Difficult Transitions.

Lukas is set to move out of the infant room of his daycare on August 1st. It is an exciting time, as he prepares to transition from being one of the oldest children in the infant room, to being the youngest in the pre-toddler room. The daycare, to its credit, has done a good job of getting him ready for the other room with frequent trips this past month to hang out with the older kids. He visits first thing in the morning, plays outside in the pre-toddler play area, and recently even sat down at the miniature table and chairs to eat his lunch with them. It helps that he is walking like a champ and can hold his own against kids who are in some cases several months older than he is.

Mrs. LIAYF and I did have one recent daycare issue, though. Now that Lukas is past the one year mark, he is taking all fluids out of a sippy rather than a bottle. As soon as this transition occurred, they pushed us heavily to switch him to cow's milk during the day, rather than supporting our desire to continue feeding him breastmilk out of a sippy cup. This did not sit well with me, and especially not well with Mrs. LIAYF who is making a terrific effort to continue breastfeeding and pumping (and scalding her milk because of excess lipase), knowing how beneficial it has been shown to be for toddlers well into the second year and beyond.

Our daycare would give him the milk in a specific hard plastic sippy cup, which was different from the sippy we use at home, and when he wouldn't drink much of it, they immediately assumed that he didn't want the milk. They made statements to us like "He probably just wants what the other kids are having" or "He is trying to indicate that he is ready to move on to cow's milk." This was despite our insistance that we didn't witness the same reluctance at home and that we needed to give him a bit more time to adapt to their type of sippy. We got the distinct impression that they were trying to transition him for their convenience, not his. I actually had the infant room manager tell me that, they would have to give him cow's milk if he didn't start drinking the breast milk better out of a sippy. This was after only a couple of days without an actual bottle.

All of this was accompanied by an atmosphere where it was not actually said, but implied, that we were being difficult about this decision and that we should just get out of their way and let them do things the way they do for all the other kids. We had to endure a few snide little asides that were laughed off as jokes, odd looks from the staff, and a general sense of tension when I would go to visit or at pick up and drop off. All of this, and we never once raised our voices to them, or were anything but pleasant while dealing with the frustration. Mrs. LIAYF even got off work early a few days to come in to nurse Lukas at daycare and talk to the manager about the health benefits of extended breastfeeding.

Now, I do want to say that these are a very nice group of people who are doing a great job taking care of our son and we totally trust them with his care. The rub was with that fact that we wanted to continue to do what we thought was best for our son and doing so seemed to make things a bit more difficult on them. It was not the what 'normal' parents would do, so we met with resistance. It was uncomfortable, to say the least, for a several days.

In the end we sought out a solution. We asked that they try different cups with Lukas, and it was exactly what was needed. Once they gave him a different cup (one the pre-toddlers were using) and took out the cup's flow restrictor, he began drinking the breastmilk rather well and the situation eased. I applaud Mrs. LIAYF for being firm in her resolve about this. She kept me on point when I wanted to smooth things out and compromise where we had no business doing so. It is the type of decision that is not easy, but needed to be made for Luke's well being. I have learned something from her once again.

It certainly won't be the last time!

*Bonus Time*

Lukas is feeling better after a rough weekend and early week with yet another virus. This one was strange with the Budlet alternating from running a high temp and being lethargic, to turning on a dime, where he would look and feel good the next day only to run a fever again the following day after that. This pattern continued for several days with Lukas being sent home from daycare on Monday afternoon with a high fever, only to act and look just fine once I got him home.

State Law here in Washington mandates that a child be out of daycare for 24 hours without the use of Tylenol before coming back after running fever, so I had to bite the bullet and work from home on Tuesday, even though I am going through an extremely busy time at work right now.

The bonus was that Lukas felt great all Tuesday and it turned out to be a smooth day all around with the Luke not only happy and playful but eating and napping very well also. This allowed me to get a lot of much needed work done remotely from my laptop. It was also a sunny day, so I took Luke out for a lunch time walk in the sun up to Easy Street Records for some much needed diversion. We came away with the rockin new 'Hands' disc and also many admiring smiles and looks for the dad with the cool baby strapped to his chest.

What could have been another crazy day turned out to be bonus time with Lukas. Very satisfying! Unfortunately though, our son arrived back at daycare without the benefit of several of his new buddies as 6 of the 9 babies, not including Luke the Long, were sent home with the same strange virus. Ok, I have to admit I felt guilty about that given the timing, but even if he did give this bug to the other babies he has been on the receiving end of more than his share of germs since he started there a month and a half ago. As they say, what comes around goes around.

It has been going around quite a bit at daycare lately!

Finger Eat'n Good*

This past week marks another milestone for Lukas. It may seem cliche to say that each day or each week brings something new for a baby, but it's a cliche because it is true! It seems that just last week he was learning to roll over, or learning to open his hands, or even just learning to laugh. But, when we stop and think about it, all that happened months ago . . . Lukas is moving on past those milestones at a dizzying pace.

