First Day of Day Care

7:45am - Dropped Hailey off. No crying for either of us. She was sleeping soundly, but woke up before I left. Rosie (that's the daycare owner) played with her for a few minutes before I left. It was a little chaotic with all of the kids coming and the parents going, but each kid was greeted with a hug before they start playing. Very warm environment for sure.

10:40am. Just called daycare, and Hailey was screaming. Trying to think positive thoughts as I race over there to feed her. Most positive thought I can think of: She should sleep well tonight!

11:30am - Went to daycare and fed Hailey. She wasn't screaming any more by the time I got there. Actually, Rosie said that she played in the morning with all of the little boys (there are mostly boys at daycare). She loved playing with the boys and with any toy that would light up. So, I fed her and we played for half an hour before I went back to work.

12:45pm - Back at work now. Wolfed down a sandwich on my way back. Hailey was in a good mood when I left daycare. Hopefully, she'll have a good rest of her day.

3:15pm - Daycare called and Hailey is hysterical. Ok, that didn't really happen, but that's my fear every time the phone rings!

4:30pm - Counting the minutes until I can pick her up. Won't be long now!

5:15pm - Hailey just had her first poopie blowout of the day...just one?!?!? I guess she decided to go easy on them.

5:40pm - Back at home again safe and sound. She seems happy, but very very tired. Overall, a positive day of making new friends.

Christmas/New Years

Sorry that it's taken so long to get to a holiday post. We've had quite a number of visitors to the Hamilton household. So, it's been pretty hectic.

Christmas was very fun for Miss Hailey. She really enjoyed opening presents on Christmas morning. In truth, what she really enjoyed was trying to put all of the wrapping paper in her mouth. She's getting really fast in the hand to mouth race.

It took quite a while to open gifts because we had to take a breakfast break midway through. She got so many wonderful toys and new outfits that I've just now gotten everything washed and put away. She's been playing with all of her new toys (even though we said that we were going to put some of them away for later). She's been having lots of fun with all of them, particularly the ones that make some type of annoying noise!

Here are a few pics of the events.

Jeans, Jeans, Jeans

There are certain articles in every woman's wardrobe that are truly sacred - a comfortable bra, a pair of sexy underwear, a beat up college t-shirt, and a spectacularly perfect-fitting pair of jeans. Before I got pregnant, I had two pairs of perfect jeans. Of course, I paid what I would consider an ungodly amount for them. There aren't many articles of clothing that I will splurge on, but I wear jeans day after day for years and years. So, as far as I'm concerned, they're worth a pretty penny and then some.

It wasn't long after I got pregnant that I packed up my perfect jeans along with all of the other clothes that I had been wearing and put them in a box labeled "Alisa's skinny clothes." About a week after I had Hailey, I ventured into the attic to pull out that box. After all, I was skinny again, right? Wrong. It's taken me almost 5 months, but yesterday I finally squeezed myself into one of my perfect pair of jeans (the other pair are a bit smaller!). I wore them to the hockey game last night (where the Sabres clobbered the Predators). I waited all day at work to put those jeans on, and it was great! I'll be wearing them at least for the next three days. Of course, I can't wash them until I lose another pound or so because if they shrink at all, I'll be back to my maternity clothes.

In other news, Hailey made it on the jumbotron at the hockey game last night. She was wearing her Predators outfit with her Buffalo Sabres bib. She has mixed allegiances. What can you do?? She loves to go to the games and stare at the white ice. So, it was a fun time for everyone except the diehard Predator's fans, since the Sabres beat them 7-1. Yikes!

National Blog Recognition

A few months ago, I purchased a book about work and family called Mommy Wars. It's a great book that I highly recommend to any parent because it clearly shows that there are no easy answers when it comes to work and family. Anyway, the woman who edited the book, Leslie Morgan Steiner, has a blog about the subject on the Washington Post website. On Tuesdays, she has guest bloggers. Anyone can write in. So, tomorrow, I will be the guest blogger. Here's the link to the site so please check it out.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/onbalance/

Also, you will note that I created a new blog It's Mommy Time that I've linked to at the end. I really wanted to build that up as a more generic version of my current blog, but I haven't been able to figure out how to move all of the comments and stuff over. So, I'm just going to leave it as is for now.

Cute Baby

Can I appease you with this picture??? 

