E will be three months old tomorrow. Three months, and wow, have I learned!
1. Child care is expensive and popular. Put your name on the wait list before your baby is born or else you'll be on a year-long wait list for the inexpensive place while you have the privilege of paying $1,000 a month for the alternative.
2. Once you hit the 2-month mark, you get to see smiles that are directed at you, and not just those cute dreamy ones they have by accident.
3. If you don't want your baby to be addicted to TV, don't let him or her near it. The moving colors and lights are too attractive to ignore. My baby loves March Madness. Let's hope college basketball isn't too damaging to her developing mind.
4. Air travel with an infant can be scary, demanding of your marital relationship, draining on all your mental and physical resources, but rewarding when you get complimented on the unexpectedly quiet and reasonably good behavior of your little traveler.
5. Moving with a baby sucks, but if it's a local move and you have friends who will help out, it's not so bad.
6. Some Easter bonnets are better left in the 19th century with Little House on the Prairie.
7. Jealous cats will poop on your rug unless you pet them once in a while.
8. The generosity of friends and loved ones will never cease to amaze me!
9. Once babies get "grabby" it might be a good time for a shorter hairstyle. Or lots of updo's, ponytails, or other devices to avoid torture.
10. Keep those little fingernails trimmed, or someone might call Social Services and report you for the little scratches all over your baby's face.
These are only a few. Today was E's first day in a child care facility. It almost broke my heart to let her go, but she was really good. She wasn't fussy, she didn't get upset when I left her, and apparently was quite content during her five-hour stay. I will take her again tomorrow, and then it's her daddy's turn. I somehow think he will not handle it as well. As my grandmother said, "He's foolish over that baby." And she's right.
