Last Day of Maternity Leave

Tomorrow I am officially back to work full time which means tomorrow is Phoebe's first day of daycare.  I don't have any classes to teach, so luckily my schedule will be flexible enough that we're going to be able to ease Phoebe into daycare by starting part-time.  Jeremy has class M-W-F so we'll put Phoebe in daycare for full days on Monday and Friday and a half-day on Wednesday.  Wednesdays I'll pick her up at lunch time and take her to our parent group and then watch her for the rest of the afternoon.  Tuesdays and Thursdays, Jeremy and I will both be home so we'll try to share baby duties so we can both get some work done.  We know that eventually we will have to add one of (and then probably both) Tuesday and Thursday to the daycare schedule but I think it will be easier on everyone involved if we start with part time.

This weekend has been a whirlwind of getting unpacked from our trip out East and getting ready for daycare.  We stopped by to fill out paperwork on Thursday and got a huge supply list.  We have to send a bunch of stuff for Phoebe as well as general supplies which all of the parents pitch in for twice a year (Kleenex, disinfectant, etc).  Everything had to be bought, washed and labeled so that kept us pretty busy.  Not to mention I'm still sick, and there is a baby to wrangle!  Speaking of the baby, here is a picture from today:

There are a couple of things to note about this picture:
(1) You can see why Phoebe's new nickname is Slobba the Hut - she is constantly drooling.  I think this picture shows some bonus spit up along with all the drool.  Jeremy and I almost always have big wet patches on our shoulders - maybe we can start a new fashion trend!
(2) The outfit Phoebe has on is her third of the day (which she was changed into by 10 AM).  It was just that kind of morning.  One of those wardrobe changes resulted in the declaration that we are officially done with size 1 diapers - they can no longer contain Phoebe's ... output.  Size 2 here we come.  [other things that were laundered today included several toys and the bouncy seat cover].
(3) All of a sudden, Phoebe is desperate to sit up.  She has started flinging her upper body forward to try to sit on her own.  Of course, she won't actually be able to do this for several months, so she is often frustrated.  It also makes things like the bouncy seat and baths a tad more perilous than before.  Phoebe is definitely keeping us on our toes.
(4) This is for my dad: see, not all of her outfits are pink :)

In other Phoebe news, she also discovered a great new toy: Daddy's glasses.  They are perfect for the new game she learned: Keep Away:

Jeremy did eventually get his glasses back, but they were pretty smudged.

Anyway, back to daycare.  I can't remember if I posted about our daycare troubles or not.  We had a place all picked out for Phoebe and we put her on the waitlist back in August (keep in mind we are starting care at the end of March so we thought we'd be fine).  When we called to check up, there were still 11 kids in front of her (they took two off the list the month before).  Needless to say, there was some last minute scrambling.  We found another center that we liked but that cost twice as much as the first one.  They demurred when we asked about the waitlist, and after we paid our application fee guess what - NO ROOM.  Awesome.  At that point, I had to leave to go to Michigan, so in addition to studying for finals, Jeremy had to visit other daycare centers to try to get a spot for the munchkin.  There was ONE place that had an opening for an infant and it turned out to actually be a really nice place so we got our deposit in and Phoebe will be starting tomorrow.  It was a little harrowing to have to find a place in a hurry, and for me to sign on without seeing it first, but I think it will all work out.  We're still on the waitlist for the first place (it is much closer and cheaper than where we are now) so hopefully we'll get in there by the end of the summer, but we're not holding our breath.  For now we're just glad to have a loving, nurturing daycare for Phoebe to go to.  [Even though Jeremy is going to have to get over the fact that one of the teachers is named Ms. Precious]. 

Of course, there is still a lot of guilt about the fact that we have to put our baby in daycare at all, but really I think it is best for everyone if Mom goes back to work.  First of all, there's the practicality that we're all rather fond of eating and what-not.  But beyond that, I am not sure if I'd make a very good stay-at-home mom.  I like my job (most of the time) and I think that having the intellectual challenge of work will help me stay sane and to be a more present and involved parent when I do have time with Phoebe.  We'll see.  I have enjoyed (parts of) my maternity leave (those first six weeks of colic were ROUGH - I would have paid to go back to work then) and I am grateful to have had so much time with the baby and to have had the chance to take her to visit family.  However, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also excited to get back to work.  I have some projects that I started before I left that I want to get back to and I am really looking forward to seeing my students again.  Not to mention, after all of those years of school, it would be nice to get in more than a year and a half of work :)

I'll update tomorrow to let everyone know how the first day of daycare went.  I am guessing it will be rougher on me than on Phoebe!