worry that she would regress with someone constantly wanting to "help" her when she really doesn't need the help. So I think we'll be scratching her off the potentials list.

My Baby is ONE!

Today my baby girl celebrated her first birthday! We had a wonderful breakfast with a treat of chocolate Cheerios. Then we went to visit my mom and my very old boss. Then we had a surprise edible arrangement show up at our door! So we shared some fruit while I made dinner of spaghetti. We then went to visit a potential dayhome. Then back at home we had cupcakes and hubby and I gave her a Little Tikes princess car!

She then went to sleep, her first day as a toddler over. Many more fun days to come.

Or Maybe Not?

In my search of kijiji, I came across two dayhomes that might work for me. One near our house, the other near honey's work. The one near his work intrigues me. I'm meeting with her Wednesday night. I'm so frustrated by all this nonsense. I just want a place for my baby that I'm comfortable with.

Daycare Redux -It's Over

Unless I get a miraculous phone call, I'm SOL for finding a different daycare space. The 3rd home, one which I really, really liked...well she took a 16 month old so that the 15 month old she also cares for will have a friend.

I'm crushed right now and I honestly want to cry. The more I think about it, the less I want to send her to place #2. But it seems I either send her there or I don't go to school.

So any Canadian readers of mine, please think of me the next time you go to the polls to elect those who will run our country/province/city/municipality. Ask them what their stance is on daycares. I'm not asking anyone to pay for the care of my child. I'm perfectly capable of that. I'm asking for a place that I'm comfortable with that I will pay to care for my child. Is that too hard to ask?

Bad Blogger

I've been a bad blogger these past few days. Everything has just been so crazy. In a nutshell here is what has been happening.

Daycare- Still haven't heard from the 3rd place. I'll be calling her tomorrow actually. I almost wonder if I should give up hope that I haven't heard back from her yet. *sigh* If not, I still have the 2nd place to fall back on and I've added my name to more lists in the hopes of getting her somewhere else sooner rather than later. I'm still kicking myself that I didn't use her due date as her birthday and add my name onto lists when I was still pregnant.

Appointments- We have her first dentist appointment in about 1/2 hour. Hopefully it goes well. Then we have a one week reprieve before doctor's appointments for both of us.

School- I've paid my tuition in full and purchased all my textbooks online. I bought them from the college store as well as amazon. I have shipping notices for two of three orders. Just waiting for a shipping notice for my new purchases from amazon, but the used from amazon and the books from the college store were both shipped yesterday.

Other than that, my mat leave officially ends tomorrow and in less than a week, my baby girl turns one. Where the year has gone I have no clue. It's a good thing we are so busy this month or I think I'd just obsess over the fact that my baby isn't a baby anymore.

Newest Daycare Dilema

So I thought I had it all sorted out. As it turns out, possibly not so much. I got a phone call from a DHP today. She might have a spot for the baby, but it depends on whether or not she chooses to take two pre-schoolers or one pre-schooler and an infant.

She basically called to find out what I meant by the fact that I'd need late care. I really, probably don't. As long as the place is near enough to hubby's work, he could have her picked up between 4-4:30. This place is actually less than 5 minutes away from the yards.

But this would be my 3rd dayhome I'd be going through. I feel so conflicted on what to do and I don't even know for sure if I could get the baby into the 3rd place.

I went from having no place to put her to apparently too many places.

Is It Illegal to Sell an 11 Month Old?

I really want to.

I'm on my last nerve with this kid. She's whiny, won't nap and ever so clingy. I'm in desperate need of a break.

And now I'm seriously concerned about how she is going to do with daycare. She is a super fun and adventurous little girl, but at the same time, she is really demanding. I've heard stories of dayhome providers giving their two weeks notice to parents because they just can't deal with the child. If that happened I don't know what we would do. Or after two weeks it's just not working for us and we pulled her out.

