Big day for Biscuit

My Biscuit baby had big doings today.

It was his first full-time day in the toddler room, and he got to spend his evening with two of our friends while Jeff and I went on a date.

Mama didn't handle the whole day anywhere near as well as Biscuit did!

Biscuit has been in transition from the infant room to the toddler room for a few months now. He's learning to feed himself and has been getting along well with the other toddlers, but he's still a good bit smaller than the other kids in the class, so the teachers have held off having him with the toddlers full time.

But two weeks ago, we got the official letter saying that last week would be his transition week. He would start out in the infant room, then spend most of the day with the toddlers. It worked well, so today was the official move-up day.

I'm not sure why, but it was pretty emotional for me. Just seeing him with all those walking, talking little people in the toddler room was overwhelming. He's moving from being a baby to a little person. And I'm not ready!

I asked about how his days would go, and the teachers told me that he'd get to go outside twice a day (and I guarantee they'll have to fight to get him to come in), they have story time and song time, they learn colors and numbers, they practice manners - please, thank you, etc. and probably his favorite thing, they get to eat at a little table instead of high chairs. He thinks he's Mr. Big Shot when he can eat outside of his high chair!

I was nervous a good part of work today. And it was for no reason at all. He did great. As a matter of fact, when I walked into the toddler room to pick him up, he wasn't ready to go yet. For me, it was a mixture of "My little boy isn't excited to see me," and "Yay! He likes the toddler room!"

The best part for me is that we don't have to carry snacks or sippy cups for him. In the infant room, parents would bring whatever the child could eat. But in the toddler room, they're mostly on the same eating level, so they all get school-provided snacks. Plus, he's learning to drink from a regular cup, so we don't have to send his sippy cups anymore. It wasn't a big deal to provide those, but every morning, we had to write his name and the date on each thing we sent for him. It was a tedious task that we don't have to do anymore.

And for the biggest advantage ... he costs us $10 less each week. The older they get at day care, the cheaper the rate is because they don't require as much hands-on care. Once he's potty-trained, he'll get even cheaper!

Two of our friends volunteered to babysit tonight so Jeff and I could go on a date. They've sat with Biscuit before, so I knew everything would be fine. Last time they kept him, he was getting over a cold, and he was having some pretty severe teething pain, so, they didn't get to play a lot because he just wasn't up for it.

But tonight, he was in a great mood, his allergies weren't too bad, and the weather was nice enough for them to take him outside. I warned them that there might be drama when they made him come inside, but apparently, they had an idea I hadn't thought of. When it was time to go in, they said, "Hey, let's go inside and have a banana." The only thing my baby likes better than outside is bananas, so good call on their part!

Meanwhile, Jeff and I had a nice steak dinner then rambled around the bookstore for a while. It was nice and relaxing, and we made a pact on the way to the restaurant that we wouldn't talk about work at all.

But even though we were having a great time, and even though I knew that everything with Biscuit was fine, and even though I knew that if anything was going on, the babysitter friends would call me, and even though ...

"Jeff, they would call us if something was wrong, wouldn't they?" I asked.

"Yes. They would call," Jeff said. And he didn't say it with any attitude or in a making-fun of me way or anything.

I told him that other than the fact that worrying is what mamas do, I have no idea why that question would even cross my mind. First of all, the chances of anything going wrong are really, really slim. He's with two competent people who have been around him plenty of times before. They know what to do in case of an emergency. And secondly, they wouldn't hesitate to call if they needed us.

But any of you other mamas know exactly what I'm talking about! It's one of those things that comes along with growing eyes in the back of your head and being able to call your kid on raiding the cookie jar before his hand ever touches the lid. It's what mamas do.