First day of Preschool!

Today was Abby's first day of Preschool!

We've been talking a lot about school over the last few weeks, and we'd gone to meet her teachers "Miss A-shell" and "Miss Mar-ga-ret" (Michelle and Margret, for those people who are not Abby). I even let Abby pick out whatever backpack she wanted. (Tinkerbell and friends, of course!) She was very excited. Surprisingly, so was I. Dan was actually the sentimental one about the whole thing. He was even a little emotional* about the whole "our baby is growing up" thing.

Then there was today. I woke up this morning excited, but by the time I started to make breakfast I was fighting back some tears. (We had pancakes. My mother always made us have a big fancy breakfast on the first day of school, but pancakes is as fancy as Abby will eat.) I took extra time getting her dressed in her new outfit and doing her hair, making sure I soaked it all in. Abby, however, was still very excited. She must have asked 100 times if "we go to school now?" Normally, she doesn't like to have her picture taken, but she was even excited about that today. By the time we got to school, Abby was so ready she took off her shoes and ran to her teacher. I actually had to call her back to get a hug and kiss goodbye. She obliged, but barely.

Up until this point, I'd been okay. Then, I put the keys in the ignition and realized I actually had to leave the parking lot. Cue the tears. Enter the thoughts of "I can't believe my baby is so grown up!" After five minutes of this, I pulled myself together and drove straight to Starbucks for a pumpkin spice latte. Aaahhh, all better!

At 12:00 sharp, I picked up and very tired, but still very excited little girl. It took several questions, but I discovered she had colored a picture of a birthday cake, read a couple of books, sung "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" very quickly, and even made two new friends in Kayla and Andy ("He's a boy Mommy!").

All in all, a great day! I think we are both looking forward to when she goes back on Tuesday. Hopefully, I'll get through it without the tears.

*I think Dan would want me to clarify this. By emotional, I do mean Dan-emotional. There were certainly not any tears or anything. Just standing a moment or two longer than usual at the door at night when she was sleeping and extra hugs.