11.0.It's.Like.Losing.Your.Right.Arm

MY LITTLE GIRL GOES TO DAYCARE!! WHAAAAT THE F*** 😭

Ok so its happened she has started daycare and as of next week I will be a working mama.😳

I chose to start Kinsley at daycare a week before I started back at work so it was like a practice week for her with settling in and having the option to do shorter days if needed and also for me to adjust. It meant I didn't have to focus on work or clients and I could help her better adjust and bring our home routine around it all. It also meant I could keep my head clear and just mentally support myself in letting her go a little bit. To some it might not be but for me letting your first baby go to somehwere or someone else 4 days a week is a HUGE deal and nothing can prepare you for it until it happens so I feel its important to transition your babe and you - Be kind to yourself aswell mama! (Yup thats me talking to myself hahhahaa).😋

Safe to say I cried on day one 😥 (which was actually meant to be day two - K was soooo sick that we missed day one!). I was 100% organised (OCD organised) for the morning and the drop off and even had aunty Jess coming with me for support haha! But as soon as I woke up that first morning when Nic said goodbye to me I started balling and spluttering out 'Its daycare day' Nic hugged me and reassured me she will love it and have so much fun but selfishly I was like 'its not that, its me, im loosing my little best friend' (we had words later as Nic was under the impression he was my best friend hahaha!) anyway I regathered and then we were off and I dropped her in said my goodbyes and she was smiling and waving me off (bless) ❤ then when we got back in the car I had a little cry but Jess took me to breke and then I kept myself busy ALL DAY and didn't go home hahaha (I was like noooo thats our place that will be too weird and Ill prob play with her toys and cry again lol). Around midday daycare called and told me she had slept, eaten and was so happy and doing so well which felt amazing - and made me cry AGAIN haha but only because I was so proud of her #mumlife.😍😭

Pick up was amazing as she puts her little arms out and smiles soooo big and radiates excitement to see me so I get the big warm fuzzies! So she is going super well and loving it which means I am mentally ready to get back into the working life! 💕🙌🏻

We have had a pretty harsh run the last couple months with super sickness' poor baby was so unwell for a week with a full head cold that effected ears, nose, throat, chest and it was just horrible to witness. My baby didnt even look like herself physically! Her face was so swollen and her eyes red and sunken and everytime she coughed pleghm would try to come up but because they don't know how to clear it she would just start gagging until she would puke 😔 After a few nights of no sleep and running on empty safe to say me and Nic felt at a dead end we coudlnt even get her to calm on us! So we called his mama and she came running (well driving ha!) and took Kinsley for pram walks at 10pm to let her nap and didnt leave us until she was snuggled and asleep in her cot - She is amazing! Thanks Oma x 😘

Hopefully that is the last of it for a wee while (although I am not holding my breathe as dont the only thing kids bring home from daycare is the plague!?) but for her own sake her little body needs time to get back up to strength 🖤

Developments just don't stop at this age and it still amazes me everyday how babies learn and master so much in such a short space of time! The last couple of weeks Kinsley has made huge progress (I am so proud and excited but also like maaaaate stop turning into a TODDLER). She now commando crawls - especially to get to a tower to bust down or a book and is playing with getting on all fours even more but still just tends to worm backwards haha! She now says a few words so her total vocabulary contains Dad, Dadda, Mam, Nan-Nan, Ohna (Oma) and most recently Bottle 🍼 (although she thinks her vocabulary is just like ours and tells us really long stories and gets a little shitty when we dont understand what she meant hahaha 😂 Her pointing is next level like she can tell you exactly where she wants to go or what she wants you to pass her, she opens her arms and open/shuts her hands when she wants to be picked up and is really good at doing actions to songs now which is totally adorable. One thing I love watching her do over and over is getting her little wooden car (thanks nana) and brmmm brmmmming it round 🚙💙 my heart just explodes, and she even drives it all over her own body like we do when we play with her!

The other thing that has consumed my nap times (besides prepping for returning to work and doing washing that thing that never stops) is planning a FIRST BIRTHDAY!💫 Like WTF this is crazy soon I will have a big girl and I don't know if I am ready for it but at the same time its so exciting! Safe to say if you haven't guessed it that Kinsley's party will be unicorn themed 🦄 and I have been LOVING buying and making decorations haha - I walked into KMART for wrapping paper an came out with a bloody Pinata so I may go a bit OTT hahahaha #whowouldhavethought and I even have assigned tasks to both nana and Oma to make things for Kinsley on the day just cause we extra 😋 But all that aside we are really looking forward to celebrating not only baby girl turning the big one but us surviving our first year of parenthood and doing a pretty darn good job at it we think!

Do you think Nic will mind his birthday being unicorn themed!? hahahaha then I could just do them joint!

Anyway I am going to go sit on my ass and eat Thai takeout cause lets be real its daycare week so I havent cooked haha! And updated the 11 MONTH pages in my baby book (ahhhhhhh).

More musings soon

- A x

Tips for the week:

- Use a teeth brushing song from the start when you 'brush' babes teeth (we started with our Haaka silicone brush when her first tooth popped) because it makes graduating to a real brush and toothpaste really easy! I sing the same song and she does the same things but just sucks the toothpaste down too hahah! We use a supercute Bamboo soft bristle mini me brush!

- Don't freak out if your babe goes off solids for a couple of days, for 95% of mums (from a personal survey of 11 haha) this happens when new little toothy pegs are cutting or about to cut through. For us this was life last week as K had 3 of her 4 top ones come at the same time haha!

- If music didn't help put your baby to sleep when they were little dont rule it out! Try again when they are older as it may be a winner. It used to wake K up and she would get excited haha but now she loves a little lullaby tune playing as she falls to sleep and then we just turn it off after shes been down for 10 mins or so but super relaxing and helpful when she is a bit unsettled!

- Harker Herbals Ears, Nose & Throat is a GODSEND its natural, nz made and actually works, this cleared Kinsleys airways so so well and really helped get her breathing better before sleep while she was unwell - Highly reccomend!