Surprise! A New Post!

Sigh. I've been a terrible blogger (*slap wrist*) and I'm not very sure that anyone reads this anymore. But in any case, I thought I'd sign on today and jot down my thoughts before time flies by anymore...

Life has been crazy - and I mean, capital C-Crazy - for the past couple of months. Shortly after his first birthday, I returned to work full time and things went more smoothly than I had anticipated. We finally settled on a local dayhome for Mason, which has a unique concept - it's actually run by a company that owns a number of dayhomes in the area. What they do is purchase/lease homes, employ professional caregivers to live in these homes, and then provide childcare services. So what you get is professional care by certified individuals (for example, our lady has her daycare qualifications certificate, first aid, and other early childhood development coursework) but in a home setting with low numbers! And an added bonus - this company sorts their dayhomes according to age, so Mason's dayhome is expressly for one year old babies...no need to worry about bigger kids accidentally hurting the littler ones!

The first couple of weeks were torture - for me more so than for Mason. For the first little bit, each time I dropped him off, he clung to me and wailed and wailed...and it broke my heart into a million little pieces. But seeing him go through that made me realize just how much he needed to be around other people and peers his own age...he was just far too isolated with me at home! I was especially worried about his eating habits and his nap times - especially since he was still struggling with eating chunkier foods (the rest of the babies at the dayhome were ALL already on table foods - no baby food for them!!) But our caregiver is so incredibly kind and patient - and Mason has since adjusted incredibly well. Daddy drops him off (usually, unless he is out of town on business) and he is always happy to go now. Christina (our caregiver) has introduced him to all kinds of new foods (grilled cheese sandwiches, animal crackers, macaroni and beef...) and so his eating has improved ten-fold! He has made a new best friend (Kade) and a girlfriend (Payton) and when I pick him up at the end of the day, I always see him happily playing. It's such a relief!

Of course, the adjustment wasn't without issues - he caught a nasty cold right away that hung on for 2 and a half weeks - then turned into a horrible ear infection. I swear we suctioned that kid's nose over 50 times in the space of 2 weeks...poor little thing. But again - it was an important rite of passage for him, so as to build up his immune system. He's over now - right as rain.

But I do miss him during the day. Terribly. Going back to work has been a pretty positive experience for me, as it has been nice to feel mentally stimulated again. It's sure nice having something else to think about other than the next nap or the next bottle. But when I get a (rare) break, I look at his picture in my office and I just MISS HIM. The good thing is - summer holidays are around the corner and I'll get to spend my days with my little lovebug once again.

Mason learned to walk on his own about three weeks ago, though he does it selectively and rather rarely. He only seems to do it when he is holding a toy in his hands - as though it is a necessary balancing tool. But he is oh, so cute when he does it!! He is becoming a little boy before my very eyes - understanding requests ("Where's blankie? Can you share your juice? Say night night to Daddy"), getting into mischief and asserting his little personality. In the past month, I have thought to myself a million times, "Time is going by too quickly - if only I could shove him back into my womb!!!" LOL.

DH and I have been working on Baby #2, though not with as much vim and vigour as with our first. That is to say, we have been trying au naturel, but neither one of us is ready to talk about going the ART route again. But I DO want another baby...I DO want Mason to have a sibling...and I would love to be able to give DH another child (he is SUCH a good daddy...) So in the next little bit, the plan will be to put myself back on CoEzQ10 and royal jelly, go back to my acupuncturist and then wait and see...

Here are some pics from his first birthday party - oh, it was so much fun! The Very Hungry Caterpillar...

I'd post more pics, but it takes FOREVER.... lol....

The cupcakes that you see were made by our close friend...and it was as yummy as it was pretty!! We had crafts and food from the book (salami, swiss cheese, strawberries, etc.) and lots of balloons...we just had a blast!

I'm going to try and write more often...it's a good escape and a good way for me to capture those moments...

Oh, and a special hug of congratulations goes out to my cyber friend, Turia, who had a baby boy on Mother's Day!! She waited so long for this little miracle...dreams really do come true...

xoxo