Drop-off is still the hardest. As soon as we pull into the parking lot, Mason starts crying. Some days it's worse than crying - more like screaming - but other days, it's this horrible, pitiful little cry that tugs at my heart like he's saying "Mommy, how can you stand to be away from me all day?"
*Sigh* I realize that my thought processes are probably a little deeper than my 17 month old's, but I feel such tremendous Mommy guilt, and seriously, if you could see how different he is, you would scold me for leaving him there too. He's not the same happy kid that he was during the summer, and it kills me. He's spent most of his evenings the last two weeks crying and fussing, no matter what we do to console him. I'm sure he's tired, but I feel like a small part of him is mad at me, and he wants to make sure I know it.
I'll probably sound totally contradictory, but I do have to say that I LOVE our daycare. If we're going to have to do this, we definitely picked the right place. They love on him and cuddle him, and it does my heart good to know that they are taking good care of him. They also don't mind at all if I call once...or ten times a day...to check on him.
Pick up is the best in that I get to cuddle with him, but as soon as he sees me he starts crying, no matter what he was doing or how happy he was only seconds earlier. I've been told that he's playing me, and I'm sure there's truth to that, but I still think there's a part of him that wants me to know he's sad.
Now that I've bummed myself out, I'll try to lighten the mood a bit.
The other night, after I gave Mason his bath, we were sitting in the bathroom brushing his teeth...or at least attempting to. It turned into somewhat of a battle when he decided he was done, and I decided he wasn't. I was holding onto the handle of the toothbrush trying to finish up, and he grabbed the head of the brush and absolutely shocked me by breaking the head right off. I totally couldn't believe he was able to do that, but I got a picture as proof.
Every morning before we leave for school, we sit on the couch while Mason drinks his sippy cup of milk and eats a few Cheerios. Most of the time when he finishes, he throws his cup on the floor and refuses anymore Cheerios, but one morning this week, I went into the kitchen to find this:
In case you're wondering, I totally didn't put his cup and Cheerios on the counter - he did it all by himself! I couldn't believe it when I walked in the room!
Another day this week, I was washing dishes and he was playing in the kitchen with me. I asked him to go get his bottle from the night before that was laying in the hallway floor for some reason. Without hesitation, he walked right to the hall and got it, and brought it right to me! I just couldn't believe that he understood exactly what I wanted, and he actually did it!
As long as I'm bragging about my kid - he's really getting down the body parts now. He knows ears, nose, lips, and belly button. And tonight we found out that he knows that a horse says "neigh!" Until today, EVERYTHING with 4 legs barked, so we were very excited that he knew another animal!
And I guess that's where that tiny pinprick of a light at the end of the tunnel comes back into play - after just two weeks, I can tell that he's learned a lot. I just have to keep reminding myself how smart he's going to be after all that time in daycare!
