End of January update

silly photo summary of the month

January started out good but ended even better than it started. Daycare girl is a great fit. Sean and Maddy love having a playmate almost everyday. When she's not here, they ask me about her at least a few times a day. We started going to a weekly story time and the kids love it. It's also helping Sean tremendously with his independence. And speaking of independence, Sean is doing wonderful in dance! Just a couple weeks ago he wouldn't let me go to the other side of the room without him. Yesterday he did tap all by himself without me in the room!! sn:the class is half an hour of ballet followed by half an hour of tap. I could seriously jump for joy!

And Maddy..wow, where did my baby go? I would like to say I've only been potty training her for about 2 weeks but in all reality, I've been slowly doing it since she was born almost 22 months ago. BUT, about 2 weeks ago we said goodbye to diapers except for when we were not at home and for bedtime. A few days ago she told me she had to go for the first time and as the days go by, she tells me more and more. Most of her accidents are right after she tells me and we're not close enough to the potty. Accidents are now at about 2 a day. Yesterday we made the jump and said good bye to diapers except for bedtime. We were out of the house for 7 hours and it wasn't until an hour before we got home that she had an accident. She told me she had to go but we didn't get there fast enough. I'm very pleased with her progress and it's nice having no kids in diapers when I don't have the young daycare kids!

A look toward next month:
February will bring yet another playmate!! Our cousin Zach will is now enrolled in my daycare and starts Tuesday!

Back in the saddle again

In two different ways. We pretty much took a month off from homeschooling. We did a good amount of holiday themed crafts and activities but that was it. This week we got back on track. More on what we're doing at the end of the week. Today also marks the end of week one with a new daycare kid (4 year old girl). It's nice having another older child in the house. Sean thrives playing with someone older. This also adds another to my homeschooling. Crazy as it sounds, adding another child has made things run smoother. It's easier to stick to a routine. It's been five months since I've had a full timer in the house. It's great! The last five months have been a roller coaster. I lost count on how many no shows on interviews I had. Or the ones that came for an interview and I never heard from them again...even though the interview seemed to go great. I even had some sign up and then drop after two days of care. It's been crazy!! I started to have doubts about being in this business. It seemed like a headache. Then I saw a want ad right before Christmas. We seemed to hit it off over the phone. I was hopeful but didn't hold my breath. I relaxed a little after the interview b/c they wanted to enroll. Things have been going very well. Knock on wood that it continues. Even if it doesn't, I've regained my faith in this career choice. I really love being a childcare provider! It's the job searching and sometimes the parents that drive me crazy. But the day to day caring, teaching and watching the children grow is what I love. Sometime this month my cousin's son will be joining us too. He's also 4. I'm pretty darn excited! Some days I'll be at my ratio limit (first time since I've started 2 years ago!). On the other days, I will just have my two and the two 4 year olds. On those days, I plan to get out of the house more. Like today for example, we went for a playdate. Next week, we're going to check out the library's story time. 9:30am at Central for anyone that wants to join us!