I've tried calling the two daycare centres that I would love to get her into. No spots for the foreseeable future. And not only is that annoying in an of itself, but I feel so misled by these places that seemed to think I could get in within a few months.

So stressed.

Busy Phone Day

This morning I mostly spent on the phone trying to get things organized for September. It's going to be a busy month with lots of appointments and starting the baby at daycare. I already had an appointment booked for my IUD and I already had an appointment booked for her 12 month shots. But her appointment was at a time that I intend on having her in daycare so that just wasn't going to work for me. So I changed it.

Then I wanted to have her first dentist appointment as well. It's free until the age of three here. I have hugely massive issues with dentists. I honestly terrified of them and it stems back to when I was 3-4 years old and I was told point blank that I would need surgery because my jaw doesn't line up. Very scary to me, and it's stuck with me 20 years later. We have a kid centred dentistry practise here. While they are 20% more expensive than a traditional dentist, even one who accepts children like my own does, it's worth it to me to have someone who just, and as such knows, how to deal with kids. Booking that appointment went well and there won't be any conflicts with other appointments or daycare.

Then I had to send an email. I needed to contact the original dayhome that we were going to send the baby to and tell her we would no longer be needing her. That was interesting, "breaking up" with someone who we've not used. We'll see if she emails me back or not.

The rest of August is just going to disappear. Then September will be so busy, October and school for me starts. Then the snow will fly. Then it will be 2012! Time just flies by.

And a Month it Is

So I took the spot with the dayhome that we went to see today. She had a big yard for the kids to play in, friendly dogs and a patient cat and seemed like a nice lady. Hubby thinks that the house is a bit run down. Well so is the house that we were originally going to send her to. Older homes with kids running around, you expect some wear and tear. So it's not something that worried me.

It's only temporary. And it will work for now. The baby responded to her and seemed happy. I don't have any gut feelings of badness and she is licensed by the province.

September 19, daycare here we come.

Or Maybe a Month?

So the lady with a spot in two weeks has yet to email me back. Instead I got an email from a licensed provider who has a space September 18(well 19). Reading through her profile on the licensed child care search she seems like a good fit. Not sure what she charges yet but provides lunch and two snacks. She has pets(dogs I believe) but we have a dog so that's not an issue. Her hours are good, course we don't know what days she takes off. She is walking distance to my mom's house meaning that she is only a touch out of the way for hubby to take her or if my school schedule co-operates I could take her, leave my car and bus it the rest of the way.

We meet tomorrow afternoon. I think that it could be a good option for us until I get us into a centre. Fingers crossed for a good meeting tomorrow!

Two Weeks?

I posted an ad looking for daycare in our area last night. I got a response. I'm not sure where she is located yet, but a quick canada411 search of her last name tells me that she might be walking distance. In her email she states that she will have a spot within two weeks. Two weeks!

Course I haven't met this person yet, nor do I know her hours or rates or whether or not we will be comfortable with her. But it seems surreal that I could be dropping off my little baby in two weeks! I'm not ready for this. She's too small, too reliant on me. It's just too soon.

Daycare Troubles

So I have a daycare spot, I suppose I should be grateful for that. But now that we've moved and hubby has a new job it's just not that convenient anymore. It's close to our old house, which is nearby where I'll be going to school so what is the problem? Well I don't want to have to drive. It will cost us an extra $350 a year in car insurance and at least three times more in gas. Plus I'll have to pay to park on campus, assuming of course I can even get a parking space.

So I've been calling and emailing trying to find care elsewhere. But it's apparently optional to respond to emails these days so I really don't know what is going to happen. I'm frustrated. I'm trying to get things ready for her to go to daycare. I've got her backpack and her labels and have already started to label her shoes and jackets. I just want everything set in stone so I can really start getting ready. October 3rd I go back to school, October 4th I need to have something set up for care. If not I don't go to school or hubby doesn't go to work.

Frustrating, very frustrating.