First first day of school...

 The week after Reece started school, Lola followed suit.

 

I won't even go into how insane that is to me.

 

How my tiny girl carefully helped me lay out her back-to-school outfit and loaded up her "rolly packpack" with crayons, nail polish, fruit snacks, stuffed animals and an umbrella (a girl must be prepared for any and all scenarios, after all) and pulled me out the front door for what will become our annual first-day photo shoot.

 

She's just so camera shy...

 How on earth did my baby become a kid?

It's just downright spooky.

We were both a bit nervous as we walked hand-in-hand to Mrs. Shauna's.

She asked me to stick around for a few minutes while she scoped out the situation.

But soon she was happily distracted by the toys, the friends and the newness of it all -- so I blew her a kiss and left her to her adventure.

I was a bit emotional until I got home, put James down for his nap and realized I had 2.5 hours ALL. TO. MYSELF.

Heaven, I tell you.

Heaven.

When the time came to collect our preschooler, I was thrilled to find her smiling and giggling with several of the other kids in her class.

I love watching her when she doesn't know I'm there -- sounds so creepy to actually put that into type, but it's true.

She talked a mile a minute about her new friends and her snacks and her homework and her teacher and recess and the slide as we ventured out for celebratory donuts.

It's safe to say my little lady loves school.

It's been such a good thing for her to have a few hours to exert her independence each day -- to be challenged in new ways and to interact with new people.

 

All this makes me infinitely happy.

*A few weeks after school began, Lola's teacher pulled me aside after class and told me what a sweet, thoughtful, smart and obedient girl I have.  Bless Mrs. Shauna for making this mama's heart explode with pride.