Our little CryBaby! :(

Ysabella is on the up and up. I wish I could say the same for Ed. So far, I've been spared. Here's to hoping it stays that way, it hasn't been fun for anybody.

We're starting to take Ysabella to Letecia (her daycare provider) regularly now to slowly get her accustomed to being in a new house during the day while at the same time being away from both her mommy and her daddy. However, since my last set of shifts she's been glued to my side, probably for fear that I'll leave her again for 13 hours at a time. I took her to Letecia this morning for her to spend 30 minutes alone with Letecia and the other kids, but she took one look at Letecia and started bawling, big tears and all. As hard as it was, I knew I had to be a hardass (more for me than her!) so, I kissed her goodbye and said I'd be back in a little while. I returned 30 minutes later to her having just fallen asleep in Letecia's arms, and I knew she'd been crying the whole 30 minutes as soon as I saw her. Sure enough, she did that 'catching her breath' sob, the kind you do for like 5 minutes after you've had a really, really good cry. It broke my heart. Bad news for Bella, she's going back to Letecia's tomorrow only this time, Ed's taking her. (I can't handle it two days in a row!)

Despite the episode earlier in the morning, it wasn't until this afternoon that I realized Ysabella is really starting with the whole separation/stranger anxiety phase. We went to playgroup (we haven't been since before Christmas) and you think with about 15 kids around her, not to mention all the toys, that she'd be in baby heaven. Nope. She was content playing on my leg the whole time. I tried to put her with the kids and the toys (yet not venturing too far away from her), but everytime I left she looked all around for me, realized I wasn't right next to her, and started bawling again. And not just any cry, but the super-duper-break-your-heart-sad cry. Disturbing all the other babies, almost silencing the room. She even made other babies cry with all her crying. So, needless to say, it's off to more playgroups this week, and lots and lots of Ysa & daddy time (without mum). We need to try to nip this in the bud pronto! What happened to our super social little Bella of the last few months???

Ysa, already multi-tasking... trying to practice her new-found ability to climb while at the same time, trying to open handle of the gate.
A video from today: Overly excited mommy & daddy cheering on Ysa as she tries to put on her socks. "YAY!" (Try to ignore the still-not-done baseboard trim...we'll get to it. One day....)