Lessons in Fatherhood - Part 1

ALWAYS WEAR STAIN-DEFENDER PANTS

On Saturday, Hailey had the privilege of attending her first wedding ceremony and reception. She was dressed in her finest attire - a beautiful pink floral dress, white tights, and a coat. Luke's boss had given her the outfit, and this was the perfect event to show it off. She looked adorable (as you might imagine). Unfortunately, we didn't take any pictures to commemorate the event because we were too busy just trying to get ourselves there on time. We figured that we would take the pictures after the wedding...HA!

Just as the bride and groom were beginning their first dance, Hailey had an explosion - a major explosion. Luckily (for Mommy that is), she was sitting on Daddy's lap. His leg was covered in yuck in a matter of seconds. It was a great example of Mommy/Daddy teamwork. Mommy held poopie baby while Daddy wiped poopie off of his pant leg. I have to say, those Dockers pants are amazing. I know I sound like a Dockers commercial, but a few wipes with a napkin and you couldn't tell at all. It was amazing! Of course, Hailey didn't fair so well. Being the ultra-prepared Mommy that I am, I had brought an extra outfit, and we made a quick change in the bathroom. The dress survived the ordeal after a good bit of scrubbing and two types of stain remover. The adventures in poopiedom never cease.

Lessons in Motherhood - Part 3

It's been a while since Hailey has given me a good lesson in motherhood, but she's clearly been holding out for this whopper...

BEWARE OF POOP IN THE BATH.

Since her birth four months ago, I've given Hailey many baths in her sinktop bath tub, and we never had an incident. Ok, maybe a bit of peepee now and then, but that never hurt anyone. Just this week I started putting her in the big bathtub with me. It gives her more room to kick and splash, and it's easier on my back if I'm in there with her. See where this is going??? Last night, I waited until after she had eaten and pooped to get in the bath with her. It was "perfect timing." Until about 5 minutes into it, I hear a terrible noise. I look down and pray that it was just a bit of gas, but it wasn't. So, now I'm covered in poop, she's covered in poop, and there's poop floating (and sinking) in the water. After some screaming (me, not her), Daddy came to the rescue. The worst part about it was that I used all the hot water filling the tub twice and cleaning it in between. That meant cold shower for Mommy afterward. When did bathing become so complicated???

Daycare Decision

I visited three more daycares in the Franklin area yesterday, and I realized that all of the daycares are just about the same with only one differentiator - the people! All of the daycares separate the children into like ages, have age appropriate toys, change their diapers every hour or so, and send home daily forms with their activities. It's pretty routinized. So, what made me like one place over another was the quality and quantity of interaction that the children were having with the adults in the room, and I didn't really like what I saw anywhere. Basically, in an infant room, there are up to eight infants and two adults. That means that six of the eight infants are sitting somewhere, usually in a swing, exersaucer, crib, or bumbo by themselves while the other two infants are being fed, changed, etc. There aren't really a lot of group activities - singing, reading stories, and the like.

That's why I've decided to go with the in-home daycare that I visited near my office. It was the only place that felt comfortable and natural. Sure, it doesn't have all of the routinized, sanitized feeling as the other places, but that's why I like it. You see, Hailey is a very social child. She loves interacting with adults and especially with other children. She likes flirting with the little boys when Katie, our current sitter, takes her to her Mom's group. She just enjoys activity, noise, and even a little commotion. It's probably a combination of her age and her personality. Everything is fascinating to her right now. That's why I don't think that she is going to respond well to a typical daycare setting where the only interaction is with two adults and a few other little babies her age. At the in-home daycare, she can watch all of the older kids and participate in story time and the singing and other activities. She's going to love to watch them do things that she's not ready for yet, and she's going to learn. In the end, I'm looking for someplace that can keep her more than just "safe" for 8 hours a day. I'm looking for a place where she can be stimulated and learn. I'm hoping that's what this daycare can do for her. Plus, I'll be able to visit her every day at lunch to give her a little extra Mommy snuggle time.

Daycare Dilemma

In January, Hailey will have to start going to daycare 5 days a week. Right now, she stays with a friend of ours 3 days a week and gets to play with an 8 month old. Then, two days a week she stays with me while I work from home. It's been absolutely ideal, but she's getting more mobile now, and it's getting too difficult to juggle her and work. So, let the search for daycare commence.

First, let me just say that I am not a daycare prude. I am 100% open to the idea of putting Hailey into daycare. I think that it's good for her to interact with other children even at a young age. However, I'm not finding any daycares that I like, and what's worse, I'm not even sure I know what I'm looking for.

