Kate's FIRST Day!

The day I've spent the past 5+ years believing was somewhere off in the very far distant future has actually arrived. I have to say, no amount of preparation can prepare a parent for the first day of school. I was totally blindsided. Even Travis was in complete denial until I took him to the parent night last week, and he realized Kate is actually starting school, for real! Right now! I know I've talked to anyone and everyone who will listen about the stress and turmoil and downright agony I've been through in trying to prepare myself for this day, so I'll spare you a revival of the whole long-winded rant. Anyway, Kate woke up totally excited. I was glad to see her positive attitude right off and that she didn't seem nervous. Travis gave her a blessing, in our families' tradition for starting off a new school year, and he and I set off to take her to school while my mom stayed with the little kids.

Well, we were already cutting it kind of close on time, but Travis's beloved little car did not help us. There is a short little stretch of freeway between home and Kate's school, and due to some misfiring spark plugs, we couldn't reach a speed above 35 mph. The "check engine" light was flashing and the car was sputtering along pitifully and I was alternating between insisting that we should turn back for the other car and laughing hysterically at the picture of us chugging into school on the first day with our hazard lights on and the choking noises erupting from our car making everyone dive for cover. It was excellent. Poor Kate.

We did actually make it to school (AND home again), and dropped Kate off at the entrance. She was a little clingy for a few minutes, but after some extra hugs from us and the coaxing of the school staff, she finally went to class. And we went home. And that was it - she was gone! Just like that! I didn't even cry, until I got home, and I left the school without a big scene. I think the hilarity of our entrance helped to distract me.

When I got home, it was so strange to have her gone. You know that feeling like you forgot something? The house was so empty, and I just felt so insecure. Luckily I had Travis and my mom and my friends to talk me through it all and keep me from driving back to the school and picking her up when I reasoned that maybe we should take this in baby steps... maybe like an hour of school a day at first...? Travis had to remind me that this is an important part of helping her become more independent and the separation should actually help us grow closer together. I just need him to keep talking to me about independence and growing and such. Brooklyn did not know what to do with herself. She did several puzzles (her latest obsession), and when we went to the park she talked to "Kate" several times on her pretend cell phone and didn't want to leave it in the car in case someone called her.

Of course I had decided that the determining moment would be when we picked her up. My greatest fear was that we'd show up and she'd be in tears, deciding that was the worst day of her life, or worse - she wouldn't even remember me! ("Mom who?") My mom and I went to pick her up, and she trotted out of the school with a new friend in a green shirt ("I don't know, maybe Aiden or something?" - when I asked her what his name was) and a big smile on her face. She was tired but had had a great day!

Brooklyn was overjoyed to see Kate again. She came running to the door shouting, "KATE!!!" It was cute. We spent the afternoon taking my mom to the airport. She's flying back to Budapest tonight, after more than two months in the U.S. Brooklyn and Kate spent the rest of the evening playing together, which was cute. Here Kate has wrapped up her patient and is playing doctor. (See the related Quote of the Day.)

I have to share the other story from our eventful day. ***WARNING*** The following includes an extensive discussion of poop. It is only appropriate for those who can withstand graphic language or who have children.

Let me preface this by saying that I never really had any remarkable poop-related experiences until I had a boy. With my girls, the diapering and potty-training stages were all pretty uneventful, and I even felt kind of left out when other moms would swap stories about topics we never would have discussed before we had kids but now consider to be acceptable material for brunch conversation. But no more! Troy has officially inducted me into the Hall of Amazing Poop Stories, and another badge has proudly been affixed to my sash of motherhood.

Tonight we were all finishing up dinner, and Troy was restless so I put him in the living room with a few toys. Lately his preferred mode of transportation is not crawling on all fours (he can't) but sitting and scooting with his hands. He's gotten pretty good at that. Travis affectionately calls him "Thump-Drag" (maybe you'll recognize that one if you have a history of telling campfire ghost stories). So Troy was circumnavigating the room this way when Travis looked over and shouted in horror, "It looks like... he's leaving a TRAIL!!!" Sure enough, behind him was a short trail of... prints... that corresponded with the breadth of his little scooting bum. Travis scooped him up and started changing him on the changing table. I had to step in when Travis started screaming desperately, "I can't! I'm going to throw up! It's EVERYWHERE!" I walked in to find Troy slathered in baby poop all the way down to his foot (from Travis removing his pants) and Travis, gagging, a good five feet away. Gingerly I picked Troy up, supporting him by the edge of his non-poopy leg, but as soon as I did, he swung his poop-covered foot up toward my face. I screamed and averted the collision as poop went flying and Travis was yelling and Brooklyn was underfoot because she came to check out the commotion and I was trying not to drop poop on her, and I was laughing so hard while trying to hold that squirmy poop-covered baby at a safe arm's-length distance that I was sure I was going to either drop him or wet my pants. (Or both.) I'm happy to report that I did neither, and I deposited him safely in the bathtub. I cleaned him up while Travis tried to make up for his moment of fatherly squeamishness by cleaning the poop off the carpet... and even the door. Oh yes, that was our night.

Thus ends the First Day of School.