The daycare drama

We planned to put Layla in a home daycare until we could get into a regular daycare (which we have been on a wait list for since 6 weeks pregnant). The home daycare needed approval from the city to start Layla, but 2 weeks after we had wanted to start she still hadn't gotten the approval so we started looking for an alternative. We interviewed some nannies, but after a long week we hadn't been able to hire anybody we liked. That was on Monday. On Monday night, the home daycare called to say they had gotten approval and we could start Tuesday. But on Tuesday the assistant couldn't make it, so the plan was to come back Thursday (although I went anyway and had a good morning there). On Tuesday night, we got a VERY unexpected call from one of the daycares in our neighborhood that they had a part-time spot starting in mid-May (when Layla will be 2 months). We were elated and took it immediately. I called the home daycare to rearrange our schedule so they could fill in the rest of the week (which they agreed to) and reconfirm we would start on Thursday. Everything seemed to be working out great.

But the home daycare continued to be a problem. On Thursday the main person at the home daycare was sick, and they called to tell us not to come. On Friday we took Layla and dropped her off, but then got a call 3 hours later to come pick her up because she wasn't taking a nap and they were worried about her. When the Studly Hubby got there to pick her up, he was able to get her to sleep before he even left, and we wondered whether they had really tried very hard. Friday night I called them to find out what had happened and I was told that perhaps this wasn't going to work out - and we agreed; whatever the problem, we hadn't been having much success with this place.

So now we are stuck again, waiting until the other daycare starts and trying to figure out how to balance the part-time daycare we were lucky enough to get with our two full-time jobs. With help from a friend and some flexibility in our jobs we are hoping it will work out. I'm pretty annoyed to be in this situation. Plus now I have a lot of anxiety about our next daycare experience. Hopefully it will be better (I think it will be). It turns out getting childcare in Seattle is as hard as they say it is. Ugh.

Recent Video footage

The movie in the previous post is from the early early days when Layla was SUPER tiny. Nowadays she's a monster. She's over 10 lbs!!

Here is a video of her more advanced fist sucking. She's working on controlling her arms and almost has it down.



Next we discovered she's also learning to punch with her fists. She punched her daddy in the face the other day, punches me in the chest regularly, and is on the road to becoming a champion punch dancer. Unfortunately we're encouraging it.




We also thought we would get a video of Layla first thing in the morning. Like her daddy, she is a little groggy and grumbly but quite entertaining. Watch the video to the very end and make sure you have the sound on.

Some video footage!!

I finally got around to uploading some of the video we've taken over the past 7 weeks.

Here is Layla at 2 days trying to suck on her entire hand. It was very important to her and she put a lot of effort into it as you can tell.



More to come!!

Snuggle-bear

Layla is becoming a lot more snuggly. It's so much fun. She especially likes to snuggle with her daddy.


She's also starting to hold up her head which makes it easier to hold her (although you still have to have a hand nearby just in case). And she can see further away so will watch what's going on around the room more than she used to.


She is also looking around the room more and starting to keep track of people walking by.

She especially keeps track of her mom and dad, who are always rushing past her and throwing kisses at her as they go.

Bath time!!

Now that Layla is a big girl (at 6 weeks), she goes in the big girl bath where she can actually be submerged to her chest in the water. She's completely neutral about it. We think it's pretty cute, but we think everything she does is pretty cute.


After her bath she gets super cold from the wet so we have to dry her really quickly and put her in a diaper before she gets us back for making her cold. For this we have an awesome monkey towel that Layla's great aunt sent us. She likes her monkey towel, we can tell because she hasn't pooped or peed in it yet.

She looks cold though doesn't she?

All Smiles!!

Layla's first smile! Well this was probably her 10th smile but the first one we caught on camera. Here she is smiling at her Grandma A. It's tough to catch a smile on camera! Good job Studly Hubby on the fast camera work.

Grandma and Grandpa A come to town!!

Notes from Layla:

How to win over your Grandparents:

1) Be tolerant of lots of hugs and kisses
2) Be ready for pictures at all times3) Crack a smile every rare once in a while
4) Accept all gifts and special cute wardrobe changes
Bonus (not necessary! but helpful):

1) Let the parents get lots of sleep while the grandparents are visiting
2) Sleep through some shopping and dining because that's boring anyway
3) While awake, try not to fuss for a bit so the grandparents can hold you longer
4) Grab any fingers that come your way
5) Do some cute things like suck on your fist and snort and cuddle
Layla used these tactics to totally win over the Studly Hubby's Studly Parents, who were in town for a long weekend. We had tons of fun, spent lots of time with Layla and some time getting out to shop, eat and enjoy the nice weather.

We took everyone to Kerry Park, an awesome lookout on Queen Anne hill (note the space needle in the background). Layla slept a lot and then pooped her pants so we had to change her in the trunk of the car! It was very exciting.


The grandparents also got lots of chances to practice giving Layla a bottle, which she is getting better at - good thing because she will be going to daycare this week!

The grandparents also got to hold Layla a lot, and USUALLY she was good, unless she was hungry (or poopy!).

The Studly Hubby and his Studly Mommy had some cupcakes with Layla in the park
And I got some new birthday shoes! An exciting gift from the Studly Hubby's Studly Parents.