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Ryan had another discovery day today at Chesterbrook. I took the day off of work so that I could go in with him and meet his "teachers" and spend a little time there with him. I am so glad that I did. I have been freaking out about daycare for the past couple of weeks. All along I thought I was okay with it but recently I have been panicking. I kept thinking that we made the wrong decision, why didn't we look for someone to come over to watch Ry instead of taking him to a day care. I was completely stressed and ready to pull a 180 and change the course of things completely.

Well, I am so glad that I had today to go in and check things out. I had certainly been to Chesterbrook before, a couple of times, and had even brought Ryan there before when he was less than 8 weeks old. Daycare still seemed so far away. I had met the principal and had much correspondence with her even before Ryan was born. But as the time got closer to him having to go there twice a week, well I started looking at it so differently.

I am always amazed at how mellow the infant room is. There are 7 babies there and you would think it would just be mayhem. But the teachers have everything so under control. And you wonder how any of the babies get any sleep, but they do! There were 3 babies in their cribs sleeping soundly. Ryan even slept today in his crib! There was certainly no power napping going on, but last week at his first discovery day he did not sleep at all. Today he took 2 naps, one 45 minute and one 30 minute. When we first got there I stayed for a while to play with Ry as he took in his surroundings. I put him on his tummy on the boppy pillow and he was completely content on it, using his core to lift himself up as he was mesmorized by all of the other babies playing. The teachers were all remarking how strong he was and good on his tummy. He was so distracted by the other kids that he didn't even realize he was on his tummy!! It was very satisfying to see him taking it all in and I really like that he is able to see something other than the 4 walls of our house a couple of days per week. I was there long enough to see a lot of parents picking up and dropping off their children of all different ages, a lot of siblings, and a sense of community where everyone seems to know eachother. The very best thing about today was that when I went to pick him up he was so happy to see me! He was all smiles which reassured me that he wasn't holding a grudge for "abandoning" him for a few hours (as though he would be capable...).

The teachers seem patient and attentive and I look forward to getting to know them better. For them it is all routine and they make it look so easy. I am sure they have their moments when every baby needs something, but each time I have been there every baby seems content. I really like the principal as well, and her 6 month old daughter is also in the infant program which I LOVE. If her daughter is there I know she is keeping close tabs on it! We are still making great efforts to keep Ryan from lying flat on the back of his head and I certainly hope they will do the same. That, in addition to all of the daycare germs are the things that I still worry about. But overall I am comfortable with our childcare decision. And nothing is permanent. If it ends up not working out for some reason in the long run, we have other options. Time will tell, but for now I can find something else to lose sleep over (there WILL be something....)