Cha-Cha-Cha-Cha-Changes

Things are moving along around here.  The biggest and best news of all, BA got approved to transfer to Atlanta!  Ever since Leah was born we had been assuming that we'd move back to the southeast to be closer to family.  We didn't know for sure that BA's company would transfer him, but we thought it would be a very good possibility.  So I went ahead and applied for the Georgia bar and paid my $500 fee (and bought three, one-way plane tickets) in hopes that we might be approved to transfer.  And this morning we got the go ahead!  Next step - find a realtor.

Leah broke the news to Froggy

The other amazing change that has taken place around here is that Leah is sleeping through the night - well not exactly, but close enough!  About 10 days ago I decided that I was tired of feeding her in the middle of the night.  And since she is exclusively formula fed, I happened to know that she didn't need to be fed overnight.  So two Fridays ago, I put her in bed at 7 p.m., moved BA to the guest room, and steeled myself for a long night next to Leah (her crib is still in our room because she'd been having so many coughing fits and throwing up so much last month and we just never moved it out).  She woke up three times that night.  She woke up the first time around midnight and fussed/cried for about 20 minutes.  Sometimes her cries were intense, but just about the time I was ready to give in, she'd back off.  So I laid in bed, trying not to move a muscle so she wouldn't know I was there.  She woke up again at 3 a.m., and fuss/cried for about 10 minutes.  The she woke up at 5:30 a.m. and just rolled around her crib "talking" to herself.  Now, 10 days later, she still wakes up a couple times a night, but if she can find her pacifier she'll put herself back to sleep in 30 seconds or less.  Unfortunately, she's an early bird and the 5:30 a.m. wake-up time hasn't improved - but I'm not complaining!

Yay for sleeping through the night!!!

The last big change is that we bought a car.  BA and I had been planning on this and saving up for it for a while.  For the past two months we crunched the numbers and looked online for the best deals.  We had planned to buy a Jeep Cherokee, and because I'd hung on to my car for 7 years at 140,000 miles, we were able to buy a new one! 

Here it is!

Ironic that we bought a Prius when we moved to the westside of L.A. and are buying an SUV as we move back to Atlanta :)

BA's Corner: Chain Gang

I'll be starting a support group for new Dads who have to return to work. It's tough to get fired up about work these days. I took 2 weeks off, but I needed at least 6. Aside from the adjustment and the bonding, sleep deprivation is no joke and AA can't do all of this alone. Besides, she's back in school now, so she's got her own problems to deal with. Fortunately, we've had great help.

Here's a picture from when I arrived home after my first day back in the office.

Depending on my schedule, I can sometimes get around this depression and still get my work done...

Hey, it works. Usually.

Daycare

We picked out a daycare this week.  Of course the guilt kicked in.  How could I leave my child in daycare?  I never thought I would be a daycare parent.  My mother stayed home with me and my sister full time and I felt so guilty that I'm not doing the same thing for my daughter.  I really admire stay-at-home parents.  They are the best option, hands down.  But I don't really have a choice if I want to finish school - and I do.  And after that I'll need to work to pay off my student loans, not to mention it will be time to use this uber-expensive law degree and make a career for myself.  In this economy, a dual-parent income is almost a necessity.  So I have accepted that hired child care will be a reality for me.  My ideal child care set-up would be for the baby to go to Grandma's house during the day.  And perhaps in the future when we move back east we can have a more individual set-up with a nanny or a family member watching Peanut.  Unfortunately that's not an option here in California.

So we needed to find a place that would keep the Peanut safe, healthy, and loved.  This year is a good introduction into daycare because Peanut will only be enrolled for part of the day while I'm at school, and she'll only go 3 or 4 days a week on the days I have class.  So I feel good about our fall schedule, but unfortunately, there aren't many daycare centers that even accept infants.  I found lots of preschools accepting children age 2 and up, but not many infant care centers that were convenient for us, within our price range, and that didn't scare me. 

We ended up with 3 possibilities.  The first was a Montessori school, with the highest prices.  The babies were all in one room, with cribs lined up along the side wall.  They also took children in that class up to 18 months which I didn't like.  I don't want children walking all over my 2 month old.  I think BA walked away from our tour in shock and a little depressed.  I've worked in daycares before as summer jobs, so I knew what to expect and honestly, the Montessori school was perfectly fine.  The teachers all seemed nice and the babies seemed happy, but I don't think BA was prepared for how impersonal daycare can seem.

The second place was located in a neighborhood and the infants were in their own building.  They had three rooms for different play areas - one room was for babies that could sit up and move around a bit, another had a table with highchairs for eating, and a final room had swings for naps, and tummy time mats for the littlest babies.  All the rooms were connected with 1/2 walls and there was a crib room in the back that was a little darker and quieter than the other play areas. 

The third place I almost didn't tour because we walked in the front door and there was a sign at the front desk that said "Peanut-Free Zone."  I thought, Well we can't go here!   If they don't want the little Peanut, then we don't want them!  Joking aside, it felt like a baby assembly line.  It was the least expensive option and I'm sure it was fine, the babies looked happy, but it just didn't feel homey or warm.  It felt institutional, with florescent lighting and the babies all lined up to eat. 

So we are going with the second school and I'm very happy about it.  I think Peanut will be safe there and I think she'll be loved.  It's the best I could possibly feel about giving my baby over to a stranger for the day.