MyTotally Brilliant Daughter

My totally brilliant daughter slept eight hours in a row last night!!!

I'm sure that with all the bragging I've done, it will never happen again.

But lord, it was delicious.

Of course, from midnight on, I was popping up every hour to run to the living room where she was sleeping in her swing to check on her (the first time I thought it was 2:30, not 12:30, to be fair). At 4:20 I went and laid on the couch to make sure I wasn't missing her crying. She finally woke up at 4:30.

And this afternoon she slept about 40 minutes in her crib.

Then she was up for ages and obviously couldn't get comfortable. I tried changing her, nursing her, burping her, pottying her.

Nothing worked. Finally she fell asleep on my chest with her pacifier while I watched Private Practice.

That was pretty delicious, too. I didn't want to put her down.

Earlier today, my aunt and uncle took the bus up from DC to come visit us. They took us to brunch to our local "nice" restaurant.

Calliope wore her Puritan outfit, just to be festive.

We went to see the first daycare center yesterday. The one which was really cheap and where the woman sounded really nice on the phone.

And she was really nice. And the children all looked really happy. They were all under two  years old so I couldn't really talk to them.

But.

The whole daycare is this one not-so-big main room in the woman's house. And that's it.

The children eat, sleep, play.... everything. All in one room. Everything is put away to allow for as much floor space as possible. So the toys are stored up high, out of the way. And out of reach of the children, of course.

As a young infant, Calliope would only come out of her pack n' play to be fed. Once she gets older, she would get some floor time only when the toddlers are at the table.

This makes my heart hurt.

Right now, my girl spends about fifteen to thirty minutes "playing" on a blanket on the floor after her feedings, at least whenever we are home. I know she really enjoys this time. I mean, I guess she wouldn't know the difference between lying on the actual floor versus lying in a playpen... but yuck. That's like being in prison, to play and sleep and everything in the same small space.

Also, it seems the TV is on all the time. Usually to educational content, but still.

I don't watch TV (except for two shows on Hulu, and I really think I feel worse after doing so... considering unsubscribing... but you know how you love your guilty pleasure!) and I really don't want her exposed to it, either. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for the first two years, and I certainly plan to exceed that. (For the record, this is not a judgement on any parent who lets their child watch TV. I don't think TV is good for me, either. But I have no quarrel with what anyone else does.)

So.

I guess that daycare is out.

But now I am realizing that for that little amount of money, this is probably what I can expect.

So does this mean I should pay double? Is it reasonable to expect I could find something better?

I'm scheduled to see two other home daycares on Monday, and hope to see a regular daycare center on Wednesday. I actually saw this one once before, with a friend whose daughter went there. This is the one that costs twice as much as the home daycare.  

Family lunch