Happy Birthday to Me

I turned 35 years old today. Sigh...

My husband bought me a weed whacker for my birthday. I've been wanting one for a while now. :-) It's too bad it's rainy outside today or I'd go outside and whack the hell out of the grass that is growing against the foundation of our house, which I can't otherwise attack with the mower.

Ian and I accomplished a lot this week. At Tuesday's mommy group, he weighed 13 pounds, 2 ounces. After mommy group (and a yummy lunch at California Pizza Kitchen), I bought myself some Spanx at Lord & Taylor. I am attending my cousin's wedding this weekend and although I'm happy to report that I found an appropriate dress in my closet that fits, my belly is not quite flat yet and I will be self-conscious in the dress. The Spanx really work well to flatten out the little bulge in my tummy area.

We also visited the Carter's outlet and I bought Ian a ton of clothing. He is totally outgrowing his 0-3 month clothing. So I bought him a bunch of 6 month shorts and a bunch of 6 month onesies. All the clothing is soooo cute! I hoped to find something a little fancier for the wedding this weekend, but didn't have any luck. Hopefully people won't care that my 10 week old isn't dressed up.

I finally signed Ian up for day care yesterday. My husband and I looked at 3 different centers in town and in the end, I followed my gut in making the decision. We chose Knowledge Beginnings in Needham for multiple reasons:

1. The administrative staff and the teachers all seemed so friendly and nice. They smiled a lot and waved hi as we passed through on our tour. (At Kindercare, most of the staff was friendly, but I could tell that a couple of the secondary teachers were "just doing their jobs" and they weren't looking thrilled when holding the infants. I also didn't like that one room smelled like poop because the teachers hadn't taken out the trash at lunchtime like they were supposed to. The music was also way too loud in that room.) I also like the fact that the assistant director at Knowledge Beginnings followed up with me by both e-mail and phone after my visit to see if I had any further concerns or questions she could answer.

2. The location is really good. It is right by the highway and near the exit/entrance that my husband uses to get to and from work. In addition, if my husband isn't able to make the 6 pm pick-up time, my mother-in-law can do the pick-up and the location will be very convenient for her.

3. I like the interior space. It is warm and inviting and seems really clean without feeling sterile. In addition, they have this awesome gymnasium, which must be so nice for the kids when it is rainy outside.

4. One of the mothers that I met at mommy group has enrolled her child at Knowledge Beginnings. Her son has only been there for 2 weeks, but she is really happy with it. On her advice, I requested that Ian be placed in Infant Room #1. The primary teacher in that room has been a daycare teacher for 8 years and before that, she was a nurse. So I love the fact that she has a ton of experience. This mother's coworkers (she works at Channel 5) also use Knowledge Beginnings and rave about it.

So I think we're finished with the day care search. I know that my mother-in-law (and probably my own mother) wish I was getting a nanny. But I really just don't want a nanny. The ONLY plus I see in having a nanny is that Ian won't get as sick as he will get in daycare. And Ian will eventually get sick once he starts public school. But the nanny will cost more, we will have to coordinate vacation schedules, and she may be out sick or get stuck in traffic. Selfishly, I don't want Ian to have a second mother. He will clearly get very attached to any one person that takes care of him on a full-time basis. At least when he is in the daycare, he gets to go home to mommy and daddy rather than having a loving nanny leaving him at night. And in the words of my best friend fom high school, "I think daycare is better than nanny. Or at least, by the time he's 1, daycare will be a better choice for sure. The social interaction results in an entirely different child. Day care kids are quite adaptable, well adjusted, and more sociable. It's a positive."