My Baby is 2 Today....

Where have the months gone? The days & weeks seem to go by so quickly and all of a sudden, our baby boy is 2.

I woke up at 5:30 this morning to the sound of our little man sort of screaming (he's usually pretty patient in the mornings, but not this one, I suppose.) Jeff turned to me and said, it's Jacob's birthday. I said, "yep, two years ago at this time, he was being life-flighted." And, so it begins that I try to remember the first 24 hours of his life. The first 3-4 hours are pretty clear, but the remaining hours of his first full day are a blur. We are certainly thankful and grateful to God that Jacob is such an energetic, full of life two year old. But on his birthday, it's hard to not remember those early hours and days.

Today Jacob also completes his first full week of childcare in a center. He was with Ms. Chrissy before, who kept him in her home, from the time he was about 2.5 months old until just a few weeks ago. We thought it sounded like a good idea to put him in a regular childcare center now that he is 2 for various reasons. It's been a rough transition so far. Rough on Jacob and rough on his mama too. I cried Monday, and managed not to cry Tues, Wed, or Thurs, but I think I've already cried about 4 times today. I picked him up on Tues & Thurs this week. I'd peek in on him before going into the room, and he'd just be sitting at the little tables they have, sort of slumped down, coloring or playing with a puzzle. Today, when I dropped him off, I had to take his bag to another room, so I went back to look in on him before I left. Five other kids were happily clapping, singing & stomping around to a CD. He stood in the middle, sort of looking at the floor. It was so depressing.

He is such a tough little guy. I think they think he is doing well because he's not crying all day, but he's just being tough. At the same time, he's not himself, because he is a happy, outgoing child who has never met a stranger. Yet, this week, one of his teachers told me she thought he is shy. He's never been described that way. I'm hoping that this is just a transitional phase. At the same time, I think he is going through a little bit of separation anxiety being away from us.

I can't wait to pick him up today and tomorrow we'll celebrate his birthday with family & friends.