Surviving Day Care and Turning 4 Months

Here is Olivia packed and ready for her first day of daycare with Miss Sharon!

After an extended Maternity Leave of 15 and a half weeks, Olivia began her first day with Miss Sharon.   I was very nervous to leave Olivia with someone who was not a family member and I was terrified she would cry the whole day and be a mess each evening.  As a result, we visited Miss Sharon on Monday so Olivia could get use to her house and we could drop off some of the extra things to keep at daycare.  Surprisingly, Olivia did not cry once and loved watching the other kids playing around.  I felt much better about leaving her at this point.  She was scheduled to start on Tuesday but because of all the snow we did not return until Wednesday February 17th and were delayed 2 hours each day that week!  So it was a nice, easy transition to work and daycare for Olivia. We rushed out of school as soon as the kids left and when we entered to get Olivia we were greeted with her huge smile and giggles!  She was so happy and it was apparent as she looked at Miss Sharon with another huge smile. We got the full report that she ate, slept, and played with out any fussing.  We knew we found the right place for Livy and we continue to be impressed with Miss Sharon!  Thank God we found her!  

There is a part of me that is glad to be back at school.  I was able to realize, during my maternity leave, that teaching is something I love to do and I missed the classroom while I was gone.  Knowing I am in the right profession,  helps the days to go by quickly.  The best part of my day is when we pick her up and she flashes that heart-melting smile!

As we fall into a new routine she has had stay busy on the weekends and have many visitors too.  Laura and her roommate Lindsay came to visit the other weekend and my mom stopped by too. 

Last weekend, when she turned 4 months, we started the March Month of Birthday Celebrations by celebrating my dad's birthday.  Olivia also met her cousin Blair for the first time.  They had quite the play date on the floor, staring at each other.  It was quite cute! Blair is 5 weeks older than Olivia and we look forward to many more opportunities for play dates with the Lake Family.

On Thursday we had Olivia's four month check up and she continues to grow!  She weighted 12 pounds 12 ounces and was 25 inches long.  That puts her in the 31st percentile for weight and 78th percentile for height.  Dr. Landcaster also talked to us about starting her on cereal.  We decided to wait until Spring Break time, which would be around 5 months, to start cereal.  She seems to fine at this point with her bottles at daycare and is sleeping fairly well.

This weekend Dan's parents came to visit and Olivia was spoiled by her Gram and Grandpa Puryear!  It was fantastic to have them visit and stay with us.  I know Olivia was excited to play with Gram and Grandpa.  Gram will also be stopping by next weekend on her way to meet her newest granddaughter, Jill and Steve's new baby, who will be born sometime this week!  We are so excited to hear all the details! 

Hope all is well and we will update again soon!