For my friends who watch Seinfeld...

Poppy:

Poppy got a little sloppy:

New tradition, first bite, heartbreak

I believe it was about three weeks ago that the cooler weather moved into the area, and like most Floridians, we now make every effort to get outside. The nearby park is full of walkers, bikers, dogs and strollers. We've dusted off the outdoor cushions and the deck is being populated by Overcasts. All the heat, the sweat, the high utility bills...forgotten. This is why we live here, right?

To capitalize on the nice weather, we have been packing up a picnic (Evos to go) and driving out to Pass-a-grille every Friday afternoon and getting our toes in the sand as the sun goes down. Reilly loves it.

Meanwhile, Maeve has been sampling her first foods. We started with rice cereal and have moved on to bananas and avocado and pears and sweet potatoes. Shawn has lovingly made each food in some fancy steamingblendingchopping machine that she got from our friend Cindy. It's pretty rad. She also used it to make hummus. But I digress. Here is Maeve's first bite:

Next up is one of the most painful things a parent might experience in the first year of parenthood: sending your baby to childcare.

The good thing is that the daycare is conveniently located at my place of employment. The bad thing is that we have to pay for it. The worst part is that Maeve cries when we drop her off, and we have to release control of the care of our daughter to strangers.

Now, it should help that this is a blue ribbon kind of daycare, that everyday we show up the ladies who care for Maeve have printed pictures of her day, have reports of her enjoying the outdoors and playing on a drum and shaking a tambourine.

But, as parents we know she is not happy, we see the end-of-day report that shows she refused a bottle at noon, and that she only took one 20 minute nap. Yes, she is adjusting.

And yes, so are we.

Maeve's first day:

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