Davis Family Update

Daycare Details

Sophia has been in her new daycare for about 2 weeks now and has had a very smooth transition. The first day I dropped her off, I was nervous that she would be upset about the new people and surroundings. Within minutes, she was crawling around and checking out all the kids. The minute I put her down on the floor, a bunch of little people came over to investigate. They all pointed at this new arrival shouting "Baby, baby!". One child immediately called her by name..."Fia". I stayed with her that first day for about 45 minutes (which was probably longer than actually needed) and when I left the room, she didn't even notice.

She was able to sleep on her mat that first day for 1 1/2 hours! Since then it has usually been about 1 hour. I would like more, but this is much better than expected.

Each day when I pick her up, we get a daily progress report. I have begun to look forward to these reports each evening. Here is a sample of what is on them...

Language Arts

We read Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg
Can you say "Fall"?

Cognitive Development

We found Mickey Mouse on the ceiling (It was Mickey's birthday that day and they have alot of drawings on the ceiling to look at)
Which cubby is yours?
We put puzzles together
We pointed to our eyes, ears, and nose

Music/Movement

We listened to our Disney CD
We played with our musical instruments
We sang Happy Birthday to Mickey Mouse
We marched around the room to music

Creative Arts

We colored with Fall colored markers
We colored with chalk on black paper
We painted with pink, purple and red - the color of flowers.

Motor Skills

Climbing on our climber was fun.
We climbed in and out of the tents.
We practiced walking on the balance beam.
We practiced eating with a spoon.

Social Science

We played with stuffed animals.
We helped hand out snacks to our friends.
We felt how sticky tape is.
Where do we sit for lunch and snack?

Nature Studies

We explored flowers.
We looked at Ms. Annie's hermit crab.
We found out what the weather was outside.
We practiced making animal sounds.

Self-help/Life Skills (My favorite one!)

We practiced pulling our pants up after our diapers were changed.
We fed ourselves our lunch.
Who's in the mirror?
We practiced washing our hands.

In addition to these notes, we also get a personal note about what Sophia enjoyed each day:

"Sophia had a wonderful first day. She is a great child and we are excited to have her in our classroom!"

"Sophia loved watching the hermit crab crawl on the table!"

"Sophia liked climbing in and out of the tents. She also liked the musical instruments."

"Sophia loved swinging in the swing outside. She also liked singing at circle time."

I am really glad we moved her.

Daycare Improvements

An update on Sophie's daycare situation...about 1 month ago Sophie's lead teacher retired. I figured that things would continue to spiral downward after her departure. Luckily, a few weeks after she left they hired a new woman who is very interactive with the children and seems to have a lot more patience. The room looks cleaner - no more kids eating Cheerios off the floor. The kids seem more content - no kids stuck behind a gate crying. Every morning I come in the little ones are on the floor hovering around a bit container of toys. The lead teacher and the assistant teacher are usually down on the floor with them playing. Big sigh of relief...

HOWEVER, while the mornings were going quite well, the afternoons were now a problem. They hired a new, very young, very inexperienced girl to handle the afternoon shift. For about 2-3 hours of her shift, she was by herself. When I came to pick Sophia up, I would be told that she was very bossy that day (taking toys out of the other kids' hands - she's 10 months old - what does she expect?!). Sophia had bad diaper rash a few times and her diaper was never securely attached. I was getting very unpleased.

Well, the afternoons are now going better too. They moved the young girl to another classroom and hired a new young mom who is very nice and seems very patient. She takes the time at the end of the day to tell me how Sophia's day went - unlike the other girl who was rushing me out the door and closing the lights behind me.

So for now, all is well. Sophia is still scheduled to switch schools though starting in December.

Daycare Update

Good News: Yesterday I dropped off our deposit and application to Sophia's new daycare.
Bad News: She cannot start there until December in their Pre-Toddler room.

Her current daycare situation got worse two weeks ago when we found out the lead teacher was retiring. Next week starts the first week without her which I expect will not go smoothly since the room is now being run by a few young girls. They seemed to be understaffed before she left so I am concerned about the number (and quality) of teachers that will be taking care of the children. I plan to be a royal pain the ass to make sure that enough help is available and that a new lead teacher is on the way. I also am keeping my fingers crossed that someone pulls their child out of the other daycare's infant room so we can move sooner than December!

I am very excited about the new school. What a difference! When I dropped off the application yesterday, the director was very attentive to Sophia and Sophia immediately smiled at her and allowed her to hold her. The atmosphere is very warm and creative there. The teachers are very interactive and have a lot of fun lesson plans to do with the children. Each month's lessons are based on a theme such as A Day at the Circus, etc. They also celebrate various "holidays" throughout the month like Ice Cream Day, etc. There is a higher attention to cleanliness which makes me very happy. They have a Parent-Teacher Organization which sponsors various events for everyone to meet each other and socialize. They have a Grandparents Day each year so the grandparents can come and see the children's school and friends. It really seems like it will be a good place for her.

