Runny Noses and Hugs

Well, I've been back to school officially for two days, and I'm already under the weather. The mental and emotional fatigue is already keeping me up at nights, but physically, I'm convinced the building is trying to kill me. There are years of kiddie germs coated on every surface of that place; I don't care how awesome a job our custodians do in the summer, you can't erase that crud.

Naturally, a week at daycare has already given Violet a runny nose as well. It was bound to happen soon or later, I guess we might as well get this party started.

Violet has had a bit of a time transitioning back to school. The first day we hyped it up enough that she seemed fairly excited about going. She spotted her BFF Emma and their reunion was a beautiful thing (and involved  dropping trou to show off their "big girl" underwear to each other right there in the playground). The next day when I dropped her off, the shine seemed to have worn thin and she teared up when I left. By the third day, reality had firmly set in and sweet girl was in tears before we even left the house! Even with all her drama last year at drop off, she never boo-hooed before arriving at school! Poor thing, just about broke my heart with her big tears.

The good news is, she is always happy as a clam when we pick her up and the teachers are full of cheerful reports. She's been rockin' the potty at school, whoo-hoo! I think we can officially declare this potty training thing a success! Gold medal!

One fun part of daycare this year is how much Violet is now able to verbalize. When I ask her what she did at school, I get a fairly accurate report back. I also get to hear, "Mommy, I miss you when you go to work. Mommy, you miss me when I go to school? You come back to get me? I miss you, Mommy!" Melt.

And I don't know if it's all the recent changes, but Violet has become quite attached to her baby dolls. We have several floating around the house, but one in particular seems to be the current favorite. The baby doll gets to go to school with Violet and "sleep" in her cubby until the end of the day. I also get to hear, "Oh baby, I miss you!" and watch Violet lavish her doll with big hugs in the afternoon. So sweet. The doll is also a required part of bedtime and most car trips, so there definitely is a growing bond there. Perhaps there is some girlie-girl in my little sword-wielding, truck-pushing, keeping-up-with-the-neighborhood-boys daughter after all.