CORA STARTS DAYCARE

Cora started daycare today, at 12-weeks-old. After a 6:15am nursing session, she fell back to sleep in our bed, and I had to wake her up at 7:15am to get her ready for the day. And I thought that my baby girl should be dressed up for her first day of "school":

I LOVE this birdy onesie I found on ETSY at veryKIKI.

I added a bow to her ensemble for our "first day of school" photo:Yes, she has the same diaper bag as James. Except hers is a pretty pink.

It was a small adventure dropping both kids at daycare by myself this morning (Jay had to get to work early), and I'm definitely going to have to tweak my method... Cora, as usual, cried half of the way there (She dislikes her carseat. And car rides.) while James babbled to me (Or himself. Who knows.) I got the diaper bags out first and set them outside the back passenger side door by James, then got Cora out of her carseat (because she was now screaming that I had let her sit for 2 whole seconds after I turned the car off - blasphemy!), then went to get James out. Ummm... How to loosen his carseat straps while holding Cora? Impossible. So I laid Cora in his lap (still crying) and used both hands to loosen the harness and undo the buckles, then, luckily, he helped me by getting his own arms free, since I had already scooped up Cora (because she was now screaming again at having been laid down). How to lift James out of his carseat while also holding Cora? Not easy. Luckily, James helped (a little) by holding on to my arm. And he was a good boy as I set him down, grabbed the diaper bags, and took his hand so he could walk in with me. We walked VERY slow because James was wearing his other new shoes, which are a bit big on him, and he's still getting used to them. Then his teacher spotted us and came to the rescue. He ran up to her, so then I just had to deal with Cora and the 2 diaper bags - no problemo. Tomorrow I leave Cora in the carseat while we enter the building though...

Things are so different the second time around. I remember crying as I left James at daycare on his first morning, after spending 20-30 minutes checking things out and playing with him, but with Cora it was a quick 10 minutes of instruction and I was out the door. I honestly didn't feel sad at all. I suppose some of that is due simply to the fact that I know the women who are caring for her. They have been heavily involved in the care of my first child for well over a year now, so I know I can trust them completely with my baby doll.

Jay went by an hour later to pick up James for his ear recheck appointment (yes, again), and he reported that Cora drank most of her 9:00am bottle, then passed out. She was sleeping unswaddled (no way!), on her back, with her arms up in the victory pose when he checked in on her.

An hour after that, her teacher sent me a text message saying "Hey Mom!" with this cute photo attached, just to let me know all was well:

As I did with James, I plan to go to daycare on my lunch breaks to nurse Cora until she turns 6-months-old. She was napping in a swing when I arrived, but happily woke up to eat. She wasn't famished, since she had split her morning bottle as 2.5 oz at 9am and 1.5 oz at 10am, but she ate well enough. She was quite happy and content after lunch, so I took some time to play with her and chat with her caretakers (everyone came in to talk to me and tell me how cute she is). Of course, all I really wanted to know was "Has she been a bear? Or has she been behaving herself?" Apparently she had been on her best behavior throughout the morning. Though, admitedly, they had all taken turns walking her around and showing her off, so really, she was getting exactly what she wanted...

Before I left, I changed her diaper (I wanted to see how they were doing with the FLIPs on her tiny little frame), and I had to give them a reminder that the hybrid cloth diapers have to be snapped to the very tighest setting to avoid leaks. I'm sure it won't be the last time I have to remind them, but I don't mind. I'm just glad they let us use them. And at the end of the day, she was still clean, her teacher was playing with her on the play mat, and she had a good report for the afternoon. Congratulations Cora! Perhaps you'll follow in your brother's footsteps and be one of the favored babes at daycare...