It's Official Hayden Can Survive Without Me!

Monday was our first experience with unfamiliar people watching Hayden. We got into the PDO program (Parent's Day Out) at a church downtown. It is not a daycare but a program that appreciates parent's need for personal time. I will be taking Hayden for 4 hours every Monday. It think it is a great first step to leaving him with unfamiliar people. I was pretty nervous dropping him off on Monday because I didn't know how I was going to react and I wasn't sure how Hayden was going to react. When we walked in the room I set Hayden down and signed him in. He just st there for a minute with his back to me and then crawled away and started playing. I called 1/2 way through the day at 11:30 and they said he was fine for the first hour and then he cried off and on for a 1/2 hour after that. My first reaction was to run back there and get him, but I didn't. When I arrived at 1:30 to get him he saw me and burst into tears. I think it was just tears of relief that I actually came back and didn't forget about him. He was definitely happy to see me. Oh and also because at that same time he got hit in the face with a book by a kid going down the slide while Hayden was climbing up it! :(
The teachers said that he had a great first day and that it is normal for him to cry when he sees me. They also said that another child started crying before Hayden earlier so that may have set him off. Other than that he had a great time playing. They also said he ate an awesome lunch. He ate almost every bite I packed for him. Ham and cream cheese rolls, mandarin oranges, cheese chunks, cereal bar, applesauce, and milk. He also ate some of his peas and goldfish, and had a snack of puffs and milk. I only sent the applesauce, goldfish, and cereal bar along in case he refused to eat his ham and peas. I definitely thin he is going through a growth spurt.
Yesterday we had our first meeting of MOPS. I am really excited about it. I have a great table of ladies and can't wait for the next meeting. We meet every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of the month for 2hours. I was anxious about dropping him off in the nursery because I thought he might throw a fit. He sat right down and played. When I picked him up they said that he may not be feeling well because he kind of cried off and on for the 2 hours. Poor guy! That made me feel bad. The director of the children's ministry assured me that there would be a few "velcro" days, but he would adapt. The ladies all commented that the 1-2 year old room was very quite this year compared to last. Last year they had to shut the doors to the fellowship hall to muffle the cries. So we will see how it goes. I think it is great for me to trust extremely capable unfamiliar people with Hayden and good for him to be able to be without me. It was great for me also! I truly appreciated the 4 hours on Monday to fun errands and clean without interruption. I also loved the fellowship and time spent at MOPS.