Baby girl's first day of school!

Baby girl started school this week. We thought school started Tuesday (I swear they said "see you Tuesday" as we left "meet the teacher" day), but it turns out, it started Monday. We were still sitting on the sofa in our pajamas, watching the Today Show, recovering from the exhaustion of getting the rest of the moppets out the door, when the phone rang. It was the preschool director wondering if baby girl was sick! Oops! Grabbing clothes from the floor that "smelled clean" and promising she could wear her first day of school outfit on her first full day of school, I rushed her over to her school. We were only an hour and 20 minutes late! Missing almost half of the school day didn't seem to take away from the fabulous-ness of her day. When she got home, she said that it was her "BEST FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL EVER!" (She actually screamed, "BESTFIRSTDAYOFSCHOOL, EVER"  three times before I finally was able to discern what came before the "ever".)

Yikes, we almost missed the first day of school!

I must explain the reason I was searching for clothes that smelled clean. Baby girl changes her clothes about 14 times a day. She has it in her mind that every "event" calls for a different outfit, and when you're four, almost everything you do is an "event"! She works hard to find the perfect ensemble for each occurrence (meaning, lots of the rejected items get dropped on the floor along-side the previously worn outfits). As she has not yet perfected folding and cannot reach the rod to hang her clothes back in the closet (although pulling the sleeve of a shirt until the hanger breaks or otherwise releases its grasp, doesn't seem to be a problem for her), most days end with a pile of clothes on her floor.

I am completely thrilled that she loves school. She has a blast, plus it's some much needed time away from mama! My darling husband calls baby girl my "mini me". As endearing as it sounds, in real life it means that she is attached to my side. All. The. Time. If I sit down, she races for my lap. When I make my lunch, she abandons hers and decides "we can share" mine. If I dare to go to the bathroom, she follows me, "so you won't have to be alone, Mama." We often share an afternoon coffee (my other children had tea parties-baby girl has Starbucks parties). More nights than not, she wanders in to our bed (where she promptly falls asleep with one leg draped over my middle-just in case I get the notion to get out of bed without her). She also tells me "Mama, I love you so much," about a hundred times a day and reaches to hold my hand "just because" almost as often. I absolutely adore her! She is my last baby, and I know that her desire to spend every moment of the day and night with me is fleeting (at least I hope it is-I don't want to think of her 16-year-old self climbing into my bed every night). But honestly, I truly don't need visitors in the bathroom (formerly known as alone time).

This was the first full day of school! Don't you love the gloves? She refused to take them off for the pictures (I guess she thought it was formal) then immediately doffed them in the car on the way to school-where I'm sure they still are!

So, thank you, sweet little preschool! Thank you for a safe, joyful, enriching environment, thank you for a happy baby girl and most of all, thank you for making it possible for me to go to the bathroom all by myself!