Life can come and go so fast in that amazing first year of development. In the case of his eating habits, it was just before Christmas when we first introduced solid food to Lukas. He took to it amazingly well and was eating full jars of a variety of organic fruits and vegetables within a couple of weeks. And now, just a couple of months later, we have introduced him to his first finger foods.

We started by holding an apple for him to gnaw on. He had 3 bottom teeth at the time (now he's getting his 4th), and enjoyed the novelty of scraping his little pearlies against the tart apple and sucking it down. We then tried out the standby for all babies working on finger food - Cheerios!
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It was awkward at first with Lukas grabbing an entire handful and trying to open his fingers just enough to smoosh one into his mouth without letting go of the remaining handful. Very slobbery, and very inefficient, but he loved it! He would come away from the highchair covered with soggy bits of Cheerio and very happy. A week of practice under his belt, he's much better at grabbing an individual O and putting it in his happy little maw.

Now Mrs. LIAYF cuts and peels a soft wedge of pear for Lukas, which he grabs and brandishes like a spear before carefully nipping off bits, mushing them up in his mouth, swallowing some and spitting the rest out. He completes the task of eating by rubbing his pear smeared hands into his hair - which already has Cheerio mush in it. Nice. Maybe we should market this new hair product. "It smells good, and makes a tasty snack for later!"

Lukas makes an admirable mess, but is just as cute as can be putting food into his face. And, he's very, very proud of his skills. He barely lets us feed him anymore. If we are feeding ourselves during the meal, he wants to feed himself too. Now, we just have to check out the daycare menu - it starts fingerfood for babies 9 months old (the age Lukas will be in a couple of weeks). The menu has some amazing diversity, so he's going to experience a lot of foods. Crackers and fruit. French toast. Cooked pasta. Animal crackers. Muffins. Edamame. Burritos????

I don't know how he's going to eat that burrito. But, I'm sure his hair will smell like beans when he gets home.
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*Co-written by Yours Truly and Mrs. LIAYF

Once Bitten!

News of note out of Seattle this past week: You can earn 4000 Washingtons for a mere week's work! And as a bonus, for the week you also get nice hotel accommodations!

With the current cost of full time infant day care cha-chinging in at an almost budget busting $1400 at month, earning nearly 3 months of daycare cost while taking one of my available vacation weeks from work would normally sound enticing. However there is one small catch.....you have to be bitten by mosquito's infected with Malaria!!

Yes, you read that correctly, that's Malaria as in fever, chills, headache, sweats, fatigue, nausea, vomiting and, oh yes, the occasional death as a result of the culmination of these, to say the least, 'unpleasant' symptoms! Well, the result shouldn't lead to death in these Seattle cases as the strain in question is non-lethal (or so they say, but I wouldn't want to be the one poor bastard who ends up being the exception), and the patients are under medical supervision and can be cured.

This is all in the name of researching a vaccine for Malaria which is a good thing. And hey, what's a few days having what amounts to 'flu-like' symptoms to help find a cure for one of history's most deadly infectious diseases? Ok, I admit I have not reached that level of desperation yet, but I would be curious how many other fathers, or mothers for that matter, in these depressed economic times would seriously consider taking part in a study such as this to earn some extra cash and to make ends meet until they get back on their feet.

If you decide to come to Seattle to partake in this 'Paid Vacation', please let me know and feel free to drop by for a visit. That is, of course, after you have been cured!

Roller Coaster of a Day

Ok, so we survived Lukas' first day of daycare (having decided he was well enough to attend), which happens to have also been my first day back at my job after swallowing my manly pride and taking the past 6 weeks off during a busy time at work to take care of Luke while we waited for a spot to open at the facility across the street from my employer (I do wonder what my co-workers and subs actually think of my taking this time off that they don't want to, or are too polite to mention. They have all been very accomodating so far). It also happened to be Mrs. LIAYF's first day of her first jury trial as an attorney, although she has been practicing Law for the past several years. All that being said, it was a day that had a lot riding on it for the Austin clan!

Even after preparing everything we could think of (and then some) the night before, the morning was hectic and hurried and I was out of the house 15 minutes beyond my 'burn time', as in 'I need to leave now or possibly get burned'. It was ok, since I called in and warned the office that I would be a bit late because of 'formalities' associated with the first day drop off and the fact that I could not do a test drop off last Friday due to several vomiting babies waiting to be sent home.

