Nostalgia, Footie Pajamas and Preschool

Last night was unseasonably cold and I felt the need to dig out some footie pajamas for Andrew. As I went through some of Lily's old baby clothes, a wave of nostalgia hit me. We just passed our 4 year anniversary of getting Lily's referral on September 8th. There is something so magical and special about the moment you first get your child's referral. I guarantee if you ask any adoptive parent they can recall all the details the moment they got "the call". So as I dressed Andrew for bed, I just couldn't help but think of the little baby Lily that came home in the late fall of 04. I have so many memories of watching her play, crawl, eat and explore in the same cozy little footie jammies.

Fast forward 4 years and here we are getting her ready for preschool. Instead of crawling around in jammies, we now watch Lily make decisions between her Hanna Montanna or sparkly butterfly shirt. At exactly 7:30 am this morning, Lily came bouncing down the steps. Her bed was made, her face was washed and she was dressed in her new pink velour jumpsuit complete with the sparkly butterfly shirt. "I am ready to go to school by myself" she announced. I was thrilled to see her so ready and very surpised as I am the first to describe Lily as "shy, reserved and slow to warm up." While I drove to the preschool, I could hear Lily telling Andrew about all the cool big kid things that she could do and he could not. We waited a few moments for her teachers to be ready, the door opened and in walked Lily and her new pal Maggie. No tears. No fears. Nothing. I looked at Maggie's mom and said "Well, I guess that's it" and we headed to the "Boo Hoo Breakfast" with the other parents.

I drove Andrew home who was still dressed in the pj's. (I suspect Andrew may be in pj's many mornings when we take Lily to school. I'm simply not confident I can get all three of us dressed and out the door by 8:30.) Once home, I realized I had this wonderful window of time to watch Andrew crawl, play, eat and explore while dressed in his footie pj's. When our one on one time is done, we get to pick up Lily and hear all the details from preschool. Today, she covered everything from what she ate at snack to who played what on the playground. So, I apologize if my post is sappy. I knew it was likely for me to get sentimental when Lily started school. I also realize that there is a special gift in having a second child. You truly understand that no phase lasts forever and it goes by so fast. Right now, I'm going to do my best to enjoy this time of footie pajamas and preschool.