I am hoping that in her new school I will not be teary-eyed every time I drop her off in the morning. One of my friends at work told me, however, that those feelings never go away. His "little girl" just went off to college and he and his wife were teary-eyed too.

Daycare Thoughts Confirmed

I spoke with the head teacher this morning while dropping Sophia off. I told her that the night before while picking Sophia up I found that one of her pacifiers was on the floor by her crib. The other pacifier was on the rug near where she was playing with the girl who was watching her. While I was there the girl took the pacifier off the rug and put it back in Sophia's mouth! The head teacher was not pleased. After talking further she told me that the classroom has been way too crowded - up to 18 children at one point - and that they are expecting her to follow a curriculum which she has told them is ridiculous given the class size. It takes her and the two other women there all day to feed, diaper, and keep an eye on all the children leaving no time for structured activities. Just awaiting a phone call from the new daycare facility telling me a spot has opened up, and we are outta there!

Daycare Comparisons

Today Sophia and I took a tour of another daycare facility. This is the second one we have compared to her current school. While I was having some doubts about things at her current daycare, these visits  have made me realize that I was right to feel the way I did. Each of the other places I visited have separate sleeping areas in the room. The Goddard School, today, even keeps the lights down in that area at all times and plays ocean sounds. The rooms were double and triple the size of her current room. The changing area was on the opposite side of the room from the food prep area - not right next to it. The children seem to have many more structured activities - playing with bubbles, reading books, rolling balls across the floor, creating arts and crafts. Now I just need to decide whether to wait until December to get her into the newer facility or to wait until the end of the summer for the Goddard School to have an opening. Either way, I think it will be a good change for Sophie and will hopefully allow her to get some more rest and not get sick as often.

The Perils of Daycare

Sophia is sick with her 2nd cold! She is sounding quite congested and had a rough time at her grandparents' house during Passover (Passover pics available in the Photo Albums section to the left). Last night she awoke at 4AM and 4:30AM at which time, I put her in her swing to help her breathing. That seemed to do the trick and she slept until 7AM. Let's hope this cold doesn't last almost 3 weeks like the 1st one did.

On a positive note...

Jesse and her cage were nice and clean yesterday. :)

First Day at Daycare

Yesterday was Mom's first day back to work and Sophie's first day of daycare. The most severely affected member of the family...Jesse.

The morning schedule went totally according to plan. Mom woke up at 5:15 and breastfed Sophie, changed her diaper, put on her clothes for the day, and put her back to sleep. Mom took a shower and got dressed. Mom woke Sophie for a second feeding. Unfortunately, Sophie was too tired to comply with that part. Dad got the bottles and car ready while Sophie quietly waited in her bouncy chair. Dad placed Sophie in her carseat and she proceeded to smile! This NEVER happens. Mom kissed her sweet child good-bye without crying, but did have a quick tearful moment while pulling out of the development. The radio was promptly turned on to get her mind off of the event. Dad dropped Sophie off and hung out for 1/2 hour to get her settled.

The daycare staff told us she did surprisingly well for her first day. She drank all her bottles and took two good naps. She was asleep in the swing when Mom went to pick her up.

However, Jesse did not fair so well. She crapped in and outside (not sure how) of her cage and got it all over herself. She and her bedding required a bath which Brad (thank you, thank you!) provided. Hope she fairs better today, poor thing!

The Day is Approaching!

Sophie and I visited the daycare center this afternoon to meet the women in the baby room and find out what we need to bring. Sophie's first day will be Feb. 15th. It was very strange seeing 12 babies sitting around the room, some crawling, some lying face down in big pillows, one screaming to be fed. Sophie will be the youngest member of the group at 2.5 months. The next youngest is 5 months. It will definitely be sad when the day approaches. We have decided that Brad will drop her off in the AM and I will pick her up since I think it will be too emotional for me to leave her there. Fortunately, for the first few months she will only be there 3 days a week and I will be home with her the other 4 days of the week. We will see how long we can keep that schedule up but I would like to try to do it for at least 3 months.

It did make me feel better to know that the women never leave the babies in their cribs when they are awake. Once they are up from their naps, they are always being held, fed, or playing on the floor. They do have a swing there for Sophie to sleep in since she is still not able to sleep in her bassinet or crib. Perhaps the staff will have better luck getting her acclimated to the concept of stationary sleeping!

We'll keep you posted on how things go...