Molly, in fact, has done wonderfully. As far as I know, she does great. Her primary teacher tells me about her day every time I pick her up and they send home an information sheet that tells me how much/when she ate, napped, had a diaper change, and what activities she did. Neither the teacher nor the sheet have ever indicated that she's had a bad day, though I do think they gloss over some things occasionally. Going in, I desperately wanted them to be 100% honest with me, but now I'm glad that they choose not to tell me about any breakdowns she might have (if they are leaving anything out). For now, I need that ignorance.
One of our major worries going in was that she was not good at taking a bottle; in fact, I fully expected to get a phone call the first day telling me that she refused to eat and I needed to come feed her. But, nope, she has taken her bottles from day one. I understand that there are times when she's not happy with them, but she always settles into it and has never seemed more hungry than usual when I pick her up.
She's not doing quite as well with solids, but that doesn't surprise me much. While Molly's getting much better with eating solids (last night she ate a full serving of sweet potatoes and peas!), it takes some patience. She's a mover and a shaker, so she doesn't always like to sit still at first. Once she starts eating and realizes she likes it, she's good to go. But to get her there I often have to sing to her or give her something to play with (like the lid for the bowl her food is in, since I don't care if it gets dirty). But I'm not sure the teachers at her daycare are used to/have the time to spend 30 minutes feeding her breakfast. She is getting faster, though, so she'll get there.
The big issue has been naps, or lack thereof rather. You all know that Molly went through a stage when she refused to nap (because I whined and complained and fretted about it, too), but prior to starting to daycare she was regularly taking at least an hour and a half nap (coupled with a shorter, usually 45 minute nap) every day, even napping for two hours from time to time. It was wonderful. But at daycare? No such thing. It's lighter and noisier than she's used to, so I knew there would be an adjustment period. But it's been worse than I expected. One day she only took one 50 minute nap. Another day it was one 10 minute nap and one 15 minute nap. Not good. Of course, there have been days when she's taken three 30 minutes naps, so I think she's adjusting, it's just not consistent. And at first she still napped well at home, but this weekend, she napped only in fits and starts (except for one late afternoon two-hour nap yesterday, which I was very grateful for). But somehow the lack of napping hasn't really affected her mood, so I can't complain too much.
Of course, all of this could have less to do with daycare and more to do with the fact that she started cutting her first tooth two days before her first day of daycare. And though that tooth is only about halfway through, she started cutting her second tooth this weekend. Though she handles it really well it terms of temperament, I think it's a big reason that she's finding it difficult to settle into sleep, even at night. So once these teeth are out and Molly has a bit of a break from that pain, we'll see if napping can become more routine again.
All that said, I have never once seen Molly cry when I leave and she's always content when I show up to pick her up. Her teachers are loving and seem to put a great deal of effort into helping her transition happily. And for that I am grateful.
I, however, am still having a hard time adjusting. Some days I feel fine about it, and I have been getting a lot accomplished. But sometimes I just ache from missing her. I don't worry that she's not being taken care of, I just miss her terribly. Today I ran errands after dropping her off and I stopped by Sonic for a Cherry Lime-Aid. The drive-through worker, seeing Molly's empty car seat, asked where the baby was. I almost burst into tears when I replied that she's at daycare. I know that many, many people send their children to daycare everyday. And I know that in many, many ways it is good for her, and for me, too. But I just can't shake the pain in my heart that reminds me that she's not with me all throughout the day.
But I can handle that as long as I know that Molly is doing well, and I can comfortably say that she is. Thank goodness. Can you imagine what a wreck I'd be if she wasn't?
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