The Update

Today was supposed to be Mika's first day of daycare, but I chickened out. I had to have at least one more day at home with her. I wanted to try and get her used to the routine a couple of weeks prior to my return to work, but we'll be taking it as we need to. I'm going to spend the day with Mika at daycare tomorrow. I can't figure out if that is a good thing or not. On one hand, I want her to feel safe in the new environment. On the other, I want her to know daycare as a parent-free place. If all goes really well tomorrow morning, I may sneak out during naptime and pick her up later in the afternoon. I doubt it though.
Mika had a wonderful New Year's Eve over at her Nana's place. There was a small family gathering and potluck supper. I thought Mika would have a total meltdown about half an hour into it, but she didn't! Miss Social Butterfly carried on very well, considering she refused her PM nap. She wowed the crowd with her mad skillz and even learned Oma's name, which delighted Oma to no end. Mika waved hello and goodbye, clapped, sang, danced, ran, climbed, and basically went through everything she knew to say and do and then some. She was at home, in bed, passed out cold by 9PM. We removed all traces of holiday madness on new years day. We had to get a system out from underneath the stairs. I figured since all the xmas decoration boxes had to be pulled out first anyway, I may as well fill them and be done with it.
Daddy taught Mika to climb up the stairs this weekend. She's been wanting to make the ascent for a few weeks now and I keep distracting her with other things. While I was showering, she convinced Daddy that stair climbing was the thing to do. She made it up all by herself with no help from Daddy. Getting down is another story.

Mika's Current Fave Activities (in no particular order):

Clapping
Singing
Dancing
Waving
Climbing
Crawling
Walking (with help)
Eating
Reading
Playing with mylar balloon (She *loves* those stupid balloons)