new year, new routine

Last week was not my best as a parent. I'm not totally sure why. Elias was cranky. I was cranky. Everyone was still feeling generally run-down, recovering from colds and catching up after a crazy couple of months. Nothing any other 18 month old hasn't done - a clearly stir-crazy toddler put up a fight when I said it was time to go, that sort of thing. Over and over. All day long. We're definitely in the delightful "no" phase. So by Friday, mama was more than ready for a break. Neal took Elias for much of the morning both Friday and Saturday, first on an epic play session at one of the nearby playgrounds where he captured these images.  Apparently he was really interested in the little hole in the side of the rock, putting in leaves, taking them out.

I love this one:

A rare shot of Elias still, sitting, in focus even!

This week is going much, much better so far. Maybe because it's our last full week together before Elias begins daycare next week, or maybe it's because finally our mornings aren't occupied by endless errands and last-minute Christmas shopping. Not surprisingly - since I was there - he did just fine during his first brief visit to our new daycare provider today. We go again tomorrow, together, and then next week he'll be on his own. I'm not sure his good behavior necessarily bodes well for next week, or as several well-meaning folks have suggested, maybe he'll surprise us all. I'm pretty certain he's going to be very unhappy on Monday morning. But hopefully the transition will go as smoothly as can be expected. All fingers crossed, please!