daycare.

Today, I got up at the break of dawn and prepared for the big day: Owen went to daycare for the first time - by himself, that is. Yesterday I was THAT PATHETIC MOM that took the day off from work and went to daycare WITH the baby. I know, mock amongst yourselves.

Anyway, so I pack up my entire house - I mean, I pack up no less than:

2 complete changes of clothes
1 sweater
3 5oz bottles of expressed milk
1 backup can of formula
1 empty, backup bottle
2 large packages of baby wipes
1 tube of sunscreen
8 jars of babyfood
1 box of rice cereal
2 pacifiers (daycare directive: MUST BRING BACKUP PACIFIER)
10 diapers
1 bag to put the dirty diapers in
1 package diaper liners
baby spoon, plastic containers and a sippy cup

So, I have all of the above organized, labeled and packed neatly into a paper shopping bag with handles - like a large Macy's shopper or a Bloomingdale's "big brown bag". I get up, double check I have everything, pack up the breast pump, my lunch, get ready for work, put the baby in the carseat, and go. And I shockingly arrive a few minutes before the daycare even opens. So far, so good. day one off to a good start. Owen and I shared a few sweet minutes of pre-daycare bonding in the backseat of the car.

I pick up the baby, and the big paper shopper and walk up the driveway of Ms. debbie's house. And the bottom of the bag busts open, depositing the entire contents all over Ms. debbie's driveway. Awesome. In a panic, I put the baby down and start chasing after the bottles, jars of babyfood and every other damn thing that are rolling down her driveway into the street. Owen, who now can sit up for ages and ages without a hitch, decided that this morning? he didn't know how to sit up. So he toppled over and bonked his head. And that is how I was introduced to two of the other mom's that use my daycare, frantically trying to grab all my crap before it rolled into the street/got covered in dirt while my kid was splayed out screaming in the driveway.

It was awesome.

I finally got him and all his belongings scooped up and safely deposited in ms. debbie's basement, where the sheer wonder of every piece of plastic ever manufactured by Fisher Price in China distracted him from his crying and when I left he was drooling enthusiastically on ms. debbie herself. When Andy picked him up at the end of the day he got an A+ for adjustment. Apparently he ate, napped and eliminated on schedule, which is all you can really ask of a baby.

I, of course, was miserable all day. But I suppose this is just the first in a long line of times that I'll have to let the kid go. I understand that. In fact, I'm already working to help enhance his college application:





I think the admissions officers will be impressed, don't you? Hopefully by that time I'll be able to restrain myself from attending college for a day before letting him go himself.