What daycare has given baby and me

Tristan has been in daycare full time for 4 1/2 months now. In that time, I have learned and done many things. The 2-3 months were quite bad because either he was sick, I was sick or Jean-Louis was sick. In fact, we were averaging about 5 missed days of daycare every month due to sickness. Those missed days do not count the weekends, many of which Tristan was also sick. Sick or not, I still got to relax and catch up on much needed sleep. Prior to daycare, I was home alone with Tristan for 13 months. We barely went out and we had pretty much no social interaction at all. I was tired and a bit insane. Now, everything has changed.

Daycare has brought social interaction and play into Tristan's life. He is learning how to share and wait for attention. He paints, does craft, and receives lots of exercise. He is well liked at daycare and that makes us very proud. I also like to think that he is building some kind of immunity from being sick all the time from their germ-infested environment :) The most important thing is that he is happy and having fun. Farewell boredom at home!

For myself, I have been able to concentrate on work a bit more. I have increased my contracting hours a bit but I mostly work for myself creating iPhone applications. When I'm not working, I do fun things such as tweeting, blogging, assembling baby books, and organizing personal photo libraries and home videos. I also do not-so-fun things such as cleaning. I spend more time cooking too but I love to cook :)

In the past month or so, I have also been taking better care of my health. Actually, that was one of my initial goals when daycare started. I have reduced my sugar intake and am now running about three times a week. It's crazy to think that I used to eat chocolate, cake, or cookies every day for almost a year! But I kind of needed it back then :( In addition to running now, I bring Tristan to and from daycare during the day and that adds around 40 minutes of walking. I shouldn't really count that but compared to the past year, that bit of exercise is actually making a difference. As a result of my new found time since daycare, I feel physically stronger, am not tired anymore, less stressed, happier, and in control again. Thank you daycare!