Maybe the Teachers at Sibley Need a Crash Course in Using the Slingee for Naptime

Well, Baby Brigid has had a week at SUNY Plattsburgh's Child Care Center and has lived to tell about it. With the exception of the biting incident from Monday, she's had no ill or adverse affects from being there; in fact, she has seemed to blossom by being there. She's happy to go, excited at the prospect of seeing "Sally Bubbles" -- our friend and the center's director, Sally, who blows bubbles for her. She likes Jen, her teacher, and seems to enjoy being around the other kids. There's plenty to do, and they take the kids out for walks around the center to visit other classrooms and see other parts of the building.

Their only problem, and it's one we expected, is getting her to take a nap in any meaningful way. We've struggled with that for months, with Jack giving her her naps via slingee or me getting her to nap via nursing. The staff folks have rocked her to sleep, but transfer to the cot has been impossible. I don't know if Brigid, being a creature of habit, will eventually adapt to the new regimen, but she's a stubborn creature of habit and may hold tightly to her aversion to going down willingly.

She's been tired at night, but not overtly so. I've been able to get her to bed at early hours this week, but not too early. The proof in how well she's adapted to child care will be on Monday, after being away for a weekend. If she's just as happy to go back on Monday as she has been all this week, then I think she's adjusted easily and happily; if she suddenly realizes, "Hey, this isn't temporary; they're bringing me here every day" and revolts, then we'll have a true problem. I'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

When I went to pick her up yesterday, I got there just as the kids were having their snack -- crackers and cheese -- and she was strapped into her little seat at the table along with most of the other kids. Three or four of them are in mini-high chairs. She saw me and tried to stand up but the strap kept the seat stuck to her. They let her go and she ran to me, "Mommy! Mommy!" and went immediately to get her suit, put it on the floor and sat on it so I could get her into it. I asked if she wouldn't like to have her snack before we left, and she was happy to go back over, in her snowsuit, and sit and eat crackers and cheese. But when she was done, she was ready to leave and happily said buh-bye to everyone as we went out the door. Her drop-offs and pick-ups have been happy, not too emotional or overly exuberant. It makes my heart jump to see her so happy there.

Margaret has a big English-Social Studies project she's working on where she'll study and assume the identity of a Revolutionary War era blacksmith. She's going to get some of Jack's farrier tools and apron from the lake this weekend to use. Meanwhile, Patricia is busy doing a huge project for Global Village where she's studying Nigeria. Both girls will be involved in a combined district-wide choral concert at the beginning of April. And then the chorus activity calms down. Can't believe it will be April next week. The time is flying by.

Spring Hopes Eternal...Brigid has Easter and The First Day of Day Care

I've only just recently crawled out of the dark flu-clouded recesses of my brain in order to function in the light again. Don't know if it was a true flu, but I had fever, joint aches and pains and that fever headache, eye pain you get with a fever, since last Tuesday. Whatever it was has now moved into my head and chest, but the fever is gone, so at least I'm able to function a little more efficiently.

Before the flu hit, we had Brigid's birthday dinner on Saturday the 15th with Granddad, Grandma and Uncle John. She enjoyed being the birthday girl again and received some wonderful gifts, many of which Uncle John helped assemble.

In that time, we've had Easter and Brigid's first day at Sibley Child Care Center. Easter was harried because I was making dinner but it was fun. The girls got up Easter morning and found their baskets and found their eggs. Brigid really enjoyed carrying her basket around and finding her eggs. She paused every now and then to take a bite out of a Peep. Because Easter came so early in the year, we had no real Easter finery to don for church, but I managed to get Brigid in a pretty dress nonetheless. Easter mass was a bit dicey -- Brigid wasn't in the best of moods throughout -- but we made it through eventually. Because I was still a little out of it, and had been suffering with massive nosebleeds since the day before (!?) I took a nap and then was rejuvenated enough to get dinner started.
In the middle of everything (including another nosebleed) we got a call from my brother, Chris, who's coming to visit us from Montanna, in April. We're all excited at the prospect of having Uncle Chris come visit. It will be Brigid's first meeting with her mountain man uncle. Can't wait, Chris!

