daycare

Riley enjoys his daycare a lot...Miss Diane has a great set up and after 18 yrs of doing this, she's has a lot of great toys that you can't find in the stores anymore. As soon as we bring him inside he's off to play and briefly looks over when we say goodbye only to return to his toys.

When I pick him up he squeals and runs off to get "busy" playing -- maybe he thinks it'll delay having to leave. I do get some whining when we finally leave. It's a good thing that he gets over stuff quick. It's nice to know that he enjoys himself so much there.

Riley favorite buddy is a 2 yr old named Cole. Cole gets all excited when he sees Riley in the morning. It's really sweet. Here's a shot of Cole, Riley and Harry outside playing:














He likes the playhouse where he can open and shut the door as much as he wants!














And you can't forget the slide!














It's always sad when mama says we have to go home:














Before Riley attempted the "big slide" (see last week's blog), he practiced on the daycare slide. Here he is with Sophia who likes to give him a kiss before he leaves to go home:

As much as I hate to leave him each morning, it's a comfort to know that he's being well taken care of.

That being said, full-time daycare is expensive and we're finding that we need to make some adjustments to this line item of our budget. Since I can't reduce my hours, J has suggested that he reduce his. If he can move his morning patients to the afternoon, then he can watch Riley in the morning. We've found a mom who is interested in watching Riley and we'll be meeting with her next week to see if she will work out. We'll keep ya posted.

It's hard to leave Diane and all the kids, but we feel it's necessary as we weather these hard economic times. The upside is that J will get to spend that extra morning time with Riley as we're saving some money. It'll make sick days easier to manage too, since I'll have most of my workday done if I need to come home early.

We'll be grateful for prayers of wisdom and peace whatever the outcome.

Shelby