So far, I've visited three possibilities. All that have openings in January. The first one was a more "institutional" approach with children of like ages separated into rooms with a childcare monitor. I say monitor because I didn't see a whole lot of interaction, particularly with the infants. The second one was a slightly more open layout with kids of like ages separated into sections of one giant room. There was a little more interaction with the caregiver, but it didn't feel very warm, and basically spiraled into contained chaos when the older kids were having free play. The third option is in the lower level of a private home. There are a total of 12 kids, 3-4 infants and a bunch of other kids of various ages. There are only 2 childcare workers (one is the owner), but they are very warm and interactive with the children. The infants were carried and spoken to and played with. It seemed friendlier than either of the other two, but has some obvious drawbacks.

The other issue is do I find a place closer to work, which is much more difficult to find, but would allow me to visit her and even nurse at lunch? Or, do I find a place near home so that Luke can be involved in bringing her to/from the center? I think that I've almost exhausted my options near work, but tomorrow I'm going to visit 2-3 near home. Of the three that I've visited so far, I think that I like the in-home care the best. Any thoughts?

4 Months and We're Rolling

Oh no! We've entered the frightening world of baby mobility. We started rolling over yesterday, but we haven't quite mastered our technique yet, nor do we know what to do once we get all the way over. I'm sure that will come in time. For now, we hope you enjoy this four month old picture. You can see she's getting a bit chubby now. Must be all of Mommy's good milk!

Oops I Dropped It Again

It was so cute and fun when Hailey finally learned how to grab things. Unfortunately, that also meant that she learned to drop things. Drop her plastic keys, drop her rattle, drop her stuffed toy...you get the picture. Luckily, she hasn't realized that if she screams, Mommy will pick it up. I just pick it up out of generosity now. We'll see how long this lasts.

Family Leave

Some of you may have seen the 20/20 report the other night by Elizabeth Vargas on working motherhood in America. One of the most shocking statistic in the report was that only 4 out of 168 countries do not have a national maternity leave program. Those countries are Papua New Guinea, LeSotho, Swaziland and the United States. Yes, our friends in North Korea and Iran offer more support to working moms than our own country. She also interviewed Senator Christopher Dodd who has been a diehard supporter of maternity leave, but has been consistently thwarted by both Democrats and Republicans.

Since I've joined the millions of other working Moms in America, I'd like to contribute my two cents on the issue of government support for families. First, I think that there will never be any government-backed maternity leave until we reframe the issue as "family leave." We have to stop pitting men against women, those with children against those without, working moms against stay-at-home moms, etc.

Believe it or not, paid family leave is really a family value, not a hand out to women who choose to work and have a family. Don't get me wrong, the promise of paid family leave would certainly help working mothers, but it would also help single people adopting children, fathers expecting children, childless people with sick mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, etc.

It's not about giving me a handout because I choose to have kids. It's about deciding as a society that we are going to value family members caring for each other. That we are going to give sons and daughters the flexibility to take care of ailing parents, and foster parents time to adjust to caring for another human being, and fathers a chance to bond with their newborns. It's so vitally important and yet the "family values conservatives" are more worried about gay people marrying than how millions of American families are going to juggle raising kids, taking care of ailing parents, maintaining work responsibilities, and last (and always least), finding time for themelves. How 'bout them family values!

At the very least, I wish that there was a little more informed debate/discussion on the issue. We spend so much time arguing about much less important things. Here's something that affects everyone that we completely ignore.

If you want to read more on the topic you can read Leslie Morgan Steiner's blog on the subject at http://blog.washingtonpost.com/cgi-bin/mt/mtb.cgi/13176

PS: Now that my ranting is done, I will tell you that Hailey Marie will be 4 months old on Sunday! She's giggling, grabbing things, and jumping in her johnny jumper. I can't believe it myself.

Happy Halloween

Hailey's first Halloween was both fun and low key. We didn't go trick or treating, but she did help us answer the door for all of the kids. We went through 6 bags of candy if that gives you any idea of the number of trick or treaters we had. I think that she really enjoyed seeing all of the new faces, even if they were kind of scary! At one point, these younger kids arrived and she let out this loud squeal. I thought that she was upset, but when I looked down at her, she was just overjoyed. It was pretty funny to hear her make all that noise. Here are some pictures that we took to commemorate the event. Luke calls the second picture Countess Droolcula! There are some additional pictures available on the Flickr account http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/.