We had Jack's parents, his brother, Matt, and Matt's wife, Kristin, over for Easter dinner. Jack had to work, so he was only home an abbreviated part of the night. But still, it was a nice visit. A few times during the night I told Brigid she would be going to school the next day where she'd be able to play with bubbles. She thought that sounded OK to her. So this morning, I talked that up some more, and she was ready to run out the door without changing from her PJs, she was so excited at the idea.


I did manage to get her dressed, and Jack and I brought her over to Sibley for her first day in the toddler room. She had no anxiety, just ran over to ask where Sally was with the bubbles. Her teacher, Jen, anticipated her bubble fascination and had them filled and ready, which really eased the transition. Brigid showed no sign of apprehension or dread. After chasing bubbles for a few minutes, she was ready to play on the equipment and look at the toys. She said goodbye to us over her shoulder while she stood at the piano. I'll be picking her up soon and we'll see if the report is all good, but for a drop-off, it went better than we could have imagined. And what more could you ask for?

She's Two and a Day

Well, Brigid celebrated her second birthday much like she celebrates every day ... loudly. I picked up some balloons to have in the living room for when she woke up, which had the desired effect. They were the first thing she saw and was very excited by them. She spent much of the day running from balloon to balloon, pumping them and pulling on them. We did get her to call them her "Happy Birthday balloons" but I don't know if she ever made the connection and understood her birthday. Jack took her out for her birthday lunch -- hotdogs and ice cream (or e-eeeem) at Stewart's. She had a great nap and woke up in a great mood after I got home from work. We played and watched a little Madagascar before having to go get Margaret at school. I had to pick up a few things for dinner, so I grabbed a box cake mix and frosting tub and, at 3:15, started a birthday cake for her. It was cool enough prior to dinner to frost. It wasn't pretty; my cakes never are. But she had a cake.

She ate a good dinner of broccoli and hamburger (ate the cheese off it first) and then I brought the cake out with two lit candles on it. We sang, and she seemed a little unsure of the whole thing. In fact, I thought she was going to cry for a second. I took pictures while Jack tried to help her blow out the candles. She gave it a few pfftts and looked a little bewildered. But (with Daddy's help) the candles went out and I gave her a hunk on the tray. She immediately dug in, mostly because she thought the frosting was e-eeem. Chocolate cake and white frosting ... yum. She didn't open gifts because we're having Grandma and Granddad Downs over for supper (and hopefully her Uncle John, too, if he can make it) on Saturday. Auntie Shell can't make it, but we'll get together with her as soon as we can :)

In our house, it's always birthday month, anyway, because nothing ever gets celebrated on the right day. That's OK, because it stretches things out and makes it truly special. I kept saying to Brigid, "You're two! You're two!" and she'd repeat it and play with the balloons. Maybe it was the frosting, maybe it was the excitement of balloons in the house. I'll never know, but she did have an awful night for sleeping. She woke about midnight and wouldn't go back down so I brought her in with us. She was fitful and awake much of the night. She wanted to nurse but was punching and kicking throughout so I just rolled over in the hopes that she'd fall asleep. She did, for a while, then started climbing all over me again. Neither of us got much sleep overall and she wasn't in the best of moods when I left for work this morning. Hopefully, that will improve. The other two girls have a half day of school today, so Brigid will have Margaret and Patricia at home for much of the day. That will make her happy. And a happy Brigid is a happy home.

Both March and Brigid Come in Like a Lion

It's hard to believe that tomorrow is Brigid's second birthday. Two! Where has the time gone? Although she has been in all her two glory the last few weeks, with shrieks and screams and fits of temper that truly reveal her strong will, it pales in comparison to her sweetness and incredible cute disposition, when she's not, in fact, shrieking or screaming or throwing temper tantrums. I was holding her last night as she was nursing, and she stopped and looked up at me. "Hi, Mommy," she said. Then went back to business. It was such a sweet sound at such a sweet moment. I have to say it melted my heart. Where has the time gone?

Speaking of time, it will be Easter in short order -- the earliest since 1905 or something like that, and we'll not see another this early in decades (thank you, Grandma Wright, for sending that brief history on the timing of Easter). Because it came so early this year, it means the kids have a couple days off surrounding the Sunday, but then have their spring break in April. I wish we all lived on an academic calendar, having time off when the kids have time off. But if this crazy winter weather continues, who knows what it will be like come April, let alone Easter. So much for egg hunts and Easter finery. We'll be bundling up in layers and snow boots.

