Day Care...Not quite the same

Lexi has now completed 3 days of day care. Wednesday she went for about 4 hours, Thursday for 6.5 hours and today for 8 hours. Next week she will be full time - roughly 7:15-5:45. Sounds like a long day, doesn't it?

Day one: Mommy, Daddy and Lexi were all upset after parting that morning. She did eat the meals provided and participated in the activities but was in tears when I came to pick her up.

Day two: Lexi wasn't too upset and Mommy wasn't upset either when she left Lexi at the day care. But she didn't eat any of the meals and after they played on the playground (which she enjoyed), she didn't want to go back inside. I guess she talked a lot - mostly asking about Mommy. When I came to pick her up, she was happily eating the fruit snack and was excited to see me.

Day three: Lexi was very upset at being left (though she was already upset at home before going anywhere - I think she didn't get enough sleep). She did however eat the meals but didn't nap. She spent most of the day hanging onto one of the teachers and staying in a smaller room not the big classroom. The teachers think that maybe the large room with all of the kids was just too much for her.

So it seems like it is getting slightly better each day but we still probably have a long way to go. Next week she will be there full time each day. I think once she gets used to the idea, she will like being with all of the other kids...I just hope it doesn't take too long.

She wants to be a journalist like her daddy

Here's the story Lexi told me when I got home from work tonight:

Pointing to her scraped-up knee:

"Pole (Kiswahili for "sorry," but she uses it to refer to owies)…fall down…tree…cying (crying)."

What a great account of an incident from a few weeks ago when she tripped over a tree root and hurt herself, isn't it?

Just how smart is a 2-year-old anyway?

Yesterday I had an afternoon appointment to be shown the latest in trade show displays at the place that sells them way out in the suburbs. I dragged Sarah and Lexi along with me in the car so they could have an outing. I was done by 4:00, and while I had gotten my usual afternoon coffee at the place, I wasn't able to eat my usual afternoon snack while there. So we stopped at Wendy's for a Frosty before we got on the highway for home. As we slowed down on the street to turn around and go into the Wendy's, Lexi exclaimed, "Ceam!" (her way of saying "ice cream"). How does this little girl know that Wendy's is where one goes for ice cream? We have gone there two or three times before for this purpose, but it's amazing how quickly she's picked up on identifying the place and purpose. Sarah says she's done the same thing near the place where we like to go get ice cream in our neighborhood. (Why are we getting ice cream so often, you may ask. It's summer, isn't it? Who doesn't enjoy a regular treat of ice cream when it's hot?)

On the other hand, there's this story that shows she still has some work to do with other foods:

The other day at work we had a meeting that we had a catered lunch for. I brought home some of the pita sandwiches for Sarah, and one was roast beef. Sarah was eating it for dinner that night. Lexi saw it and pointed that she wanted it, but we weren't quite sure what exactly she wanted. She finally said "chocolate" when we pointed to the roast beef on the sandwich (because of the color).

Is it the Swiss blood that she has in her from birth, or have we conditioned her on chocolate so much already? Recall that Lexi also thought there was chocolate in one of the lunar landers at the Air and Space Museum because it was wrapped in shiny foil - like a chocolate bar.

Dental Floss: A Girl's Best Friend

Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, Lexi LOVES her dental floss. Or rather, Mom's dental floss, which Lexi has been very attached to the last several days. We can't figure out why. She wants to carry it everywhere. It went house hunting with us on Tuesday night and to the playground this morning. She doesn't do much with it besides hold it but I did take the actual floss out of it. What will she be into next?

Singing herself to sleep

Don't pay any attention to the picture (you can't see anything) but just listen to Lexi singing herself to sleep.

Supreme Court Ready!

While you can't quite see the whole t-shirt, what it says is 'Confirm Her!' Compliments of Aunt Lora, Lexi is ready to go down to the Hill and support the confirmation hearings.

In other news, she is now signed up for day care and we just have to get some things: like a fitted sheet for nap time and pull-ups. They don't deal with diapers for 2 year olds, so like it or not, Lexi's undergarments will be a changing. When I was talking to the woman at the day care about their center, I mentioned that Lexi wasn't potty-trained yet. She said "No, problem, they will take care of it." I hope they do! Mom and Dad aren't having much luck.

While touring the day care center, Lexi was interested in where the kids were. The first time we went, they were out on the playground. Today, they weren't. "Where kids?" was what she wanted to know. I think she will have a fun time with them. She will go for three mornings before having to stay the whole day on Mom's first day of work. Dad and Mom will drop her off together one of the first times so both know the routine (and there is a routine) but it will probably be Mom doing pick-up and drop-off most days.

No "Sesame Street" today

When I got home from work today, Sarah reported to me that Lexi was unhappy that she could not watch "Sesame Street" at all today because PBS was airing the confirmation hearings of Sonia Sotomayor. Funny - Lexi supported Hillary during the primary campaign - even from Kenya - by wearing a onesie that said "Hillary, Baby!" So I can't figure out why this historical moment of the first Hispanic and only the third woman making her way to the Supreme Court is lost on her.