2 months old!

Ian is 2 months old today! He continues to be a very happy baby. His new hair is growing in and the peach fuzz that covers his head is so soft. It feels very good to rub and Ian seems to like it as it puts him to sleep. The hair is definitely lighter in color than my husband's hair, but it is darker than mine. It actually appears to have a reddish tinge to it! Ian's eyes are still quite dark and they appear to be a very dark green/gray. They continue to look brown in photos but in real life, they are not.

I am starting to be able to distinguish between Ian's crying noises. Whn he is hungry, his cry is intermittent and more of a whine saying, "Mooooommmmm, I'm hunnnngry. When are you going to feeeeeed me?" When he wakes up suddenly from a deep sleep, his cry is more frantic and high pitched: "Oh my god! Why am I awake? Where the hell is my pacifier!?!?!" And then there is the all out "I'm just pissed off" scream. I'm not sure what starts this scream, but he seems to do it when he is over-tired and/or when clothing is put on or pulled off over his head. And then he calms down if we hold him and shh him.

I started researching day care options this past week and it is a bit stressful. I get very sad when I think about having to leave my son in 4 months so that I can go back to work full-time. I actually teared up at the first day care center I toured when we discussed that someone other than me or my husband would see his first steps. But all the kids at the day care centers seemed so happy and so I'm sure Ian will do just fine too. And I'm lucky to be able to spend the first 6 months of his life with him.

There are 3 day care centers that are close to our home. (We decided not to look at day care places near work since it would make it hard for one parent to drop-off or pick-up). The first and most highly recommended day care (Chestnut Children's Center) has a 1 year waiting list and so I put Ian on that list. Then there is Kindercare (KC) and Knowledge Beginnings (KB), both of which have open spots in September (thanks to the downturn in the economy). I think that Ian would be perfectly fine at either KC or KB, but my husband and I will discuss the pros and cons of each and try to make a decision this weekend. It will be a great relief to put down a deposit and know that Ian has guaranteed care in September. I may continue to research in-home care options or getting a nanny, but I do think I'm leaning towards the day care approach. It's just a bit shocking to know that we will be paying $450 per week for the full-time care. For a 52 week year, that's $23,000! I will make sure that we use pre-tax dollars to pay this. When I go back to work, I will most definitely contribute to a dependant care account.