The drop off did go well and Lukas, true to form, immediately began to socialize, giggle, and flirt with a cute 11 month old brunette beauty named Summer (Luke the Charmer). I proceeded to work, where unannounced to me, my office was having an impromptu meeting in front of the only entry door, and I had to walk to gauntlet of shame for being 20 minutes late on my first day, hearing smug comments like, 'so glad you could join us' and 'here take a name tag so we can all remember who you are', real funny stuff from normally lame humorless sorts. (Just kidding guys, cause I'm a kidder, you are all very funny, yes, uh (cough) very funny indeed!)

Things, however, did go well from there for the rest of the morning with no surprises, and at noon I went to check on Lukas to find that he was asleep and had done very swimmingly during the morning, eating, drinking, and sleeping like a champ. So, away I went without seeing him, my plan to try again at 2:00. But as I was walking along the sidewalk towards the facility at that time, I met his care provider taking Lukas and two other babies in a triple stroller out on a walk. I was excited to see him, but, frankly, he looked awful. He had been crying, his face was still wet, he was slumped over, and when I smiled at him he just looked straight through me with a blank look on his face. No smile or apparent recognition of me at all. That was extremely disconcerting, but since the other babies were protesting because they were not moving, I let her proceed while I went the block back to work feeling very uneasy.

Then, after an hour of not really concentrating on my work, I decided I had to go back and check on Luke again. I didn't know what to expect once I arrived, this being his first day and all and what I had experience the previous hour, but once I got there Lukas was all smiles and was playing happily like he didn't have a care in the world. So I gave him a big hug and went back to work. All is good, end of story right? Well, about an hour later, just before I was to leave work, I received a call from his provider who wanted to tell me that Lukas was now running a fever of 101.5, and that if that didn't get better by Thursday, I would not be able to bring him in! Strange days indeed! He had been fine all day long and especially just an hour and a half before.

Anyway, we went home, had a nice uneventful evening, with a normal temperature, and Lukas slept happily through the night without a peep. He does seem to be doing much better today, so I sure hope things go a bit smoother Thursday when we try this all once again. All of you with kids in daycare, is it always this dramatic??

Wish us all luck.

Last Days!

Today is my last day at home with Lukas before I start back to work and Luke starts daycare tomorrow. It is very sunny and beautiful in West Seattle today, so I had planned for us to spend a nice day together, with lots of play time and a nice walk out and about to enjoy the sunshine.

Lukas, however, unfortunately has another cold and is not feeling his perky, smiley self. So, we will be spending a nice day together anyway, but we will be making sure that the Budlet is comfortable, hydrated, and caught up on his naps! I am not sure where Lukas picked this bug up, coming so close on the heals of his last virus, but he could have caught it when I went with him in tow, into the pharmacy waiting room of my HMO on Friday. I needed to get a prescription filled and while waiting I let Lukas play on the floor and he put a toy there in his mouth. I first wiped it down with a diaper wipe, mistakenly thinking that would sanitize it. I guess you live and learn when you are a new dad! Or perhaps, he picked it up somewhere else, although those possibilities are few really.

So, Lukas is feeling crummy and so is Dad for exposing him once again to another bug. Mrs. LIAYF and I will now have to, on the very first day of daycare, make the decision that multitudes of parents make on a daily basis. "Is my child too sick to go to daycare or should I stay home with him?" It would not look great to miss my first day back to work after being out 6 weeks. We will decide that tomorrow. Que Sera Sera!

For now however, Lukie Long Shanks and I will sit here, looking out onto the beautiful day, listening to the new 'Jack Johnson' disc and enjoying each others company, congestion and all.

Lukie Long Shanks

I took Lukas to his first drop off visit to daycare today. It is amazing how many things we need to get prepared for a two hour unattended visit (unattended by parents - the daycare workers are there). We packed a bag with extra clothes, sippy cup, soft cover photo book, lion teething toy, bunting outfit, diapers, solid food and spoon, and enough paperwork to keep the whole Pentagon busy deciphering their meaning for months. (When they are not planning their next brilliant scheme along with W, of course, to solve the mess overseas!)

One of the pieces of paperwork asked, among other more important things, for Lukas' nickname. Lukas has several nicknames. There's the obvious one 'Luke', and the happier version 'Lukie'. But we also have several other names by which we call our son. There's 'Budlet' to which I have referred to him in several previous posts. This was a version of 'Little Buddy' (remember Gilligan?).

Also, when Luke was born he had a long patch of hair on top that we would wind up into a big curl on top of his head. It made him look like a 'Who' from the Grinch stories, so we started calling him 'Lukie Lou Who.' There is also 'The 'Cutest Boy Ever' as in "who's the cutest boy ever?" I am sure he is not the only boy with this one though, since we all think our child is the cutest on the planet even when there can be only one, kind of like in 'Highlander'.

