Daycare and Cereal

So Monday was my first day back at work in just over four months and the first full day I had to leave Will in daycare. Not exactly my best birthday ever, but it turned out not to be nearly as bad as I thought.

I had everything ready and laid out for Monday morning. We packed the car full of my school stuff and the stuff we'd need to take to the daycare to store: diapers, wipes, extra clothes in case of spit-up, etc. I left early so I'd have time to get Will settled in before I needed to be at school at 7:30. Will seemed to be comfortable. The staff is great. There is even another little boy at the center who was born the same day as Will, in the same hospital!

I cried on the way to school, but only a little bit. I sat patiently through our meetings in the morning. I had planned on using the two hours we had for lunch to work on my room, but my friends came and invited me out to lunch. We took one of the new teachers along with us. In a discussion of ages, it was soon revealed that it was my birthday. My friend Laura paid for my lunch as a birthday treat. Very sweet. Really, the best part about it was that it kept me from spending the entire break thinking about Will. I had resolved not to go check on him in the middle of the day because I knew I could not leave him again, especially if he was crying when I got there.

Finally, after more meetings in the afternoon, we were dismissed for the day. I rushed to the daycare center to pick up Will. The teacher for his room had just fed him and was about to change his diaper. I watched as she changed him. He looked at her for a long time, and then he smiled. That smile meant everything to me. At that moment, I knew for sure that he would be fine. I know he'll adjust much faster than I will.

On a lighter note, Will is now eating rice cereal from a spoon! We mix up two tablespoons of dry cereal with water every night, and he has taken it like a champ. He really seems to enjoy it. It has made a HUGE difference in how often he wants to eat. Before we tried adding a little cereal to his formula, he was screaming for a bottle every 2 hours. Now, he usually goes 3 1/2 - 4. Much better. According to our pedi, we aren't supposed to start him on cereal until he's 4 months old, but developmentally, Will is ahead of the game. He has been able to sit, supported, for a month now. He has excellent head control (except when he gets tired or excited, then you have to watch for the unintentional head butt), and he has been able to find his own mouth with whatever he's holding for several weeks. In fact, while I was feeding him today, he grabbed the spoon and stuck it in his mouth! It's a lot of fun to watch him experience the new texture and taste. I can hardly wait to move him on to oatmeal, then veggies!