A Dandy Day?!

So, that's what the WTHI (local news station) app said when I checked the local weather on my phone today.

I was hoping this would be a good omen since this was the first day back to work for me, first day back to daycare for Natalie, and first day in daycare for Aubrey. Let's just say the weather was "A Dandy Day!" but not our day in general.

I ended up getting up at 7a to get myself ready, so then I could get Aubrey awake, ready, and fed; then pump; then get Natalie up and fed breakfast; and out the door by 8:45a. My 1st patient wasn't scheduled until 9:30a, so I knew I had plenty of time but I just wanted to make sure I could spend as much time as I needed to at the daycare while dropping the girls off.  We ended up pulling out of the garage by 8:52a.

All ready for their first day!

Aubrey actually slept most of the night, only getting up around 4a to eat and then I had to wake her up to feed her and get rolling...my talk with her yesterday must have really worked...haha!  I also had to wake up Natalie, which wasn't surprising considering she once again decided to scream and cry and whine in her crib until we took her out. I have NO clue why she is doing this lately, but it's getting really annoying. We try to let her cry it out, but that doesn't seem to work. The past 2 nights I have been able to get her relaxed enough by rocking her, shushing her, rubbing/patting her back until finally she will take some milk and lay down and sleep. Once we get past that hurdle, it is usually smooth sailing the rest of the night. I think part of it is because she is cutting teeth. I gave her some Tylenol tonight, so I hope that helps, or maybe the lack of nap (only 40 minutes) will help.

My day at work went pretty well even with a little computer glitch that was quickly resolved. I only had 1 patient for VNA and then went to my "PRN" job for "orientation." It really wasn't orientation since the manager had called me yesterday afternoon to ask how long I could stay because they had 1 re-eval and 2 new evals to be done. I was a little hesitant, explaining to her I have had no training at their facility and have never used their computer system. However, it actually went pretty smoothly and I enjoyed it. For my last patient, she had actually left the building to go home, so I was on my own on day 1...eek!  I ended up being there for a little over 4 hours, but it flew by.

I didn't take my pump with me to Legacy, and really it wouldn't have mattered because I didn't have time anyways, but I was hurting a little bit by the end of my day so I decided I would run home to pump before getting the girls.  I ended up picking the girls up by 4, so it was a long day for them...9a until 4p.

They are actually in a new building than where Natalie was previously because they converted the garage into the baby/toddler area. It looks really nice, but I don't know if it fit Natalie too well...I guess time will tell. Natalie was also with a new lady they hired, so it was a lot of "newness" all at one time!  I shouldn't have said bye when I dropped her off because she was having fun playing with toys until I said that...then the separation anxiety hit.

When I picked them up and got the daily report from Sarah, she said that Aubrey cried all morning (imagine that), but during the afternoon she chilled out. She was sitting in the bouncy seat when I got there and seemed quite relaxed. When I asked about Natalie, she said she was learning how to pick up her toys. We may not do the best job with her about picking up toys because we mostly pick them up, but really...she's just 18 months. Sarah did say, however, that it is a skill for toddlers at this age to dump out toys. Then, I asked the dreaded question, "Did Natalie hit today?" and to my demise, I got the answer of 'yes.'  :(  I was afraid of that happening because Natalie had just done this to her sister and me last night. Sarah did say the other kid did not cry or get upset and she told Natalie 'no' and she never did it again.

Sarah also said neither girl slept well, Natalie only took a 40 minute nap because she was woken up by the other babies crying...big surprise. Who doesn't wake up when they hear babies crying right next to them! At least when she was in the house, there were 2 separate rooms for the younger kids to nap in which was much more quite!  Granted, they woke each other up at times, but Natalie slept much better than.  Therefore, I had a very cranky toddler this afternoon/evening.

So, it was not the best report I have gotten by far from daycare because usually I get great remarks about Natalie. Sarah did seem overwhelmed to me because she was in the baby/toddler cottage by herself with 3 infants and 2 toddlers. I know from first hand experience from my recent church volunteering that that is too many small children per 1 person no matter how experienced you may be.

I told Bobby about the girls' day and he really does not want them at the daycare especially if Sarah gets no help and is alone with all 5 very young children, which I have to agree. He said he would rather me quit my job, but I'm hoping that this is just an adjustment period and things get ironed out...let's hope!

I am exhausted after today with work, picking up the girls, going to the grocery store, cooking dinner, cleaning up dinner, putting the girls to bed, and even got my Couch to 5K run in!

Oh yes...that reminds me, while feeding Aubrey this evening in the living room while Bobby was mowing our weeds...haha...Natalie decided she would take her diaper off like a pair of pants. So, because Aubrey would get mad if I took her off to take care of Natalie, I decided I would just lock Natalie, Aubrey and I in the bathroom just in case Natalie peed, it would be on the tile and not on the carpet. She would only sit on her potty chair for very brief moments and luckily had no accident, but talk about adding one more thing to my list for the night...

Please pray that the rest of the week goes better for the girls at daycare...I really want it to work out for them, but I guess if it doesn't, we'll be looking for an alternative very soon!