Greetings from Alan's new life! His life has completely changed in so many ways. To start with, he is just finishing his second week of day care at Fran's. (I have posted a picture of Alan with Fran.) I am 100% convinced that Fran was provided directly for us from the Lord. On Alan's first day, Dan and I brought him together, and Fran showed us around the house, telling us a little bit about the day care. She was great and made us feel at ease. When that was finished, we all just kind of stood there . . . and then I guess it occurred to us that it was time to leave. So, I kissed Alan goodbye and walked out. It's not like I haven't left him with anyone else before, but this was his first day of DAY CARE. It's different somehow. I thought of him all day long while I was at school, but believe it or not I didn't cry. And it turns out, Alan barely cried either that first day. When we picked him up, Fran said it had been WONDERFUL, and that Alan was so easy to take care of! Must be a product of my wonderful parenting, right?

Well, I'm not so sure, because on Day 2 he cried for an hour straight during lunch. Being at home with me, alone, he has never had to wait for anything. At least not long. At day care, Fran has to prepare lunch for everyone, and can't hold Alan every moment. Aw, poor Alan. :) Although it's sad to think of my baby crying for an hour, it wasn't TOO sad. He has cried that long for me at home, and he is going to have to learn how to make it when people can't cater to his every whim!!! Two days later, he got over it. He has not cried during lunch since.

Some of Al's favorite day care activities include eating grass on trips to the park, distracting Fran from her cleaning by insisting that she hold him, throwing his toys off the upstairs balcony and having the other kids pick them up, helping the big kids play dress up, bake cookies, and play with a never ending supply of toys, and exchanging eye-gouges with 12-month-old Lauren. Does life get any better than this?

I took it as a very good sign when, as my friend Carol carried Alan into Fran's house on his 4th day, Alan reached for Fran. He REACHED for her! That spoke a million words to me. He likes her. He's happy. He's secure. He's safe. All the things I have prayed for all these months as I anticipated day care. Another good sign is that Alan gives Fran "kisses". Now, if anyone other than a baby gave you a kiss like this, it would be disgusting. Alan's kisses involve opening his mouth as wide as possible, grabbing you with both hands, and pulling his wide-open, drooly mouth toward you until it mashes onto your face/neck/arm/hair/wherever. He holds it like this for a few seconds, and then emerges smiling, extremely satisfied with himself. He doesn't kiss everyone. He reserves it for certain people. The main one is me . . . and now another one is Fran. He must love her!!!! Praise God.

A lot of people have asked me, when I tell about his reaching for Fran and his kisses, "Oh, doesn't that make you sad?" But my gut answer is no. No, it really makes me very happy! I can't explain how it fills me up to see my son's happiness and security. Yes, I confess that there is a TINY voice that says "Alan will love Fran more than he loves me." But the truth is, no he won't! I will always be his mom. And how wonderful for him to have another person in his life who he feels so secure with. I can't imagine how awful I'd feel if he didn't.

So, what about the second picture I posted? Well, believe it or not, I actually walked into his room this past weekend and found him SLEEPING that way. I have no idea how it would have occurred to him to settle into that position and fall asleep, but I promise you he did. I couldn't bear to leave him that way though, so I moved him after I took the picture.

I would like to send a Happy Birthday message to a few good friends who I know read this: Happy Birthday to Shelli, Belinda, Dad, and my sweetie Dan. And a big thanks to Heidi Weber and all the rest of you who prayed for Alan and I as he started day care. I still need your prayers, as my emotions are an up and down roller coaster when it comes to missing Alan and being back at work. Al seems to be doing just great and having a grand old time, but you can keep praying for him too. I will never object to my son being surrounded by prayer!

Alan had a few other adventures the last couple weeks, like spending the weekend up at Grandma Gloria's cabin with JUST Grandma Gloria and Dave, attending Jenn and Ari's wedding, and spending a day with Grandma Lucy. More adventures await in the days to come!