World Traveler

Hailey is quite the world traveler. In her first three months of life, she's already been to Buffalo, Norfolk, the Outer Banks, and Atlanta. Some people don't travel that much in their entire lives! We've put some new pictures up of her trip to the beach on the flickr account... http://www.flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

Baby Snot

Hailey has her first cold ever. It's not too bad so far, just a lot of snot and congestion. She doesn't seem to bothered by the whole thing, and she doesn't have a fever so I'm really not overly concerned at the moment. The worst part about it is the bulb suction device (otherwise known as the snot sucker). I try to use it as much as possible just so that she can breathe a little easier. Luke used it last night and then started shouting, "Look at this big booger I just pulled out of her nose." In his defense, it is quite amazing when you pull something giant out of there, but I really don't need to see every gross, disgusting mess she makes!

2 Month Doctor Visit

Today was our two month doctor visit. Hailey weighs 10 lbs 1 oz and is 22.25 inches tall. She is in the 25th percentile for weight and the 40th percentile for her height. So, she's a little petite, but the doctor said that she looks like she's right on her proper trajectory. The doctor also marveled at how alert and happy she was for her age group. No surprise there...we all know that she is quite gifted. We also had to get the dreaded 2 month shots! It was three shots in the leg...ouch! Poor thing screamed louder than I've ever heard her scream before, but by the time we got home (which is a 5 minute drive), she was already asleep. She's pretty much been sleeping all day except for the half an hour when she ate. I'm just going to let her sleep off her grumpiness for now. We'll see how she reacts tonight.

New Pictures Available!

There are new pictures posted on our Flickr account. Here is the link... http://flickr.com/photos/lukehamilton/

In other news, Hailey took her first plane ride on Saturday. She was a perfect angel the whole way to Buffalo. Then, she spent the weekend visiting with friends and family. She was quite charming and everyone here was very taken with her adorableness. We are flying back to Nashville today, but she's been a bit fussy. So, wish us luck on the plane ride back!!!

A Mother's Love

When I was an evil teenager, I used to "hate" my mother. Not really hate her because you always love your mother, but in the teen angst years it's sometimes hard to remember that. So, let's just say that she was not among my favorite people in the world. It wasn't anything she did or said. It was more like everything she did and said. It just was the way it was. Probably lots of people can relate to that angry, depressed, angst-ridden type of disgust. I certainly know quite a few people that went through that in their teenage years and some who are going through it right now (but I won't name any names).

Well, I'm here to finally say to my Mom, "I get it." I understand. I appreciate you in a way that I never have before. In a way that I never could before I had my own. It is totally true - there is no love like a mother's love. There's no one that will feel your pain like a mother will, no one that will share your joy the same way, no one that will give up more for you, and subsequently, no one that you can hurt more.

So, if it's any consolation to mothers of all the attitudinally challenged teenagers out there, I'm here to tell you that there is hope. Because one day they'll understand too (if you're lucky and if not, well there's nothing you can do since these feelings don't come with an off switch).

By the way, as I write this heartfelt thought, Hailey is sitting on my lap making really loud poops and spitting up all over herself...now how can that be so adorable!

Back at Work

This is my first full week back at work. It was less heart wrenching than I thought it would be to leave Hailey for a whole day. I think that it's been easier for me because I don't have to worry about the quality of care that she's getting, and I know that I will be home with her on Wednesdays and Fridays. Those two factors have really made all the difference in the world.

I've gotten only positive reports about her behavior at Aunt Katie's house. She takes three bottles and then I nurse her immediately when I get home. Luke's been incredibly supportive and helpful with this arrangement, which is also a weight off my shoulders. All in all, I'd say that the transition has been pretty smooth so far. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that everything continues to work out.

Almost 6 Weeks

I can't believe that Hailey is almost 6 weeks old! Here are some new pics that Grandpa Pete took during his most recent visit. The smiles aren't actually a reaction to anything other than her own gas, but you've got to take what you can get at this point. It probably took me 30 pictures just to catch her with a smile...thank goodness for digital cameras!

Let's see, since my last blog, she's taken a bottle, become enthralled with our ceiling fan, and taken a trip to Cincinnati. Not bad for her first six weeks of life. Today we did a practice run with our sitter, Katie. I have to go back to work on Monday so Hailey will be with Katie on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. I'll be working at home on Wednesdays and Fridays. I'm really hoping that this schedule works out so that I can continue working, especially since we can use the money now more than ever. The worst part about working again is having to worry about taking days off. I'd like to take a few trips while she's still young, but I have so much trouble scheduling vacation. It would be nice to just pick up and leave whenever I want, but I guess we'll have to just figure it out as we go along. The good news is that now that I'm working again, I'll have more time to blog.