Daniel and Ms. Stacey

After all that we went through to find Daniel a good and long-term family day care (you can refresh your memories here and here), we have had to change day care again! Azad's family has been going through a difficult time financially and so she started to get many more children - too many and it started to become a little chaotic! Also, because Daniel is part-time (only 3 days a week), she kept telling us that if another full-time infant arrived, she would have to choose the other child - even though she loved Daniel. All of this led us to change day care and to choose Ms Stacey.

Stacey was our second choice the last time we looked around for day cares and we chose Azad instead, primarily because it was much closer to our home. Stacey's day care is small, right now she only has one 4 year old and Daniel (she said that the maximum she will ever have is 3 children) and she has guaranteed Daniel's place, even though he is part-time. So we feel more comfortable with this arrangement. She is a sweet and calm lady and has very well behaved boys (ages:9, 7 and 5) who play with Daniel in the afternoon for a couple of hours after they get back from school.

Of course it was hard to move Daniel to his 3rd day care in his very short life (I never imagined it would be this way!), but at least, so far, he has not shown any signs of separation anxiety and continues to be adaptable. We hope that this time it will work for the long-term! Daniel is now beginning his second week with Stacey and has adjusted very well. This morning when we arrived he smiled as soon as he saw her and squealed when he saw Sheridan, his 4 year old friend.

We do miss Azad though; she was wonderful with Daniel and he loved it there. We will always remember how well she looked after him and how much peace she gave us especially when he first started, at only 4 months of age. Azad was also sad to say good-bye and we agreed that we would visit once in a while and that she would be our back-up day care (in case Stacey cannot take Daniel on a specific day for personal reasons).

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Other updates on Daniel:

- He's got three more teeth coming in on the top gum! His teething process is happening so fast, he had only just started getting his first two teeth a couple of weeks ago and now soon he will have 5! Amazing, I never thought it would be so quick!

- He is eating so much now, about 6 - 8 oz of food per meal! Where does it all go I always wonder as he eats and eats?! :-) He's now eating a variety of different vegetables and fruits and on Saturday we gave him chicken for the first time which he loved! Now when we put him in his high chair he starts to get excited waiting for his food. Amazing progress! Only a few weeks ago he wouldn't eat at all, remember?