a girl and her duck(y)

ava started daycare on january 2nd, and wow, it was quite the transition. it started out just fine, but on january 6th she came down with the flu, and it all went rapidly downhill from there. she started off with a few unhappy noises on drop-off, and progressed a week later into full on hysterical tantrums. about two weeks in, just when i thought it couldn't get any worse . . . it didn't! finally, ava reversed her attitude and started to mellow out and enjoy herself. to date, she still likes to kick up a minor fuss for morning drop-off, but i when i pick her up in the afternoon she is quite obviously content, and in no particular hurry to head out the door with me.

to help with the transition, i let ava bring "mr. duck" to daycare. one of the most obvious and immediate daycare side effects was that "mr. duck" became "duck-y". a related unintended consequence was that because ducky needs to go with us to daycare, and is with us when we leave, ducky to see the world quite a bit more often. this results in quite a bit more ducky wear and tear, so the other day we purchased a third copy.