There are also some occasional nicknames, like his Mafia name 'Lukie the Prune Faced Boy' which he gets after most lunch meals. Lukas is also in the 90% percentile for length for his age (he most certainly didn't get this from me since I am 'Just Your Average Guy of Average Height' and if I was taller 'I Coulda' Been Special' on the hardwood). So we often call him by his Viking nickname 'Luke the Long'. Of course this also doubles as his pirate name (aaarrrrgggh!), or we modify it to make it his medieval name 'Lukie Long Shanks' since I am positive there was a 'Long Shanks' in a movie with knights I saw once. By the way, yours truly had a nickname in high school. It was 'Jambo' (they drew First Blood) and with the new Rambo film out soon, I'm feeling a comeback. Uh, maybe not.

Anyway, the point is that nicknames are loads of fun. And with as many times (hundreds) Lukas hears his given name through the course of a day, it is nice to mix things up a bit. Hopefully this will spark his creativity as well as he grows older.

So, I am back from daycare now and Lukas 'The Charmer' had everyone raving about how great and happy he was. All the daycare workers commented with apparent surprise (or really good acting) at how social and fun he was. 'The Cutest Boy Ever' strikes again.

When I dropped him off he was so curious about everything going on he barely noticed I was trying to get his attention to say goodbye. Then when I picked him up, he fussed because he wanted to play some more. So much for missing his old man. And, he didn't use 95% of the things we packed for him, but it was great for us to know that we were prepared for all eventualities.

'Lukie Lou Who' will be just fine at daycare. 'Jambo', however, will need some adjustment time!

Milk Bong!

As mentioned in a previous post, Lukas never took a bottle. This was due to an abundance of the enzyme Lipase in his mothers milk and an abundance of ignorance of this fact on his parents part. Since that time, we have been giving Luke thawed milk out of a modified bottle/sippy cup called a 'Nuby'.

The problem, and I am not sure if this is actually a problem or more of a blessing yet, is that Lukas will slam his milk down in a matter of moments. For those of you who did a bit more than study in college, it is almost as fast as beer from a 'beer bong'. He will go through 5 or 6 oz in under a minute, then let out an impressive belch that would make a truck driver blush. He does end up getting a bit of the milk run down the sides of his face as well, so this is not the most clean and tidy eating experience, however, he is getting his fluid nourishment and seems no worse for wear. I just am not sure how this will translate as he goes to daycare.

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I guess time will tell, but in the mean time.......Party On!

Ragawhat?

Mrs. LIAYF and I were folding some of Luke's freshly laundered baby clothes yesterday (many of which are getting a bit small or worn out) when she looked up and announced "We are going to have to get some more clothes for Lukas before he starts daycare". I was a bit surprised, because budlet has a bunch of clothes and we do have quite a few friends and family with boys slightly older than he is and thus get quite a few lightly used (ok, hand-me-downs) clothes. I have no problem with 2nd hand clothes, because having a kid is, excuse my French, freakin expensive! (and this is just one, how do you people with a truckload of kids manage?) You have to cut costs where you can. I guess I do have to admit that I push the limit of usefullness on his clothes just a bit "No, honey, it's not time to put that romper in the donate pile, I can still get him into it if I bend his leg just so..."

Anyway, I look up at her and say, "Really? He has a lot of clothes already." To which her response was classic Mrs. LIAYF "We don't want him to look like a Ragamuffin" Did she really say that? Ragamuffin? What are we, at the turn of the 19th century England here? We could go ahead and let him look like a Ragamuffin, and teach him to pick pocket as well! And while we are at it, we could (once he's a bit older mind you) lower him down the chimney to give it a good once over too, as it hasn't been cleaned in a while. We could pay him tuppence what ever the hell that is. We really should have named him something like Oliver.

Or not. I do want Luke to make a good impression at day care and to be adored there as much as he is here. He can have all the new, or 2nd hand size appropriate, clothes Mrs. LIAYF wants to get him!

Reality Hits!

Well, it had to happen sometime. Mrs. LIAYF and I were discussing daycare last night and it simultaneously hit both of us like a sucker punch to the gut, that in about a month we will be handing Lukas off to complete strangers for hours on end. You have to realize that throughout his young life Lukas has been out of the care of either myself or his mother for a total of about 2 hours! To make matters worse, he is just recently developed the beginnings of stranger anxiety. On two separate occasions recently, he has had experiences where he was out of our sight being held by other people and has had a look of fear so real that you could film a horror flick based on that look alone!

We immediately shifted into protection mode and decided that I would go to the daycare today and pay them a 20-30 minute visit to get Lukas an early orientation to his future daytime pad. In addition Mrs. LIAYF and I are going to arrange a visit next Wednesday to the daycare for an extended visit to get to know his future provider intimately. Those trips, plus at least a few more before the mid February d-date, should give us and Luke some peace of mind that we are not really leaving him with strangers, but trusted providers who are very good with babies his age. Wish us Luck! We will need it much more than Lukas I am sure.