Kennedy started daycare :(

The inevitable happened. We returned home from keeping Kennedy on a Saturday and Monday at nine weeks old she started daycare.

To make it even a bit harder on me, her mom posted this picture of the first day on Face Book.

My Very Short To Do List

In the last post I mentioned how little I got done while sitting for Kennedy the first week Brittany went back to work.

Look how accomplished I felt just getting her dressed:

First we had to decide what to wear! So many choices!!

We both liked the pink dress which had actually been her mommy's 28 years ago!

Pulling clothes over her head freaks me out a little. Onesies are the worst!

Please don't cry! Please don't cry! Please don't cry!!

We did it!!!!

Ta Da!!
Ok, time for a nap!

Brittany goes back to work.

Brittany’s eight weeks of maternity leave flew by just like I knew they would. I couldn’t bear the thought of little Kennedy in daycare at that tender age so John and I headed back to Charleston to take care of her for that first week at least.

I figured it would give Brittany a chance to get used to going back to work without the added burden of getting the baby ready and dropping her off and later picking her up too.

And of course it meant she’d be all ours every day!!

I don’t know what it is that makes me so mesmerized with her! I just hold her and sing to her and walk her around. Doesn’t matter if she’s awake or asleep, but let me tell you when those blue eyes are open and looking into yours…..

Heaven!

I took all kinds of things with me to do. An upcoming vacation to plan, two books to read and write reviews on, all kinds of saved emails to catch up on, a swimsuit and tennis racquets.

I got virtually nothing done. Nothing!! Me who has the biggest daily to-do lists of anyone I know pretty much went dormant for a week!

But, I’d do it again. Exactly the same!

Falling in love with our Granddaughter

In Kennedy’s first 5 weeks of life John and I made three trips to Charleston.

After she was born on Saturday June 20^th, I stayed until the following Friday. John went home to work three days and returned on Thursday night.

It was quite a week!

I had forgotten how much work one tiny human was! I have a picture of Brittany in the wheelchair holding the baby carrier as we were leaving the hospital and she looked slightly terrified!

But Kennedy was sleeping a lot and not eating all that much, so we thought, “What an easy and sweet baby!”

Until her first doctor appointment on Wednesday when the doctor said, “She’s orange!” and tested her for jaundice. Sure enough, and not only did she have it, her numbers were high and we had to race to the ER at the downtown Children’s hospital.

That was why she had been sleeping so much and not eating! We all felt SO guilty for not knowing! I held her during the ER check in and the kind lady who was helping us asked if I minded continuing to hold her while they took her temperature (rectally). I wasn’t sure why she even asked, until I felt something warm gush down my leg!

It really lightened the mood and Brittany and Dan even laughed!! I was just glad I had on shorts (which it missed) and flip flops (which they let me wash off in the sink.)

The staff could not have been nicer. They set Brittany up with bottles and a pump, got Dan bedding since he was spending the night and calmed our fears that this happened all the time and she couldn’t be in better hands.

Still…..our baby was wearing black goggles and lying under a blue light. And she had to spend two nights there!

But it worked out and she came home late Friday morning so we got to enjoy her a little more before leaving that night. And then we were back a week and two days later.

I tried to help out with some of the overnight care and encouraged Brittany to run errands and for them to go out to dinner while we played with Kennedy. Often though the four of us were just clustered in a circle looking at her!

One time she cried and we just passed her around, each hoping they would be the one who could calm her down!

I don’t know where the time goes when we’re there. It seems like we are always feeding her, rocking her and then settling her down to sleep again.

But she’s adorable and we are all crazy about her!

So John and I will continue to wear out the road between here and Charleston!