New Sitter, new journey

This week Bella has started with a new sitter. Eric and I decided a few months ago that we wanted Bella in a new environment with more children and more room to run around in. I had been really reluctant to start looking, as she has been with Simone since she was 4 months old. Bella was only with 2 other children at Simone's and both were boys. We are so grateful to her as she helped to raise Bella for the past year and a half. Not to mention, she has kept our baby girl pretty healthy. However, now that Isabella is older and really thrives on learning new things, we figured it was time to make the big switch. Lucky for us, our good friends the Cox's started a new sitter they loved for their baby and referred us to her. Our other friends who I used to work with as a teacher at my school, use the same sitter. In fact, 3 of the children who go to this sitter are teachers' children. So, I brought Isabella by to meet her and get a feel for the place. Bella loved it! She has a backyard with slides, swings, etc. She did not want to leave! Eric and I brought her by a 2nd time, and again she loved it :D
Tuesday was the big test though. This would be the day that Eric would actually leave her. As soon as Bernie (the sitter) opened the door, Bella went right to her. Bella gave Daddy a kiss and said "bye daddy". Eric said she even helped close the door on Eric ! I checked in on her 3 times that day and she did great. Bernie was pleased that she never shed a tear and did so well. Having worked with children for many years, I know that sometimes the 2nd day can be the real test of how the child will separate from their parent. This is usually because the child now knows what to expectand that Mommy or Daddy is leaving. However, Wednesday she did great as well. Eric and I could not be more pleased. She loves the new sitter, loves the children, and is just so happy to be there. Bernie is a nice Hispanic Christian woman who I can tell has a real knack with children. She brought Bella to church on Ash Wednesday, which I love :D We are so excited to see Bella's progress with Bernie and her new friends.