Daycare, and other Bridie updates
I want to write a long reflective post about how I feel on returning to work and leaving my child in someone else's care, but bedtime is in 20 minutes, so. Short version: conflicted, getting used to it.
Bridie seems to quite like it - she's just starting to be interested in other babies. Also they have lots of toys which she doesn't have at home, so she barely notices when I leave. Apparently with babies who experience daycare before the separation anxiety period starts, they tend to go through it later and faster.
When we had our first visit before Christmas I thought 'she's way too young for this', but now she's so much more advanced - socially, physically, physiologically. She can sit almost by herself now - very cool watching her adjust her balance to stay upright. When lying on her front, she gets her knees under her bum and lifts it, but hasn't figured out how to move her legs. She can grab things with both hands, transfer across the midline (one hand to the other), and generally has more purpose: not just grab and wave aimlessly about, but grab and nom, or grab and shake, or grab and bang. Did I mention she loves banging? She LOVES banging. Favourite toys currently: set of stackable cups in different sizes and colours; and rainbow coloured slinky (ends taped down so she can't poke herself). Tearing paper is also still a big hit.
Intervals between feeds are finally stretching out. She prefers one boob at frequent intervals to two boobs at longer intervals, which makes sense given the changing nature of the milk (more fat in later milk) - wonder if two boobs per feed as the norm is another 'breastfeeding must be like bottlefeeding' thing? Still can't get much with the pump, so thank goodness daycare is on campus and happy to ring me when she looks hungry. (I am in awe of women who express fulltime - THAT is dedication to breastmilk. Twice as much work!)
She's started tasting a few solids. We're mostly doing the spoonfeed thing because I can't figure out how baby-led solids goes with 'introduce one thing at a time, three days apart and watch for reactions'. But once she's had most of the things we eat we'll be doing it a bit more baby-led. (I must get the ABA booklet on introducing solids.) She likes banana, though sometimes she likes eating it and sometimes she just likes mashing it into gloop.
She is into the babbling stage of vocalising: ababababavawagaga is typical. Though written it sounds more distinct... Still also lots of vowel-only noises, and exploring the ends of her range (high and low pitches).
D is teaching himself Gaelic, and likes to talk Gaelic to her. So far she doesn't seem to distinguish between being talked at in Gaelic and being talked at in English... Many of the daycare workers are from other countries, and some of them have quite strong accents of various origins, so it will be interesting to see if she picks up any linguistic quirks. Doubt it though, her brain's language module should be able to sort through the differences and work out the correct pronunciation. I think it's cool that she'll be exposed really early on to the differences in how people speak. Lots of the other kids are from non-Anglo backgrounds too, so they celebrate many different religious festivals (not just Christmas & Easter) and have different foods and stuff. All the multicultural good Stuff that White People Like - I know I'm a stereotype, but seriously, I think it's cool that she's not going to have an all-white background.
We seem to have picked up the first daycare cold (one week in!) She spent the weekend snuffly, at one stage not able to feed properly, which was quite distressing for both of us. Now she and I are both hoarse :( Let's hope it's over quickly. We were supposed to start swimming 'lessons' with mums group last Sat, but I didn't take her due to the cold.
And it's bedtime. B is nomming D's shoulder. So cute.
Bridie seems to quite like it - she's just starting to be interested in other babies. Also they have lots of toys which she doesn't have at home, so she barely notices when I leave. Apparently with babies who experience daycare before the separation anxiety period starts, they tend to go through it later and faster.
When we had our first visit before Christmas I thought 'she's way too young for this', but now she's so much more advanced - socially, physically, physiologically. She can sit almost by herself now - very cool watching her adjust her balance to stay upright. When lying on her front, she gets her knees under her bum and lifts it, but hasn't figured out how to move her legs. She can grab things with both hands, transfer across the midline (one hand to the other), and generally has more purpose: not just grab and wave aimlessly about, but grab and nom, or grab and shake, or grab and bang. Did I mention she loves banging? She LOVES banging. Favourite toys currently: set of stackable cups in different sizes and colours; and rainbow coloured slinky (ends taped down so she can't poke herself). Tearing paper is also still a big hit.
Intervals between feeds are finally stretching out. She prefers one boob at frequent intervals to two boobs at longer intervals, which makes sense given the changing nature of the milk (more fat in later milk) - wonder if two boobs per feed as the norm is another 'breastfeeding must be like bottlefeeding' thing? Still can't get much with the pump, so thank goodness daycare is on campus and happy to ring me when she looks hungry. (I am in awe of women who express fulltime - THAT is dedication to breastmilk. Twice as much work!)
She's started tasting a few solids. We're mostly doing the spoonfeed thing because I can't figure out how baby-led solids goes with 'introduce one thing at a time, three days apart and watch for reactions'. But once she's had most of the things we eat we'll be doing it a bit more baby-led. (I must get the ABA booklet on introducing solids.) She likes banana, though sometimes she likes eating it and sometimes she just likes mashing it into gloop.
She is into the babbling stage of vocalising: ababababavawagaga is typical. Though written it sounds more distinct... Still also lots of vowel-only noises, and exploring the ends of her range (high and low pitches).
D is teaching himself Gaelic, and likes to talk Gaelic to her. So far she doesn't seem to distinguish between being talked at in Gaelic and being talked at in English... Many of the daycare workers are from other countries, and some of them have quite strong accents of various origins, so it will be interesting to see if she picks up any linguistic quirks. Doubt it though, her brain's language module should be able to sort through the differences and work out the correct pronunciation. I think it's cool that she'll be exposed really early on to the differences in how people speak. Lots of the other kids are from non-Anglo backgrounds too, so they celebrate many different religious festivals (not just Christmas & Easter) and have different foods and stuff. All the multicultural good Stuff that White People Like - I know I'm a stereotype, but seriously, I think it's cool that she's not going to have an all-white background.
We seem to have picked up the first daycare cold (one week in!) She spent the weekend snuffly, at one stage not able to feed properly, which was quite distressing for both of us. Now she and I are both hoarse :( Let's hope it's over quickly. We were supposed to start swimming 'lessons' with mums group last Sat, but I didn't take her due to the cold.
And it's bedtime. B is nomming D's shoulder. So cute.