Next week is a vacation of sorts for Jack, who gets the time off from teaching his course at the college since it's the college's spring break. Teaching a college course has been a not-altogether enriching experience for him. In fact, it's been a pain and a whole lot of work for very little compensation. It's a course in newspaper design and is required for the journalism program. He only has 12 students in the class, which is a manageable number considering they have to work on computers and design pages never having done so before. He has a lot of one-on-one work to do. In any case, you'd think 12 students could make it to a 10 a.m. class three days a week. He has an attendance policy that, while strict, puts the onus for passing the class in their own hands -- the expectation of which is that those hands can set an alarm clock. So far, only a couple (out of 12) have made it to every class. Several have missed enough that they will not pass, even if they made it to every class hereon out. Missed classes also spell missed assignments, and in some of their cases, missed exams. He's not hard-hearted: he's cut several a break. In fact, he's cut them several breaks. More than I would, but his philosophy is simple: He just wants the semester to be over with. I hope spring break will give him a chance to breathe. But it's a slippery slope after that -- the semester ends very quickly after spring break.

And then, March 24, Brigid starts her days at Sibley at the child care center. We're pretty excited, and although we haven't taken her over yet to check it out (we hope to this week) we know she's going to love it. It will be good for her to be there, even if on a part-time basis. They have a great program, and it's amazing to see children that age participating in a structured day, knowing what's expected of them, knowing what they're supposed to do at different times of the day. The kids take a lot of pride in their accomplishments and their independence. It should be an interesting transition for her. And for us.

How Come Dorothy Doesn't Realize She Lacked Color When She Walked Out Into Munchkin Land?

I don't know if Brigid's screaming has gotten any better or if we're just getting used to it. She still screams. Oh, she still screams. It just seems a little more pointed as opposed to overall vocalization. She's also had an explosion of verbal communication skills in addition to the non-verbal ones she's perfected. One thing she's started saying that is so darned cute is "sure," as in, "Brigid, do you want a drink?" "Sure." "Do you want to watch a movie?" "Sure." It's adorable. As for her movie viewing, it's become a little more advanced. She still likes the Toy Story movies, which she calls "Doy Dory." Shrek has taken a back seat but we have no fear that he's been totally replaced in her heart. She has also really taken a shine to Elmo in Grouchland, which she calls "Elmo Blanket" because Elmo loses his blanket in Grouchland. One of the highlights (if a Sesame Street movie could have a highlight) is Mandy Patinkin as the villian. He gets to sing a great song and he hams it up as only he can.

One movie she has slowly been getting into is "Wizard of Oz," which she just calls "Oz." Reminds me of when Margaret was a toddler and called it "Boz." Brigid doesn't necessarily like the black and white beginning, although she did get very upset when Miss Gulch forces Dorothy to shove Toto into the basket. "Mean," Brigid said. "Meeeeeennnnn," she says with an emphasis on the EEE sound. But when Dorothy walks out into Munchkin Land and sees the colorful surrounding, Brigid said, "Ooooo, pretty." She doesn't get too much farther in the movie than the poppy field. But we have time. We have time.

We may, in fact, have it today. Had an icey morning and schools were canceled today with classes at the college being delayed by two hours. So of course this morning, the one where everyone can sleep in, Brigid decides 7 a.m. is when she wants to get up. I let Jack sleep in and got up with her. She wanted Elmo Blanket, so we watched Elmo. He's hard to take at any time of the day, but that giggle is pretty rough at 7 a.m. Jack still has class to teach at 10, but because Margaret and Patricia are home, he won't have to rush out to get Brigid to babysitting this morning.

Her drop-off at the YMCA babysitting hasn't been spectacular. She's cried and carried on, which we hope isn't setting us up for difficult drop-offs at Sibley when she starts at the center on the 24th. It will be good for her to be there for a while during the day. She'll be around other kids her own age (the YMCA program isn't just kids her own age. They're all ages). She'll have a set structure each day. And even though Jack gives her structure every day, it's very different when you have to do what you're told by other people. And even though we'll be paying for full-time care, she won't be there full time. She doesn't need to be, and we don't want her to be.

And for those who keep track, we're one week and counting before our Baby B turns two. Where did the time go?