A Turtle at Sydney Cove

Alice has started some practice sessions at her new daycare in the city this week. I start back at work two days a week next week, rising to three days from March. I'm breaking us both in gently.

To date, Alice has completed three short days at daycare and I have completed three days of lunching with Auntie Shell, going to the gym, getting my nails done and generally trying to complete all the tasks I set myself for my maternity leave. To be fair, over the course of 2008, I did manage to drink a lot of coffee, but apart from that I don't seem to have achieved that much outside of Alice being absolutely adorable. There is still painting to be done and around 500 photos to go into albums before I can show my face on Shelley Street on Thursday.



Here I am working through my to-do list

Anyway. Alice. Dropping her off on Monday morning was really hard - Niagara Falls from both of us. I managed to get out of the door before starting up. Alice apparently stopped soon afterwards. Day 2, saw her blubber a little when I left but she had stopped before I even got to the door and was last seen reading a book, so better. I think that she is getting used to it. Day 3 was a breeze and she cried when I took her away at the end of the day. The carers seem really lovely and they write a little report for me each day so that I know if she has eaten/slept/someone else has changed a "soiled" nappy for me. Interested grandparents can see http://www.sydneycovechildren.com.au/ for more details about the centre.

On one afternoon I went to get her at around 3pm and they were all playing with playdough. Well, kind of looking at playdough and being stopped from eating it. At the end of the first two days, she loved being taken home before the other kids. Squealing delightedly at my arrival, she hung over my shoulder smugly at the other babies as we left the building. If she could have raised two fingers independently of the rest of her hand, then one can be sure that that gesture would have been made.

She is in the "Turtle" room and has a little Sydney Cove legionnaires hat and her own school bag. Friday, Day 3, was described by the carers as "awesome" - she played nicely, slept really well and ate her own weight in chicken and courgette mush. I don't have her first painting for the fridge yet, but I feel sure that her juices will soon be flowing. I intend to spend Monday at Sydney's galleries seeing exhibitions that I have been meaning to get around to seeing, so that I can pass creativity onto her through osmosis. The rest of the to do list will have to wait.