Yesterday Morning

When Evie Sue goes off to college I am sure I will be proud, and I hope on that day I look back and remember yesterday fondly.  Yesterday was Evie Sue's 1st full day of daycare.  Sara started a full time job with semi-regular hours, and we have signed up our little Button for childcare.  This is a big step for us.  No longer will she be home all day every day with one of her parents.  No longer will her main social outlet be playing peekaboo with Mommy, and watching Signing Times with Daddy.  She will meet, and play with other children.  She will interact and rely on other adults when she has a need, or is upset.  She will spend most of her weekday hours away from the two people who love her most. 

Now I know to some this may not seem like that big a deal.  There are families who are able to put their kids in daycare a few months after the birth.  There are families with multiple siblings in daycare.  We were not that family.  Sara was able to stay home with the baby for over a year while I worked and tried to support the family as best I could.  Now, with Button getting older, finances getting tighter, and time marching on it was time for a change.  An opportunity came Sara's way and she could not pass it up. 

So now we are both working full-time jobs, with semi-irregular hours and trusting our amazing little one into the care of others during the day.  This is not easy.  Sara would tell you that she was the one having the hardest time adjusting to the idea, and she'd be right but I, too, have anxiety about this latest turn of events.  It was easier for me to drive up to the north side of Baltimore everyday and work that far away knowing that my daughter was home with one of the two people in the world that loves her the most.  Now she spends her days with people who we call Ms. This and Miss That.  People who don't know Evie Sue as well as we do, or know her cries like we do, or how to make her giggle like we do.  Will they take care of her they way they should?

Of course they will, silly.  That's their job!.  I'm sure that they have helped watch hundred, thousand and/or millions of children over the years and know what they are doing.  Evie Sue, to her credit has hit the ground running.  She doesn't seem to have a problem staying at the center, has made the rounds in her curiosity and seems to be very popular with the staff.  She will be fine.  Everyone seems to love her... just not like her mother and I.
 

It Walks Among Us!

Evie Sue with her VD balloon.

My daughter, that is!  Evie Sue is a walker!  A few weeks ago Grandma Linda came into town and suddenly Evie Sue's few scatter steps turned into full on walking.  She walks down the hall, through the kitchen, up the hall, around the living room, to the front door and back again.  She's so proud of herself and get's super excited when you chase her.  I see this turning into an issue out in public but for right now it's just fun.

Evie Sue is over 14 months now, and next week will start daycare 4 or 5 days a week so Sara can go back to work.  This is a big transition for us.  Both parents will be working full-time jobs, and the baby will be spending time in a new environment, hopefully, having fun and socializing with other young ones.  It's exciting and scary all at the same time.  I'm not sure how it wall play out but I am sure of one thing; childcare is EXPENSIVE!  We'll be spending more a month on the daycare than on our rent.  In what kind of world does that makes sense?

Pancake Dinner

In other news, Evie Sue and I attended the Annual Sue Cobb Memorial Scholarship Pancake Dinner this past Fat Tuesday with Grandpa, Reb, and Savannah.  The dinner is one way in which my Mom's church helps raise money to give to female students in need.  We ate some pancakes, socialized with acquaintances and chased the baby all around the room.  (Did I mention she's walking.)  It is always strange yet wonderful to be in a room with so many people who want to tell me about how wonderful my Mother was.  Sue Cobb's granddaughter was the bell of the ball!